ML21271A617
| ML21271A617 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07201027 |
| Issue date: | 11/29/2021 |
| From: | Dan Dorman NRC/EDO |
| To: | TN Americas LLC |
| Sahle S | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML21271A604 | List: |
| References | |
| NRC-2021-0161, RIN 3150-AK69 86 FR 69978; 12/9/2021 | |
| Download: ML21271A617 (24) | |
Text
[7590-01-P]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2021-0161]
RIN 3150-AK69
List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: TN Americas LLC,
TN-68 Dry Storage Cask, Certificate of Compliance No. 1027,
Renewal of Initial Certificate and Amendment No. 1
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Direct final rule.
SUMMARY
- The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its spent
fuel storage regulations by revising the TN Americas LLC, TN-68 Dry Storage Cask
listing within the List of approved spent fuel storage casks to renew, for an additional
40 years, the initial certificate and Amendment No. 1 of Certif icate of Compliance
No. 1027. The renewal of the initial certificate and Amendment No. 1 revises the
certificate of compliances conditions and technical specificat ions to address aging
management activities related to the structures, systems, and c omponents (SSCs) of the
dry storage system to ensure that the SSCs will maintain their intended functions during
the period of extended storage operations.
DATES: T h i s d i r e c t f i n a l r u l e i s e f f e c t i v e February 22, 2022, u n l e s s significant adverse
comments are received by January 10, 2022. If this direct fina l rule is withdrawn as a
result of such comments, timely notice of the withdrawal will b e published in the Federal
Register. Comments received after this date will be considered if it i s practical to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments r eceived on or before this
date. Comments received on this direct final rule will also be considered to be
comments on a companion proposed rule published in the Proposed Rules section of
this issue of the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID NRC-2021-0161, at
https://www.regulations.gov. If your material cannot be submitted using
https://www.regulations.gov, call or email the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for alternate inst ructions.
For additional direction on obtaining information and submitti ng comments, see
Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments in the SUPPLEME NTARY
INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christian Jacobs, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-6825, email :
Christian.Jacobs@nrc.gov and Solomon Sahle, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-3781, email: Solomon.Sahle@nrc.gov. Both are staff
of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555 -0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments II. Rulemaking Procedure III. Background IV. Discussion of Changes V. Voluntary Consensus Standards VI. Agreement State Compatibility VII. Plain Writing VIII. Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Im pact IX. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement X. Regulatory Flexibility Certification XI. Regulatory Analysis XII. Backfitting and Issue Finality 2
XIII. Congressional Review Act XIV. Availability of Documents
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0161 when contacting the NR C about the
availability of information for this action. You may obtain pu blicly available information
related to this action by any of the following methods:
- Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and
search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0161. Address questions about NR C dockets to Dawn
Forder, telephone: 301-415-3407, email: Dawn.Forder@nrc.gov. For technical
questions, contact the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER IN FORMATION
CONTACT section of this document.
- NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the ADA MS Public
Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the
search, select Begin Web-based ADAMS Search. For problems wi th ADAMS, please
contact the NRCs Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209,
301-415-4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. For the convenience of the reader,
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this docum ent are provided in the
Availability of Documents section.
- NRCs PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents,
by appointment, at the NRCs Public Document Room (PDR), Room P 1 B35, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make an appointment
to visit the PDR, please send an email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov or call
3 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (ET), Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2021-0161 in your comment submission. The
NRC requests that you submit comments through the Federal rulemaking website at
https://www.regulations.gov. If your material cannot be submitt ed using
https://www.regulations.gov, call or email the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for alternate inst ructions.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact inf ormation that you
do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment submission. The NRC will post all
comment submissions at https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment
submissions into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit commen t submissions to
remove identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other perso ns 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 dis closed in their comment
submission. Your request should state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment
submissions to remove such information before making the commen t submissions
available to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.
II. Rulemaking Procedure
This rule is limited to the renewal of the initial certificate and Amendment No. 1 of
Certificate of Compliance No. 1027 and does not include other a spects of the TN
Americas LLC, TN-68 Dry Storage Cask system design. The NRC is using the direct
final rule procedure to issue this renewal because it represen ts a limited and routine
4 change to an existing certificate of compliance that is expecte d to be non-controversial.
Adequate protection of public health and safety continues to be reasonably assured.
