Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.; Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station; Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation, 6244-6247 [2018-02930]
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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 13, 2018 / Notices
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• NRC’s Public Document Room: You
may examine and purchase copies of
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Daniel Frumkin, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulations, telephone: 301–
415–2280, email: Daniel.Frumkin@
nrc.gov; or Stanley Gardocki, Office of
Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone:
301–415–1067, email:
Stanley.Gardocki@nrc.gov. Both are staff
members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Discussion
The NRC is issuing a revision to an
existing guide in the NRC ‘‘Regulatory
Guide’’ series. Regulatory guides were
developed to describe and make
available to the public information
methods that are acceptable to the NRC
staff for implementing specific parts of
the agency’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 NRC is issuing Revision 3 of RG
1.189 directly as a final RG, because the
changes between Revision 2 and
Revision 3 are administrative and nonsubstantive. Revision 3 of RG 1.189 also
updated the guide to the current
program guidance for RGs. The NRC
added language to Section 1, ‘‘Fire
Protection Program,’’ to clarify the
primary objectives of fire protection
plans.
Since the issuance of Revision 2 of RG
1.189 in 2009, the NRC issued a
Regulatory Issuance Summary to inform
licensees that Inspection Manual Part
9900, Technical Guidance (TG 9900),
‘‘Operability Determinations &
Functionality Assessments for
Resolution of Degraded and
Nonconforming Conditions Adverse to
Quality and Safety,’’ was reissued as
Inspection Manual Chapter (IMC) 0326,
‘‘Operability Determinations and
Functionality Assessments for
Conditions to Quality or Safety,’’ dated
January 31, 2014. Revision 3 of RG 1.189
now includes a reference to IMC 0326
(see Section 1.5, ‘‘Compensatory
Measures’’).
Revision 3 of RG 1.189 also corrects
typographic errors that previously
appeared in Section 1.7.7,
‘‘Nonconforming Items,’’ Section 1.7.4,
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‘‘Inspection,’’ Section 2.1.1, ‘‘Transient
Fire Hazards,’’ Section 3.2.1, ‘‘Fire
Protection Water Supply,’’ and Section
3.2.3, ‘‘Fire Mains.’’ Previously, these
errors occurred during publishing of the
final regulatory guide, when several
paragraphs were incorrectly indented,
resulting in incorrect sub-bullet
numbering. These changes are intended
to improve clarity and do not
substantially alter the staff’s regulatory
guidance.
II. Backfitting and Issue Finality
Issuance of this final RG does not
constitute backfitting as defined in
section 50.109 of title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), (the
Backfit Rule), and is not otherwise
inconsistent with the issue finality
provisions in 10 CFR part 52. The
changes in Revision 3 of RG 1.189 are
limited to editorial changes to improve
clarity and correct errors. These changes
do not fall within the kinds of agency
actions that constitute backfitting or are
subject to limitations in the issue
finality provisions of 10 CFR part 52.
Accordingly, the NRC did not address
the Backfit Rule or issue finality
provisions of 10 CFR part 52.
III. Congressional Review Act
Revision 3 of Regulatory Guide 1.189
is not a rule as defined in the
Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C.
801–808).
IV. Submitting Suggestions for
Improvement of Regulatory Guides
Revision 3 of RG 1.189 is being issued
without public comment. However, a
member of the public may, at any time,
submit suggestions to the NRC for
improvement of existing RGs or for the
development of new RGs to address new
issues. Suggestions can be submitted on
the NRC’s public website at https://
www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/reg-guides/contactus.html.
Suggestions will be considered in future
updates and enhancements to the
‘‘Regulatory Guide’’ series.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day
of February 2018.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic
Issues Branch, Division of Engineering, Office
of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2018–02870 Filed 2–12–18; 8:45 am]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 72–1014, 72–59, and 50–271;
NRC–2018–0020]
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.;
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power
Station; Independent Spent Fuel
Storage Installation
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Exemption; issuance.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is issuing an
exemption in response to a request
submitted by Entergy Nuclear
Operations, Inc. (ENO) on May 16, 2017,
and supplemented on September 7,
2017 and December 7, 2017, for its
general license to operate an
independent spent fuel storage
installation (ISFSI) at the Vermont
Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VYNPS).
This exemption would permit the
VYNPS to use a new regionalized
loading pattern, load fuel cooled for at
least 2 years, and establish a per-cell
maximum average burnup limit at
65,000 megawatt days per metric ton of
uranium (MWD/MTU) in HI–STORM
100 multi-purpose canister (MPC)-68M
using Certificate of Compliance (CoC)
No. 1014, Amendment No. 10.
