List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: Holtec International HI-STORM 100 Cask System; Amendment No. 9, Revision 1

AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Direct final rule; confirmation of effective date.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is confirming the effective date of March 21, 2016, for the direct final rule that was published in the Federal Register on January 6, 2016. This direct final rule amended 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 Amendment No. 9, Revision 1, to Certificate of Compliance No. 1014. Amendment No. 9, Revision 1, changes cooling time limits for thimble plug devices, removes certain testing requirements for the fabrication of Metamic HT neutron-absorbing structural material, and reduces certain minimum guaranteed values used in bounding calculations for this material. Amendment No. 9, Revision 1, also changes fuel definitions to classify certain boiling water reactor fuel within specified guidelines as undamaged fuel.

DATES:

Effective date: The effective date of March 21, 2016, for the direct final rule published January 6, 2016 (81 FR 371), is confirmed.

ADDRESSES:

Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0156 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 Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0156. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact the individual 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 http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select “ADAMS Public Documents” and then 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.
• NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Robert D. MacDougall, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-5175; email: Robert.MacDougall@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

On January 6, 2016 (81 FR 371), the NRC published a direct final rule amending its regulations in part 72 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations to include Amendment No. 9, Revision 1, of Certificate of Compliance No. 1014 for the HI-STORM 100 Cask System. Amendment No. 9, Revision 1, changes cooling time limits for thimble plug devices, removes certain testing requirements for the fabrication of Metamic HT neutron-absorbing structural material, and reduces certain minimum guaranteed values used in bounding calculations for this material. Amendment No. 9, Revision 1, also changes fuel definitions to classify certain boiling water reactor fuel within specified guidelines as undamaged fuel. In the direct final rule, the NRC stated that if no significant adverse comments were received, the direct final rule would become effective on March 21, 2016. The NRC did not receive any comments on the direct final rule. Therefore, this direct final rule will become effective as scheduled.