Draft Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation Interim Staff Guidance, 40199-40200 [2013-15982]
Download as PDF
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 128 / Wednesday, July 3, 2013 / Notices
publications, research material, and
working files. Proposed for permanent
retention are significant
correspondence, final reports and
publications, audio visual material, and
the commission’s Web site.
20. National Archives and Records
Administration, Research Services (N2–
288–12–1, 1 item, 1 temporary item).
Records of the National Endowment for
the Arts comprising program grant case
files from 1965 to 1996. These records
were accessioned to the National
Archives but lack sufficient historical
value to warrant continued
preservation.
21. National Archives and Records
Administration, Research Services
(DAA–0064–2013–0001, 1 item, 1
temporary item). Records include
federal agencies’ Web site snapshots and
related documentation harvested in the
2001 Web Snapshot Initiative Project.
22. Occupational Safety and Health
Review Commission, Office of the
Executive Secretary (N1–455–11–3, 2
items, 2 temporary items). Published
Internet Web site content and Web site
design records.
Dated: June 27, 2013.
Laurence Brewer,
Director, National Records Management
Program.
[FR Doc. 2013–16003 Filed 7–2–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7515–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[NRC–2013–0140]
Draft Spent Fuel Storage and
Transportation Interim Staff Guidance
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Draft interim staff guidance;
request for public comment.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) requests public
comment on Draft Spent Fuel Storage
and Transportation Interim Staff
Guidance No. 24 (SFST–ISG–24),
Revision 0, ‘‘The Use of a
Demonstration Program as Confirmation
of Integrity for Continued Storage of
High Burnup Fuel Beyond 20 Years.’’
The draft SFST–ISG provides guidance
to the staff for reviewing if a
demonstration of high burnup fuel
(HBF) has the necessary properties to
qualify as one method that an applicant
might use in license and certificate of
compliance (CoC) applications to
demonstrate compliance with the NRC’s
regulations. This guidance applies to
license and CoC applications for the
emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:48 Jul 02, 2013
Jkt 229001
storage of HBF for periods greater than
20 years.
DATES: Submit comments by August 19,
2013. Comments received after this date
will be considered if it is practical to do
so; however, the NRC is only able to
ensure consideration of comments
received on or before this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comment
by any of the following methods (unless
this document describes a different
method for submitting comments on a
specific subject):
• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2013–0140. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol
Gallagher; telephone: 301–492–3668;
email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For
technical questions, contact the
individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this
document.
• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2013–0140. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol
Gallagher; telephone: 301–492–3668;
email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov.
• Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey,
Chief, Rules, Announcements, and
Directives Branch (RADB), Office of
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001.
For additional direction on accessing
information and submitting comments,
see ‘‘Accessing Information and
Submitting Comments’’ in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of
this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Robert Einziger, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone:
301–287–9217 or email:
Robert.Einziger@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Accessing Information and
Submitting Comments
A. Accessing Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2013–
0140 when contacting the NRC about
the availability of information regarding
this document. You may access
information related to this document,
which the NRC possesses and is
publicly-available, by the following
methods:
• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2013–0140.
• NRC’s Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may access publicly-
PO 00000
Frm 00111
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
40199
available documents online in the NRC
Library at https://www.nrc.gov/readingrm/adams.html. To begin the search,
select ‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and
then select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS
Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS,
please contact the NRC’s Public
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by
email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The draft
SFST–ISG–24, Revision 0 is available
electronically under ADAMS Accession
No. ML13056A516.
• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and
purchase copies of public documents at
the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC–2013–
0140 in the subject line of your
comment submission, in order to ensure
that the NRC is able to make your
comment submission available to the
public in this docket.
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 posts all comment
submissions at https://
www.regulations.gov as well as entering
the comment submissions into ADAMS.
The NRC does not routinely edit
comment submissions to remove
identifying or contact information.
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.
Your request should state that the NRC
does not routinely edit comment
submissions to remove such information
before making the comment
submissions available to the public or
entering the comment submissions into
ADAMS.
II. Background
The NRC issues SFST–ISGs to
communicate insights and lessons
learned and to address emergent issues
not covered in SFST Standard Review
Plans (SRPs). In this way, the NRC staff
and stakeholders may use the guidance
in an SFST–ISG document before it is
incorporated into a formal SRP revision.
