In the Matter of Arizona Public Service Company; Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, 78874-78879 [2020-26846]
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 235 / Monday, December 7, 2020 / Notices
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Interagency Policy Statement on
Funding and Liquidity Risk
Management in March of 2010.
In October 2013, to clarify NCUA’s
expectation on the Interagency Policy
Statement and to reduce the regulatory
burden on small credit unions, NCUA
codified the requirements for Liquidity
and Contingency Funding Plans as
§ 741.12. The rule establishes a three
tier framework for federally insured
credit unions, based on asset size.
Federally insured credit union with
assets under $50 million must maintain
a basic policy, federally insured credit
unions with assets of $50 million and
over must maintain a contingency
funding plan, and federally insured
credit unions with assets over $250
million must maintain a contingency
funding plan and establish a federal
liquidity contingency source.
Affected Public: Private Sector: Notfor-profit institutions.
Estimated No. of Respondents: 5,164.
Estimated No. of Responses per
Respondent: 1.
Estimated Total Annual Responses:
5,164.
Estimated Burden Hours per
Response: 0.82.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 4,247.
Reason for Change: Adjustments are
attributed to current updated data since
the last previous submission.
Request for Comments: Comments
submitted in response to this notice will
be summarized and included in the
request for Office of Management and
Budget approval. All comments will
become a matter of public record. The
public is invited to submit comments
concerning: (a) Whether the collection
of information is necessary for the
proper execution of the function of the
agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate
of the burden of the collection of
information, including the validity of
the methodology and assumptions used;
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility,
and clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of the
information on the respondents,
including the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
By Melane Conyers-Ausbrooks, Secretary
of the Board, the National Credit Union
Administration, on December 1, 2020.
Dated: December 1, 2020.
Mackie I. Malaka,
NCUA PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020–26769 Filed 12–4–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7535–01–P
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50–528, 50–529, 50–530, and
72–044; NRC–2020–0260]
In the Matter of Arizona Public Service
Company; Palo Verde Nuclear
Generating Station
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Confirmatory Order; issuance.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) issued a
Confirmatory Order to Arizona Public
Service Company (APS) on November
17, 2020. The purpose of the
Confirmatory Order was to document
commitments made as part of a
settlement agreement between the NRC
and APS to address the licensee’s failure
to: Perform a written evaluation for a
change to the NAC MAGNASTOR spent
fuel dry cask storage system and obtain
a license amendment for a change in
methodology for performing tip-over
calculations, and (2) adequately analyze
the consequences of a hypothetical
MAGNASTOR CC5 spent fuel cask tipover accident on the independent spent
fuel storage installation pad located at
APS’ Palo Verde Nuclear Generating
Station.
DATES: The Confirmatory Order became
effective on November 17, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2020–0260 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–2020–0260. Address
questions about Docket IDs in
Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301–287–9127; email:
Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. 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 pdr.resource@
nrc.gov. The Confirmatory Order to
Arizona Public Service Company is
available in ADAMS under Accession
No. ML20323A035.
SUMMARY:
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• Attention: The PDR, where you may
examine and order copies of public
documents is currently closed. You may
submit your request to the PDR via
email at PDR.Resource@nrc.gov or call
1–800–397–4209 between 8:00 a.m. and
4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Peter Jayroe, Region IV, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Arlington, TX
76011–4511; telephone: 817–200–1174,
email: peter.jayroe@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of
the Order is attached.
Dated: December 2, 2020.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Scott A. Morris,
Regional Administrator, NRC Region IV.
Attached—Confirmatory Order
United States of America
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
In the Matter of: Arizona Public
Service Company Palo Verde Nuclear
Generating Station.
Docket Nos. 50–528, 50–529, 50–530,
72–044
License Nos. NPF–41, NPF–51, NPF–74
EA–20–054
Confirmatory Order Modifying License
(Effective Upon Issuance)
I
Arizona Public Service Company
(APS or Licensee) is the holder of
Renewed Facility Operating License
Nos. NPF–41, NPF–51, and NPF–74
issued on April 21, 2011, by the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC
or Commission) pursuant to Part 50 of
Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), ‘‘Domestic
Licensing of Production and Utilization
Facilities.’’ The license authorizes the
operation of Palo Verde Nuclear
Generating Station (facility) in
accordance with conditions specified
therein. The facility is located on the
Licensee’s site in Tonopah, Arizona.
This Confirmatory Order is the result
of an agreement reached during an
alternative dispute resolution (ADR)
mediation session conducted on
September 16, 2020.
II
On July 6, 2020, the NRC issued
Inspection Report 05000528/2020010,
05000529/2020010, 05000530/2020010,
and 07200044/2020001 to APS which
documented the identification of two
apparent violations that were being
considered for escalated enforcement
action in accordance with the NRC
Enforcement Policy. The apparent
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violations included: (1) An apparent
violation of 10 CFR 72.48(c)(2)(viii) for
the failure to perform a written
evaluation for a change to the NAC
MAGNASTOR dry cask storage system
and obtain a license amendment for a
change in methodology for performing
tip-over calculations; and (2) an
apparent violation of 10 CFR 72.146(a)
for the failure to adequately analyze the
consequences of a hypothetical
MAGNASTOR CC5 spent fuel cask tipover accident on the independent spent
fuel storage installation pad.
By letter dated July 6, 2020, the NRC
notified APS of the results of the
inspection with an opportunity to: (1)
Provide a response in writing, (2) attend
a predecisional enforcement conference;
or (3) to participate in an ADR
mediation session in an effort to resolve
these concerns.
In response to the NRC’s offer, APS
requested the use of the NRC’s ADR
process to resolve differences it had
with the NRC. On September 16, 2020,
the NRC and APS met in an ADR
session mediated by a professional
mediator, arranged through Cornell
University’s Institute on Conflict
Resolution. The ADR process is one in
which a neutral mediator, with no
decision-making authority, assists the
parties in reaching an agreement on
resolving any differences regarding the
dispute. This Confirmatory Order is
issued pursuant to the agreement
reached during the ADR process.
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III
During the ADR session, APS and the
NRC reached a preliminary settlement
agreement. The elements of the
agreement include the following:
APS acknowledged that it: (1) Failed
to perform a written evaluation for a
change to the NAC MAGNASTOR dry
cask storage system and obtain a license
amendment for a change in
methodology for performing tip-over
calculations; and (2) failed to adequately
analyze the consequences of a
hypothetical MAGNASTOR CC5 spent
fuel cask tip over accident on the
Independent Spent Fuel Storage
Installation (ISFSI) pad.
