ML24029A184

Discontinuation of ISFSI Rulemaking and Denial of Request 11 PRM-72-6 (FRN)

ML24029A184
Person / Time
Issue date:	05/02/2024
From:	Raymond Furstenau NRC/EDO
To:
Shared Package
ML24029a175:ML24029A175	List: ML24029A184
References
NRC-2009-0558, NRC-2008-0649, RIN 3150-AI78, PRM-72-6 89 FR 41901, 05/14/2024
Download: ML24029A184 (8)

Text

[7590-01-P]

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 72 and 73

[Docket No. PRM-72-6; NRC-2009-0558; NRC-2008-0649]

RIN 3150-AI78

Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation Security Requirements

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Discontinuation of rulemaking activity; denial of petition for rulemaking.

SUMMARY

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is discontinuing the

rulemaking activity, Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation Security Requirements

for Radiological Sabotage, and denying Request 11 in the associated petition for

rulemaking (PRM), PRM-72-6. The purpose of this action is to inform members of the

public that this rulemaking activity is bei ng discontinued and to provide a brief discussion

of the NRCs decision to discontinue the rulemaking and deny the petition. The

rulemaking activity will no longer be reported in the NRCs portion of the Unified Agenda

of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (the Unified Agenda).

DATES: Effective May 14, 2024, the rulemaking activity discussed in this document is

discontinued and Request 11 in the petition for rulemaking is denied.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket IDs NRC-2009-0558 or NRC-2008-0649 when

contacting the NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain

publicly 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-2009-0558 or NRC-2008-0649. Address questions about

NRC dockets to Angella Love Blair; email: angella.loveblair@nrc.gov. For technical

questions, contact the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section of this document.

• NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System

(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the ADAMS Public

Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the

search, select Begin Web-based ADAMS Search. For problems with ADAMS, please

contact the NRCs Public Document Room (P DR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, at

301-415-4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. For the convenience of the reader,

instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are provided in the

Availability of Documents section.

• NRCs PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies of publicly

available documents, is open by appointment. To make an appointment to visit the PDR,

please send an email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737,

between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday, except Federal

holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gregory Trussell, Office of Nuclear

Material Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-6244; email:

Gregory.Trussell@nrc.gov; or Johari Moore, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident

Response; telephone: 301-287-3787; email: Johari.Moore@nrc.gov. Both are staff of the

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC 20555-0001.

2 SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

A. Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) Security Requirements

Rulemaking

In SECY-07-0148, Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation Requirements

for Radiological Sabotage, dated August 28, 2007, the NRC staff proposed to develop

new security requirements to update the security regulations for ISFSIs. Following

subsequent analysis, as directed by the Commission in staff requirements memorandum

(SRM) SRM-COMKLS-18-003, Fiscal Year 2020 Budget to the Commission, dated

August 22, 2018, and SRM-SECY-19-0100, Discontinuation of Rulemaking-

Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation Security Requirements, dated

August 4, 2021, the staff provided SECY-22-0098, Rulemaking Options for Revising

Security Requirements for Facilities Storing Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level

Radioactive Waste.

In SECY-22-0098, the staff outlined its determination that the current regulatory

framework, including the additional requirements in the post-9/11 security orders,

provides reasonable assurance of adequate protection of public health and safety for

facilities storing spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste and recommended

that the Commission approve discontinuing the rulemaking directed by the Commission

in SRM-SECY-07-0148, Staff Requirements - SECY-07-0148 - Independent Spent

Fuel Storage Installation Security Requirements for Radiological Sabotage. In SRM-

SECY-22-0098, dated October 4, 2023, the Commission approved discontinuing the

rulemaking.

3 B. Petition for Rulemaking

Section 2.802 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Petition

for rulemaking, provides an opportunity for any interested person to petition the

Commission to issue, amend, or rescind any regulation. On November 24, 2008, the

NRC received a PRM filed by Sandra Gavutis (the petitioner), Executive Director of C-10

Research and Education Foundation, Inc. The petitioner requested that the NRC amend

its regulations concerning dry cask safety, security, transferability, and longevity. The

petitioner made 12 specific requests in the petition. The NRC docketed the petition as

PRM-72-6 and documented it in the Federal Register for public comment on March 3,

2009 (74 FR 9178). The staff discussed its review of the petition and the comments

received in SECY-12-0079, Partial Closure of Petition for Rulemaking (PRM-72-6) C-10

Research and Education Foundation, Inc., dated June 1, 2012. The Commission

approved the staffs recommendation for partial closure of the PRM in SRM-SECY 0079, dated September 7, 2012. In a Federal Register document dated October 16,

2012 (77 FR 63254), the NRC denied 9 of the petitioners 12 specific requests

(Requests 1-3, 5-8, 10, and 12), reserved 2 requests for future rulemaking

determination (Requests 4 and 9), and accepted 1 request (Request 11) for

consideration as part of the ISFSI security requirements rulemaking effort.

Subsequently, the NRC announced its final decision to deny Requests 4 and 9 in the

Federal Register on June 24, 2016 (81 FR 41258). As stated in the petition, Request 11

in PRM-72-6 requested that the NRC amend its regulations to do the following:

[R]equire Hardened On-Site Storage (HOSS) at all nuclear power plants as well

as away-from-reactor dry cask storage sites: that all nuclear industry interim on-

site or off-site dry cask storage installations or ISFSIs be fortified against attack.