DATES: February 13, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2018–0020 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of
information regarding this document.
You may obtain publicly-available
information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2018–0020. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol
Gallagher; telephone: 301–287–9127;
email: Jennifer.Broges@nrc.gov. For
technical questions, contact the
individual listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this
document.
• NRC’s Agencywide Documents
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(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at
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Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS,
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email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The
ADAMS Accession No. for each
SUMMARY:
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document referenced in this document
(if that document is available in
ADAMS) is provided the first time that
a document is referenced.
• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and
purchase copies of public documents at
the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: YenJu Chen, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555; telephone: 301–415–1018;
email: yen-ju.chen@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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I. Background
The VYNPS began operation in 1972.
The reactor was permanently shut down
on December 29, 2014. The VYNPS has
stored spent boiling-water reactor
(BWR) fuel assemblies at its ISFSI in
thirteen (13) HI–STORM 100 casks
under CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 2.
The remaining spent fuel assemblies
were removed from the reactor and
transferred to the spent fuel pool. ENO,
which owns the facility, submitted the
VYNPS Post-Shutdown
Decommissioning Activities Report
(PSDAR) (ADAMS Accession No.
ML14357A110) to the NRC on December
19, 2014, and supplemented with a
schedule change in a letter dated on
April 12, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML17104A050). In the PSDAR, as
supplemented, ENO stated its intention
to move all of the spent nuclear fuel
assemblies into dry cask storage in late
2018, and put the plant into SAFSTOR 1
until it is ready to fully decommission
the facility.
Consistent with subpart K of part 72
of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), a general license
is issued for the storage of spent fuel in
an ISFSI at power reactor sites to
persons authorized to possess or operate
nuclear power reactors under 10 CFR
part 50. ENO is currently authorized to
store spent fuel at the VYNPS ISFSI
under the 10 CFR part 72 general license
provisions. ENO plans to use Holtec HI–
STORM 100 storage casks, as approved
by the NRC under CoC No. 1014,
Amendment No. 10, at the VYNPS for
dry storage of spent nuclear fuel in
MPC–68M canisters.
II. Request/Action
By application dated May 16, 2017
(ADAMS Accession No. ML17142A354),
1 A method of decommissioning in which a
nuclear facility is placed and maintained in a
condition that allows the facility to be safely stored
and subsequently decontaminated (deferred
decontamination) to levels that permit release for
unrestricted use.
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as supplemented on September 7, 2017
(ADAMS Accession No. ML17255A236)
and December 7, 2017 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML17346A685), ENO
submitted a request for an exemption
from those provisions of 10 CFR
72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3),
72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), and
72.214 that require compliance with the
terms, conditions, and specifications of
CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 10
(ADAMS Accession No. ML16172A294),
for the VYNPS to use a new regionalized
loading pattern, load fuel cooled for at
least 2 years, and establish a per-cell
maximum average burnup limit at
65,000 MWD/MTU in Holtec HI–
STORM 100 MPC–68M canister.
III. Discussion
Pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, the
Commission may, upon application by
any interested person or upon its own
initiative, grant such exemptions from
the requirements of the regulations of 10
CFR part 72 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.
The NRC staff prepared a safety
evaluation report (SER) (ADAMS
Accession No. ML17298A135) to
document the evaluation of the
proposed actions (i.e., using a new
regionalized loading pattern, loading
fuel cooled for at least 2 years, and
establishing a per-cell maximum
average burnup limit at 65,000 MWD/
MTU in MPC–68M), to assure continued
protection of public health and safety,
common defense and security, and the
environment. As summarized below, the
NRC’s safety review concludes that the
requested exemption does not affect the
ability of the cask system to meet the
requirements of 10 CFR part 72.
A. The Exemption Is Authorized by Law
This exemption would permit the
VYNPS to use a new regionalized
loading pattern, load fuel cooled for at
least 2 years, and establish a per-cell
maximum average burnup limit at
65,000 MWD/MTU in MPC–68M using
CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 10.
Section 72.7 allows the Commission
to grant exemptions from the
requirements of 10 CFR part 72 if the
exemption is authorized by law and will
not endanger life or property nor the
common defense and security. Issuance
of this exemption is consistent with the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended,
and not otherwise inconsistent with
NRC’s regulations or other applicable
laws. Therefore, issuance of the
exemption is authorized by law.