Corrective actions already
implemented by APS included:
A. Prior to loading fuel in the first
MAGNASTOR cask at the Palo Verde
Nuclear Generating Station (Palo Verde),
APS directed NAC to perform a new tipover analysis of the Palo Verde plant
specific vertical concrete MAGNASTOR
CC5 cask on the Palo Verde ISFSI pad
using the NAC final safety analysis
report (FSAR) described method of
evaluation, LS–DYNA.
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B. On February 28, 2020, APS revised
10 CFR 72.48 screening 72.48 S–20–001
to no longer accept the linear scaling
method that was originally done for the
MAGNASTOR tip-over analysis. The
revision of the screening was done to
review and accept the tip-over analysis
using the NAC FSAR-described method
of evaluation, LS–DYNA.
C. On February 28, 2020, APS revised
the Palo Verde ISFSI 10 CFR 72.212
Evaluation Report for the MAGNASTOR
System to incorporate the revised 10
CFR 72.48 screening that accepted the
tip-over analysis using the NAC FSARdescribed method of evaluation, LS–
DYNA.
D. APS completed a Level 1 Root
Cause Analysis that was approved by
the Palo Verde Corrective Action
Review Board. The root cause analysis
addressed the failure to identify a
change in a MAGNASTOR FSAR
required methodology resulting in APS
not complying with 10 CFR
72.48(c)(2)(viii) and 10 CFR 72.146(a).
E. As part of the root cause analysis,
APS performed a review of the tip-over
analysis for the UMS dry cask system,
used at Palo Verde prior to
MAGNASTOR, and confirmed that the
UMS tip-over analysis was performed
using LS–DYNA as required by the NAC
FSAR.
F. As part of the root cause analysis,
APS performed an extent of condition
review of the 10 CFR 72.48 and 10 CFR
50.59 screenings and evaluations
performed over the last 5 years. Of the
over 600 screenings and evaluations
reviewed, APS identified three items of
interest that required additional
evaluation and were entered into the
APS corrective action program.
Additional commitments made in the
preliminary settlement agreement, as
signed by both parties, consist of the
following:
Communications
A. Within 2 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order, APS
will develop a communication that will
include: A summary of the ISFSI event
that resulted in the Confirmatory Order,
the root and contributing causes, the
corrective actions from the root cause
evaluation, and the additional corrective
actions from the Confirmatory Order,
and APS will submit the proposed
communication to the NRC for its
review. The NRC will provide any
comments to APS on the
communication within 1 month from
the date of the submittal. APS will
consider the NRC’s comments and
incorporate those comments that APS
agrees are appropriate.
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B. Within 4 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order, APS
will issue the Condition A
communication as a stand-alone
communication from the Chief Nuclear
Officer to all qualified personnel in the
development, review, and approval of
10 CFR 50.59/72.48 ‘‘Changes, test, and
experiments’’ documents. APS will
retain a copy of the communication
presented and verifiable evidence of the
personnel receiving the communication.
APS will document the reason for any
person not obtaining the
communication and the additional
efforts used to provide the
communication.
C. Within 6 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order, APS
will develop a presentation and will
submit the proposed presentation to the
NRC for its review. The NRC will
provide any comments to APS on the
presentation within 1 month from the
date of the submittal. APS will consider
the NRC’s comments and incorporate
those comments that APS agrees are
appropriate. The presentation will:
1. Include a summary of the ISFSI
event that resulted in the Confirmatory
Order, the root and contributing causes,
the corrective actions from the root
cause evaluation, additional corrective
actions from the Confirmatory Order,
and a discussion on what a
Methodology is and what are input
parameters.
2. Emphasize a General Licensee’s
requirement to adequately review a
vendor’s 10 CFR 72.48 analysis through
its 10 CFR 50.59/72.48 program for
acceptance prior to being implemented
at the General Licensee’s site.
D. Within 15 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order, APS
will deliver the presentation to: (1) The
INPO Engineering VP Forum, (2) the
NEI Used Fuel Conference, and (3) the
NEI High Level Waste Working Group
(subject to acceptance of the forum or
conference organizing committee) as
allowed by current COVID–19
considerations.
Training
E. Within 6 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order, APS
will develop a refresher training on 10
CFR 50.59/72.48 requirements and
processes and will submit the proposed
training to the NRC for its review. The
NRC will provide any comments to APS
on the proposed training within 1
month from the date of the submittal.
APS will consider the NRC’s comments
and incorporate those comments that
APS agrees are appropriate.
F. Within 9 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order, APS
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will provide the training to all qualified
personnel in the development, review,
and approval of 10 CFR 50.59/72.48
changes. APS will continue to provide
the refresher training at intervals not to
exceed 15 months until December 31,
2024. APS will retain a copy of the
training and verifiable evidence of the
personnel receiving the training. APS
will document the reason for any person
not obtaining the training and the
additional efforts used to provide the
training.
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Reviews
G. Within 4 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order, APS
will create a challenge review board
consisting of three 10 CFR 50.59
program single point of contact (SPOC)
members who will review 10 CFR 72.48
screenings and evaluations prior to the
change implementation until December
31, 2024. By March 31 of the calendar
year following the Condition G reviews,
APS will send a copy of the previous
calendar reviews and a copy of any
additional corrective actions developed
from the reviews to the NRC.
H. APS will utilize a design review
board to review NAC’s design changes
with experienced qualified 10 CFR
50.59/72.48 individuals on both NAC
MAGNASTOR and NAC UMS systems,
applicable to APS, prior to all loading
campaigns through December 31, 2024.
By March 31 of the calendar year
following the Condition H reviews, APS
will send a copy of the previous
calendar year reviews and a copy of any
additional corrective actions developed
from the reviews to the NRC.
Training Assessment
I. Within 12 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order, APS
will perform a training needs analysis to
determine what training should be
provided to engineering personnel
relative to software quality assurance.
