7590-01-P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 72
[NRC-2024-0041]
RIN 3150-AL08
List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: Holtec International HI-STORM 100
Cask System, Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, Renewed Amendment No. 16

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its
spent fuel storage regulations by revising the Holtec International HI-STORM 100 Cask
System listing within the “List of approved spent fuel storage casks” to include Renewed
Amendment No. 16 to Certificate of Compliance No. 1014. Renewed Amendment No. 16
revises the certificate of compliance to add a new overpack, include the ability to use
computational fluid dynamics analysis to evaluate site-specific accident scenarios,
modify the cask design, modify operational and testing requirements, and make changes
to the Final Safety Analysis Report.

DATES: Submit comments by [INSERT DATE 30 DAYS AFTER DATE OF
PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER]. Comments received after this date will
be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only
for comments received on or before this date.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID NRC-2024-0041,
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 instructions.
You can read a plain language description of this proposed rule at
https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NRC-2024-0041. For additional direction on
obtaining information and submitting comments, see “Obtaining Information and
Submitting Comments” in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this
document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alexandra Terres, Office of Nuclear
Materials Safety and Safeguards, email: Alexandra.Terres@nrc.gov and Yen-Ju Chen,
Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-1018, email:
Yen-Ju.Chen@nrc.gov. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.

Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
Rulemaking Procedure
Background
Plain Writing
Availability of Documents

I.

Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0041 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-2024-0041. Address questions about NRC dockets to Helen
Chang, telephone: 301-415-3228, email: Helen.Chang@nrc.gov. For technical
questions contact the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this document.
•

NRC’s 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 NRC’s 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 document are provided
in the “Availability of Documents” section.
•

NRC’s PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents,

by appointment, at the NRC’s PDR, Room P1 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 1-800-397-4209 or 301-4154737, 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-2024-004 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 submitted
using https://www.regulations.gov, call or email the individuals listed in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for alternate
instructions.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information 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 comment submissions to
remove identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 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 disclosed in their comment
submission. Your request should state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment
submissions to remove such information before making the comment submissions
available to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.

II. Rulemaking Procedure

Because the NRC considers this action to be non-controversial, the NRC is
publishing this proposed rule concurrently with a direct final rule in the Rules and
Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register. The direct final rule will
become effective on [INSERT DATE 75 DAYS AFTER DATE OF PUBLICATION IN
THE FEDERAL REGISTER]. However, if the NRC receives any significant adverse
comment by [INSERT DATE 30 DAYS AFTER DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE
FEDERAL REGISTER], then the NRC will publish a document that withdraws the direct
final rule. If the direct final rule is withdrawn, the NRC will address the comments in a
subsequent final rule. In general, absent significant modifications to the proposed
revisions requiring republication, the NRC will not initiate a second comment period on
this action in the event the direct final rule is withdrawn.

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. A comment is
adverse and significant if:
1) The comment opposes the rule and provides a reason sufficient to require a
substantive response in a notice-and-comment process. For example, a substantive
response is required when:
a) The comment causes the NRC to reevaluate (or reconsider) its position or
conduct additional analysis;
b) The comment raises an issue serious enough to warrant a substantive
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, and it is apparent
that the rule would be ineffective or unacceptable without incorporation of the change or
addition.
3) The comment causes the NRC to make a change (other than editorial) to the
rule.
For a more detailed discussion of the proposed rule changes and associated
analyses, see the direct final rule published in the Rules and Regulations section of this
issue of the Federal Register.

III. Background

Section 218(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended, requires
that “[t]he Secretary [of the Department of Energy] shall establish a demonstration
program, in cooperation with the private sector, for the dry storage 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 rule, approve for use at
the sites of civilian nuclear power reactors without, to the maximum extent practicable,
the need for additional site-specific approvals by the Commission.” Section 133 of the
Nuclear Waste Policy Act states, in part, that “[t]he Commission 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 civilian 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 publishing 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 May 1, 2000 (65 FR 25241) that approved the HISTORM 100 Cask System design and added it to the list of NRC-approved cask designs
in § 72.214 as Certificate of Compliance No. 1014.

