Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company; Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact Regarding the Request for Exemption From Requirements of 10 CFR Part 72, 33853-33855 [2010-14336]
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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 114 / Tuesday, June 15, 2010 / Notices
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[NRC–2010–0202]
Draft Regulatory Guide: Issuance,
Availability
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Notice of Issuance and
Availability of Draft Regulatory Guide,
DG–1240, ‘‘Condition Monitoring
Program for Electric Cables Used in
Nuclear Power Plants.’’
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Satish Aggarwal, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555–0001, telephone: (301) 251–
7627 or e-mail
Satish.Aggarwal@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is issuing for public
comment a draft guide in the agency’s
‘‘Regulatory Guide’’ series. This series
was developed to describe and make
available to the public such information
as methods that are acceptable to the
NRC staff for implementing specific
parts of the NRC’s regulations,
techniques that the staff uses in
evaluating specific problems or
postulated accidents, and data that the
staff needs in its review of applications
for permits and licenses.
The draft regulatory guide (DG) is
temporarily identified by its task
number, DG–1240, which should be
mentioned in all related
correspondence. DG–1240 is a proposed
new regulatory guide.
10 CFR 50.65, ‘‘Requirements for
Monitoring the Effectiveness of
Maintenance at Nuclear Power Plants,’’
(Maintenance Rule), states that ‘‘Each
holder of an operating license for a
nuclear power plant * * * shall
monitor the performance or condition of
structures, systems, or components
* * * in a manner sufficient to provide
reasonable assurance that these
structures, systems, and components
* * * are capable of fulfilling their
intended functions.’’ This guide
describes a method that the staff of the
NRC considers acceptable for condition
monitoring of electric cables for nuclear
power plants, for those licensees
choosing to use monitoring to meet the
requirements of the Maintenance Rule.
II. Further Information
The NRC staff is soliciting comments
on DG–1240. Comments may be
accompanied by relevant information or
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supporting data and should mention
DG–1240 in the subject line. Comments
submitted in writing or in electronic
form will be made available to the
public in their entirety through the
NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access
and Management System (ADAMS).
Comments would be most helpful if
received by August 13, 2010. Comments
received after that date will be
considered if it is practical to do so, but
the NRC is able to ensure consideration
only for comments received on or before
this date. Although a time limit is given,
comments and suggestions in
connection with items for inclusion in
guides currently being developed or
improvements in all published guides
are encouraged at any time.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by any one of the following methods.
Please include Docket ID NRC–2010–
0202 in the subject line of your
comments. Comments submitted in
writing or in electronic form will be
posted on the NRC Web site and on the
Federal rulemaking Web site
Regulations.gov. Because your
comments will not be edited to remove
any identifying or contact information,
the NRC cautions you against including
any information in your submission that
you do not want to be publicly
disclosed.
The NRC requests that any party
soliciting or aggregating comments
received from other persons for
submission to the NRC inform those
persons that the NRC will not edit their
comments to remove any identifying or
contact information, and therefore, they
should not include any information in
their comments that they do not want
publicly disclosed.
Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for documents filed under Docket ID
NRC–2010–0202. Address questions
about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher
301–492–3668; e-mail
Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov.
Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey,
Chief, Rules, Announcements, and
Directives Branch, Office of
Administration, Mail Stop: TWB–05–
B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001, or by fax to RADB at (301) 492–
3446.
You can access publicly available
documents related to this notice using
the following methods:
NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR):
The public may examine and have
copied for a fee publicly available
documents at the NRC’s PDR, Room O1
F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
PO 00000
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33853
NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access
and Management System (ADAMS):
Publicly available documents created or
received at the NRC are available
electronically at the NRC’s Electronic
Reading Room at https://www.nrc.gov/
reading-rm/adams.html. From this page,
the public can gain entry into ADAMS,
which provides text and image files of
NRC’s public documents. If you do not
have access to ADAMS or if there are
problems in accessing the documents
located in ADAMS, contact the NRC’s
PDR reference staff at 1–800–397–4209,
301–415–4737, or by e-mail to
pdr.resource@nrc.gov. DG–1240 is
available electronically under ADAMS
Accession Number ML100760364. The
regulatory analysis is available
electronically under ADAMS Accession
Number ML101530476. In addition,
electronic copies of DG–1240 are
available through the NRC’s public Web
site under Draft Regulatory Guides in
the ‘‘Regulatory Guides’’ collection of
the NRC’s Electronic Reading Room at
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/.
Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Public
comments and supporting materials
related to this notice can be found at
https://www.regulations.gov by searching
on Docket ID: NRC–2010–0202.
Regulatory guides are not
copyrighted, and Commission approval
is not required to reproduce them.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day
of June, 2010.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrea D. Valentin,
Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch,
Division of Engineering, Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2010–14339 Filed 6–14–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Dockets 50–309, 72–30; NRC–2010–0204]
Maine Yankee Atomic Power
Company; Independent Spent Fuel
Storage Installation; Issuance of
Environmental Assessment and
Finding of No Significant Impact
Regarding the Request for Exemption
From Requirements of 10 CFR Part 72
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Issuance of Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John
Goshen, Project Manager, Division of
Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation,
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33854
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 114 / Tuesday, June 15, 2010 / Notices
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Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555.
Telephone: (301) 492–3325; Fax
number: (301) 492–3342; E-mail:
john.goshen@nrc.gov.
Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC or Commission) is
considering the issuance of an
exemption to Maine Yankee Atomic
Power Company (MY), pursuant to 10
CFR 72.7, from the requirements of 10
CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(2)(i),
72.212(b)(7), and 72.214. MY is using a
dry cask storage system, the NAC–UMS,
Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No.
1015, to store spent nuclear fuel under
a general license in an independent
spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI)
associated with the decommissioned
Maine Yankee plant, located in
Wiscasset, Maine. MY stores spent fuel
in sixty NAC–UMS casks at the MY
ISFSI, all loaded under Amendment No.
2 to CoC No. 1015. Under the current 10
CFR part 72 regulations, the general
licensee is bound by the terms and
conditions of the CoC under which it
loaded a given cask. Amendment No. 2
will remain in effect for the casks at the
MY ISFSI until the NRC expressly
approves the application of changes
authorized by a later CoC amendment.
Such an approval is typically
accomplished through a 10 CFR 72.7
exemption.
In its letter dated January 15, 2010,
MY stated that it desired to adopt
Amendment No. 5 to CoC No. 1015 for
all sixty NAC–UMS casks at the site.
Adaption of the changes authorized by
Amendment No. 5 will allow a visual
alternative to Technical Specification
(TS) Surveillance Requirement 3.1.6.1 to
verify the operability of the concrete
cask heat removal system to maintain
safe storage conditions and will also
remove the for a specification in the
CoC for tamper indicating devices. CoC
No. 1015, Amendment No. 5 was issued
by the NRC on September 19, 2007.
MY initiated an evaluation to
determine if the sixty casks conform to
the requirements of Amendment No. 5
of CoC No. 1015. The evaluation
concluded that 59 of the 60 casks
conform to Amendment No. 5. The
sixtieth cask, NAC–UMS–TSC–790–016,
did not comply with the 25-day of
requirement in TS Limiting Condition of
Operation (LCO) 3.1.4, ‘‘Canister
Maximum Time in Transfer Cask,’’ of
Amendment No. 5. MY requested an
exemption from TS LCO 3.1.4 in its
January 15, 2010, letter. Although not
expressly requested by MY, implicit in
MY’s exemption request is the
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application of the changes authorized by
Amendment No. 5 to the casks at the
ISFSI (which are presently operated
under Amendment No. 2).
