Approval of Spent Fuel Storage Casks

10 C.F.R. Part ..., Subpart L
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01

10 C.F.R. § 72.230 Procedures for spent fuel storage cask submittals.

(a) An application for approval of a spent fuel storage cask design must be submitted in accordance with the instructions contained in § 72.4. A safety analysis report describing the proposed cask design and how the cask should be used to store spent fuel safely must be included with the application. (b) Casks that have been certified for transportation of spent fuel under part 71 of this chapter may be approved for storage of spent fuel under this subpart. An application must be submitted in accordance with the instructions contained in § 72.4, for a proposed term not to exceed 40 years. A copy of the CoC issued for the cask under part 71 of this chapter, and drawings and other documents referenced in the certificate, must be included with the application. A safety analysis report showing that the cask is suitable for storage of spent fuel, for the term proposed in the application, must also be included. (c) Public inspection. An application for the approval of a cask for storage of spent fuel may be made available for public inspection under § 72.20. (d) Fees. Fees for reviews and evaluations related to issuance of a spent fuel storage cask Certificate of Compliance and inspections related to storage cask fabrication are those shown in § 170.31 of this chapter.

10 C.F.R. § 72.232 Inspection and tests.

(a) The certificate holder and applicant for a CoC shall permit, and make provisions for, the NRC to inspect the premises and facilities where a spent fuel storage cask is designed, fabricated, and tested. (b) The certificate holder and applicant for a CoC shall make available to the NRC for inspection, upon reasonable notice, records kept by them pertaining to the design, fabrication, and testing of spent fuel storage casks. (c) The certificate holder and applicant for a CoC shall perform, and make provisions that permit the NRC to perform, tests that the Commission deems necessary or appropriate for the administration of the regulations in this part. (d) The certificate holder and applicant for a CoC shall submit a notification under § 72.4 at least 45 days prior to starting fabrication of the first spent fuel storage cask under a Certificate of Compliance.

10 C.F.R. § 72.234 Conditions of approval.

(a) The certificate holder and applicant for a CoC shall ensure that the design, fabrication, testing, and maintenance of a spent fuel storage cask comply with the requirements in § 72.236. (b) The certificate holder and applicant for a CoC shall ensure that the design, fabrication, testing, and maintenance of spent fuel storage casks are conducted under a quality assurance program that meets the requirements of subpart G of this part. (c) An applicant for a CoC may begin fabrication of spent fuel storage casks before the Commission issues a CoC for the cask; however, applicants who begin fabrication of casks without a CoC do so at their own risk. A cask fabricated before the CoC is issued shall be made to conform to the issued CoC before being placed in service or before spent fuel is loaded. (d)(1) The certificate holder shall ensure that a record is established and maintained for each spent fuel storage cask fabricated under the CoC. (2) This record must include: (i) The NRC CoC number; (ii) The spent fuel storage cask model number; (iii) The spent fuel storage cask identification number; (iv) Date fabrication was started; (v) Date fabrication was completed; (vi) Certification that the spent fuel storage cask was designed, fabricated, tested, and repaired in accordance with a quality assurance program accepted by NRC; (vii) Certification that inspections required by § 72.236(j) were performed and found satisfactory; and (viii) The name and address of the licensee using the spent fuel storage cask. (3) The certificate holder shall supply the original of this record to the licensees using the spent fuel storage cask. A current copy of a composite record of all spent fuel storage casks manufactured under a CoC, showing the information in paragraph (d)(2) of this section, must be initiated and maintained by the certificate holder for each model spent fuel storage cask. If the certificate holder permanently ceases production of spent fuel storage casks under a CoC, the certificate holder shall send this composite record to the Commission using instructions in § 72.4. (e) The certificate holder and the licensees using the spent fuel storage cask shall ensure that the composite record required by paragraph (d) of this section is available to the Commission for inspection. (f) The certificate holder shall ensure that written procedures and appropriate tests are established prior to use of the spent fuel storage casks. A copy of these procedures and tests must be provided to each licensee using the spent fuel storage cask.

