to be licensed as a utilization facility under Sections 103 or 104(b) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.

Commission means-the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or its duly authorized representatives.

Full core reserve means-the capability to store all of the fuel in a single reactor core at one time at an on-site storage facility.

Spent nuclear fuel means-fuel that has been withdrawn from a nuclear power reactor following irradiation, the constituent elements of which have not been separated by reprocessing.

$53.3 Communications.

Except where otherwise specified, each communication and report concerning the regulations in this part should be addressed to the Document Control Desk, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Attention: Executive Director for Operations, Washington, DC 20555, or may be delivered in person to the Commission's Document Control Desk between the hours of 8:15 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD.

[53 FR 6139, Mar. 1, 1988]

$53.4 Interpretations.

Except as specifically authorized by the Commission in writing, no interpretation of the meaning of the regulations in this part by any officer or employee of the Commission other than written interpretation by the General Counsel will be considered binding on the Commission.

§ 53.5 Information collection require

ments.

(a) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has submitted the information collection requirements contained in this part to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). OMB has approved the information collection requirements contained in this part under control number 3150-0126.

(b) The approved information collection requirements in this part appear in §§ 53.11, 53.12, 53.13, and 53.14.

§ 53.6 Specific exemptions.

The Commission may, upon application of any interested person or upon its own initiative, grant such exemption from the requirements of the regulations in this part as it determines are authorized by law and will not endanger life or property or the common defense and security and are otherwise in the public interest.

Subpart B-Request for a Commission Determination

$53.11 Filing and distribution of a determination request.

(a) The person submitting a request for a Commission determination must file a signed original and 9 copies of the request with the Commission at the address specified in §53.3, with a copy also provided to the appropriate Regional Administrator at the address specified in appendix D to part 20 of this chapter. The request must be signed by the person requesting the determination or the person's authorized representative under oath or affirma

tion.

(b) Any request for a Commission determination under this part, must be filed no later than June 30, 1989. An exception to this requirement may be granted if the Commission determines that:

made

(1) The request is likely to be processed and the determination prior to January 1, 1990; and

(2) The person requesting the determination has shown good cause for the failure to file on time.

(c) Upon receipt of a request for a determination, the Secretary of the Commission will cause to be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER a notice of receipt of the request and the opportunity for a 30-day public comment period on the request. A copy of the request will be made available for public inspection in the Commission's Public Document Room, 2120 L Street NW., Washington, DC, and in the Local Public Document Room for the reactor site. The Secretary of the Commission will also transmit a copy of the request to the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management of the U.S. Department of Energy.

(d) Fees applicable to a request for a Commission determination under this part will be determined in accordance with the procedures set forth for special projects under category 12 of § 170.31 of this chapter.

(e) In the event that the Department of Energy has entered into contracts for the full amount of spent fuel authorized for Federal interim storage under section 135(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, the Commission may suspend the processing or acceptance of requests for determinations until additional interim Federal storage capacity is authorized.

[50 FR 5563, Feb. 11, 1985; 50 FR 8606, Mar. 4, 1985, as amended at 53 FR 43421, Oct. 27, 1988]

$53.12 Contents of request: General information.

A request for a Commission determination under this part must include the following general information:

(a) Name and address of the person owning or generating the spent nuclear fuel for which the determination is sought,

(b) The civilian nuclear power reactor or reactor site for which the request is being made,

(c) Explanation of why the determination described in §53.1(a) is needed, including—

(1) A complete history of fueling/refueling cycles for each reactor at the reactor site from beginning of operation to date of request;

(2) Projected refueling cycles for each reactor from date of request through operating life of plant, including anticipated maintenance schedules;

(3) A schedule of all actions taken to provide storage for spent nuclear fuel generated by each reactor from the beginning of operation to date of request, with a projection of the amount of capacity still available in terms of number of assemblies and metric tons of uranium (MTU) of spent nuclear fuel and time remaining until loss of full core reserve discharge capability;

(4) A schedule of all actions planned or currently underway to provide additional storage, with the projected amount of additional capacity to be provided by these actions;

(5) The amount and geographical location of any spent nuclear fuel stored

offsite, and the anticipated duration of offsite storage;

(6) The anticipated date of loss of full core reserve;

(7) An estimate of the amount of spent nuclear fuel and the schedule for its storage for which Federal interim storage would be necessary to prevent the loss of full core reserve;

(8) For a request related to a multireactor site, the necessity of maintaining reserve storage capability of more than one full core reserve; and

(9) Any other information which the Commission should consider in making

its determination.