The training needs analysis will
consider procedures and processes
related to the APS software quality
assurance program and aspects of the
Spent Fuel Project Office Interim Staff
Guidance—21 (ISG–21), ‘‘Use of
Computational Modeling Software,’’
NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access
and Management System (ADAMS)
Accession No. ML061080669. APS will
send the results of the training needs
analysis and proposed training to the
NRC for its review. The NRC will
provide any comments to APS on the
training within 1 month from the date
of the submittal. APS will consider the
NRC’s comments and incorporate those
comments that APS agrees are
appropriate.
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J. Within 24 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order, APS
will provide the training resulting from
the training needs analysis discussed in
Paragraph I to qualified personnel in the
development, review, and approval of
10 CFR 50.59/72.48 changes.
Effectiveness Reviews
K. By December 31 of calendar years
2021 and 2023, APS will perform an
effectiveness review of the implemented
root cause evaluation corrective actions,
and actions associated with the
Confirmatory Order. The effectiveness
review will include lessons learned
from each action implementation or
completion, new operating experience
since issuance of the Confirmatory
Order, and training feedback associated
with 10 CFR 50.59/72.48 which
occurred during the effectiveness review
period. APS will modify its corrective
actions, as needed and consistent with
this Confirmatory Order, based on the
results of the effectiveness review. By
March 31 of each year following the
effectiveness review, APS will send a
copy of the effectiveness review and a
copy of any additional corrective
actions developed from the effectiveness
review to the NRC.
Administrative Items
L. Until December 31, 2026, APS will
retain a copy of all documentation
created during the implementation of
the Confirmatory Order Conditions.
M. Documents that are required to be
sent to the NRC as a result of the
Confirmatory Order Conditions will be
sent the Director, Division of Nuclear
Materials Safety, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Region IV,
1600 E Lamar Blvd., Arlington, TX
76011–4511 and emailed to
R4Enforcement@nrc.gov.
N. In consideration of the Conditions
delineated above, the NRC agrees that
the issuance of this Confirmatory Order
will not be considered as escalated
enforcement. However, for any future
escalated enforcement actions involving
10 CFR 72.48 or 10 CFR 72.146, the NRC
will consider this Confirmatory Order
for the civil penalty assessment
purposes as discussed in the NRC
Enforcement Policy.
O. In consideration of the Conditions
delineated above, the NRC agrees not to
issue a notice of violation and not
impose a civil penalty for the apparent
violations discussed in the NRC
inspection report to APS dated July 6,
2020.
P. In the event of the transfer of the
license of APS to another entity, the
terms and conditions set forth
hereunder shall continue to apply to the
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new entity and accordingly survive any
transfer of ownership or license.
Q. The NRC and APS agree that the
above elements will be incorporated
into a Confirmatory Order.
Based on the completed actions
described above, and the commitments
described in Section V below, the NRC
agrees to not pursue any further
enforcement action based on the
apparent violations identified in the
NRC’s July 6, 2020, letter.
On November 5, 2020, APS consented
to issuing this Confirmatory Order with
the commitments, as described in
Section V below. APS further agreed
that this Confirmatory Order is to be
effective upon issuance, the agreement
memorialized in this Confirmatory
Order settles the matter between the
parties, and that it has waived its right
to a hearing.
IV
I find that APS’s actions completed,
as described in Section III above,
combined with the commitments as set
forth in Section V are acceptable and
necessary, and conclude that with these
commitments the public health and
safety are reasonably assured. In view of
the foregoing, I have determined that
public health and safety require that
APS’s commitments be confirmed by
this Confirmatory Order. Based on the
above and APS’s consent, this
Confirmatory Order is effective upon
issuance.
V
Accordingly, pursuant to Sections
103, 161b., 161i., 161o., 182, and 186 of
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as
amended, and the Commission’s
regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR
part 50, it is hereby ordered, effective
upon issuance, that license Nos. NPF–
41, NPF–51, and NPF–74 are modified
as follows:
Communications
A. Within 2 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order, APS
will develop a communication that will
include: A summary of the ISFSI event
that resulted in the Confirmatory Order,
the root and contributing causes, the
corrective actions from the root cause
evaluation, and the additional corrective
actions from the Confirmatory Order,
and APS will submit the proposed
communication to the NRC for its
review. The NRC will provide any
comments to APS on the
communication within 1 month from
the date of the submittal. APS will
consider the NRC’s comments and
incorporate those comments that APS
agrees are appropriate.
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B. Within 4 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order, APS
will issue the Condition A
communication as a stand-alone
communication from the Chief Nuclear
Officer to all qualified personnel in the
development, review, and approval of
10 CFR 50.59/72.48 ‘‘Changes, test, and
experiments’’ documents. APS will
retain a copy of the communication
presented and verifiable evidence of the
personnel receiving the communication.
APS will document the reason for any
person not obtaining the
communication and the additional
efforts used to provide the
communication.
C. Within 6 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order, APS
will develop a presentation and will
submit the proposed presentation to the
NRC for its review. The NRC will
provide any comments to APS on the
presentation within 1 month from the
date of the submittal. APS will consider
the NRC’s comments and incorporate
those comments that APS agrees are
appropriate. The presentation will:
1. Include a summary of the ISFSI
event that resulted in the Confirmatory
Order, the root and contributing causes,
the corrective actions from the root
cause evaluation, additional corrective
actions from the Confirmatory Order,
and a discussion on what a
Methodology is and what are input
parameters.
2. Emphasize a General Licensee’s
requirement to adequately review a
vendor’s 10 CFR 72.48 analysis through
its 10 CFR 50.59/72.48 program for
acceptance prior to being implemented
at the General Licensee’s site.
D. Within 15 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order, APS
will deliver the presentation developed
in Condition C to: (1) The INPO
Engineering VP Forum, (2) the NEI Used
Fuel Conference, and (3) the NEI High
Level Waste Working Group (subject to
acceptance of the forum or conference
organizing committee) as allowed by
current COVID–19 considerations.
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Training
E. Within 6 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order, APS
will develop a Systematic Approach to
Training refresher training on 10 CFR
50.59/72.48 requirements and processes
and will submit proposed training to the
NRC for its review. The NRC will
provide any comments to APS on the
training within 1 month from the date
of the submittal. APS will consider the
NRC’s comments and incorporate those
comments that APS agrees are
appropriate.