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B. The Exemption Presents No Undue
Risk to Public Health and Safety and
Will Not Endanger Life or Property or
the Common Defense and Security
Approval of this exemption request
will allow VYNPS to use a new
regionalized loading pattern, load fuel
cooled for at least 2 years, and establish
a per-cell maximum average burnup
limit at 65,000 MWD/MTU in MPC–
68M using CoC No. 1014, Amendment
No. 10. As discussed in the SER and
summarized in the following sections,
the NRC staff has found that ENO’s
proposed action is acceptable and will
not endanger life or property or the
common defense and security.
Review of the Requested Exemption
ENO requested this exemption to
maintain its decommissioning schedule
through its optimized loading
campaigns. The exemption will allow
VYNPS to use a more optimized
regionalized loading pattern for MPC–
68M, so that VYNPS could store hotter
fuel from its final operating cycle, as
well as store damaged fuel or fuel debris
in a DFC, with cooler fuel in the same
cask. The exemption will also allow
VYNPS to load fuel that has been cooled
for at least 2 years into the MPC–68M.
In addition, the exemption will allow
VYNPS to establish a per-cell maximum
average burnup limit at 65,000 MWD/
MTU in MPC–68M rather than using an
equation to calculate the maximum
burnup.
The NRC staff reviewed the requested
exemption and determined that it does
not change the fundamental design,
components, or safety features of the
storage system. The NRC staff evaluated
the applicable potential safety impacts
of granting the exemption to assess the
potential for any danger to life or
property or the common defense and
security. Specifically, the NRC staff
reviewed the applicant’s structural,
thermal, shielding, radiation protection,
and material evaluations for the
proposed exemption.
Structural Review for the Requested
Exemption: The NRC staff evaluated the
exemption request to ensure that the
cask system will maintain confinement,
subcriticality, radiation shielding, and
retrievability or recovery of the fuel, as
applicable, under all credible loads for
normal and off-normal conditions
accidents, and natural phenomenon
events. Since the maximum projected
MPC–68M heat load for fuels to be
loaded at VYNPS will be 24.5 kW, well
below the maximum heat load limit of
36.9 kW for MPC–68M approved in CoC
No. 1014, Amendment No. 10, the
proposed exemption is bounded by
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NRC’s previous evaluation and would
not alter the structural integrity of the
dry storage system.
Thermal Review for the Requested
Exemption: The NRC staff evaluated the
exemption request to ensure that the
cask and fuel material temperatures of
the dry storage system will remain
within the allowable values or criteria
for normal, off-normal, and accident
conditions. The staff verified that the
calculated fuel cladding temperatures
and other cask component temperatures
are below the allowable design
temperature limits for normal, offnormal, and accident conditions of
storage at VYNPS ISFSI. The staff also
confirmed that the heat removal
capability of the MPC–68M, using the
new regionalized loading pattern and
actual total aggregated cask heat load of
36.9 kW, loaded with all undamaged
fuel assemblies or loaded with damaged
fuel and/or fuel debris at VYNPS ISFSI
remains acceptable and continues to
meet the requirements of 10 CFR
72.122(h)(1) and 72.236(f).
Shielding Review for the Requested
Exemption: The NRC staff evaluated the
exemption request to ensure that the
design of the HI–STORM 100 cask
system continues to provide adequate
protection against direct radiation to the
onsite operating workers and members
of the public, and that the ISFSI
continues to satisfy the regulatory
requirements during normal operating,
off-normal, and design-basis accident
conditions. The staff determined the
new regionalized loading pattern is
bounded by the design basis loading
pattern previously approved by the NRC
and will allow the MPC–68M to
maintain the dose rates below the
applicable regulatory limits in 10 CFR
72.104 and 72.106. In addition, the staff
found that the use of the maximum
average burnup limit of 65,000 MWD/
MTU is acceptable as it provides
sufficient conservatism in comparison
with the actual site-specific maximum.
Radiation Protection Review for the
Requested Exemption: The NRC staff
evaluated the exemption request to
determine whether the design features
and operations meet the regulatory
requirements. The staff evaluated the
source terms and the calculated dose
rates for normal, off-normal, and
accident conditions, and found that the
dose rates and annual dose are in
compliance with the dose limits
specified in 10 CFR 72.104 and 72.106.
Material Review for the Requested
Exemption: The NRC staff evaluated the
exemption request to ensure adequate
material performance of components
important to safety of the spent fuel
storage system under normal, off-
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normal, and accident conditions. The
staff found that the material properties
of structures, systems, and components
important to safety will be maintained
during normal, off-normal, and accident
conditions so that the spent nuclear fuel
can be safely stored for the minimum
required years and maintenance can be
conducted as required.
Review of Common Defense and
Security: The NRC staff also considered
potential impacts of granting the
exemption on the common defense and
security. The requested exemption for
the VYNPS ISFSI does not relate to
security or the common defense, and
therefore, granting the exemption would
not result in any potential impacts to
common defense and security.
