Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Direct final rule.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its spent fuel storage regulations by revising the Holtec International HI–STORM 100 Multipurpose Canister Cask System listing within the “List of approved spent fuel storage casks” to include Amendment No. 14 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1014. Amendment No. 14 revises the technical specifications to add new heat loading patterns, reduce the minimum cooling time, allow use of a damaged fuel isolator for storing damaged fuel, and modify the description of vents in overpack. Amendment No. 14 also makes other administrative changes to the technical specifications. These revisions are discussed in more detail in the “Discussion of Changes” section of this document.
This direct final rule is effective December 17, 2019, unless significant adverse comments are received by November 4, 2019. If this direct final rule is withdrawn as a result of such comments, timely notice of the withdrawal will be published in the
You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
•
•
•
•
•
For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting comments, see “Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments” in the
Yen-Ju Chen, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301–415–1018; email:
Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2019–0160 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain publicly-available information related to this action by any of the following methods:
•
•
•
Please include Docket ID NRC–2019–0160 in your comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be publicly disclosed in their comment submission.
This direct final rule is limited to the changes contained in Amendment No. 14 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1014 and does not include other aspects of the Holtec International HI–STORM 100 Multipurpose Canister Cask System (HI–STORM 100 Cask System) design. The NRC is using the direct final rule procedure to issue this amendment because it represents a limited and routine change to an existing certificate of compliance that is expected to be noncontroversial. Adequate protection of public health and safety continues to be ensured. The amendment to the rule will become effective on December 17, 2019. However, if the NRC receives significant adverse comments on this direct final rule by November 4, 2019, then the NRC will publish a document that withdraws this action and will subsequently address the comments received in a final rule as a response to the companion proposed rule published in the Proposed Rules section of this issue of the
A significant adverse comment is a comment where the commenter explains why the rule would be inappropriate, including challenges to the rule's underlying premise or approach, or would be ineffective or unacceptable without a change. A comment is adverse and significant if:
(1) The comment opposes the rule and provides a reason sufficient to require a substantive response in a notice-and-comment process. For example, a substantive response is required when:
(a) The comment causes the NRC to reevaluate (or reconsider) its position or conduct additional analysis;
(b) The comment raises an issue serious enough to warrant a substantive response to clarify or complete the record; or
(c) The comment raises a relevant issue that was not previously addressed or considered by the NRC.
(2) The comment proposes a change or an addition to the rule, and it is apparent that the rule would be ineffective or unacceptable without incorporation of the change or addition.
(3) The comment causes the NRC to make a change (other than editorial) to the rule, certificate of compliance, or technical specifications.
For detailed instructions on filing comments, please see the companion proposed rule published in the Proposed Rules section of this issue of the
Section 218(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended, requires that “[t]he Secretary [of the Department of Energy] shall establish a demonstration program, in cooperation with the private sector, for the dry storage of spent nuclear fuel at civilian nuclear power reactor sites, with the objective of establishing one or more technologies that the [Nuclear Regulatory] Commission may, by rule, approve for use at the sites of civilian nuclear power reactors without, to the maximum extent practicable, the need for additional site-specific approvals by the Commission.” Section 133 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act states, in part, that “[the Commission] shall, by rule, establish procedures for the licensing of any technology approved by the Commission under section 219(a) [sic: 218(a)] for use at the site of any civilian nuclear power reactor.”
To implement this mandate, the Commission approved dry storage of spent nuclear fuel in NRC-approved casks under a general license by publishing a final rule which added a new subpart K in part 72 of title 10 of the
On October 31, 2018, as supplemented on November 6, 2018, February 28, 2019, April 5, 2019, April 23, 2019, May 13, 2019, and August 8, 2019, Holtec International submitted a request to amend Certificate of Compliance No. 1014 for the HI–STORM 100 Cask System. Amendment No. 14 revises the technical specifications to: (1) Add three new regionalized Quarter Symmetric Heat Load loading patterns for the multipurpose canister (MPC)–68M; (2) reduce the minimum cooling time to 1 year for all fuel types for storage in the MPC–68M; (3) use a damaged fuel isolator for damaged fuel stored in the MPC–68M; and (4) modify the description of the vents in the overpack in the certificate of compliance and remove the word “four” from Section 1.b describing the air inlet and outlet vents. Amendment No. 14 also makes other administrative changes to the technical specifications. The revised certificate of compliance and technical specifications are identified and evaluated in the preliminary safety evaluation report.
As documented in that preliminary safety evaluation report, the NRC performed a safety evaluation of the proposed certificate of compliance amendment request. There are no significant changes to cask design requirements in the proposed amendment.
Considering the specific design requirements for each accident condition, the design of the cask would prevent loss of containment, shielding, and criticality control in the event of an accident. The amendment does not reflect a significant change in design or fabrication of the cask. In addition, any resulting occupational exposure or offsite dose rates from the implementation of Amendment No. 14 would remain well within the limits specified by 10 CFR part 20, “Standards for Protection Against Radiation.” There will be no significant change in the types or amounts of any effluent released, no significant increase in the individual or cumulative radiation exposure, and no significant increase in the potential for, or consequences from, radiological accidents.