Under the current 10 CFR 72.212, a
general licensee, such as MY, is not
authorized to apply changes allowed by
a later CoC amendment (in this case,
Amendment No. 5) to a cask loaded
under an earlier CoC amendment (in
this case, Amendment No. 2) without
express prior approval of the NRC.1
Thus, in order to effectuate the
requested exemption, the NRC will have
to expand the scope of the requested
exemption to include the application of
the changes authorized by Amendment
No. 5 to the subject casks. The
applicable regulation, 10 CFR 72.7,
allows the NRC to grant exemptions
upon its own initiative.
MY also requests continuation of
three exemptions from the terms and
conditions of Amendment No. 5, similar
to three previously granted exemptions
of Amendment No. 2. These are:
1. Appendix A, Section A 5.1,
Training Program. Exemption from the
requirement to develop a systematic
approach to training (SAT) that includes
comprehensive instructions for the
operation and maintenance of the ISFSI,
except for the NAC–UMS Universal
Storage System. This was approved by
the NRC in its letter to MY dated
December 13, 2004 (ADAMS Accession
Number ML043620200).
2. Appendix A, Section A 5.5 (Section
A. 5.4 in Amendment No. 2),
Radioactive Effluent Control Program.
Exemption from the requirement to
submit an annual report pursuant to 10
CFR 72.44(d)(3) or 10 CFR 50.36(a). This
was approved by the NRC in its letter to
MY dated December 13, 2004 (ADAMS
Accession Number ML043620200).
3. Appendix B, Section B 3.4.2.6.
Exemption from the requirement to
maintain a coefficient of friction on the
ISFSI pad surface of at least 0.5. This
was approved by the NRC in its letter to
MY dated February 1, 2004 (ADAMS
Accession Number ML 0403507970).
The requests for an exemption from
the requirements of Appendix A,
Section A 5.5, Radioactive Effluent
Control Program, and Appendix A,
Section A 5.1, Training Program are
categorically excluded from further
environmental review in accordance
with 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(vi)(B) and (E),
respectively. In accordance with the
requirements in 10 CFR part 51, the
NRC prepared an Environmental
Assessment to analyze the remainder of
1 See Enforcement Guidance Memorandum 09–
006, dated September 15, 2009 (ADAMS Accession
No. ML091970035).
PO 00000
Frm 00096
Fmt 4703
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MY’s exemption requests. Based on the
Environmental Assessment, the NRC
has concluded that a Finding of No
Significant Impact is appropriate.
Environmental Assessment (EA)
Identification of Proposed Action: The
NRC proposes to issue exemptions that
would relieve MY from complying with
the requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2),
72.212(b)(2)(i)(A), 72.212(b)(7), and
72.214. Section 72.212(a)(2) provides
that the general license is limited to
storage of spent fuel in casks approved
under the provisions of part 72; Section
72.212(b)(2)(i)(A) requires the general
licensee to perform written evaluations,
prior to use of a cask, that establish that
the conditions set forth in the CoC have
been met; Section 72.212(b)(7) requires
that the general licensee comply with
the terms and conditions of the CoC;
and Section 72.214 lists the cask designs
that have been approved by the NRC
and are available for use by general
licensees under the 10 CFR part 72
general license.
Specifically, the proposed action
would be allowing MY to apply the
changes authorized by Amendment No.
5 to CoC No. 1015 to the casks at the
MY ISFSI and further, to exempt MY
from the requirements of the following
terms and conditions of Amendment
No. 5 to CoC No. 1015:
1. TS LCO 3.1.4, ‘‘Canister Maximum
Time in Transfer Cask,’’ and
2. Appendix B, Section B 3.4.2.6.
The NRC’s regulatory authority to
grant these exemptions is 10 CFR 72.7.
Need for the Proposed Action:
Approval of the proposed exemption
requests will provide MY with
significant cost savings and flexibility,
without any decrease in safety.