Based on its review, the NRC staff has
determined that under the requested
exemption, the storage system will
continue to meet the safety
requirements of 10 CFR part 72 and the
offsite dose limits of 10 CFR part 20
and, therefore, will not endanger life or
property. The NRC staff also found that
the exemption would not endanger
common defense and security.
D. Otherwise in the Public Interest
In determining whether the
exemption is in the public interest, the
staff considered the no-action
alternative of denying the exemption
request. Denial of the exemption request
would require ENO to load and store
spent fuel in accordance with the
current conditions of Amendment No.
10 of CoC No. 1014, which uses the
regionalized loading pattern shown in
CoC Appendix B, Figure 2.1–4; requires
fuel to be cooled for at least 3 years; and
use the equation in Appendix B, Section
2.4.3, to calculate maximum allowable
fuel assembly average burnup based on
fuel decay heat, enrichment, and
cooling time.
ENO’s proposed exemption would
allow VYNPS to use a new regionalized
loading pattern, load fuel that has been
cooled for at least 2 years in MPC–68M,
and use a per-cell maximum average
burnup limit at 65,000 MWD/MTU.
With this exemption, VYNPS stated that
it would be able to use a more
optimized loading pattern for MPC–
68M, so that VYNPS could store hotter
fuel from its final operating cycle, as
well as for storing damaged fuel or fuel
debris in a DFC, with cooler fuel in the
same cask.
ENO also noted that by loading
higher-burned, shorter-cooled
assemblies into the inner regions of the
cask and low-burned, longer-cooled
assemblies on the periphery of the cask,
the longer-cooled assemblies on the
periphery of the cask acts as shielding
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and blocks the radiation from the
shorter-cooled fuel assemblies stored in
the inner region of the cask, and thus
reduces dose rates to the onsite workers
and at the site boundary. This
exemption request will also allow
VYNPS to maintain continuous loading
campaign without interruption to wait
for the fuel to meet the heat loading
requirement. ENO noted that this could
avoid potential higher personal
exposure and human errors due to loss
of experienced workers.
ENO indicated that by using this
exemption, VYNPS would be able to
complete the transfer of irradiated fuel
to the ISFSI within a shorter time
period. It would permit the spent fuel
pool related structures, systems, and
components to be removed from service
earlier, and allow for staffing reductions
to a level commensurate with dry fuel
storage only operations. The staff
determined if the transfer of irradiated
fuel to the ISFSI is completed in a
shorter time, that there would be a
savings to the Decommissioning Trust
Fund. The staff also determined, based
on Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee,
LLC. Master Decommissioning Trust
Agreement for Vermont Yankee Nuclear
Power Station, Exhibit D (ADAMS
Accession No. ML15111A086), that
savings to the Decommission Trust
Fund could financially benefit the
electric consumers.
The staff has reviewed the
information provided by ENO and
concluded that granting the requested
exemption continues to provide
adequate protection of public health and
safety and is otherwise in the public
interest.
E. Environmental Considerations
The NRC staff also considered
whether there would be any significant
environmental impacts associated with
the exemption. For this proposed action,
the NRC staff performed an
environmental assessment pursuant to
10 CFR 51.30. The environmental
assessment concluded that the proposed
action would not significantly impact
the quality of the human environment.
The NRC staff concluded that the
proposed action would not result in any
changes in the types or amounts of any
radiological or non-radiological
effluents that may be released offsite,
and there is no significant increase in
occupational or public radiation
exposure because of the proposed
action. The Environmental Assessment
and the Finding of No Significant
Impact was published on January 23,
2018 (83 FR 3192).
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IV. Conclusion
Accordingly, the Commission has
determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
72.7, this exemption is authorized by
law, will not endanger life or property
or the common defense and security,
and is otherwise in the public interest.
Therefore, the Commission hereby
grants ENO an exemption from those
provisions of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 10
CFR 72.212(b)(3), 10 CFR 72.212(b)(5)(i),
10 CFR 72.214, and the portion of 10
CFR 72.212(b)(11) that require
compliance with terms, conditions, and
specifications of the CoC No. 1014,
Amendment No. 10, for the VYNPS to
use a new regionalized loading pattern,
load fuel cooled for at least 2 years, and
establish a per-cell maximum average
burnup limit at 65,000 MWD/MTU in
MPC–68M using CoC No. 1014,
Amendment No. 10.