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F. Within 9 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order, APS
will provide the training developed in
Condition E above to all qualified
personnel in the development, review,
and approval of 10 CFR 50.59/72.48
changes. APS will continue to provide
the refresher training at intervals not to
exceed 15 months until December 31,
2024. APS will retain a copy of the
training and verifiable evidence of the
personnel receiving the training. APS
will document the reason for any person
not obtaining the training and the
additional efforts used to provide the
training.
Reviews
G. Within 4 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order and until
December 31, 2024, APS will create a
challenge review board consisting of
three 10 CFR 50.59 program single point
of contact (SPOC) members who will
review 10 CFR 72.48 screenings and
evaluations prior to the implementation
of a design change. By March 31 of the
calendar year following the Condition G
reviews, APS will send a copy of the
previous calendar year reviews and a
copy of any additional corrective
actions developed from the reviews to
the NRC.
H. Within 4 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order and until
December 31, 2024, APS will utilize a
design review board to review NAC’s
design changes with experienced,
qualified 10 CFR 50.59/72.48
individuals on both NAC MAGNASTOR
and NAC UMS systems applicable to
APS prior to all loading campaigns. By
March 31 of the calendar year following
the Condition H reviews, APS will send
a copy of the previous calendar year
reviews and a copy of any additional
corrective actions developed from the
reviews to the NRC.
Training Assessment
I. Within 12 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order, APS
will perform a training needs analysis to
determine what training should be
provided to engineering personnel
relative to software quality assurance.
The training needs analysis will
consider procedures and processes
related to the APS software quality
assurance program and aspects of
NUREG–2215, ‘‘Standard Review Plan
for Spent Fuel Dry Storage Systems and
Facilities,’’ Appendix 4A,
‘‘Computational Modeling Software
Technical Review Guidance,’’ NRC’s
Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System (ADAMS)
Accession No. ML20121A190. APS will
send the results of the training needs
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78877
analysis and proposed training to the
NRC for its review. The NRC will
provide any comments to APS on the
training within 1 month from the date
of the submittal. APS will consider the
NRC’s comments and incorporate those
comments that APS agrees are
appropriate.
J. Within 24 months of the issuance
date of the Confirmatory Order, APS
will provide the training resulting from
the training needs analysis discussed in
Condition I to qualified personnel in the
development, review, and approval of
10 CFR 50.59/72.48 changes.
Effectiveness Reviews
K. By December 31 of calendar years
2021 and 2023, APS will perform an
effectiveness review of the implemented
root cause evaluation corrective actions,
and actions associated with the
Confirmatory Order. The effectiveness
review will include lessons learned
from each action implementation or
completion, new operating experience
since issuance of the Confirmatory
Order, and training feedback associated
with 10 CFR 50.59/72.48 which
occurred during the effectiveness review
period. APS will modify its corrective
actions, as needed and consistent with
the Confirmatory Order, based on the
results of the effectiveness review. By
March 31 of each year following the
effectiveness review, APS will send a
copy of the effectiveness review and a
copy of any additional corrective
actions developed from the effectiveness
review to the NRC.
Administrative Items
L. Until December 31, 2026, APS will
retain a copy of all documentation
created during the implementation of
the Confirmatory Order Conditions.
M. Documents that are required to be
sent to the NRC as a result of the
Confirmatory Order Conditions will be
sent to the Director, Division of Nuclear
Materials Safety, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Region IV,
1600 E Lamar Blvd., Arlington, TX
76011–4511 and emailed to
R4Enforcement@nrc.gov.
N. In consideration of the Conditions
delineated above, the NRC agrees that
the issuance of this Confirmatory Order
will not be considered as escalated
enforcement. However, for any future
escalated enforcement actions involving
10 CFR 72.48 or 10 CFR 72.146, the NRC
will consider this Confirmatory Order
for the civil penalty assessment
purposes as discussed in the NRC
Enforcement Policy.
O. In consideration of the Conditions
delineated above, the NRC agrees not to
issue a notice of violation and not
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impose a civil penalty for the apparent
violations discussed in the NRC
inspection report to APS dated July 6,
2020.
In the event of the transfer of the
license of APS to another entity, the
terms and conditions set forth
hereunder shall continue to apply to the
new entity and accordingly survive any
transfer of ownership or license. The
Regional Administrator, Region IV, may,
in writing, relax, rescind, or withdraw
any of the above conditions upon
demonstration by APS or its successors
of good cause.
VI
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202 and
10 CFR 2.309, any person adversely
affected by this Confirmatory Order,
other than APS, may request a hearing
within thirty (30) calendar days of the
date of issuance of this Confirmatory
Order. Where good cause is shown,
consideration will be given to extending
the time to request a hearing. A request
for extension of time must be made in
writing to the Director, Office of
Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555,
and include a statement of good cause
for the extension.
All documents filed in NRC
adjudicatory proceedings, including a
request for hearing and petition for
leave to intervene (petition), any motion
or other document filed in the
proceeding prior to the submission of a
request for hearing or petition to
intervene, and documents filed by
interested governmental entities that
request to participate under 10 CFR
2.315(c), must be filed in accordance
with the NRC’s E-Filing rule (72 FR
49139; August 28, 2007, as amended at
77 FR 46562; August 3, 2012). The EFiling process requires participants to
submit and serve all adjudicatory
documents over the internet, or in some
cases to mail copies on electronic
storage media. Detailed guidance on
making electronic submissions may be
found in the Guidance for Electronic
Submissions to the NRC and on the NRC
website at https://www.nrc.gov/sitehelp/e-submittals.html. Participants
may not submit paper copies of their
filings unless they seek an exemption in
accordance with the procedures
described below.
To comply with the procedural
requirements of E-Filing, at least 10
days prior to the filing deadline, the
participant should contact the Office of
the Secretary by email at
hearing.docket@nrc.gov, or by telephone
at 301–415–1677, to (1) request a digital
identification (ID) certificate, which
allows the participant (or its counsel or
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18:32 Dec 04, 2020
Jkt 253001
representative) to digitally sign
submissions and access the E-Filing
system for any proceeding in which it
is participating; and (2) advise the
Secretary that the participant will be
submitting a petition or other
adjudicatory document (even in
instances in which the participant, or its
counsel or representative, already holds
an NRC-issued digital ID certificate).
Based upon this information, the
Secretary will establish an electronic
docket for the hearing in this proceeding
if the Secretary has not already
established an electronic docket.
