In the Matter of ZionSolutions, LLC and Exelon Generation Company, LLC; Zion Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2, 66935-66936 [2019-26352]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 235 (Friday, December 6, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66935-66936]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26352]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-295, 50-304, and 72-1037; NRC-2019-0236]


In the Matter of ZionSolutions, LLC and Exelon Generation 
Company, LLC; Zion Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Direct transfer of license; order.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an 
order approving the direct transfer of Facility Operating License Nos. 
DPR-39 and DPR-48 for Zion Nuclear Power Station (ZNPS), Units 1 and 2, 
respectively, and the general license for the ZNPS independent spent 
fuel storage installation (ISFSI) from the current holder, 
ZionSolutions, LLC (ZS), to Exelon Generation Company, LLC (EGC). The 
NRC is also amending the facility operating licenses for administrative 
purposes to reflect the license transfer from ZS to EGC. The NRC 
determined that EGC is qualified to be the holder of the licenses and 
that the transfer of the licenses is otherwise consistent with 
applicable provisions of law, regulations, and orders issued by the 
Commission. The order approving the transfer of the ZNPS licenses to 
EGC became effective on November 26, 2019.

DATES: The order was issued on November 26, 2019, and is effective for 
one year.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0236 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-2019-0236. Address 
questions about NRC Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges; 
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 ``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 number for each 
document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first 
time that it is mentioned in this document.
     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: John B. Hickman, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3017; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the order is attached.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day of December 2019.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John B. Hickman,
Project Manager, Reactor Decommissioning Branch, Division of 
Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and Waste Programs, Office of 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.

Attachment--Order Approving the Transfer of Licenses and Conforming 
Amendments

United States of America

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

    In the Matter of: ZionSolutions, LLC, and Exelon Generation 
Company, LLC, Zion Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2, EA-19-125.

Docket Nos. 50-295, 50-304, and 72-1037
License Nos. DPR-39 and DPR-48

Order Approving Transfer of Licenses and Conforming Amendments

I.

    ZionSolutions, LLC (ZS) is the holder of Facility Operating 
License Nos. DPR-39 and DRP-48 for Zion Nuclear Power Station 
(ZNPS), Units 1 and 2, respectively, and the general license for the 
ZNPS independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI). ZS is 
authorized to possess and maintain ZNPS and the ZNPS ISFSI, which 
are located in Zion, Illinois. ZNPS is located on the west shore of 
lake Michigan approximately midway between Chicago, Illinois and 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
    ZNPS Units 1 and 2 were both Westinghouse 3250 MWt pressurized-
water reactors. Unit 1 was granted an operating license on October 
19, 1973 and was shut down on February 21, 1997. Unit 2 was granted 
an operating license on November 14, 1973 and was shut down on 
September 19, 1996.
    In February 1998, pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) Part 50.82(a)(1)(i), the ZNPS licensee certified 
to the NRC that as of February 13, 1998, operations had permanently 
ceased at ZNPS and subsequently certified pursuant to 10 CFR 
50.82(a)(1)(ii) that all fuel had been permanently removed from the 
units' reactor vessels (Agencywide Documents Access and Management 
System [ADAMS] Accession Nos. ML15232A492 and ML15232A487). Pursuant 
to 10 CFR 50.82(a)(2), operations or emplacement of fuel into the 
reactor vessels at ZNPS are no longer authorized under the licenses. 
On January 25, 2008, the ZNPS licensee submitted an application to 
transfer the ZNPS licenses from Exelon Generation Company, LLC (EGC) 
to ZS for the purpose of expedited decommissioning (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML080310521). The NRC consented to the license transfer on May 
4, 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. ML090930037). Spent fuel transfer from 
the Spent Fuel Pool (SFP) to the ISFSI was completed on January 10, 
2015. As of September 2019, the ZNPS site was in the final stages of 
radiological decommissioning, environmental remediation, and site 
restoration.

II.