The exemption is effective upon
issuance.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day
of February 2018.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Acting Chief, Spent Fuel Licensing Branch,
Division of Spent Fuel Management, Office
of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2018–02930 Filed 2–12–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR WASTE TECHNICAL
REVIEW BOARD
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Board Meeting
March 27, 2018—The U.S. Nuclear
Waste Technical Review Board will
meet in Washington, DC to discuss
performance confirmation monitoring
and retrievability of emplaced highlevel radioactive waste and spent
nuclear fuel.
Pursuant to its authority under
section 5051 of Public Law 100–203,
Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act
(NWPAA) of 1987, the U.S. Nuclear
Waste Technical Review Board will
hold a public meeting in Washington,
DC on Tuesday, March 27, 2018, to
review information related to
operational and performance
confirmation monitoring of a geologic
repository and retrievability of
emplaced high-level radioactive waste
(HLW) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF).
The Board meeting will be held at the
Embassy Suites DC Convention Center,
900 10th Street NW, Washington, DC
20001. A block of rooms has been
reserved for meeting attendees at a rate
of $253.00 per night. Reservations may
be made by phone (1–202–739–2001,
refer to NWTRB meeting). Reservations
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must be made by March 5, 2018, to
ensure receiving the meeting rate for
available rooms.
The meeting will begin at 8:00 a.m. on
Tuesday, March 27, 2018, and is
scheduled to adjourn at 5:00 p.m.
Representatives from several countries
will discuss national policies and
approaches to monitoring and
retrievability. Technical specialists will
discuss sensors and technologies for
monitoring subsurface seepage, in-drift
environmental conditions, and
corrosion of waste packages for HLW
and SNF emplaced in a geologic
repository. A detailed meeting agenda
will be available on the Board’s website
at www.nwtrb.gov approximately one
week before the meeting.
The meeting will be open to the
public, and opportunities for public
comment will be provided before the
lunch break and at the end of the day.
Those wanting to speak are encouraged
to sign the ‘‘Public Comment Register’’
at the check-in table. Depending on the
number of people who sign up to speak,
it may be necessary to set a time limit
on individual remarks. However,
written comments of any length may be
submitted, and all comments received
in writing will be included in the record
of the meeting, which will be posted on
the Board’s website after the meeting.
The meeting will be webcast, and the
link to the webcast will be available on
the Board’s website (www.nwtrb.gov) a
few days before the meeting. The
meeting presentations and an archived
version of the webcast will be available
on the Board’s website following the
meeting. The transcript of the meeting
will be available on the Board’s website
no later than May 25, 2018.
The Board was established in the
NWPPA of 1987 as an independent
federal agency in the Executive Branch
to evaluate the technical and scientific
validity of DOE activities related to the
management and disposal of SNF and
HLW and to provide objective expert
advice to Congress and the Secretary of
Energy on these issues. Board members
are experts in their fields and are
appointed to the Board by the President
from a list of candidates submitted by
the National Academy of Sciences. The
Board reports its findings, conclusions,
and recommendations to Congress and
the Secretary of Energy. All Board
reports, correspondence, congressional
testimony, and meeting transcripts and
related materials are posted on the
Board’s website.
For information on the meeting
agenda, contact Daniel Metlay: metlay@
nwtrb.gov or Karyn Severson: severson@
nwtrb.gov. For information on lodging
and logistics, or to request copies of the
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meeting agenda or transcript, contact
Davonya Barnes: barnes@nwtrb.gov. All
three can be reached by mail at 2300
Clarendon Boulevard, Suite 1300,
Arlington, VA 22201–3367; by
telephone at 703–235–4473; or by fax at
703–235–4495.
Dated: February 6, 2018.
Nigel Mote,
Executive Director, U.S. Nuclear Waste
Technical Review Board.
[FR Doc. 2018–02883 Filed 2–12–18; 8:45 am]
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CORPORATION
Privacy Act of 1974; Systems of
Records
Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation.
ACTION: Notice of modified systems of
records; notice of a rescinded system of
records; notice of a new system of
records.
AGENCY:
Pursuant to the Privacy Act of
1974, the Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation (PBGC) proposes the
following changes to its system of
records notices to: Amend a general
routine use, rescind a duplicative
system of records, establish a new
system of records for collection of data
from the agency website, add or amend
routine uses in ten systems of records,
make clarifying changes to all nineteen
systems of records notices, and
republish all existing systems of records
notices. The PBGC determined that the
proposed changes were necessary after
conducting the biennial review of its
systems of records notices.
DATES: Comments are due by March 15,
2018. The revised and additional
systems of records described herein will
become effective 30 days after the date
of publication, without further notice,
unless comments results in a contrary
determination and a notice is published
to that effect.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written
comments to PBGC by any of the
following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
website instructions for submitting
comments.