4 In addition all sites should be safeguarded against accident and age-related

leakage.

In SECY-19-0100, the staff recommended that the Commission deny Request 11

in PRM-72-6. Following the receipt of SRM-SECY-22-0098, the NRC staff submitted

SECY-24-0006, Denial of Request 11 in PRM-72-6 as Part of Notice Discontinuing

Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation Security Requirements Rulemaking, dated

January 22, 2024. In SRM-SECY-24-0006, dated January 31, 2024, the Commission

approved the staffs recommendation.

II. Discussion

A. Discontinuation of Rulemaking Activity

In SRM-SECY-22-0098, dated October 4, 2023, the Commission approved

discontinuing the rulemaking. The NRC finds that the current regulatory framework

provides reasonable assurance of adequate protection of public health and safety for

facilities storing spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, regardless of the

ISFSI license type or location. The NRCs experience shows that the staff, licensees,

applicants, and other stakeholders have been able to understand and apply the existing

ISFSI security requirements, and the NRC has successfully addressed the appropriate

security considerations for new license applicants on a case-by-case basis.

B. Denial of Petition for Rulemaking

Following the receipt of SRM-SECY-22-0098, the NRC staff submitted SECY 0006, Denial of Request 11 In PRM-72-6 as Part of Notice Discontinuing Independent

Spent Fuel Storage Installation Security Requirements Rulemaking, dated January 22,

2024. The staff recommended that the Commission deny Request 11 in PRM-72-6. The

5 staff also noted that, in the 2012 Federal Register document that accepted Request 11

for consideration within the context of the ISFSI security rulemaking effort (77 FR 63254,

63256), the NRC stated that it has not mandated hardened on-site storage because the

NRC has, consistently, found that the r obust nature of dry cask storage systems

approved by the NRC under 10 CFR part 72 assu res the protection of public health,

safety, and security. This statement was made in 2012 in response to public comments

on Request 11. In SRM-SECY-24-0006, dated January 31, 2024, the Commission

approved the staffs recommendation. The NRC is denying Request 11 in PRM-72-6

because the NRC has found that the existing security requirements for ISFSIs, together

with the additional requirements in the post-9/11 security orders, provide reasonable

assurance of adequate protection of public health and safety.

III. Availability of Documents

The documents identified in the following table are available to interested

persons through one or more of the following methods, as indicated.

ADAMS ACCESSION NO. OR DOCUMENT FEDERAL REGISTER CITATION Petition for Rulemaking, The C-I0 Research and ML083470148 Education Foundation Inc. Petition for NRC Rulemaking to Upgrade Interim Dry Cask Storage Code Requirements (November 24, 2008) 10 CFR Part 72, C-10 Research and Education 74 FR 9178 Foundation, Inc.; Receipt of Petition for Rulemaking (March 3, 2009)

SECY-12-0079, Partial Closure of Petition for ML12251A238 Rulemaking (PRM-72-6) C-10 Research and Education Foundation, Inc.

(September 7, 2012) 10 CFR Part 72, Petition for Rulemaking Submitted by 77 FR 63254 C-10 Research and Education Foundation, Inc.: Petition for rulemaking; partial consideration in the rulemaking process (October 16, 2012)

6 10 CFR Part 72, Petition for Rulemaking Submitted by 81 FR 41258 C-10 Research and Education Foundation, Inc.: Petition for rulemaking; denial (June 24, 2016)

SRM-SECY-07-0148, Staff Requirements - SECY ML073530119 0148 - Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation Security Requirements for Radiological Sabotage (December 18, 2017)

SRM-COMKLS-18-003, Fiscal Year 2020 Budget to the ML18234A238 (nonpublic, Commission budget information)

(August 22, 2018)

SECY-19-0100, Discontinuation of Rulemaking-ML19172A301 (package)

Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation Security Requirements (October 9, 2019)

SRM-SECY-19-0100, Staff Requirements - SECY ML21217A045 0100 - Discontinuation of Rulemaking Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation Security Requirements (August 4, 2021)

SECY-22-0098, Rulemaking Options for Revising ML22243A143 (package)

Security Requirements for Facilities Storing Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste (November 30, 2022)

SRM-SECY-22-0098, Staff Requirements - SECY ML23277A281 0098 - Rulemaking Options for Revising Security Requirements for Facilities Storing Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste (October 4, 2023)

SECY-07-0148, Independent Spent Fuel Storage ML080250294 Installation Requirements for Radiological Sabotage (August 28, 2007)

SRM-SECY-24-0006, Denial of Request 11 in Petition ML24031A573 for Rulemaking (PRM)-72-6 as Part of Notice Discontinuing Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation Security Requirements Rulemaking (January 31, 2024)

IV. Conclusion

The NRC is discontinuing the ISFSI security requirements rulemaking and is

denying Request 11 in PRM-72-6 for the reasons discussed in this document. In the next

edition of the Unified Agenda, the NRC will update the entry for this rulemaking activity

and reference this document to indicate that the rulemaking activity is no longer being

pursued. This rulemaking activity will appear in the Completed Actions section of that

7 edition of the Unified Agenda but will not appear in future editions. If the NRC decides to

pursue similar or related rulemaking activities in the future, it will inform the public

through new rulemaking entries in the Unified Agenda.

Dated: May 2, 2024.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

/RA/

Raymond Furstenau, Acting Executive Director for Operations.

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