Environmental Impacts of the
Proposed Action: CoC No. 1015,
Amendment No. 5 has been previously
evaluated by the NRC, and its adoption
presents no additional radiological
environmental impacts. The exemption
from the requirement to maintain a
coefficient of friction on the ISFSI pad
surface of at least 0.5 was previously
evaluated by the NRC, and it was
determined to pose no increased risk to
health and safety. The proposed action
also includes consideration of an
exemption from the requirements of TS
LCO 3.1.4 of Amendment No. 5 for one
storage canister at the MY ISFSI. The
affected storage canister had a heat load
of 9.59kW, and was placed in a transfer
cask for a total of 43 days between
December 28, 2002, and February 18,
2003. At that time the MY ISFSI
operated under the provisions of CoC
No. 1015, Amendment No. 2, and the
LCO 3.1.4 time limit for a canister
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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 114 / Tuesday, June 15, 2010 / Notices
having a content decay heat load of less
than or equal to 14kW was unlimited.
During this period, the storage canister
was in full compliance with CoC No.
1015, Amendment No. 2, and its stored
spent fuel was maintained in a safe
condition during the time the canister
was in the transfer cask. The transfer of
the loaded canister was completed in a
safe manner to ensure the transfer cask
was not used as a long-term storage
device.
Further, NRC has evaluated the
impact to public safety that would result
from granting the proposed action. The
approval of the proposed action would
not increase the probability or
consequences of accidents, no changes
would be made to the types of effluents
released offsite, and there would be no
increase in occupational or public
radiation exposure. Therefore, there are
no significant radiological
environmental impacts associated with
the proposed action. Additionally the
proposed action would not involve any
construction or other ground disturbing
activities, would not change the
footprint of the existing ISFSI, and
would have no other significant nonradiological impacts. In this regard, and
as the ISFSI is located on previously
disturbed land, it is extremely unlikely
that approval of the proposed action
would create any significant impact on
the aquatic or terrestrial habitat in the
vicinity of the plant, or to threatened,
endangered, or protected species under
the Endangered Species Act, or to
essential fish habitat covered by the
Magnuson-Stevens Act. Similarly,
approval of the proposed action is not
the type of activity that has the potential
to cause effects on historic or cultural
properties, assuming such properties are
present at the site of the MY ISFSI.
Alternative to the Proposed Action:
Since there is no significant
environmental impact associated with
the proposed action, any alternatives
with equal or greater environmental
impact are not evaluated. The
alternative to the proposed action would
be to deny approval of the exemption.
This alternative would have the same
environmental impact.
Given that there are no significant
differences in environmental impact
between the proposed action and the
alternative considered and that the
applicant has a legitimate need, the
Commission concludes that the
preferred alternative is to grant the
requested exemptions.
Finding of No Significant Impact
The environmental impacts of the
proposed action have been reviewed in
accordance with the requirements set
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17:15 Jun 14, 2010
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forth in 10 CFR Part 51. Based upon the
foregoing Environmental Assessment,
the Commission finds that the proposed
action of granting exemptions from 10
CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(2)(i)(A),
72.212(b)(7), and 72.214, will not
significantly impact the quality of the
human environment. Accordingly, the
Commission has determined not to
prepare an environmental impact
statement for the proposed exemptions.
Further Information
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of
NRC’s ‘‘Rules of Practice,’’ NRC records
and documents related to this action,
including the application for exemption
and supporting documentation are
available electronically at the NRC’s
Electronic Reading Room, at: https://
www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
From this site, you can access NRC’s
ADAMS, which provides text and image
files of NRC’s public documents. The
ADAMS Accession Number for the
application, dated January 15, 2010, is
ML100260280.
If you do not have access to ADAMS,
or if there are problems in accessing the
documents located in ADAMS, contact
NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR)
Reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301–
415–4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov.
These documents may also be viewed
electronically on the public computers
located at NRC’s PDR, O1–F21, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR
reproduction contractor will copy
documents, for a fee.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day
of June 2010.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Pierre Saverot,
Acting Chief, Licensing Branch, Division of
Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation, Office
of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2010–14336 Filed 6–14–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
Week of June 14, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
8:55 a.m. Affirmation Session (Public
Meeting) (Tentative)
a. Entergy Nuclear Generation Co. and
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
(Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station)
Remaining Issues from Pilgrim Watch
Petition for Review (Tentative).
b. Entergy Nuclear Generation Co.
and Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
(Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station) Pilgrim
Watch Motion for Reconsideration of
CLI–10–11 (Tentative).