Information about applying for a
digital ID certificate is available on the
NRC’s public website at https://
www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/
getting-started.html. Once a participant
has obtained a digital ID certificate and
a docket has been created, the
participant can then submit
adjudicatory documents. Submissions
must be in Portable Document Format
(PDF). Additional guidance on PDF
submissions is available on the NRC’s
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/
site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A
filing is considered complete at the time
the document is submitted through the
NRC’s E-Filing system. To be timely, an
electronic filing must be submitted to
the E-Filing system no later than 11:59
p.m. Eastern Time on the due date.
Upon receipt of a transmission, the EFiling system time-stamps the document
and sends the submitter an email notice
confirming receipt of the document. The
E-Filing system also distributes an email
notice that provides access to the
document to the NRC’s Office of the
General Counsel and any others who
have advised the Office of the Secretary
that they wish to participate in the
proceeding, so that the filer need not
serve the document on those
participants separately. Therefore,
applicants and other participants (or
their counsel or representative) must
apply for and receive a digital ID
certificate before adjudicatory
documents are filed so that they can
obtain access to the documents via the
E-Filing system.
A person filing electronically using
the NRC’s adjudicatory E-Filing system
may seek assistance by contacting the
NRC’s Electronic Filing Help Desk
through the ‘‘Contact Us’’ link located
on the NRC’s public website at https://
www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals.html, by email to
MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov, or by a tollfree call at 1–866–672–7640. The NRC
Electronic Filing Help Desk is available
between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., Eastern
Time, Monday through Friday,
excluding government holidays.
PO 00000
Frm 00058
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Sfmt 4703
Participants who believe that they
have good cause for not submitting
documents electronically must file an
exemption request, in accordance with
10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper
filing stating why there is good cause for
not filing electronically and requesting
authorization to continue to submit
documents in paper format. Such filings
must be submitted by: (1) First class
mail addressed to the Office of the
Secretary of the Commission, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001, Attention:
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or
(2) courier, express mail, or expedited
delivery service to the Office of the
Secretary, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland, 20852, Attention:
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff.
Participants filing adjudicatory
documents in this manner are
responsible for serving the document on
all other participants. Filing is
considered complete by first-class mail
as of the time of deposit in the mail, or
by courier, express mail, or expedited
delivery service upon depositing the
document with the provider of the
service. A presiding officer, having
granted an exemption request from
using E-Filing, may require a participant
or party to use E-Filing if the presiding
officer subsequently determines that the
reason for granting the exemption from
use of E-Filing no longer exists.
Documents submitted in adjudicatory
proceedings will appear in the NRC’s
electronic hearing docket which is
available to the public at https://
adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded
pursuant to an Order of the Commission
or the presiding officer. If you do not
have an NRC-issued digital ID certificate
as described above, click ‘‘Cancel’’
when the link requests certificates and
you will be automatically directed to the
NRC’s electronic hearing dockets where
you will be able to access any publicly
available documents in a particular
hearing docket. Participants are
requested not to include personal
privacy information, such as social
security numbers, home addresses, or
personal phone numbers in their filings,
unless an NRC regulation or other law
requires submission of such
information. For example, in some
instances, individuals provide home
addresses in order to demonstrate
proximity to a facility or site. With
respect to copyrighted works, except for
limited excerpts that serve the purpose
of the adjudicatory filings and would
constitute a Fair Use application,
participants are requested not to include
copyrighted materials in their
submission.
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The Commission will issue a notice or
order granting or denying a hearing
request or intervention petition,
designating the issues for any hearing
that will be held and designating the
Presiding Officer. A notice granting a
hearing will be published in the Federal
Register and served on the parties to the
hearing.
If a person (other than APS) requests
a hearing, that person shall set forth
with particularity the manner in which
his interest is adversely affected by this
Confirmatory Order and shall address
the criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d)
and (f).
If a hearing is requested by a person
whose interest is adversely affected, the
Commission will issue an order
designating the time and place of any
hearings. If a hearing is held, the issue
to be considered at such hearing shall be
whether this Confirmatory Order should
be sustained.
In the absence of any request for
hearing, or written approval of an
extension of time in which to request a
hearing, the provisions specified in
Section V above shall be final 30 days
from the date of this Confirmatory Order
without further order or proceedings. If
an extension of time for requesting a
hearing has been approved, the
provisions specified in Section V shall
be final when the extension expires if a
hearing request has not been received.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
/RA/
Scott A. Morris,
Regional Administrator, NRC Region IV.
Dated this 17th day of November 2020.
[FR Doc. 2020–26846 Filed 12–4–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[NRC–2018–0137]
Licensee Actions to Address
Nonconservative Technical
Specifications
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory guide; issuance.
AGENCY:
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VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:32 Dec 04, 2020
Jkt 253001
RG 1.239 is available on
December 7, 2020.
DATES:
Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2018–0137 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–2018–0137. Address
questions about Docket IDs in
Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301–287–9127; email:
Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For technical
questions, contact the individuals 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
PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. For the
convenience of the reader, instructions
about obtaining materials referenced in
this document are provided in the
‘‘Availability of Documents’’ section.
• Attention: The PDR, where you may
examine and order copies of public
documents, is currently closed. You
may submit your request to the PDR via
email at PDR.Resource@nrc.gov or call
1–800–397–4209 between 8:00 a.m. and
4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.
RG 1.239 and the regulatory analysis
may be found in ADAMS under
Accession Nos. ML20294A510 and
ML18086A685, respectively.
Regulatory guides are not
copyrighted, and NRC approval is not
required to reproduce them.
ADDRESSES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is issuing Regulatory
Guide (RG) 1.239, ‘‘Licensee Actions to
Address Nonconservative Technical
Specifications.’’ This RG endorses the
guidance in NEI 15–03, Revision 3,
‘‘Licensee Actions to Address
Nonconservative Technical
Specifications,’’ as a method acceptable
to the NRC staff for licensee actions to
SUMMARY:
address nonconservative technical
specifications.
Shawn Williams, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301–
415–1009, email: Shawn.Williams@
nrc.gov and Robert Roche-Rivera, Office
of Nuclear Regulatory Research,
telephone: 301–415–8113, email:
Robert.Roche-Rivera@nrc.gov. Both are
staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
PO 00000
Frm 00059
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
78879
I. Discussion
The NRC is issuing a new guide in the
NRC’s ‘‘Regulatory Guide’’ series. This
series was developed to describe and
make available to the public information
regarding methods that are acceptable to
the NRC staff for implementing specific
parts of the agency’s regulations,
techniques that the NRC staff uses in
evaluating specific issues or postulated
events, and data that the NRC staff
needs in its review of applications for
permits and licenses.