The draft SFST–ISG provides guidance
to the staff for reviewing if a
demonstration of high burnup fuel
(HBF) has the necessary properties to
qualify as one method that an applicant
might use in license and certificate of
compliance (CoC) applications to
demonstrate compliance with sections
E:\FR\FM\03JYN1.SGM
03JYN1
40200
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 128 / Wednesday, July 3, 2013 / Notices
72.122(h)(1) and 72.122(l) of Title 10 of
the Code of Federal Regulations (10
CFR). This guidance applies to license
and CoC applications for the storage of
HBF for periods greater than 20 years.
This guidance supplements the
guidance given in NUREG–1927
‘‘Standard Review Plan for Renewal of
Spent Fuel Dry Cask Storage System
Licenses and Certificates of
Compliance’’ on aging management for
the interior of the cask.
emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Proposed Action
By this action, the NRC is requesting
public comments on draft SFST–ISG–
24. This SFST–ISG proposes certain
revisions to NRC guidance on
implementation of the requirements in
10 CFR part 72. The NRC will make a
final determination regarding issuance
of SFST–ISG–24 after it considers any
public comments received in response
to this request.
Backfitting and Issue Finality
This draft ISG, if finalized, would
provide guidance to the staff for
reviewing an application for an
independent spent fuel storage
Installation, and an application for a
certificate of compliance, either of
which involve storage of high-burn-up
spent fuel from a nuclear power plant,
with respect to compliance with 10 CFR
72.122(h)(1) and 10 CFR 72.122(l).
Issuance of this draft ISG, if finalized,
would not constitute backfitting as
defined in the backfitting provisions in
10 CFR 72.62 which are applicable to
ISFSIs and certificates of compliance.
Issuance of the draft ISG, if finalized,
would also not constitute backfitting
under 10 CFR 50.109, or otherwise be
inconsistent with the issue finality
provisions in 10 CFR part 52. The staff’s
position is based upon the following
considerations.
• The draft ISG positions do not
constitute backfitting, inasmuch as the
ISG is internal guidance directed at the
NRC staff with respect to their
regulatory responsibilities
• Backfitting and issue finality—with
limited exceptions not applicable here—
do not protect current or future
applicants
• The NRC staff has no intention to
impose the draft ISG positions on
existing ESP, DCR, and COL applicants
where the staff has resolved the
applicant’s conformance with RG 1.221
as of the effective date of this guidance
• The NRC staff has no intention to
impose the draft ISG positions on
current licensees or the four current
design certifications (10 CFR Part 52,
Appendices A through D) either now or
in the future
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:48 Jul 02, 2013
Jkt 229001
Each of these considerations is
discussed in more detail below.
1. The draft ISG positions, if finalized,
do not constitute backfitting, inasmuch
as the ISG is internal guidance to NRC
staff.
The ISG provides interim guidance to
the staff on how to review an
application for NRC regulatory approval
in the form of licensing. Changes in
internal staff guidance are not matters
for which either nuclear power plant
applicants or licensees are protected
under either the Backfit Rule or the
issue finality provisions of Part 52.
2. Backfitting and issue finality do
not—with limited exceptions not
applicable here—protect current or
future applicants.
Applicants and potential applicants
are not, with certain exceptions,
protected by either the Backfit Rule or
any issue finality provisions under Part
52. This is because neither the Backfit
Rule nor the issue finality provisions
under Part 52—with certain exclusions
discussed below—were intended to
apply to every NRC action which
substantially changes the expectations
of current and future applicants.
The exceptions to the general
principle are applicable whenever an
applicant references a Part 52 license
(e.g., an early site permit) and/or NRC
regulatory approval (e.g., a design
certification rule) with specified issue
finality provisions. The staff does not, at
this time, intend to impose the positions
represented in the draft ISG section (if
finalized) in a manner that is
inconsistent with any issue finality
provisions. If, in the future, the staff
seeks to impose a position in the draft
ISG section (if finalized) in a manner
which does not provide issue finality as
described in the applicable issue finality
provision, then the staff must address
the criteria for avoiding issue finality as
described in the applicable issue finality
provision. The draft ISG addresses
newly-adopted or revised regulations
whose backfitting and issue finality
considerations have already been
addressed
3. The NRC staff has no intention to
impose the draft ISG positions on
existing early site permit, design
certificate and combined license
applicants where the staff has resolved
the applicant’s conformance with RG
1.221 as of the effective date of this
guidance.
Notwithstanding the NRC’s general
principle, articulated in Item 2 above,
that Backfitting and Issue Finality do
not protect applicants, the draft ISG is
not backfitting because the NRC does
not intend to impose the draft ISG
positions on existing ESP, DCR, and
PO 00000
Frm 00112
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
COL applicants where the staff has
resolved the applicant’s conformance
with RG 1.221 as of the effective date of
this guidance.