This meeting will be webcast live at
the Web address—www.nrc.gov.
9 a.m. Briefing on Blending (Public
Meeting) (Contact: George Deegan,
301–415–7834).
This meeting will be webcast live at
the Web address—www.nrc.gov.
Week of June 21, 2010—Tentative
Friday, June 25, 2010
9 a.m. Briefing on Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards
(NMSS)—Programs, Performance
and Future Plans and Integrated
Strategy on Spent Fuel Management
(Public Meeting) (Contact: Hipolito
Gonzalez, 301–492–3141)
This meeting will be webcast live at
the Web address—www.nrc.gov.
Week of June 28, 2010—Tentative
There are no meetings scheduled for
the week of June 28, 2010.
Week of July 5, 2010—Tentative
There are no meetings scheduled for
the week of July 5, 2010.
Week of July 12, 2010—Tentative
There are no meetings scheduled for
the week of July 12, 2010.
Week of July 19, 2010—Tentative
There are no meetings scheduled for
the week of July 19, 2010.
*
*
*
*
*
* The schedule for Commission meetings is
subject to change on short notice. To verify
the status of meetings, call (recording)—(301)
415–1292. Contact person for more
information: Rochelle Bavol, (301) 415–1651.
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[NRC–2010–0002]
*
Sunshine Federal Register Notice
AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETINGS:
Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.
DATES: Weeks of June 14, 21, 28, July 5,
12, 19, 2010.
PLACE: Commissioners’ Conference
Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland.
STATUS:
PO 00000
Public and Closed.
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33855
*
*
*
*
The NRC Commission Meeting
Schedule can be found on the Internet
at: www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/policymaking/schedule.html.
*
*
*
*
*
The NRC provides reasonable
accommodation to individuals with
disabilities where appropriate. If you
need a reasonable accommodation to
participate in these public meetings, or
need this meeting notice or the
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 114 (Tuesday, June 15, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33853-33855]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14336]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Dockets 50-309, 72-30; NRC-2010-0204]
Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company; Independent Spent Fuel Storage
Installation; Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact Regarding the Request for Exemption From
Requirements of 10 CFR Part 72
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Goshen, Project Manager, Division
of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation,
[[Page 33854]]
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Telephone: (301) 492-3325;
Fax number: (301) 492-3342; E-mail: john.goshen@nrc.gov.
Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) is
considering the issuance of an exemption to Maine Yankee Atomic Power
Company (MY), pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, from the requirements of 10 CFR
72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(2)(i), 72.212(b)(7), and 72.214. MY is using a
dry cask storage system, the NAC-UMS, Certificate of Compliance (CoC)
No. 1015, to store spent nuclear fuel under a general license in an
independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) associated with the
decommissioned Maine Yankee plant, located in Wiscasset, Maine. MY
stores spent fuel in sixty NAC-UMS casks at the MY ISFSI, all loaded
under Amendment No. 2 to CoC No. 1015. Under the current 10 CFR part 72
regulations, the general licensee is bound by the terms and conditions
of the CoC under which it loaded a given cask. Amendment No. 2 will
remain in effect for the casks at the MY ISFSI until the NRC expressly
approves the application of changes authorized by a later CoC
amendment. Such an approval is typically accomplished through a 10 CFR
72.7 exemption.
In its letter dated January 15, 2010, MY stated that it desired to
adopt Amendment No. 5 to CoC No. 1015 for all sixty NAC-UMS casks at
the site. Adaption of the changes authorized by Amendment No. 5 will
allow a visual alternative to Technical Specification (TS) Surveillance
Requirement 3.1.6.1 to verify the operability of the concrete cask heat
removal system to maintain safe storage conditions and will also remove
the for a specification in the CoC for tamper indicating devices. CoC
No. 1015, Amendment No. 5 was issued by the NRC on September 19, 2007.