10 C.F.R. § 72.236 Specific requirements for spent fuel storage cask approval and fabrication.

The certificate holder and applicant for a CoC shall ensure that the requirements of this section are met. (a) Specifications must be provided for the spent fuel to be stored in the spent fuel storage cask, such as, but not limited to, type of spent fuel (i.e., BWR, PWR, both), maximum allowable enrichment of the fuel prior to any irradiation, burn-up (i.e., megawatt-days/MTU), minimum acceptable cooling time of the spent fuel prior to storage in the spent fuel storage cask, maximum heat designed to be dissipated, maximum spent fuel loading limit, condition of the spent fuel (i.e., intact assembly or consolidated fuel rods), the inerting atmosphere requirements. (b) Design bases and design criteria must be provided for structures, systems, and components important to safety. (c) The spent fuel storage cask must be designed and fabricated so that the spent fuel is maintained in a subcritical condition under credible conditions. (d) Radiation shielding and confinement features must be provided sufficient to meet the requirements in §§ 72.104 and 72.106. (e) The spent fuel storage cask must be designed to provide redundant sealing of confinement systems. (f) The spent fuel storage cask must be designed to provide adequate heat removal capacity without active cooling systems. (g) The spent fuel storage cask must be designed to store the spent fuel safely for the term proposed in the application, and permit maintenance as required. (h) The spent fuel storage cask must be compatible with wet or dry spent fuel loading and unloading facilities. (i) The spent fuel storage cask must be designed to facilitate decontamination to the extent practicable. (j) The spent fuel storage cask must be inspected to ascertain that there are no cracks, pinholes, uncontrolled voids, or other defects that could significantly reduce its confinement effectiveness. (k) The spent fuel storage cask must be conspicuously and durably marked with— (1) A model number; (2) A unique identification number; and (3) An empty weight. (l) The spent fuel storage cask and its systems important to safety must be evaluated, by appropriate tests or by other means acceptable to the NRC, to demonstrate that they will reasonably maintain confinement of radioactive material under normal, off-normal, and credible accident conditions. (m) To the extent practicable in the design of spent fuel storage casks, consideration should be given to compatibility with removal of the stored spent fuel from a reactor site, transportation, and ultimate disposition by the Department of Energy. (n) Safeguards Information shall be protected against unauthorized disclosure in accordance with the requirements of § 73.21 and the requirements of § 73.22 or § 73.23 of this chapter, as applicable.

10 C.F.R. § 72.238 Issuance of an NRC Certificate of Compliance.

A Certificate of Compliance for a cask model will be issued by NRC for a term not to exceed 40 years on a finding that the requirements in § 72.236(a) through (i) are met.

10 C.F.R. § 72.240 Conditions for spent fuel storage cask renewal.

(a) The certificate holder may apply for renewal of the design of a spent fuel storage cask for a term not to exceed 40 years. In the event that the certificate holder does not apply for a cask design renewal, any licensee using a spent fuel storage cask, a representative of such licensee, or another certificate holder may apply for a renewal of that cask design for a term not to exceed 40 years. (b) The application for renewal of the design of a spent fuel storage cask must be submitted not less than 30 days before the expiration date of the CoC. When the applicant has submitted a timely application for renewal, the existing CoC will not expire until the application for renewal has been determined by the NRC. (c) The application must be accompanied by a safety analysis report (SAR). The SAR must include the following: (1) Design bases information as documented in the most recently updated final safety analysis report (FSAR) as required by § 72.248; (2) Time-limited aging analyses that demonstrate that structures, systems, and components important to safety will continue to perform their intended function for the requested period of extended operation; and (3) A description of the AMP for management of issues associated with aging that could adversely affect structures, systems, and components important to safety. (d) The design of a spent fuel storage cask will be renewed if the conditions in subpart G of this part and § 72.238 are met, and the application includes a demonstration that the storage of spent fuel has not, in a significant manner, adversely affected structures, systems, and components important to safety. (e) In approving the renewal of the design of a spent fuel storage cask, the NRC may revise the CoC to include terms, conditions, and specifications that will ensure the safe operation of the cask during the renewal term, including but not limited to, terms, conditions, and specifications that will require the implementation of an AMP.

