Rules and Regulations. Direct final rule; confirmation of effective date

Agency: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Action: Direct final rule; confirmation of effective date
Citation: FR Doc. 2016-26775 · RIN 3150-AJ75 · NRC-2016-0103 · 10 CFR 72

Summary

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is confirming the effective date of November 7, 2016, for the direct final rule that was published in the Federal Register on August 23, 2016. The direct final rule amended the NRC's spent fuel storage regulations by revising the “List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks” to include Amendment No. 2 to Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1032 for the Holtec International (Holtec) HI-STORM Flood/Wind (FW) Multipurpose Canister (MPC) Storage System.

Dates

Effective Date: The effective date of November 7, 2016, for the direct final rule published August 23, 2016 (81 FR 57442), is confirmed.

Supplementary Information

On August 23, 2016 (81 FR 57442), the NRC published a direct final rule amending § 72.214 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) by revising the “List of approved spent fuel storage casks” to include Amendment No. 2 to CoC No. 1032 for the Holtec HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System. Amendment No. 2 adds new fuel types to the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System, adds new criticality calculations, updates an existing fuel type description, includes changes previously incorporated in Amendment No. 0 to CoC No. 1032, Revision 1, and makes clarifying changes to a CoC condition. In the direct final rule, the NRC stated that if no significant adverse comments were received, the direct final rule would become effective on November 7, 2016. As described more fully in the direct final rule, a significant adverse comment is a comment where the commenter explains why the rule would be inappropriate, including challenges to the rule's underlying premise or approach, or would be ineffective or unacceptable without a change. The NRC received two comments on the direct final rule (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML16252A336 and ML16271A024). As described below, the NRC determined that these were not significant adverse comments and did not make any changes to the direct final rule as a result of the public comments. One comment stated “good.” The NRC determined that this comment does not meet the criteria of significant and adverse because it does not explain why the rule is inappropriate. The other comment contained general statements and questions about dry cask storage systems manufactured by Holtec and used overseas, Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations, and the infrastructure for the transportation of spent fuel. The NRC determined that this general comment about spent fuel storage and transportation is not within the scope of the direct final rule, which is limited to the specific changes contained in Amendment No. 2 to CoC No. 1032. Therefore, because no significant adverse comments were received, the direct final rule will become effective as scheduled. The final CoC, Technical Specifications, and Safety Evaluation Report can be viewed in ADAMS under Accession No. ML16280A008. Dated: November 1, 2016. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, Announcements, and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration. [FR Doc. 2016-26775 Filed 11-4-16; 8:45 am]