The amended Holtec International HI–STORM 100 Cask System design, when used under the conditions specified in the certificate of compliance, technical specifications, and the NRC's regulations, will meet the requirements of 10 CFR part 72; therefore, adequate protection of public health and safety will continue to be ensured. When this direct final rule becomes effective, persons who hold a general license under § 72.210 may, consistent with the license conditions under § 72.212, load spent nuclear fuel into those HI–STORM 100 Cask System casks that meet the criteria of Amendment No. 14 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1014.
The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–113) requires that Federal agencies use technical standards that are
Under the “Policy Statement on Adequacy and Compatibility of Agreement State Programs” approved by the Commission on June 30, 1997, and published in the
The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111–274) requires Federal agencies to write documents in a clear, concise, and well-organized manner. The NRC has written this document to be consistent with the Plain Writing Act as well as the Presidential Memorandum, “Plain Language in Government Writing,” published June 10, 1998 (63 FR 31885).
Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and the NRC's regulations in subpart A of 10 CFR part 51, “Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions,” the NRC has determined that this direct final rule, if adopted, would not be a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment and, therefore, an environmental impact statement is not required. The NRC has made a finding of no significant impact on the basis of this environmental assessment.
The action is to amend § 72.214 to revise the Holtec International HI–STORM 100 Cask System listing within the “List of approved spent fuel storage casks” to include Amendment No. 14 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1014.
This direct final rule amends the certificate of compliance for the Holtec International HI–STORM 100 Cask System design within the list of approved spent fuel storage casks that power reactor licensees can use to store spent fuel at reactor sites under a general license. Specifically, Amendment No. 14 updates the certificate of compliance to: (1) Add three new regionalized Quarter Symmetric Heat Load loading patterns for the MPC–68M; (2) reduce the minimum cooling time to 1 year for all fuel types for storage in the MPC–68M; (3) use a damaged fuel isolator for damaged fuel stored in the MPC–68M; and (4) modify the description of the vents in the overpack in the certificate of compliance and remove the word “four” from Section 1.b describing the air inlet and outlet vents. Amendment No. 14 also makes other administrative changes to the technical specifications.
On July 18, 1990 (55 FR 29181), the NRC issued an amendment to 10 CFR part 72 to provide for the storage of spent fuel under a general license in cask designs approved by the NRC. The potential environmental impact of using NRC-approved storage casks was initially analyzed in the environmental assessment for the 1990 final rule. The environmental assessment for this Amendment No. 14 tiers off of the environmental assessment for the July 18, 1990 final rule. Tiering on past environmental assessments is a standard process under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended.
Holtec International HI–STORM 100 Cask Systems are designed to mitigate the effects of design basis accidents that could occur during storage. Design basis accidents account for human-induced events and the most severe natural phenomena reported for the site and surrounding area. Postulated accidents analyzed for an independent spent fuel storage installation, the type of facility at which a holder of a power reactor operating license would store spent fuel in casks in accordance with 10 CFR part 72, include tornado winds and tornado-generated missiles, a design basis earthquake, a design basis flood, an accidental cask drop, lightning effects, fire, explosions, and other incidents.
Considering the specific design requirements for each accident condition, the design of the cask would prevent loss of confinement, shielding, and criticality control in the event of an accident. If there is no loss of confinement, shielding, or criticality control, the environmental impacts resulting from an accident would be insignificant. This amendment does not reflect a significant change in design or fabrication of the cask. Because there are no significant design or process changes, any resulting occupational exposure or offsite dose rates from the implementation of Amendment No. 14 would remain well within 10 CFR part 20 limits. Therefore, the proposed certificate of compliance changes will not result in any radiological or non-radiological environmental impacts that significantly differ from the environmental impacts evaluated in the environmental assessment supporting the July 18, 1990, final rule. There will be no significant change in the types or significant revisions in the amounts of any effluent released, no significant increase in the individual or cumulative radiation exposures, and no significant increase in the potential for, or consequences of, radiological accidents.
The NRC documented its safety findings in a preliminary safety evaluation report.
The alternative to this action is to deny approval of Amendment No. 14 and not issue the direct final rule. Consequently, any 10 CFR part 72 general licensee that seeks to load spent nuclear fuel into the Holtec International HI–STORM 100 Cask System in accordance with the changes described in proposed Amendment No. 14 would have to request an exemption from the requirements of §§ 72.212 and 72.214. Under this alternative, interested licensees would have to prepare, and the NRC would have to review, a separate exemption request, thereby increasing the administrative burden upon the NRC and the costs to each licensee. The environmental impacts would be the same as the proposed action.
Approval of Amendment No. 14 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1014 would result in no irreversible commitment of resources.
No agencies or persons outside the NRC were contacted in connection with the preparation of this environmental assessment.
