81 FR 22129 - Neutron-Absorbing Materials in Spent Fuel Pools

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 72 (April 14, 2016)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is announcing the availability of a final generic letter addressing degradation of neutron-absorbing materials in the spent fuel pool (SFP). The NRC has determined that it is necessary to obtain plant-specific information requested in the generic letter so that the NRC can determine if the degradation of the neutron-absorbing materials in the SFP is being managed to maintain reasonable assurance that the materials are capable of performing their intended design basis function, and if the addressees are in compliance with the regulations.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 72 (Thursday, April 14, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22129-22130]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-08621]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2014-0040 and NRC-2015-0136]


Neutron-Absorbing Materials in Spent Fuel Pools

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Generic letter; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is announcing the 
availability of a final generic letter addressing degradation of 
neutron-absorbing materials in the spent fuel pool (SFP). The NRC has 
determined that it is necessary to obtain plant-specific information 
requested in the generic letter so that the NRC can determine if the 
degradation of the neutron-absorbing materials in the SFP is being 
managed to maintain reasonable assurance that the materials are capable 
of performing their intended design

[[Page 22130]]

basis function, and if the addressees are in compliance with the 
regulations.

DATES: The final generic letter is available as of April 14, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0040 and NRC-2015-0136 
when contacting the NRC about the availability of information regarding 
this document. You may obtain publicly-available information related to 
this document using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0040 and NRC-
2015-0136. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; 
telephone: 301-415-3463; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual listed in the 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 [email protected]. The 
final generic letter, GL-2016-01, is available in ADAMS under Accession 
No. ML16097A169.
     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.
     This generic letter is also available on the NRC's public 
Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/gen-comm/gen-letters/ (select ``2016'' and then select ``GL-16-01'').

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Krepel, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-302-0399, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NRC is issuing a final generic letter, 
GL-2016-01, addressing degradation of neutron-absorbing materials in 
the SFP. This generic letter requests information from nuclear power 
plant licensees demonstrating that credited neutron-absorbing materials 
in the SFP of power reactors and the fuel storage pool, reactor pool, 
or other wet locations designed for the purpose of fuel storage, as 
applicable for non-power reactors, are in compliance with the current 
licensing and design basis, as well as applicable regulatory 
requirements, and that there are measures in place to maintain this 
compliance. The information is being requested so that the NRC can 
determine if it needs to take any additional licensee-specific 
regulatory action with respect to neutron-absorbing materials in the 
spent fuel pool.
    The NRC published notices of opportunities for public comment on 
drafts of this generic letter in the Federal Register (79 FR 13685, 
March 11, 2014; 80 FR 31930, June 4, 2015; and 80 FR 81560, December 
30, 2015). In total, the agency received 18 comments. The staff 
considered all comments, which resulted in minor revisions to the 
generic letter. The evaluation of these comments, and the resulting 
changes to the generic letter are discussed in the publicly-available 
documents in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML14181B130, ML15222A005, and 
ML16033A002, respectively.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day of April 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Sheldon D. Stuchell,
Branch Chief, Generic Communications Branch, Division of Policy and 
Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2016-08621 Filed 4-13-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P