Nuclear Regulatory Commission July 16, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is withdrawing a direct final rule that would have revised the NUHOMS[supreg] HD cask system listing within the list of approved spent fuel storage casks to include Amendment No. 1 to Certificate of Compliance (CoC) Number 1030. The NRC is taking this action because the applicant identified that a certain Technical Specification (TS) for Boral characterization was not written precisely and in a manner that could be readily and demonstrably implemented. Specifically, the requirements for meeting TS 4.3.1, ``Neutron Absorber Tests,'' which references Section 9.1.7.3 of the Safety Analysis Report (SAR), are not precisely quantified in that it requires that ``the average size of the boron carbide particles in the finished product is approximately 50 microns after rolling.'' Use of language such as ``average'' and ``approximately'' is imprecise, and no ranges or statistical variations are specified. The NRC will publish a revised direct final rule along with its companion proposed rule after the necessary revisions to the TS are made.