The amendment to the rule will become effective on February 22, 2022. However, if the
NRC receives any significant adv erse comments on this direct final rule by January 10,
2022, 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
Federal Register. Absent significant modifications to the proposed revisions r equiring
republication, the NRC will not initiate a second comment perio d on this action.
A significant adverse comment is a comment where the commenter explains why
the rule would be inappropriate, including challenges to the ru les underlying premise or
approach, or would be ineffective or unacceptable without a cha nge. A comment is
adverse and significant if:
- 1) The comment opposes the rule and provides a reason sufficie nt to require a
substantive response in a notice-and-comment process. For exam ple, a substantive
response is required when:
a) The comment causes the NRC to reevaluate (or reconsider) it s position or
conduct additional analysis;
b) The comment raises an issue serious enough to warrant a sub stantive
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, a nd it is apparent
that the rule would be ineffective or unacceptable without inco rporation of the change or
addition.
5
- 3) The comment causes the NRC to make a change (other than edi torial) to the
rule, certificate of compliance, or technical specifications.
III. Background
Section 218(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as ame nded, requires
that [t]he Secretary [of the Department of Energy] shall estab lish a demonstration
program, in cooperation with the private sector, for the dry st orage 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 r ule, approve for use at
the sites of civilian nuclear power reactors without, to the ma ximum extent practicable,
the need for additional site-specific approvals by the Commissi on. Section 133 of the
Nuclear Waste Policy Act states, in part, that [t]he Commissio n 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 civili an 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 p ublishing a final rule
that added a new subpart K in part 72 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR) entitled General License for Storage of Spent Fuel at Power Reactor Sites
(55 FR 29181; July 18, 1990). This rule also established a new subpart L in
10 CFR part 72 entitled Approval of Spent Fuel Storage Casks, which contains
procedures and criteria for obtaining NRC approval of spent fuel storage cask designs.
The NRC subsequently issued a final rule on April 28, 2000 (65 FR 24855), that
approved the TN-68 Dry Storage Cask system design and added it to the list of
NRC-approved cask designs in § 72.214 as Certificate of Compliance No. 1027. The
NRC issued a direct final rule on August 16, 2007 (72 FR 45880), that approved
6 Amendment No. 1 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1027 for the T N-68 Dry Storage
Cask system design and added it to the list of NRC approved cas k designs in § 72.214.
IV. Discussion of Changes
On April 9, 2020, TN Americas LLC submitted a request to the NR C to renew, for
an additional 40 years, the initial certificate and Amendment N o. 1 of Certificate of
Compliance No. 1027 for the TN-68 Dry Storage Cask system. TN Americas LLC
supplemented its request on July 29, 2020; February 9, 2021; an d March 24, 2021.
The renewal of the initial certificate and Amendment No. 1 was conducted in
accordance with the renewal provisions in § 72.240. This secti on of the NRC spent fuel
storage regulations authorizes the NRC to include any additiona l certificate conditions it
deems necessary to ensure the safe operation of the cask during the certificates
renewal period. The NRC included three additional conditions t o the renewal of the
initial certificate of compliance and Amendment No. 1:
- The submittal of an updated final safety analysis report (UFSA R) to address
aging management activities result ing from the renewal of the certificate of
compliance. This condition ensures that the UFSAR changes are made in a
timely fashion to enable general licensees using the storage sy stem during
the period of extended operation to develop and implement neces sary
procedures.
- The requirement that general licensees initiating or using spe nt fuel dry
storage operations with the TN-68 Dry Storage Cask system ensur e that their
evaluations are included in the reports required by § 72.212, Conditions of
general license issued under § 72.210. These reports will inc lude
appropriate considerations for the period of extended operation, a review of
7 the UFSAR changes resulting from the certificate of compliance renewal, and
a review of the NRC safety evaluation report (SER) related to t he certificate
of compliance renewal.
- The requirement that future amendments and revisions to this c ertificate of
compliance include evaluations of the impacts to aging manageme nt
activities to ensure that they remain adequate for any changes to the
structures, systems, and components (SSCs).
The NRC made one corresponding change to the technical specific ations for the
initial certificate of compliance and Amendment No. 1. The cha nge added a new
section, which ensures that gener al licensees using the storage system develop
procedures to address aging management activities required in t he period of extended
operation.