[50 FR 5563, Feb. 11, 1985; 50 FR 8606, Mar. 4, 1985]

$53.13 Contents of a request: Alter

natives.

(a) The request must include, for each alternative spent nuclear fuel storage technology listed in paragraph (c) of this section, an analysis of any substantial technical, economic, regulatory, or public health and safety constraints that would make the implementation of any of the alternatives unreasonable, including factors such

as:

(1) Structural limitations;

(2) The extent to which implementation would disrupt operation of the reactor;

(3) Unavailability of necessary materials or equipment;

(4) Inability to meet the Commission's regulatory requirements due to factors beyond the licensee's control and despite the licensee's good faith efforts;

(5) Local or State laws and regulatory actions, including preexisting agreements, that limit or prevent the timely expansion or addition of storage capacity or transshipment;

(6) Unusual licensing delays;

(7) The time required for licensing, design, and construction;

(8) Extraordinary costs of implementation, including the costs of providing the necessary additional capacity, and the time for which the capacity is needed; and

storage technology listed in paragraph (c) of this section, detailed information on the actions that the person requesting the determination has taken to date to avoid or reduce the need for Federal interim storage, including

(1) The timing and description of each license application and study done by or for the person; and

(2) The amount of time that the person estimates would be required to develop, have approved, and implement any alternatives that are still under consideration.

(c) For the purposes of this part, spent nuclear fuel storage alternatives include

(1) Expansion of existing storage facilities, including high-density fuel storage racks or fuel rod compaction;

(2) Construction of new or additional spent nuclear fuel storage facilities at the site of any civilian nuclear power reactor operated by such person;

(3) Acquisition of modular or mobile spent nuclear fuel storage equipment, including spent nuclear fuel storage casks, for use at the site of any civilian nuclear power reactor operated by such person;

(4) Transshipment of spent nuclear fuel to the site of another civilian nuclear power reactor within the same utility system; and

(5) Such other technologies for spent nuclear fuel storage as may be approved by the Commission for use at the sites of civilian nuclear power reactors.

[50 FR 5563, Feb. 11, 1985; 50 FR 8606, Mar. 4, 1985]

§ 53.14 Additional information.

(a) The Commission, the EDO, or designee, as appropriate, may require additional information from a person making a request for Commission determination under this part concerning any portion of the request.

(b) The Commission, the EDO, or designee, may deny a request for a Commission determination under this part if the person making the request fails to respond to a request for additional information under paragraph (a) of this section within thirty (30) days from the date of the request for additional information, or such other time as the Commission, Executive Director, or des

ignee, may specify. This denial shall be without prejudice to the right of the person making the request to file another request for a Commission determination under this part.

$53.15 Withdrawal of a determination

request.

(a) A person may withdraw a request for a Commission determination under this part without prejudice at any time prior to the issuance of an initial determination under § 53.27.

(b) The Secretary of the Commission will cause to be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER a notice of the withdrawal of a request for a Commission determination under this part.

§ 53.16 Elimination of repetition.

In any request under this part, the person making the request may incorporate by reference information contained in a previous application, statement, or report filed with the Commission provided that these references are clear and specific.

Subpart C-Issuance of a Commission Determination

§ 53.27 Initial determination.

(a) Not later than four (4) months after the receipt of a request for a Commission determination under this part from a person generating or owning spent nuclear fuel, the Executive Director for Operations, or designee, shall make an initial determination of whether

(1) Adequate storage capacity to ensure the continued orderly operation of the civilian nuclear power reactor at which the spent nuclear fuel is generated cannot reasonably be provided by the person owning or operating the reactor at that site, or at the site of any other civilian nuclear power reactor operated by the person, and that the capacity cannot be made available in a timely manner through any method described in §53.13(c) despite the licensee's diligent and good faith efforts to pursue such methods; and

(2) That person is diligently pursuing licensed alternatives to the use of Federal storage capacity for the storage of spent nuclear fuel expected to be generated by the person in the future, so

as to ensure the availability of additional storage capacity as soon as possible by means of the spent fuel storage alternatives listed in §53.13(c).

(b) In making an initial determination under this section, the Executive Director for Operations, or designee, shall be guided by the criteria set forth in § 53.30.

(c) An initial determination under this section shall be in writing and shall contain a full explanation of the facts upon which the determination is based and the reasons for granting or denying the request. An affirmative determination shall specify the amount of spent nuclear fuel that cannot reasonably be stored on site and the schedule for when Federal storage is needed, and may contain conditions on which the determination is dependent. A copy of the initial determination shall be sent to the person who filed the request.