RG 1.239 was issued with a temporary
identification of Draft Regulatory Guide,
DG–1351 and related regulatory
analysis. This RG provides guidance for
licensee compliance with the technical
specification requirements in section
50.36 of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), ‘‘Technical
specifications,’’ the reporting
requirements in 10 CFR 50.72,
‘‘Immediate notification requirements
for operating nuclear power reactors’’
and 10 CFR 50.73, ‘‘Licensee event
report system,’’ and the quality
assurance requirements in Criterion XVI
of 10 CFR part 50, appendix B,
‘‘Corrective Action’’. This RG endorses
NEI 15–03, Revision 3.
With the issuance of RG 1.239, the
NRC is withdrawing Administrative
Letter (AL) 98–10, ‘‘Dispositioning of
Technical Specifications That Are
Insufficient to Assure Plant Safety.’’ The
information in AL 98–10 is
encompassed in RG 1.239.
II. Additional Information
The NRC published a notice of the
availability of DG–1351 in the Federal
Register on July 5, 2018 (83 FR 31429)
for a 60-day public comment period,
and it proposed to endorse NEI 15–03,
Revision 2, with exceptions and
clarifications. The public comment
period closed on September 4, 2018.
Public comments on DG–1351 and the
staff responses to the public comments
are available in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML19267A108.
On October 17, 2019, the NRC staff
held a public meeting to discuss the
staff’s disposition of public comments
on DG–1351. Subsequently, by letter
dated April 9, 2020, the NEI submitted
Revision 3 of NEI 15–03 to address the
exceptions and clarifications in DG–
1351. The NRC review of the April 9,
2020, submittal determined that NEI 15–
03, as revised, is acceptable and
addresses the exceptions and
clarifications in DG–1351. As a result,
the NRC revised DG–1351 to remove the
exceptions and clarifications and
published a notice of the availability of
DG–1351, Revision 1 in the Federal
E:\FR\FM\07DEN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 235 (Monday, December 7, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78874-78879]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-26846]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-528, 50-529, 50-530, and 72-044; NRC-2020-0260]
In the Matter of Arizona Public Service Company; Palo Verde
Nuclear Generating Station
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Confirmatory Order; issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a
Confirmatory Order to Arizona Public Service Company (APS) on November
17, 2020. The purpose of the Confirmatory Order was to document
commitments made as part of a settlement agreement between the NRC and
APS to address the licensee's failure to: Perform a written evaluation
for a change to the NAC MAGNASTOR spent fuel dry cask storage system
and obtain a license amendment for a change in methodology for
performing tip-over calculations, and (2) adequately analyze the
consequences of a hypothetical MAGNASTOR CC5 spent fuel cask tip-over
accident on the independent spent fuel storage installation pad located
at APS' Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station.
DATES: The Confirmatory Order became effective on November 17, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0260 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-2020-0260. Address
questions about 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 Confirmatory Order to Arizona
Public Service Company is available in ADAMS under Accession No.
ML20323A035.
Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies
of public documents is currently closed. You may submit your request to
the PDR via email at [email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209
between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Jayroe, Region IV, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Arlington, TX 76011-4511; telephone: 817-200-
1174, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Order is attached.
Dated: December 2, 2020.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Scott A. Morris,
Regional Administrator, NRC Region IV.
Attached--Confirmatory Order
United States of America
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
In the Matter of: Arizona Public Service Company Palo Verde Nuclear
Generating Station.
Docket Nos. 50-528, 50-529, 50-530, 72-044
License Nos. NPF-41, NPF-51, NPF-74
EA-20-054
Confirmatory Order Modifying License
(Effective Upon Issuance)
I
Arizona Public Service Company (APS or Licensee) is the holder of
Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-41, NPF-51, and NPF-74
issued on April 21, 2011, by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC or Commission) pursuant to Part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of Production and
Utilization Facilities.'' The license authorizes the operation of Palo
Verde Nuclear Generating Station (facility) in accordance with
conditions specified therein. The facility is located on the Licensee's
site in Tonopah, Arizona.
This Confirmatory Order is the result of an agreement reached
during an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mediation session
conducted on September 16, 2020.
II
On July 6, 2020, the NRC issued Inspection Report 05000528/2020010,
05000529/2020010, 05000530/2020010, and 07200044/2020001 to APS which
documented the identification of two apparent violations that were
being considered for escalated enforcement action in accordance with
the NRC Enforcement Policy. The apparent
[[Page 78875]]
violations included: (1) An apparent violation of 10 CFR
72.48(c)(2)(viii) for the failure to perform a written evaluation for a
change to the NAC MAGNASTOR dry cask storage system and obtain a
license amendment for a change in methodology for performing tip-over
calculations; and (2) an apparent violation of 10 CFR 72.146(a) for the
failure to adequately analyze the consequences of a hypothetical
MAGNASTOR CC5 spent fuel cask tip-over accident on the independent
spent fuel storage installation pad.
By letter dated July 6, 2020, the NRC notified APS of the results
of the inspection with an opportunity to: (1) Provide a response in
writing, (2) attend a predecisional enforcement conference; or (3) to
participate in an ADR mediation session in an effort to resolve these
concerns.
In response to the NRC's offer, APS requested the use of the NRC's
ADR process to resolve differences it had with the NRC. On September
16, 2020, the NRC and APS met in an ADR session mediated by a
professional mediator, arranged through Cornell University's Institute
on Conflict Resolution. The ADR process is one in which a neutral
mediator, with no decision-making authority, assists the parties in
reaching an agreement on resolving any differences regarding the
dispute. This Confirmatory Order is issued pursuant to the agreement
reached during the ADR process.
III
During the ADR session, APS and the NRC reached a preliminary
settlement agreement. The elements of the agreement include the
following:
APS acknowledged that it: (1) Failed to perform a written
evaluation for a change to the NAC MAGNASTOR dry cask storage system
and obtain a license amendment for a change in methodology for
performing tip-over calculations; and (2) failed to adequately analyze
the consequences of a hypothetical MAGNASTOR CC5 spent fuel cask tip
over accident on the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation
(ISFSI) pad.
