The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission revised the "List of approved spent fuel storage casks."
This regulation legally revises Holtec International's certificate of compliance to authorize the use of two new versions of the HI-STORM UMAX canister design, with updated lid features explicitly engineered to minimize the exposure of spent fuel canisters to air containing salt particles.
The NRC determined that these structural modifications continue to ensure adequate confinement, shielding, and criticality control during evaluated accident conditions without increasing occupational radiation exposure.
By formally adding these modified casks to the approved list, the regulation establishes a streamlined operational reality for power reactor licensees.
General licensees are now permitted to load spent nuclear fuel into these specific Version B1 and B2 casks without being forced to file individual, site-specific exemption requests with the NRC.
This administrative clearance directly eliminates the regulatory bottleneck and associated compliance costs that would otherwise be required to utilize the updated infrastructure.