• Email: reg.comments@pbgc.gov.
• Mail or Hand Delivery:
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With appropriate redactions of
personally identifiable information,
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\13FEN1.SGM
13FEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 13, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6244-6247]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02930]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 72-1014, 72-59, and 50-271; NRC-2018-0020]
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.; Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power
Station; Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Exemption; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an
exemption in response to a request submitted by Entergy Nuclear
Operations, Inc. (ENO) on May 16, 2017, and supplemented on September
7, 2017 and December 7, 2017, for its general license to operate an
independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) at the Vermont
Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VYNPS). This exemption would permit the
VYNPS to use a new regionalized loading pattern, load fuel cooled for
at least 2 years, and establish a per-cell maximum average burnup limit
at 65,000 megawatt days per metric ton of uranium (MWD/MTU) in HI-STORM
100 multi-purpose canister (MPC)-68M using Certificate of Compliance
(CoC) No. 1014, Amendment No. 10.
DATES: February 13, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0020 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0020. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
9127; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS,
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to [email protected]. The
ADAMS Accession No. for each
[[Page 6245]]
document referenced in this document (if that document is available in
ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is referenced.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yen-Ju Chen, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555; telephone: 301-415-1018; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The VYNPS began operation in 1972. The reactor was permanently shut
down on December 29, 2014. The VYNPS has stored spent boiling-water
reactor (BWR) fuel assemblies at its ISFSI in thirteen (13) HI-STORM
100 casks under CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 2. The remaining spent fuel
assemblies were removed from the reactor and transferred to the spent
fuel pool. ENO, which owns the facility, submitted the VYNPS Post-
Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR) (ADAMS Accession No.
ML14357A110) to the NRC on December 19, 2014, and supplemented with a
schedule change in a letter dated on April 12, 2017 (ADAMS Accession
No. ML17104A050). In the PSDAR, as supplemented, ENO stated its
intention to move all of the spent nuclear fuel assemblies into dry
cask storage in late 2018, and put the plant into SAFSTOR \1\ until it
is ready to fully decommission the facility.
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\1\ A method of decommissioning in which a nuclear facility is
placed and maintained in a condition that allows the facility to be
safely stored and subsequently decontaminated (deferred
decontamination) to levels that permit release for unrestricted use.
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Consistent with subpart K of part 72 of title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), a general license is issued for the
storage of spent fuel in an ISFSI at power reactor sites to persons
authorized to possess or operate nuclear power reactors under 10 CFR
part 50. ENO is currently authorized to store spent fuel at the VYNPS
ISFSI under the 10 CFR part 72 general license provisions. ENO plans to
use Holtec HI-STORM 100 storage casks, as approved by the NRC under CoC
No. 1014, Amendment No. 10, at the VYNPS for dry storage of spent
nuclear fuel in MPC-68M canisters.
II. Request/Action
By application dated May 16, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML17142A354), as supplemented on September 7, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML17255A236) and December 7, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No. ML17346A685),
ENO submitted a request for an exemption from those provisions of 10
CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), and
72.214 that require compliance with the terms, conditions, and
specifications of CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 10 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML16172A294), for the VYNPS to use a new regionalized loading pattern,
load fuel cooled for at least 2 years, and establish a per-cell maximum
average burnup limit at 65,000 MWD/MTU in Holtec HI-STORM 100 MPC-68M
canister.
III. Discussion
Pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, the Commission may, upon application by
any interested person or upon its own initiative, grant such exemptions
from the requirements of the regulations of 10 CFR part 72 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.
The NRC staff prepared a safety evaluation report (SER) (ADAMS
Accession No. ML17298A135) to document the evaluation of the proposed
actions (i.e., using a new regionalized loading pattern, loading fuel
cooled for at least 2 years, and establishing a per-cell maximum
average burnup limit at 65,000 MWD/MTU in MPC-68M), to assure continued
protection of public health and safety, common defense and security,
and the environment. As summarized below, the NRC's safety review
concludes that the requested exemption does not affect the ability of
the cask system to meet the requirements of 10 CFR part 72.
A. The Exemption Is Authorized by Law
This exemption would permit the VYNPS to use a new regionalized
loading pattern, load fuel cooled for at least 2 years, and establish a
per-cell maximum average burnup limit at 65,000 MWD/MTU in MPC-68M
using CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 10.
Section 72.7 allows the Commission to grant exemptions from the
requirements of 10 CFR part 72 if the exemption is authorized by law
and will not endanger life or property nor the common defense and
security. Issuance of this exemption is consistent with the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and not otherwise inconsistent with
NRC's regulations or other applicable laws. Therefore, issuance of the
exemption is authorized by law.