As documented in the preliminary SER, the NRC performed a safe ty evaluation
of the proposed certificate of compliance renewal request. The NRC determined that
this renewal does not change the cask design or fabrication req uirements in the
proposed certificate of compliance renewal request. The NRC de termined that the
design of the cask would continue to maintain confinement, shie lding, and criticality
control in the event of each evaluated accident condition. In addition, any resulting
occupational exposure or offsite dose rates from the renewal of the initial certificate of
compliance and Amendment No. 1 would remain well within the lim its specified by
10 CFR part 20, Standards for Protection Against Radiation. Thus, the NRC found
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. In its SER for
the renewal of the TN-68 Dry Storage Cask system, the NRC staff has determined that if
8 the conditions specified in the certificate of compliance to im plement these regulations
are met, adequate protection of public health and safety will c ontinue to be reasonably
assured.
This direct final rule revises the TN-68 Dry Storage Cask list ing in § 72.214 by
renewing for 40 more years, the initial certificate and Amendme nt No. 1 of Certificate of
Compliance No. 1027. The renewal consists of the changes previ ously described, as
set forth in the renewed initial certificate and amendment and their revised technical
specifications. The revised technical specifications are ident ified in the SER.
V. Voluntary Consensus Standards
The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995
(Pub. L. 104-113) requires that Federal agencies use technical standards that are
developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies un less the use of such
a standard is inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise imp ractical. In this direct final
rule, the NRC revises the TN Americas LLC, TN-68 Dry Storage Ca sk design listed in
§ 72.214, List of approved spent fuel storage casks. This ac tion does not constitute
the establishment of a standard that contains generally applica ble requirements.
VI. Agreement State Compatibility
Under the Agreement State Program Policy Statement approved by the
Commission on October 2, 2017, and published in the Federal Register on October 18,
2017 (82 FR 48535), this rule is classified as Compatibility Ca tegory NRC - Areas of
Exclusive NRC Regulatory Authority. The NRC program elements i n this category are
those that relate directly to areas of regulation reserved to t he NRC by the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or the provisions of 10 CFR cha pter I. Therefore,
compatibility is not required for program elements in this cate gory. Although an 9
Agreement State may not adopt program elements reserved to the NRC, and the
Category NRC does not confer regulatory authority on the Stat e, the State may wish to
inform its licensees of certain requirements by means consisten t with the particular
States administrative procedure laws.
VII. Plain Writing
The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-274) requires Federa l 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 we ll as the Presidential
Memorandum, Plain Language in Government Writing, published J une 10, 1998
(63 FR 31885).
VIII. Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant I mpact
Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amende d, and the
NRCs regulations in 10 CFR part 51, Environmental Protection Regulations for
Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions, the NRC h as determined that
this direct final rule, if adopted, would not be a major Federa l action significantly affecting
the quality of the human environment and, therefore, an environ mental impact statement
is not required. The NRC has made a finding of no significant impact on the basis of this
environmental assessment.
A. The Action
The action is to amend § 72.214 to revise the TN-68 Dry Storag e Cask listing
within the List of approved spent fuel storage casks to renew, for an additional
10 40 years, the initial certificate and Amendment No. 1 of Certif icate of Compliance
No. 1027.
B. The Need for the Action
This direct final rule renews the initial certificate and Amend ment No. 1 of
Certificate of Compliance No. 1027 for the TN Americas LLC, TN-68 Dry Storage Cask
system design within the list of approved spent fuel storage ca sks to allow power reactor
licensees to store spent fuel at reactor sites in casks with th e approved modifications
under a general license. Specifically, this rule extends the e xpiration date for the TN
Americas LLC, TN-68 Dry Storage Cask certificate for an additio nal 40 years, allowing a
reactor licensee to continue using it under general license pro visions in an independent
spent fuel storage installation to store spent fuel in dry cask s in accordance with
10 CFR part 72.
C. Environmental Impacts of the Action
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 impac t of using
NRC-approved storage casks was analyzed in the environmental as sessment for the
1990 final rule. The environmental assessment for this renewal of the initial certificate
and Amendment No. 1 of Certificate of Compliance No. 1027 tiers off of the
environmental assessment for the July 18, 1990, final rule. Ti ering on past
environmental assessments is a standard process under the Natio nal Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, as amended. As required by § 72.240, appli cations for renewal of a
spent fuel storage certificate of compliance design are require d to demonstrate that
SSCs important to safety will continue to perform their intende d function for the
requested renewal term. As discussed in the NRCs SER for the renewal of the initial
11 certificate and Amendment No. 1, the NRC has approved condition s in the renewed
initial certificate and Amendment No. 1 requiring the general l icensee to implement the
aging management activities descr ibed in the renewal applicatio n and incorporated into
the UFSAR. These conditions ensure that the TN Americas LLC, T N-68 Dry Storage
Cask system will continue to perform its intended safety functi ons and provide
reasonable assurance of adequate protection of public health an d safety throughout the
renewal period.