4. The NRC staff has no intention to
impose the draft ISG positions on
existing licensees and regulatory
approvals, either now or in the future.
The staff does not intend to impose or
apply the positions described in the
draft ISG section to existing (already
issued) licenses and regulatory
approvals—including the four existing
design certifications in 10 CFR part 52,
Appendices A through D. Hence, the
issuance of a final ISG—even if
considered guidance which is within
the purview of the issue finality
provisions in Part 52—need not be
evaluated as if it were a backfit or as
being inconsistent with issue finality
provisions. If, in the future, the staff
seeks to impose a position in the ISG on
holders of already issued holders of
licenses in a manner which does not
provide issue finality as described in the
applicable issue finality provision, then
the staff must, as applicable, make the
showing as set forth in the Backfit Rule,
or address the criteria for avoiding issue
finality as described applicable issue
finality provision.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day
of June, 2013.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mark D. Lombard,
Director, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and
Transportation, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2013–15982 Filed 7–2–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 72–1004, 72–40, 50–269, 50–
270, and 50–287; NRC–2013–0135]
Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, Oconee
Nuclear Station Units 1, 2, and 3;
Independent Spent Fuel Storage
Installation; Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Environmental assessment and
finding of no significant impact;
issuance.
AGENCY:
The NRC is issuing an
environmental assessment (EA) and a
finding of no significant impact (FONSI)
for an exemption request submitted by
Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, on August
13, 2012 for the Oconee Nuclear Station
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Facility
(ISFSI).
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\03JYN1.SGM
03JYN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 3, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40199-40200]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-15982]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2013-0140]
Draft Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation Interim Staff
Guidance
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Draft interim staff guidance; request for public comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requests public
comment on Draft Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation Interim Staff
Guidance No. 24 (SFST-ISG-24), Revision 0, ``The Use of a Demonstration
Program as Confirmation of Integrity for Continued Storage of High
Burnup Fuel Beyond 20 Years.'' The draft SFST-ISG provides guidance to
the staff for reviewing if a demonstration of high burnup fuel (HBF)
has the necessary properties to qualify as one method that an applicant
might use in license and certificate of compliance (CoC) applications
to demonstrate compliance with the NRC's regulations. This guidance
applies to license and CoC applications for the storage of HBF for
periods greater than 20 years.
DATES: Submit comments by August 19, 2013. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practical to do so; however, the NRC
is only able to ensure consideration of comments received on or before
this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comment by any of the following methods
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting
comments on a specific subject):
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0140. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section
of this document.
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0140. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov.
Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules,
Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Office of Administration,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
For additional direction on accessing information and submitting
comments, see ``Accessing Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Einziger, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-287-9217 or email:
Robert.Einziger@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments
A. Accessing Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0140 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may
access information related to this document, which the NRC possesses
and is publicly-available, by the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0140.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may access publicly-available documents online in the NRC
Library at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The draft SFST-ISG-24,
Revision 0 is available electronically under ADAMS Accession No.
ML13056A516.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2013-0140 in the subject line of your
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
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 posts all comment submissions at https://www.regulations.gov as well as entering the comment submissions into
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove
identifying or contact information.
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. Your request should
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove such information before making the comment submissions available
to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.
II. Background
The NRC issues SFST-ISGs to communicate insights and lessons
learned and to address emergent issues not covered in SFST Standard
Review Plans (SRPs). In this way, the NRC staff and stakeholders may
use the guidance in an SFST-ISG document before it is incorporated into
a formal SRP revision. The draft SFST-ISG provides guidance to the
staff for reviewing if a demonstration of high burnup fuel (HBF) has
the necessary properties to qualify as one method that an applicant
might use in license and certificate of compliance (CoC) applications
to demonstrate compliance with sections
[[Page 40200]]
72.122(h)(1) and 72.122(l) of Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR). This guidance applies to license and CoC
applications for the storage of HBF for periods greater than 20 years.
This guidance supplements the guidance given in NUREG-1927 ``Standard
Review Plan for Renewal of Spent Fuel Dry Cask Storage System Licenses
and Certificates of Compliance'' on aging management for the interior
of the cask.
Proposed Action
By this action, the NRC is requesting public comments on draft
SFST-ISG-24. This SFST-ISG proposes certain revisions to NRC guidance
on implementation of the requirements in 10 CFR part 72. The NRC will
make a final determination regarding issuance of SFST-ISG-24 after it
considers any public comments received in response to this request.