B. The Exemption Presents No Undue Risk to Public Health and Safety and
Will Not Endanger Life or Property or the Common Defense and Security
Approval of this exemption request will allow VYNPS to use a new
regionalized loading pattern, load fuel cooled for at least 2 years,
and establish a per-cell maximum average burnup limit at 65,000 MWD/MTU
in MPC-68M using CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 10. As discussed in the
SER and summarized in the following sections, the NRC staff has found
that ENO's proposed action is acceptable and will not endanger life or
property or the common defense and security.
Review of the Requested Exemption
ENO requested this exemption to maintain its decommissioning
schedule through its optimized loading campaigns. The exemption will
allow VYNPS to use a more optimized regionalized loading pattern for
MPC-68M, so that VYNPS could store hotter fuel from its final operating
cycle, as well as store damaged fuel or fuel debris in a DFC, with
cooler fuel in the same cask. The exemption will also allow VYNPS to
load fuel that has been cooled for at least 2 years into the MPC-68M.
In addition, the exemption will allow VYNPS to establish a per-cell
maximum average burnup limit at 65,000 MWD/MTU in MPC-68M rather than
using an equation to calculate the maximum burnup.
The NRC staff reviewed the requested exemption and determined that
it does not change the fundamental design, components, or safety
features of the storage system. The NRC staff evaluated the applicable
potential safety impacts of granting the exemption to assess the
potential for any danger to life or property or the common defense and
security. Specifically, the NRC staff reviewed the applicant's
structural, thermal, shielding, radiation protection, and material
evaluations for the proposed exemption.
Structural Review for the Requested Exemption: The NRC staff
evaluated the exemption request to ensure that the cask system will
maintain confinement, subcriticality, radiation shielding, and
retrievability or recovery of the fuel, as applicable, under all
credible loads for normal and off-normal conditions accidents, and
natural phenomenon events. Since the maximum projected MPC-68M heat
load for fuels to be loaded at VYNPS will be 24.5 kW, well below the
maximum heat load limit of 36.9 kW for MPC-68M approved in CoC No.
1014, Amendment No. 10, the proposed exemption is bounded by
[[Page 6246]]
NRC's previous evaluation and would not alter the structural integrity
of the dry storage system.
Thermal Review for the Requested Exemption: The NRC staff evaluated
the exemption request to ensure that the cask and fuel material
temperatures of the dry storage system will remain within the allowable
values or criteria for normal, off-normal, and accident conditions. The
staff verified that the calculated fuel cladding temperatures and other
cask component temperatures are below the allowable design temperature
limits for normal, off-normal, and accident conditions of storage at
VYNPS ISFSI. The staff also confirmed that the heat removal capability
of the MPC-68M, using the new regionalized loading pattern and actual
total aggregated cask heat load of 36.9 kW, loaded with all undamaged
fuel assemblies or loaded with damaged fuel and/or fuel debris at VYNPS
ISFSI remains acceptable and continues to meet the requirements of 10
CFR 72.122(h)(1) and 72.236(f).
Shielding Review for the Requested Exemption: The NRC staff
evaluated the exemption request to ensure that the design of the HI-
STORM 100 cask system continues to provide adequate protection against
direct radiation to the onsite operating workers and members of the
public, and that the ISFSI continues to satisfy the regulatory
requirements during normal operating, off-normal, and design-basis
accident conditions. The staff determined the new regionalized loading
pattern is bounded by the design basis loading pattern previously
approved by the NRC and will allow the MPC-68M to maintain the dose
rates below the applicable regulatory limits in 10 CFR 72.104 and
72.106. In addition, the staff found that the use of the maximum
average burnup limit of 65,000 MWD/MTU is acceptable as it provides
sufficient conservatism in comparison with the actual site-specific
maximum.
Radiation Protection Review for the Requested Exemption: The NRC
staff evaluated the exemption request to determine whether the design
features and operations meet the regulatory requirements. The staff
evaluated the source terms and the calculated dose rates for normal,
off-normal, and accident conditions, and found that the dose rates and
annual dose are in compliance with the dose limits specified in 10 CFR
72.104 and 72.106.
Material Review for the Requested Exemption: The NRC staff
evaluated the exemption request to ensure adequate material performance
of components important to safety of the spent fuel storage system
under normal, off-normal, and accident conditions. The staff found that
the material properties of structures, systems, and components
important to safety will be maintained during normal, off-normal, and
accident conditions so that the spent nuclear fuel can be safely stored
for the minimum required years and maintenance can be conducted as
required.