Incremental impacts from continued use of the TN-68 Dry Storag e Cask system
under a general license for an additional 40 years are not cons idered significant. When
the general licensee follows all procedures and administrative controls, including the
conditions established because of this renewal, no effluents ar e expected from the
sealed dry cask systems. Activities associated with cask loadi ng and decontamination
may result in some small incremental liquid and gaseous effluen ts, but these activities
will be conducted under 10 CFR parts 50 and 52 reactor operatin g licenses, and
effluents will be controlled within existing reactor site techn ical specifications. Because
reactor sites are relatively large, any incremental offsite dos es due to direct radiation
exposure from the spent fuel storage casks are expected to be s mall, and when
combined with the contribution from reactor operations, well wi thin the annual dose
equivalent of 0.25 mSv (25 mrem) limit to the whole body specif ied in § 72.104.
Incremental impacts on collective occupational exposures due to dry cask spent fuel
storage are expected to be only a small fraction of the exposur es from operation of the
nuclear power station.
The TN-68 Dry Storage Cask system is 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
12 and surrounding area. Postulated accidents analyzed for an ind ependent 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 C FR part 72, can include
tornado winds and tornado-generated missiles, a design-basis ea rthquake, a
design-basis flood, an accidental cask drop, lightning effects, fire, explosions, and other
incidents.
During the promulgation of the amendments that added subpart K to
10 CFR part 72 (55 FR 29181; July 18, 1990), the NRC staff asse ssed the public health
consequences of dry cask storage accidents and sabotage events. In the supporting
analyses for these amendments, the NRC determined that a releas e from a dry cask
storage system would be comparable in magnitude to a release fr om the same quantity
of fuel in a spent fuel storage pool. As a result of these eva luations, the NRC
determined that, because of the physical characteristics of the storage casks and
conditions of storage that include specific security provisions, the potential risk to public
health and safety due to accidents or sabotage is very small.
Considering the specific design requirements for each accident or sabotage
condition, the design of the cask would maintain confinement, s hielding, and criticality
control. If confinement, shielding, or criticality control are maintained, the environmental
impacts from an accident would be insignificant.
There are no changes to cask design or fabrication requirements in the renewed
initial certificate or Amendment No. 1. Because there are no s ignificant design or
process changes, any resulting occupational exposure or offsite dose rates from the
implementation of the renewal of the initial certificate and Am endment No. 1 would
remain well within the 10 CFR part 20 limits.
13 Decommissioning of dry cask spent fuel storage systems under a general license
would be carried out as part of a power reactors site decommis sioning plan. In general,
decommissioning would consist of removing the spent fuel from t he site,
decontaminating cask surfaces, and decontaminating and dismantl ing the independent
spent fuel storage installation where the casks were deployed. Under normal and
off-normal operating conditions, no residual contamination is e xpected to be left behind
on supporting structures. The incremental impacts associated w ith decommissioning dry
cask storage installations are expected to represent a small fr action of the impacts of
decommissioning an entire nuclear power station.
In summary, the proposed changes will not result in any radiolo gical or
nonradiological environmental impac ts that significantly differ from the environmental
impacts evaluated in the environmental assessment supporting th e July 18, 1990, final
rule. Compliance with the requirements of 10 CFR parts 20 and 72 would provide
reasonable assurance that adequate protection of public health and safety will continue.
The NRC, in its SER for the renewal of the TN-68 Dry Storage Ca sk system, has
determined if the conditions specified in the certificate of co mpliance to implement these
regulations are met, adequate protection of public health and s afety will continue to be
reasonably assured.
Based on the previously stated assessments and its SER for the requested
renewal of the TN-68 Dry Storage Cask certificates, the NRC has determined that the
expiration date of this system in 10 CFR 72.214 can be safely e xtended for an additional
40 years, and that commercial nuclear power reactor licensees c an continue using the
system during this period under a general license without signi ficant impacts on the
human environment.