Corrective actions already implemented by APS included:
A. Prior to loading fuel in the first MAGNASTOR cask at the Palo
Verde Nuclear Generating Station (Palo Verde), APS directed NAC to
perform a new tip-over analysis of the Palo Verde plant specific
vertical concrete MAGNASTOR CC5 cask on the Palo Verde ISFSI pad using
the NAC final safety analysis report (FSAR) described method of
evaluation, LS-DYNA.
B. On February 28, 2020, APS revised 10 CFR 72.48 screening 72.48
S-20-001 to no longer accept the linear scaling method that was
originally done for the MAGNASTOR tip-over analysis. The revision of
the screening was done to review and accept the tip-over analysis using
the NAC FSAR-described method of evaluation, LS-DYNA.
C. On February 28, 2020, APS revised the Palo Verde ISFSI 10 CFR
72.212 Evaluation Report for the MAGNASTOR System to incorporate the
revised 10 CFR 72.48 screening that accepted the tip-over analysis
using the NAC FSAR-described method of evaluation, LS-DYNA.
D. APS completed a Level 1 Root Cause Analysis that was approved by
the Palo Verde Corrective Action Review Board. The root cause analysis
addressed the failure to identify a change in a MAGNASTOR FSAR required
methodology resulting in APS not complying with 10 CFR
72.48(c)(2)(viii) and 10 CFR 72.146(a).
E. As part of the root cause analysis, APS performed a review of
the tip-over analysis for the UMS dry cask system, used at Palo Verde
prior to MAGNASTOR, and confirmed that the UMS tip-over analysis was
performed using LS-DYNA as required by the NAC FSAR.
F. As part of the root cause analysis, APS performed an extent of
condition review of the 10 CFR 72.48 and 10 CFR 50.59 screenings and
evaluations performed over the last 5 years. Of the over 600 screenings
and evaluations reviewed, APS identified three items of interest that
required additional evaluation and were entered into the APS corrective
action program.
Additional commitments made in the preliminary settlement
agreement, as signed by both parties, consist of the following:
Communications
A. Within 2 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order,
APS will develop a communication that will include: A summary of the
ISFSI event that resulted in the Confirmatory Order, the root and
contributing causes, the corrective actions from the root cause
evaluation, and the additional corrective actions from the Confirmatory
Order, and APS will submit the proposed communication to the NRC for
its review. The NRC will provide any comments to APS on the
communication within 1 month from the date of the submittal. APS will
consider the NRC's comments and incorporate those comments that APS
agrees are appropriate.
B. Within 4 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order,
APS will issue the Condition A communication as a stand-alone
communication from the Chief Nuclear Officer to all qualified personnel
in the development, review, and approval of 10 CFR 50.59/72.48
``Changes, test, and experiments'' documents. APS will retain a copy of
the communication presented and verifiable evidence of the personnel
receiving the communication. APS will document the reason for any
person not obtaining the communication and the additional efforts used
to provide the communication.
C. Within 6 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order,
APS will develop a presentation and will submit the proposed
presentation to the NRC for its review. The NRC will provide any
comments to APS on the presentation within 1 month from the date of the
submittal. APS will consider the NRC's comments and incorporate those
comments that APS agrees are appropriate. The presentation will:
1. Include a summary of the ISFSI event that resulted in the
Confirmatory Order, the root and contributing causes, the corrective
actions from the root cause evaluation, additional corrective actions
from the Confirmatory Order, and a discussion on what a Methodology is
and what are input parameters.
2. Emphasize a General Licensee's requirement to adequately review
a vendor's 10 CFR 72.48 analysis through its 10 CFR 50.59/72.48 program
for acceptance prior to being implemented at the General Licensee's
site.
D. Within 15 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order,
APS will deliver the presentation to: (1) The INPO Engineering VP
Forum, (2) the NEI Used Fuel Conference, and (3) the NEI High Level
Waste Working Group (subject to acceptance of the forum or conference
organizing committee) as allowed by current COVID-19 considerations.
Training
E. Within 6 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order,
APS will develop a refresher training on 10 CFR 50.59/72.48
requirements and processes and will submit the proposed training to the
NRC for its review. The NRC will provide any comments to APS on the
proposed training within 1 month from the date of the submittal. APS
will consider the NRC's comments and incorporate those comments that
APS agrees are appropriate.
F. Within 9 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order,
APS
[[Page 78876]]
will provide the training to all qualified personnel in the
development, review, and approval of 10 CFR 50.59/72.48 changes. APS
will continue to provide the refresher training at intervals not to
exceed 15 months until December 31, 2024. APS will retain a copy of the
training and verifiable evidence of the personnel receiving the
training. APS will document the reason for any person not obtaining the
training and the additional efforts used to provide the training.
Reviews
G. Within 4 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order,
APS will create a challenge review board consisting of three 10 CFR
50.59 program single point of contact (SPOC) members who will review 10
CFR 72.48 screenings and evaluations prior to the change implementation
until December 31, 2024. By March 31 of the calendar year following the
Condition G reviews, APS will send a copy of the previous calendar
reviews and a copy of any additional corrective actions developed from
the reviews to the NRC.
H. APS will utilize a design review board to review NAC's design
changes with experienced qualified 10 CFR 50.59/72.48 individuals on
both NAC MAGNASTOR and NAC UMS systems, applicable to APS, prior to all
loading campaigns through December 31, 2024. By March 31 of the
calendar year following the Condition H reviews, APS will send a copy
of the previous calendar year reviews and a copy of any additional
corrective actions developed from the reviews to the NRC.
Training Assessment
I. Within 12 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order,
APS will perform a training needs analysis to determine what training
should be provided to engineering personnel relative to software
quality assurance. The training needs analysis will consider procedures
and processes related to the APS software quality assurance program and
aspects of the Spent Fuel Project Office Interim Staff Guidance--21
(ISG-21), ``Use of Computational Modeling Software,'' NRC's Agencywide
Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No.
ML061080669. APS will send the results of the training needs analysis
and proposed training to the NRC for its review. The NRC will provide
any comments to APS on the training within 1 month from the date of the
submittal. APS will consider the NRC's comments and incorporate those
comments that APS agrees are appropriate.
J. Within 24 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order,
APS will provide the training resulting from the training needs
analysis discussed in Paragraph I to qualified personnel in the
development, review, and approval of 10 CFR 50.59/72.48 changes.