MY initiated an evaluation to determine if the sixty casks conform
to the requirements of Amendment No. 5 of CoC No. 1015. The evaluation
concluded that 59 of the 60 casks conform to Amendment No. 5. The
sixtieth cask, NAC-UMS-TSC-790-016, did not comply with the 25-day of
requirement in TS Limiting Condition of Operation (LCO) 3.1.4,
``Canister Maximum Time in Transfer Cask,'' of Amendment No. 5. MY
requested an exemption from TS LCO 3.1.4 in its January 15, 2010,
letter. Although not expressly requested by MY, implicit in MY's
exemption request is the application of the changes authorized by
Amendment No. 5 to the casks at the ISFSI (which are presently operated
under Amendment No. 2).
Under the current 10 CFR 72.212, a general licensee, such as MY, is
not authorized to apply changes allowed by a later CoC amendment (in
this case, Amendment No. 5) to a cask loaded under an earlier CoC
amendment (in this case, Amendment No. 2) without express prior
approval of the NRC.\1\ Thus, in order to effectuate the requested
exemption, the NRC will have to expand the scope of the requested
exemption to include the application of the changes authorized by
Amendment No. 5 to the subject casks. The applicable regulation, 10 CFR
72.7, allows the NRC to grant exemptions upon its own initiative.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See Enforcement Guidance Memorandum 09-006, dated September
15, 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. ML091970035).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
MY also requests continuation of three exemptions from the terms
and conditions of Amendment No. 5, similar to three previously granted
exemptions of Amendment No. 2. These are:
1. Appendix A, Section A 5.1, Training Program. Exemption from the
requirement to develop a systematic approach to training (SAT) that
includes comprehensive instructions for the operation and maintenance
of the ISFSI, except for the NAC-UMS Universal Storage System. This was
approved by the NRC in its letter to MY dated December 13, 2004 (ADAMS
Accession Number ML043620200).
2. Appendix A, Section A 5.5 (Section A. 5.4 in Amendment No. 2),
Radioactive Effluent Control Program. Exemption from the requirement to
submit an annual report pursuant to 10 CFR 72.44(d)(3) or 10 CFR
50.36(a). This was approved by the NRC in its letter to MY dated
December 13, 2004 (ADAMS Accession Number ML043620200).
3. Appendix B, Section B 3.4.2.6. Exemption from the requirement to
maintain a coefficient of friction on the ISFSI pad surface of at least
0.5. This was approved by the NRC in its letter to MY dated February 1,
2004 (ADAMS Accession Number ML 0403507970).
The requests for an exemption from the requirements of Appendix A,
Section A 5.5, Radioactive Effluent Control Program, and Appendix A,
Section A 5.1, Training Program are categorically excluded from further
environmental review in accordance with 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(vi)(B) and
(E), respectively. In accordance with the requirements in 10 CFR part
51, the NRC prepared an Environmental Assessment to analyze the
remainder of MY's exemption requests. Based on the Environmental
Assessment, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant
Impact is appropriate.
Environmental Assessment (EA)
Identification of Proposed Action: The NRC proposes to issue
exemptions that would relieve MY from complying with the requirements
of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(2)(i)(A), 72.212(b)(7), and 72.214.
Section 72.212(a)(2) provides that the general license is limited to
storage of spent fuel in casks approved under the provisions of part
72; Section 72.212(b)(2)(i)(A) requires the general licensee to perform
written evaluations, prior to use of a cask, that establish that the
conditions set forth in the CoC have been met; Section 72.212(b)(7)
requires that the general licensee comply with the terms and conditions
of the CoC; and Section 72.214 lists the cask designs that have been
approved by the NRC and are available for use by general licensees
under the 10 CFR part 72 general license.
Specifically, the proposed action would be allowing MY to apply the
changes authorized by Amendment No. 5 to CoC No. 1015 to the casks at
the MY ISFSI and further, to exempt MY from the requirements of the
following terms and conditions of Amendment No. 5 to CoC No. 1015:
1. TS LCO 3.1.4, ``Canister Maximum Time in Transfer Cask,'' and
2. Appendix B, Section B 3.4.2.6.
The NRC's regulatory authority to grant these exemptions is 10 CFR
72.7.