14 D. Alternative to the Action
The alternative to this action is to deny approval of the rene wal and not issue the
direct final rule. Under this alternative, the NRC would eithe r 1) require general
licensees using the TN-68 Dry Storage Cask to unload the spent fuel from these
systems and either return it to a spent fuel pool or re-load it into a different dry storage
cask system listed in § 72.214; or 2) require that users of the existing TN-68 Dry Storage
Cask request site-specific licensing proceedings to continue st orage in these systems.
The environmental impacts of requiring the licensee to unload the spent fuel and
either return it to the spent fuel pool or re-load it into anot her NRC-approved cask
system would result in increased radiological doses to workers. These increased doses
would be due primarily to direct r adiation from the casks while the workers unloaded,
transferred, and re-loaded the spent fuel. These activities wo uld consist of transferring
the dry storage canisters to a cask-handling building, opening the canister lid welds,
returning the canister to a spent fuel pool or dry transfer fac ility, removing the fuel
assemblies, and re-loading them, either into a spent fuel pool storage rack or another
NRC-approved dry storage system. In addition to the increased occupational doses to
workers, these activities may also result in additional liquid or gaseous effluents.
Alternatively, users of the dry cask storage system would need to apply for a
site-specific license. Under this option for implementing the no-action alternative,
interested licensees would have to prepare, and the NRC would h ave to review, each
separate license application, ther eby increasing the administrative burden upon the NRC
and the costs to each licensee.
In summary, the no-action alternative would entail either 1) m ore environmental
impacts than the preferred action from transferring the spent f uel now in the TN-68 Dry
Storage Cask; or 2) cost and administrative impacts from multip le licensing actions that,
15 in aggregate, are likely to be the same as, or more likely grea ter than, the preferred
action.
E. Alternative Use of Resources
Renewal of the initial certificate and Amendment No. 1 to Cert ificate of
Compliance No. 1027 would result in no irreversible commitment of resources.
F. Agencies and Persons Contacted
No agencies or persons outside the NRC were contacted in conne ction with the
preparation of this environmental assessment.
G. Finding of No Significant Impact
The environmental impacts of the action have been reviewed und er the
requirements in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and the
NRCs regulations in subpart A of 10 CFR part 51, Environmenta l Protection
Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Funct ions. Based on the
foregoing environmental assessment, the NRC concludes that this direct final rule, List
of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: TN Americas LLC, TN-68 D ry Storage Cask,
Certificate of Compliance No. 1027, Renewal of Initial Certific ate and Amendment
No. 1, will not have a significant effect on the human environ ment. Therefore, the NRC
has determined that an environmental impact statement is not ne cessary for this direct
final rule.
IX. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
This direct final rule does not contain any new or amended coll ections of
information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
16 Existing collections of informat ion were approved by the Office of Management and
Budget, approval number 3150-0132.
Public Protection Notification
The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not requir ed to respond
to, a request for information or an information collection requ irement unless the
requesting document displays a currently valid Office of Manage ment and Budget
control number.
X. Regulatory Flexibility Certification
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 signifi cant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities. This direct final rule a ffects only nuclear power
plant licensees and TN Americas LLC. These entities do not fal l within the scope of the
definition of small entities set forth in the Regulatory Flexib ility Act or the size standards
established by the NRC (§ 2.810).
XI. Regulatory Analysis
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 li censee can use
NRC-approved cask designs to store spent nuclear fuel if 1) it notifies the NRC in
advance; 2) the spent fuel is stored under the conditions speci fied in the casks
certificate of compliance; and 3) the conditions of the general license are met. A list of
NRC-approved cask designs is contained in § 72.214. On April 28, 2000 (65 FR 24855),
17 the NRC issued an amendment to 10 CFR part 72 that approved the TN Americas LLC,
TN-68 Dry Storage Cask by adding it to the list of NRC-approved cask designs in
§ 72.214 as Certificate of Compliance No. 1027.
On April 9, 2020, and as supplemented on July 29, 2020; Februar y 9; 2021; and
March 24, 2021, TN Americas LLC requested a renewal of the init ial certificate and
Amendment No. 1 of the TN-68 Dry Storage Cask system for an add itional 40 years
beyond the initial certificate term as discussed in Section IV, Discussion of Changes, of
this document. Because TN Americas LLC filed its renewal appli cation at least 30 days
before the certificate expiration date of May 20, 2020, pursuan t to the timely renewal
provisions in § 72.240(b), the initial issuance of the certific ate and Amendment No. 1 of
Certificate of Compliance No. 1027 did not expire during the pe ndency of the NRCs
review.