Review of Common Defense and Security: The NRC staff also
considered potential impacts of granting the exemption on the common
defense and security. The requested exemption for the VYNPS ISFSI does
not relate to security or the common defense, and therefore, granting
the exemption would not result in any potential impacts to common
defense and security.
Based on its review, the NRC staff has determined that under the
requested exemption, the storage system will continue to meet the
safety requirements of 10 CFR part 72 and the offsite dose limits of 10
CFR part 20 and, therefore, will not endanger life or property. The NRC
staff also found that the exemption would not endanger common defense
and security.
D. Otherwise in the Public Interest
In determining whether the exemption is in the public interest, the
staff considered the no-action alternative of denying the exemption
request. Denial of the exemption request would require ENO to load and
store spent fuel in accordance with the current conditions of Amendment
No. 10 of CoC No. 1014, which uses the regionalized loading pattern
shown in CoC Appendix B, Figure 2.1-4; requires fuel to be cooled for
at least 3 years; and use the equation in Appendix B, Section 2.4.3, to
calculate maximum allowable fuel assembly average burnup based on fuel
decay heat, enrichment, and cooling time.
ENO's proposed exemption would allow VYNPS to use a new
regionalized loading pattern, load fuel that has been cooled for at
least 2 years in MPC-68M, and use a per-cell maximum average burnup
limit at 65,000 MWD/MTU. With this exemption, VYNPS stated that it
would be able to use a more optimized loading pattern for MPC-68M, so
that VYNPS could store hotter fuel from its final operating cycle, as
well as for storing damaged fuel or fuel debris in a DFC, with cooler
fuel in the same cask.
ENO also noted that by loading higher-burned, shorter-cooled
assemblies into the inner regions of the cask and low-burned, longer-
cooled assemblies on the periphery of the cask, the longer-cooled
assemblies on the periphery of the cask acts as shielding and blocks
the radiation from the shorter-cooled fuel assemblies stored in the
inner region of the cask, and thus reduces dose rates to the onsite
workers and at the site boundary. This exemption request will also
allow VYNPS to maintain continuous loading campaign without
interruption to wait for the fuel to meet the heat loading requirement.
ENO noted that this could avoid potential higher personal exposure and
human errors due to loss of experienced workers.
ENO indicated that by using this exemption, VYNPS would be able to
complete the transfer of irradiated fuel to the ISFSI within a shorter
time period. It would permit the spent fuel pool related structures,
systems, and components to be removed from service earlier, and allow
for staffing reductions to a level commensurate with dry fuel storage
only operations. The staff determined if the transfer of irradiated
fuel to the ISFSI is completed in a shorter time, that there would be a
savings to the Decommissioning Trust Fund. The staff also determined,
based on Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC. Master Decommissioning
Trust Agreement for Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station, Exhibit D
(ADAMS Accession No. ML15111A086), that savings to the Decommission
Trust Fund could financially benefit the electric consumers.
The staff has reviewed the information provided by ENO and
concluded that granting the requested exemption continues to provide
adequate protection of public health and safety and is otherwise in the
public interest.
E. Environmental Considerations
The NRC staff also considered whether there would be any
significant environmental impacts associated with the exemption. For
this proposed action, the NRC staff performed an environmental
assessment pursuant to 10 CFR 51.30. The environmental assessment
concluded that the proposed action would not significantly impact the
quality of the human environment. The NRC staff concluded that the
proposed action would not result in any changes in the types or amounts
of any radiological or non-radiological effluents that may be released
offsite, and there is no significant increase in occupational or public
radiation exposure because of the proposed action. The Environmental
Assessment and the Finding of No Significant Impact was published on
January 23, 2018 (83 FR 3192).
[[Page 6247]]
IV. Conclusion
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
72.7, this exemption is authorized by law, will not endanger life or
property or the common defense and security, and is otherwise in the
public interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants ENO an
exemption from those provisions of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 10 CFR
72.212(b)(3), 10 CFR 72.212(b)(5)(i), 10 CFR 72.214, and the portion of
10 CFR 72.212(b)(11) that require compliance with terms, conditions,
and specifications of the CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 10, for the VYNPS
to use a new regionalized loading pattern, load fuel cooled for at
least 2 years, and establish a per-cell maximum average burnup limit at
65,000 MWD/MTU in MPC-68M using CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 10.
The exemption is effective upon issuance.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of February 2018.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Acting Chief, Spent Fuel Licensing Branch, Division of Spent Fuel
Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2018-02930 Filed 2-12-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