Need for the Proposed Action: Approval of the proposed exemption
requests will provide MY with significant cost savings and flexibility,
without any decrease in safety.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action: CoC No. 1015,
Amendment No. 5 has been previously evaluated by the NRC, and its
adoption presents no additional radiological environmental impacts. The
exemption from the requirement to maintain a coefficient of friction on
the ISFSI pad surface of at least 0.5 was previously evaluated by the
NRC, and it was determined to pose no increased risk to health and
safety. The proposed action also includes consideration of an exemption
from the requirements of TS LCO 3.1.4 of Amendment No. 5 for one
storage canister at the MY ISFSI. The affected storage canister had a
heat load of 9.59kW, and was placed in a transfer cask for a total of
43 days between December 28, 2002, and February 18, 2003. At that time
the MY ISFSI operated under the provisions of CoC No. 1015, Amendment
No. 2, and the LCO 3.1.4 time limit for a canister
[[Page 33855]]
having a content decay heat load of less than or equal to 14kW was
unlimited. During this period, the storage canister was in full
compliance with CoC No. 1015, Amendment No. 2, and its stored spent
fuel was maintained in a safe condition during the time the canister
was in the transfer cask. The transfer of the loaded canister was
completed in a safe manner to ensure the transfer cask was not used as
a long-term storage device.
Further, NRC has evaluated the impact to public safety that would
result from granting the proposed action. The approval of the proposed
action would not increase the probability or consequences of accidents,
no changes would be made to the types of effluents released offsite,
and there would be no increase in occupational or public radiation
exposure. Therefore, there are no significant radiological
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action. Additionally
the proposed action would not involve any construction or other ground
disturbing activities, would not change the footprint of the existing
ISFSI, and would have no other significant non-radiological impacts. In
this regard, and as the ISFSI is located on previously disturbed land,
it is extremely unlikely that approval of the proposed action would
create any significant impact on the aquatic or terrestrial habitat in
the vicinity of the plant, or to threatened, endangered, or protected
species under the Endangered Species Act, or to essential fish habitat
covered by the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Similarly, approval of the
proposed action is not the type of activity that has the potential to
cause effects on historic or cultural properties, assuming such
properties are present at the site of the MY ISFSI.
Alternative to the Proposed Action: Since there is no significant
environmental impact associated with the proposed action, any
alternatives with equal or greater environmental impact are not
evaluated. The alternative to the proposed action would be to deny
approval of the exemption. This alternative would have the same
environmental impact.
Given that there are no significant differences in environmental
impact between the proposed action and the alternative considered and
that the applicant has a legitimate need, the Commission concludes that
the preferred alternative is to grant the requested exemptions.
Finding of No Significant Impact
The environmental impacts of the proposed action have been reviewed
in accordance with the requirements set forth in 10 CFR Part 51. Based
upon the foregoing Environmental Assessment, the Commission finds that
the proposed action of granting exemptions from 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2),
72.212(b)(2)(i)(A), 72.212(b)(7), and 72.214, will not significantly
impact the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the
Commission has determined not to prepare an environmental impact
statement for the proposed exemptions.
Further Information
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of NRC's ``Rules of Practice,'' NRC
records and documents related to this action, including the application
for exemption and supporting documentation are available electronically
at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room, at: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can access NRC's ADAMS, which
provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS
Accession Number for the application, dated January 15, 2010, is
ML100260280.
If you do not have access to ADAMS, or if there are problems in
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact NRC's Public Document
Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-
mail to pdr@nrc.gov.
These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public
computers located at NRC's PDR, O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction contractor
will copy documents, for a fee.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of June 2010.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Pierre Saverot,
Acting Chief, Licensing Branch, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and
Transportation, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2010-14336 Filed 6-14-10; 8:45 am]
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