The alternative to this action is to deny approval of the rene wal of the initial
certificate and Amendment No. 1 of Certificate of Compliance No. 1027 and end this
direct final rule. Under this alternative, the NRC would eithe r 1) require general
licensees using the TN-68 Dry Storage Cask system to unload spe nt fuel from these
systems and return it to a spent fuel pool or re-load it into a different dry storage cask
system listed in § 72.214, or 2) require that users of the exis ting TN-68 Dry Storage
Cask system request site-specific licensing proceedings to cont inue storage in these
systems. Therefore, the no-action alternative would result in a significant burden on
licensees and an additional inspection or licensing caseload on the NRC. In addition,
the no action alternative would entail either 1) more environme ntal impacts than the
preferred action from transferring the spent fuel now in the TN -68 Dry Storage Cask
system, or 2) cost and administrative impacts from multiple lic ensing actions that, in
aggregate, are likely to be the same as, or more likely greater than, the preferred action.
18 Approval of this direct final rule is consistent with previous NRC actions. Further,
as documented in the preliminar y SER and environmental assessme nt, 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 ben efit on other government
agencies. Based on this regulatory analysis, the NRC concludes that the requirements
of this direct final rule are commensurate with the NRCs respo nsibilities for public health
and safety and the common defense and security. No other avail able alternative is
believed to be as satisfactory; therefore, this action is recom mended.
XII. Backfitting and Issue Finality
The NRC has determined that the backfit rule (§ 72.62) does no t apply to this
direct final rule. Therefore, a backfit analysis is not requir ed. This direct final rule
renews Certificate of Compliance No. 1027 for the TN Americas L LC, TN-68 Dry Storage
Cask system, as currently listed in § 72.214, to extend the exp iration date of the initial
certificate and Amendment No. 1 by 40 years. The renewed initi al certificate and
Amendment No. 1 consist of the changes previously described, as set forth in the
revised certificate of compliance and technical specifications.
Extending the effective date of the initial certificate and Am endment No. 1 for
40 more years and requiring the implementation of aging managem ent activities does
not impose any modification or addition to the design of a cask systems SSCs, or to the
procedures or organization required to operate the system durin g the initial 20-year
storage period of the system, as authorized by the current cert ificate. General licensees
that have loaded these casks, or that load these casks in the f uture under the
specifications of the applicable certificate, may continue to s tore spent fuel in these
systems for the initial 20-year storage period consistent with the original certificate. The
19 aging management activities required to be implemented by this renewal are only
required after the storage cask systems initial 20-year servic e period ends. As
explained in the 2011 final rule that amended 10 CFR part 72 (7 6 FR 8872, Question I),
the general licensees authority to use a particular storage ca sk design under an
approved certificate of compliance terminates 20 years after th e date that the general
licensee first loads the particular cask with spent fuel, unles s the casks certificate of
compliance is renewed. Because this rulemaking renews the init ial certificate and
Amendment No. 1, and renewal is a separate licensing action voluntarily implemented
by vendors, the renewal of the initial certificate and Amendmen t No. 1 is not an
imposition of new or changed requirements from which these lice nsees would otherwise
be protected by the backfitting provisions in § 72.62.
Even if renewal of the initial certificate and Amendment No. 1 of Certificate of
Compliance No. 1027 could be considered a backfit, TN Americas LLC, as the holder of
the certificate of compliance and vendor of the casks, is not p rotected by the backfitting
provisions in § 72.62.
Unlike a vendor, general licensee s using the existing systems subject to this
renewal would be protected by the backfitting provisions in § 7 2.62 if the renewal
constituted new or changed requirements applicable during the i nitial 20-year storage
period. But, as previously explained, renewal of the initial c ertificate and Amendment
No. 1 of Certificate of Compliance No. 1027 does not impose suc h requirements. The
general licensee using the initial certificate or Amendment No. 1 of Certificate of
Compliance No. 1027 may continue storing material in its respec tive cask systems for
the initial 20-year storage period identified in the applicable certificate or amendment
with no changes. If general licensees choose to continue to st ore spent fuel in the
TN-68 Dry Storage Cask system after the initial 20-year period, these general licensees
20 will be required to implement aging management activities for a ny cask systems subject
to a renewed certificate of compliance, but such continued use is voluntary.