    By letter dated July 24, 2018 (ADAMS Accession No. ML18211A303), 
as supplemented by letters dated January 21, 2019 (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML19028A175) and February 8, 2019 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML19043A673), ZS requested, on behalf of itself and EGC 
(collectively, the applicants), pursuant to Section 184 of the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and Section 50.80, ``Transfer 
of licenses,'' of 10 CFR, that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC, the Commission) consent to the transfer to EGC of 
Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-39 and DPR-48 for ZNPS, Units 1 
and 2, respectively, and the generally licensed ZNPS ISFSI, which 
are currently held by ZS. Specifically, ZS intends to transfer its 
NRC-licensed possession, maintenance, and decommissioning 
authorities back to EGC upon the completion of the decommissioning 
activities at the ZNPS site. The application proposed no physical or 
operational changes to the facilities.
    The NRC published a notice, ``Zion Nuclear Power Station, Units 
1 and 2: Zion Solutions, LLC, Application for direct transfer of 
facility operating license and conforming amendment; opportunity to 
comment, request a hearing, and petition for leave to intervene,'' 
in the Federal Register on September 24, 2018 (83 FR 48343). No 
comments or hearing requests were received.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80, no license, or any right thereunder, 
shall be transferred, directly or indirectly, through transfer of 
control of the license, unless the Commission gives its consent in 
writing. Upon review of the information in the application and other 
information before the Commission, and relying upon the 
representations and agreements contained in the application, the NRC 
staff has determined that EGC is

[[Page 66936]]

qualified to hold the licenses. The NRC staff has also determined 
that the proposed license transfer is otherwise consistent with the 
applicable provisions of law, regulations, and orders issued by the 
Commission pursuant thereto, subject to the condition set forth 
below.
    Upon review of the application for conforming amendments to the 
ZNPS licenses to reflect the transfer to EGC, the NRC staff 
determined the following:
    (1) The application for the proposed license amendments complies 
with the standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's rules and 
regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I.
    (2) There is reasonable assurance that the activities authorized 
by the proposed license amendments can be conducted without 
endangering the health and safety of the public, and that such 
activities will be conducted in compliance with the Commission's 
regulations.
    (3) The issuance of the proposed license amendments will not be 
inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and 
safety of the public.
    (4) The issuance of the proposed license amendments is in 
accordance with 10 CFR part 51 of the Commission's regulations and 
all applicable requirements have been satisfied.
    The findings set forth above are supported by an NRC safety 
evaluation dated November 26, 2019, which is available at ADAMS 
Accession No. ML19228A131.

III.

    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 161b, 161i, and 184 of the 
Act, 42 U.S.C. Sections 2201(b), 2201(i), and 2234; and 10 CFR 
50.80, it is hereby ordered that the application regarding the 
proposed license transfer is approved, subject to the following 
condition:
    Prior to the consummation of the license transfer from ZS to 
EGC, EGC shall provide satisfactory documentary evidence to the 
Director of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards at 
the NRC that it has obtained or continues to possess the appropriate 
amount of insurance required of a licensee under 10 CFR part 140 and 
10 CFR 50.54(w), consistent with the exemptions issued to ZNPS on 
December 21, 1999.
    It is further ordered that, consistent with 10 CFR 2.1315(b), 
the license amendments that make changes, as indicated in Enclosure 
2 to the cover letter forwarding this Order, to conform the licenses 
to reflect the subject license transfer are approved. The amendments 
shall be issued and made effective at the time the proposed license 
transfer is completed.
    It is further ordered that, after receipt of all required 
regulatory approvals of the proposed transfer action, EGC shall 
inform the Director of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards in writing of such receipt, and of the date of closing of 
the transfer, no later than 5 business days before the date of the 
closing of the transfer. Should the proposed transfer not be 
completed within 1 year of this Order's date of issuance, this Order 
shall become null and void; provided, however, that upon written 
application and for good cause shown, such date may be extended by 
order. This Order is effective upon issuance.
    For further details with respect to this Order, see the 
application dated July 24, 2018 (ADAMS Accession No. ML18211A303), 
the supplements dated January 21, 2019 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML19028A175) and February 8, 2019 (ADAMS Accession No. ML 
19043A673), and the NRC's safety evaluation dated November 26, 2019 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML19228A131), which are available for public 
inspection at the NRC's Public Document Room located at One White 
Flint North, Public File Area O1-F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (First 
Floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available documents created or 
received at the NRC are accessible electronically through ADAMS in 
the NRC Library at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons 
who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems accessing 
the documents located in ADAMS should contact the NRC Public 
Document Room reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-
415-4737 or by email to [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day of November, 2019.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

    /RA/

John W. Lubinski, Director,
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.

[FR Doc. 2019-26352 Filed 12-5-19; 8:45 a.m.]
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