Geological and Seismological Characteristics for Siting and Design of Dry Cask Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations and Monitored Retrievable Storage Installations; Extension of Comment Period

AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Proposed rule: Extension of comment period.

SUMMARY:

On July 22, 2002 (67 FR 47745), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published for public comment a proposed rule that would amend its regulations in 10 CFR Part 72, “Licensing Requirements for the Independent Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level Radioactive Waste, and Reactor-Related Greater Than Class C Waste,” for the geological and seismological criteria of a dry cask storage facility. The State of Utah has requested a 15-day extension of the comment period. In view of the importance of the proposed rule and the amount of time that the State of Utah says is required in order to provide meaningful comments, the NRC has decided to extend the comment period of the proposed rule for an additional 15 days. In a separate document, the NRC is also extending the comment period for the Draft Regulatory Guide DG-3021, “Site Evaluations and Determination of Design Earthquake Ground Motion for Seismic Design of Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations and Monitored Retrievable Storage Installations,” for an additional 15 days.

DATES:

The comment period has been extended and now expires on October 22, 2002. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date.

ADDRESSES:

Submit comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attn: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.

Deliver comments to 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays.

You may also provide comments via the NRC's interactive rulemaking website ( http://ruleforum.llnl.gov ). This site provides the capability to upload comments as files (any format) if your Web browser supports that function. For information about the interactive rulemaking Web site, contact Ms. Carol Gallagher (301) 415-5905; e-mail CAG@nrc.gov.

Certain documents related to this rulemaking, including comments received, may be examined at the NRC Public Document Room, Room O-1F23, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. These same documents may also be viewed and downloaded electronically via the rulemaking Web site.

The NRC maintains an Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. These documents may be accessed through the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Keith K. McDaniel, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-5252, e-mail, KKM@nrc.gov.