For these reasons, renewing the initial certificate and Amendme nt No. 1 of
Certificate of Compliance No. 1027, and imposing the additional conditions previously
discussed, does not constitute backfitting under § 72.62 or §5 0.109(a)(1), or otherwise
represent an inconsistency with the issue finality provisions a pplicable to combined
licenses in 10 CFR part 52. Accordingly, the NRC has not prepa red a backfit analysis
for this rulemaking.
XIII. Congressional Review Act
This direct final rule is not a rule as defined in the Congress ional Review Act.
XIV. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to interested
persons, as indicated.
DOCUMENT ADAMS ACCESSION NO.
TN Americas LLC Renewal Application for ML20100F295 the TN-68 Dry Storage Cask Certificate of Compliance No. 1027, dated April 9, 2020 Supplemental Response to Request for ML20211L707 Additional Information for the TN Americas LLC Application for Renewal of the TN-68 Dry Storage Cask, Certificate of Compliance No. 1027, dated July 29, 2020 Supplemental Response to Request for ML21040A406 Additional Information for the TN Americas LLC Application for Renewal of the TN-68 Dry Storage Cask, Certificate of Compliance No. 1027, dated February 9, 2021
21 DOCUMENT ADAMS ACCESSION NO.
Supplemental Response to Request for ML21083A029 Additional Information for the TN Americas LLC Application for Renewal of the TN-68 Dry Storage Cask, Certificate of Compliance No. 1027, dated March 24, 2021 User Need Memorandum for Rulemaking for ML21174A125 Certificate of Compliance Renewal, Initial Issue (Amendment Number 0), Amendment Number 1 to TN-68 Dry Storage Cask, dated September 20, 2021 Preliminary Safety Evaluation Report for the ML21174A128 TN-32 Dry Storage Cask Certificate of Compliance Renewal Proposed Certificate of Compliance ML21174A126 No. 1027, Renewed Initial Certificate Proposed Technical Specifications, Appendix ML21174A129 A, Certificate of Compliance No. 1027, Renewed Initial Certificate Proposed Certificate of Compliance ML21174A127 No. 1027, Renewed Amendment No. 1 Proposed Technical Specifications, Appendix ML21174A131 A, Certificate of Compliance No. 1027, Renewed Amendment No. 1
The NRC may post materials related to this document, including public
comments, on the Federal rulemaking website at https://www.regulations.gov under
Docket ID NRC-2021-0161.
List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 72
Administrative practice and procedure, Hazardous waste, Indian s,
Intergovernmental relations, Nuc lear energy, Penalties, Radiation protection, Reporting
and recordkeeping requirements, Security measures, Spent fuel, Whistleblowing.
For the reasons set out in the preamble and under the authorit y of the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954, as amended; the Energy Reorganization Act o f 1974, as amended; 22 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:
PART 72 - LICENSING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE INDEPENDENT STORAGE OF
SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL, HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE, AND
REACTOR-RELATED GREATER THAN CLASS C WASTE
- 1. The authority citation for part 72 continues to read as fol lows:
Authority: Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 51, 53, 57, 62, 63, 65, 69, 8 1, 161, 182, 183, 184, 186, 187, 189, 223, 234, 274 (42 U.S.C. 2071, 20 73, 2077, 2092, 2093, 2095, 2099, 2111, 2201, 2210e, 2232, 2233, 2234, 2236, 2237, 22 38, 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 (4 2 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.
- 2. In § 72.214, Certificate of Compliance No. 1027 is revised to read as follows:
§ 72.214 List of approved spent fuel storage casks.
Certificate Number: 1027.
Initial Certificate Effective Date: May 30, 2000, superseded by Renewed Initial Certificate
on February 22, 2022.
Amendment Number 1 Effective Date: October 30, 2007, superseded by Renewed
Amendment Number 1 on February 22, 2022.
SAR Submitted by: Transnuclear, Inc., now TN Americas LLC.
Renewal SAR Submitted by: TN Americas LLC.
Title:
Final Safety Analysis Report for the TN-68 Dry Stor age Cask.
23 Docket Number: 72-1027.
Certificate Expiration Date: May 28, 2020.
Renewed Certificate Expiration Date: May 28, 2060.
Model Number: TN-68.
Dated: November 29, 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
/RA/
Daniel H. Dorman, Executive Director for Operations.
24