ML20058B100
| ML20058B100 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Nuclear Energy Institute |
| Issue date: | 02/25/2020 |
| From: | Mccullum R Nuclear Energy Institute |
| To: | John Tappert NRC/NMSS/DREFS |
| MacDougall R | |
| References | |
| PRM 72-7 | |
| Download: ML20058B100 (2) | |
Text
ROD MCCULLUM Sr. Director, Decommissioning and Used Fuel 1201 F Street, NW, Suite 1100 Washington, DC 20004 P: 202.739.8082 rxm@nei.org nei.org February 25, 2020 Mr. John Tappert Director, Division of Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001
Subject:
Request to withdraw NEI Petition for Rulemaking PRM 72-7 Spent Fuel Cask Certificate of Compliance Format and Content, October 3, 2012 Project Number: 689
Dear Mr. Tappert:
On October 3, 2012, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)1 submitted a petition (PRM-72-7; Docket No. NRC-2010-0304) to amend 10 CFR Part 72, Licensing Requirements for the Independent Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level Radioactive Waste, and Reactor-Related Greater Than Class C Waste in an effort to improve the efficiency of the Part 72 licensing process. This petition sought amendments to Part 72 to incorporate specific criteria for the format and content of the Certificates of Compliance (CoCs) for spent fuel storage casks. The primary purpose of the proposed changes to Part 72 was to ensure that the level of detail in CoCs is consistent and risk informed. The petition also called for six other changes that industry believed would result in complimentary improvements in NRCs regulatory framework.
On July 18 2014, the NRC accepted PRM-72-7 (79 Federal Register 41938) for consideration in rulemaking.
However, the petition did not receive a sufficiently high priority to warrant expenditure of NRC resources to undertake a rulemaking in the near term. Accordingly, industry and NRC began exploring alternate means to achieve the desired improvements in regulatory efficiency. A series of public workshops was conducted in 2016 and 2017, which led to what became known as the Graded Approach to establishing the format and content of CoCs. A process for piloting this approach was defined as Regulatory Issue Resolution Protocol (RIRP) I-16-01. On October 28, 2016, TN (ORANO) agreed to submit a license amendment application to pilot the Graded Approach criteria as Amendment No. 16 to the NUHOMS CoC No. 1004.
1 The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) is the organization responsible for establishing unified industry policy on matters affecting the nuclear energy industry, including the regulatory aspects of generic operational and technical issues. NEI's members include entities licensed to operate commercial nuclear power plants in the United States, nuclear plant designers, major architect/engineering firms, fuel cycle facilities, nuclear materials licensees, and other organizations and entities involved in the nuclear energy industry.
Mr John Tappert February 25, 2020 Page 2 By letter dated January 8, 2020, (ADAMS Accession No. ML19353D373) NRC informed industry that it had completed its review of the pilot and pilot application and endorsed the criteria. In this letter, NRC also agreed to engage on the recommendations of an industry white paper submitted on November 8, 2019 (ML19318D970) to expand the use of risk information and enhance the dry storage licensing process. Industry considers NRCs endorsement of the Graded Approach criteria and agreement to engage with industry on the recommendations of our white paper sufficient to satisfy the central purpose of PRM 72-7. With that central purpose addressed, none of the other issues raised in the petition, on their own merits, warrant the dedication of specific resources to a rulemaking.
Accordingly, we are hereby withdrawing the subject Petition (PRM-72-7; Docket No. NRC-2010-0304). If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at rxm@nei.org or 202-739-8082.
Sincerely, Rod McCullum Attachment c:
Andrea Kock, NRC/NMSS/DFM John Lubinski, NRC/NMSS Annette L. Vietti-Cook