The environmental impacts of the action have been reviewed under the requirements in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and the NRC's regulations in subpart A of 10 CFR part 51. Based on the foregoing environmental assessment, the NRC concludes that this direct final rule entitled “List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: Holtec International HI–STORM 100 Multipurpose Canister Cask System, Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, Amendment No. 14,” will not have a significant effect on the human environment. Therefore, the NRC has determined that an environmental impact statement is not necessary for this direct final rule.
This direct final rule does not contain any new or amended collections of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501
The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a request for information or an information collection requirement unless the requesting document displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget control number.
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (5 U.S.C. 605(b)), the NRC certifies that this direct final rule will not, if issued, have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This direct final rule affects only nuclear power plant licensees and Holtec International. These entities do not fall within the scope of the definition of small entities set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility Act or the size standards established by the NRC (§ 2.810).
On July 18, 1990 (55 FR 29181), the NRC issued an amendment to 10 CFR part 72 to provide for the storage of spent nuclear fuel under a general license in cask designs approved by the NRC. Any nuclear power reactor licensee can use NRC-approved cask designs to store spent nuclear fuel if it notifies the NRC in advance, the spent fuel is stored under the conditions specified in the cask's certificate of compliance, and the conditions of the general license are met. A list of NRC-approved cask designs is contained in § 72.214. On May 1, 2000 (65 FR 25241), the NRC issued an amendment to 10 CFR part 72 that approved the HI–STORM 100 Cask System design by adding it to the list of NRC-approved cask designs in § 72.214.
On October 31, 2018, and as supplemented on November 6, 2018, February 28, 2019, April 5, 2019, April 23, 2019, May 13, 2019, and August 8, 2019, Holtec International submitted an application to amend the Holtec International HI–STORM 100 Multipurpose Canister Cask System as described in Section IV, “Discussion of Changes,” of this document.
The alternative to this action is to withhold approval of Amendment No. 14 and to require any 10 CFR part 72 general licensee seeking to load spent nuclear fuel into the Holtec International HI–STORM 100 Cask System under the changes described in Amendment No. 14 to request an exemption from the requirements of §§ 72.212 and 72.214. Under this alternative, each interested 10 CFR part 72 licensee would have to prepare, and the NRC would have to review, a separate exemption request, thereby increasing the administrative burden upon the NRC and the costs to each licensee.
Approval of this direct final rule is consistent with previous NRC actions. Further, as documented in the preliminary safety evaluation report and environmental assessment, this direct final rule will have no adverse effect on public health and safety or the environment. This direct final rule has no significant identifiable impact or benefit on other Government agencies. Based on this regulatory analysis, the NRC concludes that the requirements of this direct final rule are commensurate with the NRC's responsibilities for public health and safety and the common defense and security. No other available alternative is believed to be as satisfactory, and therefore, this action is recommended.
The NRC has determined that the backfit rule (§ 72.62) does not apply to this direct final rule. Therefore, a backfit analysis is not required. This direct final rule revises Certificate of Compliance No. 1014 for the Holtec International HI–STORM 100 Cask System, as currently listed in § 72.214. The amendment consists of the changes in Amendment No. 14 previously described, as set forth in the revised certificate of compliance and technical specifications.
Amendment No. 14 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1014 for the Holtec International HI–STORM 100 Cask System was initiated by Holtec International and was not submitted in response to new NRC requirements, or an NRC request for amendment. Amendment No. 14 applies only to new casks fabricated and used under Amendment No. 14. These changes do not affect existing users of the Holtec International HI–STORM 100 Cask System, and previous amendments continue to be effective for existing users. While current certificate of compliance users may comply with the new requirements in Amendment No. 14, this would be a voluntary decision on the part of current users.
For these reasons, Amendment No. 14 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1014 does not constitute backfitting under § 72.62 or § 50.109(a)(1), or otherwise represent an inconsistency with the issue finality provisions applicable to combined licenses in 10 CFR part 52. Accordingly, the NRC staff has not prepared a backfit analysis for this rulemaking.
This direct final rule is not a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act.
The documents identified in the following table are available to interested persons through the following methods.
The NRC may post materials related to this document, including public comments, on the Federal Rulemaking website at
Administrative practice and procedure, Hazardous waste, Indians, Intergovernmental relations, Nuclear energy, Penalties, Radiation protection, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Security measures, Spent fuel, Whistleblowing.
For the reasons set out in the preamble and under the authority of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended; the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended; and 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553, the NRC is adopting the following amendments to 10 CFR part 72:
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 51, 53, 57, 62, 63, 65, 69, 81, 161, 182, 183, 184, 186, 187, 189, 223, 234, 274 (42 U.S.C. 2071, 2073, 2077, 2092, 2093, 2095, 2099, 2111, 2201, 2210e, 2232, 2233, 2234, 2236, 2237, 2238, 2273, 2282, 2021); Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, secs. 201, 202, 206, 211 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846, 5851); National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332); Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, secs. 117(a), 132, 133, 134, 135, 137, 141, 145(g), 148, 218(a) (42 U.S.C. 10137(a), 10152, 10153, 10154, 10155, 10157, 10161, 10165(g), 10168, 10198(a)); 44 U.S.C. 3504 note.
Effective Date: February 16, 2016.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.