Nuclear Regulatory Commission October 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its spent fuel storage cask regulations by revising the NAC International, Inc., NAC-UMS Universal Storage System listing within the ``List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks'' to include Amendment No. 5 to Certificate of Compliance (CoC) Number 1015. Amendment No. 5 will modify the CoC to incorporate certain high burnup pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuel as approved contents and to reflect those changes in the associated Technical Specifications (TS). In addition, the amendment to the CoC will include several other changes to the TS and the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) to enhance the loading and storage operation of the NAC-UMS Universal Storage System.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) is denying a petition for rulemaking submitted by the State of Nevada (Nevada or petitioner). The petition requests that NRC modify its regulation regarding issues specified for review in a notice of hearing for the Department of Energy (DOE) application for a high-level waste (HLW) repository construction authorization at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The petitioner asserts that the proposed regulation would ``fill a gap'' in the NRC's current regulations. Further, petitioner asserts that the proposed regulation fulfills the Commission's intent when it first required a hearing for any docketed applications for construction of a HLW repository. NRC is denying the petition because it is inconsistent with current NRC rules and inconsistent with the Commission's intent when it originally established regulations requiring an opportunity for a hearing for all docketed HLW repository construction applications.

This document corrects a notice appearing in the Federal Register on October 9, 2008 (65 FR 59677), that notices the receipt and availability of an application for a combined license for an evolutionary power reactor nuclear power plant at the existing Callaway Power Plant site located in Callaway County, Missouri. This action is necessary to correct the heading of the document.

The NRC is soliciting public comment on its proposed Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) DC/COL-ISG-08 (ADAMS Accession No. ML082520707). The purpose of this ISG is to change the NRC staff position on the necessary content of plant-specific technical specifications (PTS) when a combined license (COL) is issued. This ISG clarifies the staff guidance contained in Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.206, ``Combined License Applications for Nuclear Power Plants,'' Section C.III.4.3, ``Combined License Information Items That Cannot Be Resolved Before the Issuance of a License,'' and replaces the related guidance in NUREG-0080, ``Standard Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants,'' Chapter 16.0, ``Technical Specifications,'' Revision 2, dated March 2007, regarding the content of PTS to support issuing a COL. The NRC staff issues DC/COL-ISGs to facilitate timely implementation of the current staff guidance and to facilitate activities associated with the review of applications for standard design certifications (DCs) and COLs by the Office of New Reactors. The NRC staff will also incorporate the approved DC/COL-ISG-08 into the next revisions of RG 1.206 and the Standard Review Plan 16.0, and any related guidance documents.

The NRC has recently submitted to OMB for review the following proposal for the collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). The NRC hereby informs potential respondents that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and that a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The NRC published a Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period on this information collection on July 9, 2008. 1. Type of submission, new, revision, or extension: Extension. 2. The title of the information collection: Registration Certificate In-Vitro Testing with Byproduct Material under General License. 3. Current OMB approval number: 3150-0038. 4. The form number if applicable: NRC Form 483. 5. How often the collection is required: There is a one-time submittal of information to receive a validated copy of NRC Form 483 with an assigned registration number. In addition, any changes in the information reported on NRC Form 483 must be reported in writing to the Commission within 30 days after the effective date of such change. 6. Who will be required or asked to report: Any physician, veterinarian in the practice of veterinary medicine, clinical laboratory or hospital which desires a general license to receive, acquire, possess, transfer, or use specified units of byproduct material in certain in vitro clinical or laboratory tests. 7. An estimate of the number of annual responses: 85 (15 NRC Licensees and 70 Agreement State Licensees). 8. The estimated number of annual respondents: 85 (15 NRC Licensees and 70 Agreement State Licensees). 9. An estimate of the total number of hours needed annually to complete the requirement or request: 12.4 hours (Record keeping: 1.13 hours + Reporting: 2 hours NRC licensees and 9.3 hours Agreement State licensees). 10. Abstract: Section 31.11 of 10 CFR establishes a general license authorizing any physician, clinical laboratory, veterinarian in the practice of veterinary medicine, or hospital to possess certain small quantities of byproduct material for in vitro clinical or laboratory tests not involving the internal or external administration of the byproduct material or the radiation there from to human beings or animals. Possession of byproduct material under 10 CFR 31.11 is not authorized until the physician, clinical laboratory, veterinarian in the practice of veterinary medicine, or hospital has filed NRC Form 483 and received from the Commission a validated copy of NRC Form 483 with a registration number. A copy of the final supporting statement may be viewed free of charge at the NRC Public Document Room, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21, Rockville, MD 20852. OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC worldwide Web site: https:// www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/. The document will be available on the NRC home page site for 60 days after the signature date of this notice. Comments and questions should be directed to the OMB reviewer listed below by November 14, 2008. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but assurance of consideration cannot be given to comments received after this date. Nathan J. Frey, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (3150- 0121), NEOB-10202, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503. Comments can also be e-mailed to Nathan_J._Frey@omb.eop.gov or submitted by telephone at (202) 395-7345. The NRC Clearance Officer is Russell Nichols, (301) 415-6874.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its regulations describing the categories of actions which do not require an environmental review under the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) because they have no significant effect on the human environment. The proposed revisions would eliminate the preparation of environmental assessments for NRC actions that are minor, administrative, or procedural in nature. The proposed rule would not change any requirements for licensees but would provide for more timely NRC action.

On September 18, 1990, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) issued a decision reaffirming and revising, in part, the five Waste Confidence findings reached in its 1984 Waste Confidence Decision. The 1984 decision and the 1990 review were products of rulemaking proceedings designed to assess the degree of assurance that radioactive wastes generated by nuclear power plants can be safely disposed of, to determine when such disposal or offsite storage would be available, and to determine whether radioactive wastes can be safely stored onsite past the expiration of existing facility licenses until offsite disposal or storage is available. The Commission has decided to again undertake a review of its Waste Confidence findings as part of an effort to enhance the efficiency of combined operating license proceedings for applications for nuclear power plants anticipated in the near future. To assure that its Waste Confidence findings are up- to-date, the Commission has prepared an update of the findings and proposes to revise two of the findings. The purpose of this notice is to seek public comment on the update and the proposed revisions. The Commission proposes that the second and fourth findings in the Waste Confidence Decision be revised as follows: Finding 2: The Commission finds reasonable assurance that sufficient mined geologic repository capacity can reasonably be expected to be available within 50-60 years beyond the licensed life for operation (which may include the term of a revised or renewed license) of any reactor to dispose of the commercial high-level radioactive waste and spent fuel originating in such reactor and generated up to that time. Finding 4: The Commission finds reasonable assurance that, if necessary, spent fuel generated in any reactor can be stored safely without significant environmental impacts for at least 60 years beyond the licensed life for operation (which may include the term of a revised or renewed license) of that reactor in a combination of storage in its spent fuel storage basin and either onsite or offsite independent spent fuel storage installations. The Commission proposes to reaffirm the remaining findings. Each finding, any proposed revisions, and the reasons for revising or reaffirming them are discussed below. In keeping with the proposed revised Findings 2 and 4, the Commission is publishing concurrently in this issue of the Federal Register proposed conforming amendments to its 10 CFR part 51 rule providing its generic determination on the environmental impacts of storage of spent fuel at, or away from, reactor sites after the expiration of reactor operating licenses.