Backfitting and Issue Finality
This draft ISG, if finalized, would provide guidance to the staff
for reviewing an application for an independent spent fuel storage
Installation, and an application for a certificate of compliance,
either of which involve storage of high-burn-up spent fuel from a
nuclear power plant, with respect to compliance with 10 CFR
72.122(h)(1) and 10 CFR 72.122(l).
Issuance of this draft ISG, if finalized, would not constitute
backfitting as defined in the backfitting provisions in 10 CFR 72.62
which are applicable to ISFSIs and certificates of compliance. Issuance
of the draft ISG, if finalized, would also not constitute backfitting
under 10 CFR 50.109, or otherwise be inconsistent with the issue
finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. The staff's position is based
upon the following considerations.
The draft ISG positions do not constitute backfitting,
inasmuch as the ISG is internal guidance directed at the NRC staff with
respect to their regulatory responsibilities
Backfitting and issue finality--with limited exceptions
not applicable here--do not protect current or future applicants
The NRC staff has no intention to impose the draft ISG
positions on existing ESP, DCR, and COL applicants where the staff has
resolved the applicant's conformance with RG 1.221 as of the effective
date of this guidance
The NRC staff has no intention to impose the draft ISG
positions on current licensees or the four current design
certifications (10 CFR Part 52, Appendices A through D) either now or
in the future
Each of these considerations is discussed in more detail below.
1. The draft ISG positions, if finalized, do not constitute
backfitting, inasmuch as the ISG is internal guidance to NRC staff.
The ISG provides interim guidance to the staff on how to review an
application for NRC regulatory approval in the form of licensing.
Changes in internal staff guidance are not matters for which either
nuclear power plant applicants or licensees are protected under either
the Backfit Rule or the issue finality provisions of Part 52.
2. Backfitting and issue finality do not--with limited exceptions
not applicable here--protect current or future applicants.
Applicants and potential applicants are not, with certain
exceptions, protected by either the Backfit Rule or any issue finality
provisions under Part 52. This is because neither the Backfit Rule nor
the issue finality provisions under Part 52--with certain exclusions
discussed below--were intended to apply to every NRC action which
substantially changes the expectations of current and future
applicants.
The exceptions to the general principle are applicable whenever an
applicant references a Part 52 license (e.g., an early site permit)
and/or NRC regulatory approval (e.g., a design certification rule) with
specified issue finality provisions. The staff does not, at this time,
intend to impose the positions represented in the draft ISG section (if
finalized) in a manner that is inconsistent with any issue finality
provisions. If, in the future, the staff seeks to impose a position in
the draft ISG section (if finalized) in a manner which does not provide
issue finality as described in the applicable issue finality provision,
then the staff must address the criteria for avoiding issue finality as
described in the applicable issue finality provision. The draft ISG
addresses newly-adopted or revised regulations whose backfitting and
issue finality considerations have already been addressed
3. The NRC staff has no intention to impose the draft ISG positions
on existing early site permit, design certificate and combined license
applicants where the staff has resolved the applicant's conformance
with RG 1.221 as of the effective date of this guidance.
Notwithstanding the NRC's general principle, articulated in Item 2
above, that Backfitting and Issue Finality do not protect applicants,
the draft ISG is not backfitting because the NRC does not intend to
impose the draft ISG positions on existing ESP, DCR, and COL applicants
where the staff has resolved the applicant's conformance with RG 1.221
as of the effective date of this guidance.
4. The NRC staff has no intention to impose the draft ISG positions
on existing licensees and regulatory approvals, either now or in the
future.
The staff does not intend to impose or apply the positions
described in the draft ISG section to existing (already issued)
licenses and regulatory approvals--including the four existing design
certifications in 10 CFR part 52, Appendices A through D. Hence, the
issuance of a final ISG--even if considered guidance which is within
the purview of the issue finality provisions in Part 52--need not be
evaluated as if it were a backfit or as being inconsistent with issue
finality provisions. If, in the future, the staff seeks to impose a
position in the ISG on holders of already issued holders of licenses in
a manner which does not provide issue finality as described in the
applicable issue finality provision, then the staff must, as
applicable, make the showing as set forth in the Backfit Rule, or
address the criteria for avoiding issue finality as described
applicable issue finality provision.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day of June, 2013.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mark D. Lombard,
Director, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation, Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2013-15982 Filed 7-2-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P