Home > Radioactive Waste > Spent Fuel Storage > Regulations, Guidance, and Communications

Spent Fuel Storage Regulations, Guidance, and Communications

On this page:

• Regulations
• Guidance
• Communications

Regulations

NRC’s regulations are found in Chapter I of Title 10, "Energy," of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Chapter I is divided into Parts 1 through 199. The following are the principal parts governing spent fuel storage:

• Part 60 - Disposal of high-level radioactive wastes in geologic repositories
• Part 72 - Licensing requirements for the independent storage of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste

The NRC Regulatory Agenda (NUREG-0936) is a semiannual compilation of brief descriptions of all rulemaking actions. Through the NRC Rulemaking Forum, you may view and comment on proposed rulemakings and petitions for rulemaking. You may view final rules at this site for 90 days after they are published in the Federal Register .

Guidance

Regulatory guides are issued in ten divisions and are intended to aide licensees in implementing regulations. The guides most applicable to spent fuel storage are in:

• Division 3, Fuels and Materials Facilities
• Division 4, Environmental and Siting

Web (HTML) versions of some regulatory guides are available for viewing or downloading. Those available are highlighted in blue in the index to our Regulatory Guide Document Collection. All active final and draft guides are also available in NRC’s Agency Document Access and Management System (ADAMS).

Other guidance documents that may be useful to licensees and other stakeholders are:

• Standard review Plan for Dry Cask Storage Systems (NUREG-1536)
• Standard review Plan for Spent Fuel Dry Storage Facilities (NUREG-1567)

Web (HTML) versions of some guidance documents are available in our NRC Formal Publication Collection. Some are also are available in ADAMS (see our table listing their availability).

Communications

Generic Communications are NRC's primary method of sending information to specific classes of licensees. There are several types:

• administrative letters
• bulletins
• information notices
• generic letters
• regulatory issue summaries

Newsletters are another way of sending information to NRC licensees. The NMSS Licensee Newsletter (NUREG/BR-0117) is published quarterly and contains information about spent-fuel storage.