10 C.F.R. § 72.242 Recordkeeping and reports.

(a) Each certificate holder or applicant shall maintain any records and produce any reports that may be required by the conditions of the CoC or by the rules, regulations, and orders of the NRC in effectuating the purposes of the Act. (b) Records that are required by the regulations in this part or by conditions of the CoC must be maintained for the period specified by the appropriate regulation or the CoC conditions. If a retention period is not specified, the records must be maintained until the NRC terminates the CoC. (c) Any record maintained under this part may be either the original or a reproduced copy by any state-of-the-art method provided that any reproduced copy is duly authenticated by authorized personnel and is capable of producing a clear and legible copy after storage for the period specified by NRC regulations. (d) Each certificate holder shall submit a written report to the NRC within 30 days of discovery of a design or fabrication deficiency, for any spent fuel storage cask which has been delivered to a licensee, when the design or fabrication deficiency affects the ability of structures, systems, and components important to safety to perform their intended safety function. The written report shall be sent to the NRC in accordance with the requirements of § 72.4. The report shall include the following: (1) A brief abstract describing the deficiency, including all component or system failures that contributed to the deficiency and corrective action taken or planned to prevent recurrence; (2) A clear, specific, narrative description of what occurred so that knowledgeable readers familiar with the design of the spent fuel storage cask, but not familiar with the details of a particular cask, can understand the deficiency. The narrative description shall include the following specific information as appropriate for the particular event: (i) Dates and approximate times of discovery; (ii) The cause of each component or system failure, if known; (iii) The failure mode, mechanism, and effect of each failed component, if known; (iv) A list of systems or secondary functions that were also affected for failures of components with multiple functions; (v) The method of discovery of each component or system failure; (vi) The manufacturer and model number (or other identification) of each component that failed during the event; (vii) The model and serial numbers of the affected spent fuel storage casks; (viii) The licensees that have affected spent fuel storage casks; (3) An assessment of the safety consequences and implications of the deficiency. This assessment shall include the availability of other systems or components that could have performed the same function as the components and systems that were affected; (4) A description of any corrective actions planned as a result of the deficiency, including those to reduce the probability of similar occurrences in the future; (5) Reference to any previous similar deficiencies at the same facility that are known to the certificate holder; and (6) The name and telephone number of a person within the certificate holder's organization who is knowledgeable about the deficiency and can provide additional information.

10 C.F.R. § 72.244 Application for amendment of a certificate of compliance.

Whenever a certificate holder desires to amend the CoC (including a change to the terms, conditions or specifications of the CoC), an application for an amendment shall be filed with the Commission fully describing the changes desired and the reasons for such changes, and following as far as applicable the form prescribed for original applications.

10 C.F.R. § 72.246 Issuance of amendment to a certificate of compliance.

In determining whether an amendment to a CoC will be issued to the applicant, the Commission will be guided by the considerations that govern the issuance of an initial CoC.

10 C.F.R. § 72.248 Safety analysis report updating.

(a) Each certificate holder for a spent fuel storage cask design shall update periodically, as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, the final safety analysis report (FSAR) to assure that the information included in the report contains the latest information developed. (1) Each certificate holder shall submit an original FSAR to the Commission, in accordance with § 72.4, within 90 days after the spent fuel storage cask design has been approved pursuant to § 72.238. (2) The original FSAR shall be based on the safety analysis report submitted with the application and reflect any changes and applicant commitments developed during the cask design review process. The original FSAR shall be updated to reflect any changes to requirements contained in the issued Certificate of Compliance (CoC). (b) Each update shall contain all the changes necessary to reflect information and analyses submitted to the Commission by the certificate holder or prepared by the certificate holder pursuant to Commission requirement since the submission of the original FSAR or, as appropriate, the last update to the FSAR under this section. The update shall include the effects 1 of: (1) All changes made in the spent fuel storage cask design or procedures as described in the FSAR; (2) All safety analyses and evaluations performed by the certificate holder either in support of approved CoC amendments, or in support of conclusions that changes did not require a CoC amendment in accordance with § 72.48; and (3) All analyses of new safety issues performed by or on behalf of the certificate holder at Commission request. The information shall be appropriately located within the updated FSAR. (c)(1) The update of the FSAR must be filed in accordance with § 72.4. If the update is filed on paper, then it should be filed on a page-replacement basis; if filed electronically, it should be filed on a full replacement basis. See Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the Commission at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. (2) A paper update filed on a page-replacement basis must include a list that identifies the current pages of the FSAR following page replacement. If the update is filed electronically on a full replacement basis, it must include a list of changed pages. (3) Each replacement page shall include both a change indicator for the area changed, e.g., a bold line vertically drawn in the margin adjacent to the portion actually changed, and a page change identification (date of change or change number or both); (4) The update shall include: (i) A certification by a duly authorized officer of the certificate holder that either the information accurately presents changes made since the previous submittal, or that no such changes were made; and (ii) An identification of changes made by the certificate holder under the provisions of § 72.48, but not previously submitted to the Commission; (5) The update shall reflect all changes implemented up to a maximum of 6 months prior to the date of filing; (6) Updates shall be filed every 24 months from the date of issuance of the CoC; and (7) The certificate holder shall provide a copy of the updated FSAR to each general and specific licensee using its cask design. (d) The updated FSAR shall be retained by the certificate holder until the Commission terminates the certificate. (e) A certificate holder who permanently ceases operation, shall provide the updated FSAR to the new certificate holder or to the Commission, as appropriate, in accordance with § 72.234(d)(3).

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