NRC AMENDS REGULATIONS TO ADD FUELSOLUTIONS STORAGE CASK DESIGN TO APPROVED LIST

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is amending its regulations to add the FuelSolutions cask system to the several already approved cask designs that utilities may use to store spent fuel at their nuclear power plants.

Under the terms of an NRC general license, any nuclear power reactor operator can use a pre-approved cask, if the company notifies the NRC in advance, meets the conditions of the cask's NRC certificate of compliance, and complies with NRC's regulations. These regulations include a requirement to ensure that the reactor site characteristics and potential site-boundary radiation doses are within the scope of the cask's safety analysis report and the existing reactor license.

The NRC published a proposed rule on this subject July 11, and 14 comments were received from one commenter. The safety evaluation report and the certificate of compliance were revised as a result of the public comments. Public comments can be viewed on the web, at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov

The final rule will become effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, expected shortly.

The NRC staff has issued a safety evaluation report that finds, if the conditions specified in the certificate of compliance are met, adequate protection of public health and safety will be maintained. The staff's environmental assessment determined that use of the FuelSolutions cask design at reactor sites would have no significant incremental impacts on the environment.

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Friday, December 05, 2008