IV. Plain Writing

The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-274) requires Federal 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 well as the Presidential
Memorandum, “Plain Language in Government Writing,” published June 10, 1998 (63
FR 31885). The NRC requests comment on the proposed rule with respect to clarity and
effectiveness of the language used.

V. Availability of Documents

The documents identified in the following table are available to interested
persons as indicated.

DOCUMENT

ADAMS ACCESSION NO. / WEB LINK /
FEDERAL REGISTER CITATION

Amendment Request Documents
Holtec International, Submittal of HIML21068A360 (package)
STORM 100 Multipurpose Canister Storage
System Amendment 16 Request, dated
March 9, 2021
HI-STORM 100 Amendment 16 Responses ML21223A045 (package)
to Requests for Supplemental Information,
dated August 11, 2021
HI-STORM 100 Amendment 16 Responses ML22243A269 (package)
to Requests for Additional Information
(Batches 1 and 2), dated August 31, 2022
Holtec International, HI-STORM 100
ML22249A347 (package)
Amendment 16 Responses to Requests for
Additional Information (Batch 2), dated
September 9, 2022
HI-STORM 100 Amendment 16 Responses ML22276A286 (package)
to Requests for Additional Information
(Batch 3), dated October 3, 2022
Holtec International, HI-STORM 100
ML23005A000 (package)
Amendment 16 Responses to Requests for
Additional Information (Batch 4), dated
January 4, 2023
Holtec International, HI-STORM 100
ML23005A273 (package)
Amendment 16 Responses to Requests for
Additional Information (Batch 4) –
Additional Supporting Document, dated
January 5, 2023
Holtec International, HI-STORM 100
ML23013A337 (package)
Amendment 16 Responses to Requests for
Additional Information (Batch 5), dated
January 13, 2023
HI-STORM 100 Amendment 16 RAI 3-3
ML23076A271 (package)
Clarification, dated March 17, 2023
HI-STORM 100 Amendment 16 Responses ML23263B122 (package)
to Second Round Requests for Additional
Information, dated September 20, 2023
Holtec International – HI-STORM 100
ML22048C222
Multipurpose Canister Storage System
Amendment 19, dated February 17, 2022
Technical Specifications

Proposed Certificate of Compliance No.
1014, Amendment 16
Proposed Technical Specifications,
Appendix A, Certificate of Compliance No.
1014, Amendment 16
Proposed Technical Specifications,
Appendix B, Certificate of Compliance No.
1014, Amendment 16
Proposed Technical Specifications,
Appendix C, Certificate of Compliance No.
1014, Amendment 16
Proposed Technical Specifications,
Appendix D, Certificate of Compliance No.
1014, Amendment 16
Proposed Technical Specifications,
Appendix A-100U, Certificate of
Compliance No. 1014, Amendment 16
Proposed Technical Specifications,
Appendix B-100U, Certificate of
Compliance No. 1014, Amendment 16

ML23123A104
ML23123A105
ML23123A106
ML23123A107
ML23123A108
ML23123A109
ML23123A110

Preliminary Safety Evaluation Report
Preliminary Certificate of Compliance 1014 ML23123A112
Amendment 16 Safety Evaluation Report
Additional Documents
Final Rule, “Storage of Spent Fuel in NRCApproved Storage Casks at Power Reactor
Sites,” published July 18, 1990
Final Rule, “List of Approved Spent Fuel
Storage Casks: Holtec HI-STORM 100
Addition,” published May 1, 2000
Revision to Policy Statement, “Agreement
State Program Policy Statement;
Correction,” published October 18, 2017
Presidential Memorandum, “Plain
Language in Government Writing,”
published June 10, 1998

55 FR 29181
65 FR 25241
82 FR 48535
63 FR 31885

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-2024-0041. In addition, the Federal rulemaking website allows members
of the public to receive alerts when changes or additions occur in a docket folder. To
subscribe: 1) navigate to the docket folder (NRC-2024-0041); 2) click the “Subscribe”
link; and 3) enter an email address and click on the “Subscribe” link.

Dated: June 7, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Raymond Furstenau,
Acting Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2024-13734 Filed: 6/24/2024 8:45 am; Publication Date: 6/25/2024]