(d) If a request for a determination is based on circumstances that are too remote and speculative to allow an informed determination, the Commission, the EDO, or designee, may deny the request.

§ 53.28 Final determination.

(a) An initial determination under § 53.27 shall be filed with the Office of the Secretary of the Commission. Such initial determination shall constitute the final determination of the Commission thirty (30) days after its issuance, unless the Commission decides to review the initial determination under paragraph (b) of this section.

(b) Within thirty days after the Executive Director for Operations, or designee, makes an initial determination, the Commission may, on its own motion, review the determination.

(c) The Commission may, at its discretion, extend the time for review of an initial determination under paragraph (b) of this section; provided, however, that if the Commission has not completed its review or issued a final determination within six (6) months of the filing of a request under this part, the initial determination of the Executive Director for Operations, or his or her designee, shall constitute the final determination of the Commission.

(d) No petition or other request for Commission review of an initial determination under §53.27 will be entertained by the Commission.

§ 53.29 Notice of issuance of a final determination.

(a) Upon the issuance of a final Commission determination or after the expiration of the time for Commission review of an initial determination under § 53.28, which constitutes a final determination, the Secretary of the Commission will notify, in writing, the person making the request, and the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management of the Department of Energy of the final determination.

(b) The Secretary of the Commission will cause to be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER a notice of the issuance of the final determination.

(c) The Secretary of the Commission will make a copy of the final determination available for public inspection in the Commission's Public Document Room, 2120 L Street NW., Washington, DC, and in the Local Public Document Room for the reactor site.

[50 FR 5563, Feb. 11, 1985, as amended at 53 FR 43421, Oct. 27, 1988]

§ 53.30 Criteria for a Commission determination.

(a) In making the determination required by § 53.27(a)(1), the Commission shall consider the existence of technical, economic, regulatory, or health and safety factors that would make the implementation of any alternative to Federal interim storage of spent nuclear fuel set forth in §53.13(c) unreasonable, such as

(1) Suitability of the reactor site for implementation of an alternative, including consideration of structural integrity.

(2) Inability to meet the Commission's regulatory requirements for implementation and licensing of an alternative due to factors beyond the licensee's control and despite the licensee's diligent and good faith efforts.

(3) Inability to obtain necessary materials or equipment in a timely man

ner.

(4) Modifications that would result in the excessive reduction of code design margins.

(5) Extraordinary costs of implementation that are clearly unreasonable in view of such factors as the amount of additional storage capacity needed, the time for which additional storage capacity is needed, or the cost of Federal interim storage.

(6) Unforeseen or unavoidable delays in the licensing or implementation of an alternative due to factors beyond the licensee's control and despite the licensee's diligent and good faith efforts.

(7) Legal impediments to the implementation of an alternative, such as State or local laws or regulatory actions, including preexisting agreements, pertaining to matters within the jurisdiction of those levels of government, which are valid and enforceable or, though not valid, cannot reasonably be invalidated or enforcement enjoined in a timely manner.

(8) Occupational or off-site radiation exposures or on-site construction hazards that are clearly unreasonable in view of the amount of additional storage capacity needed or the time for which additional storage capacity is needed.

(b) Solely for the purpose of making the determination required by § 53.27(a)(1), the Commission shall ensure the maintenance of a full core reserve at the site of the civilian nuclear power reactor for which the request is being made.

(c) If the person requesting the determination demonstrates, and the Commission finds, that the maintenance of a single full core reserve at the reactor site is either inadequate or not necessary for continued orderly operation of the reactor, the Commission may make an exception to the provision of paragraph (b) of this section.

(d) In making the determination required by §53.27(a)(2), the Commission will consider whether the person submitting the request has demonstrated diligent and timely efforts to initiate activities reasonably calculated to implement alternatives to Federal interim storage of spent fuel on a schedule commensurate with the need to support the continued orderly operation of the reactor, including

(1) Diligent and good faith efforts to prepare and file existing license

application(s) for spent nuclear fuel storage alternative(s) as early as possible so as to provide sufficient time to allow for design, licensing, and implementation; and

(2) Subsequent developments beyond the control of the person submitting the request that

(i) Have changed the original estimate of when and how much additional storage capacity will be needed or

(ii) Would prevent the timely implementation of one or more alternatives; and

(3) The timely preparation and implementation of a spent nuclear fuel storage program or plan that evaluates the feasibility of alternatives to Federal storage of spent nuclear fuel, taking into account technical, economic, regulatory, and public health and safety factors and that includes the prompt development of feasible alternatives to Federal storage.

[50 FR 5563, Feb. 11, 1985; 50 FR 8606, Mar. 4, 1985]