Effectiveness Reviews
K. By December 31 of calendar years 2021 and 2023, APS will perform
an effectiveness review of the implemented root cause evaluation
corrective actions, and actions associated with the Confirmatory Order.
The effectiveness review will include lessons learned from each action
implementation or completion, new operating experience since issuance
of the Confirmatory Order, and training feedback associated with 10 CFR
50.59/72.48 which occurred during the effectiveness review period. APS
will modify its corrective actions, as needed and consistent with this
Confirmatory Order, based on the results of the effectiveness review.
By March 31 of each year following the effectiveness review, APS will
send a copy of the effectiveness review and a copy of any additional
corrective actions developed from the effectiveness review to the NRC.
Administrative Items
L. Until December 31, 2026, APS will retain a copy of all
documentation created during the implementation of the Confirmatory
Order Conditions.
M. Documents that are required to be sent to the NRC as a result of
the Confirmatory Order Conditions will be sent the Director, Division
of Nuclear Materials Safety, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region
IV, 1600 E Lamar Blvd., Arlington, TX 76011-4511 and emailed to
[email protected].
N. In consideration of the Conditions delineated above, the NRC
agrees that the issuance of this Confirmatory Order will not be
considered as escalated enforcement. However, for any future escalated
enforcement actions involving 10 CFR 72.48 or 10 CFR 72.146, the NRC
will consider this Confirmatory Order for the civil penalty assessment
purposes as discussed in the NRC Enforcement Policy.
O. In consideration of the Conditions delineated above, the NRC
agrees not to issue a notice of violation and not impose a civil
penalty for the apparent violations discussed in the NRC inspection
report to APS dated July 6, 2020.
P. In the event of the transfer of the license of APS to another
entity, the terms and conditions set forth hereunder shall continue to
apply to the new entity and accordingly survive any transfer of
ownership or license.
Q. The NRC and APS agree that the above elements will be
incorporated into a Confirmatory Order.
Based on the completed actions described above, and the commitments
described in Section V below, the NRC agrees to not pursue any further
enforcement action based on the apparent violations identified in the
NRC's July 6, 2020, letter.
On November 5, 2020, APS consented to issuing this Confirmatory
Order with the commitments, as described in Section V below. APS
further agreed that this Confirmatory Order is to be effective upon
issuance, the agreement memorialized in this Confirmatory Order settles
the matter between the parties, and that it has waived its right to a
hearing.
IV
I find that APS's actions completed, as described in Section III
above, combined with the commitments as set forth in Section V are
acceptable and necessary, and conclude that with these commitments the
public health and safety are reasonably assured. In view of the
foregoing, I have determined that public health and safety require that
APS's commitments be confirmed by this Confirmatory Order. Based on the
above and APS's consent, this Confirmatory Order is effective upon
issuance.
V
Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 103, 161b., 161i., 161o., 182,
and 186 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the
Commission's regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR part 50, it is
hereby ordered, effective upon issuance, that license Nos. NPF-41, NPF-
51, and NPF-74 are modified as follows:
Communications
A. Within 2 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order,
APS will develop a communication that will include: A summary of the
ISFSI event that resulted in the Confirmatory Order, the root and
contributing causes, the corrective actions from the root cause
evaluation, and the additional corrective actions from the Confirmatory
Order, and APS will submit the proposed communication to the NRC for
its review. The NRC will provide any comments to APS on the
communication within 1 month from the date of the submittal. APS will
consider the NRC's comments and incorporate those comments that APS
agrees are appropriate.
[[Page 78877]]
B. Within 4 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order,
APS will issue the Condition A communication as a stand-alone
communication from the Chief Nuclear Officer to all qualified personnel
in the development, review, and approval of 10 CFR 50.59/72.48
``Changes, test, and experiments'' documents. APS will retain a copy of
the communication presented and verifiable evidence of the personnel
receiving the communication. APS will document the reason for any
person not obtaining the communication and the additional efforts used
to provide the communication.
C. Within 6 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order,
APS will develop a presentation and will submit the proposed
presentation to the NRC for its review. The NRC will provide any
comments to APS on the presentation within 1 month from the date of the
submittal. APS will consider the NRC's comments and incorporate those
comments that APS agrees are appropriate. The presentation will:
1. Include a summary of the ISFSI event that resulted in the
Confirmatory Order, the root and contributing causes, the corrective
actions from the root cause evaluation, additional corrective actions
from the Confirmatory Order, and a discussion on what a Methodology is
and what are input parameters.
2. Emphasize a General Licensee's requirement to adequately review
a vendor's 10 CFR 72.48 analysis through its 10 CFR 50.59/72.48 program
for acceptance prior to being implemented at the General Licensee's
site.
D. Within 15 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order,
APS will deliver the presentation developed in Condition C to: (1) The
INPO Engineering VP Forum, (2) the NEI Used Fuel Conference, and (3)
the NEI High Level Waste Working Group (subject to acceptance of the
forum or conference organizing committee) as allowed by current COVID-
19 considerations.
Training
E. Within 6 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order,
APS will develop a Systematic Approach to Training refresher training
on 10 CFR 50.59/72.48 requirements and processes and will submit
proposed training to the NRC for its review. The NRC will provide any
comments to APS on the training within 1 month from the date of the
submittal. APS will consider the NRC's comments and incorporate those
comments that APS agrees are appropriate.
F. Within 9 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order,
APS will provide the training developed in Condition E above to all
qualified personnel in the development, review, and approval of 10 CFR
50.59/72.48 changes. APS will continue to provide the refresher
training at intervals not to exceed 15 months until December 31, 2024.
APS will retain a copy of the training and verifiable evidence of the
personnel receiving the training. APS will document the reason for any
person not obtaining the training and the additional efforts used to
provide the training.
Reviews
G. Within 4 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order
and until December 31, 2024, APS will create a challenge review board
consisting of three 10 CFR 50.59 program single point of contact (SPOC)
members who will review 10 CFR 72.48 screenings and evaluations prior
to the implementation of a design change. By March 31 of the calendar
year following the Condition G reviews, APS will send a copy of the
previous calendar year reviews and a copy of any additional corrective
actions developed from the reviews to the NRC.
H. Within 4 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order
and until December 31, 2024, APS will utilize a design review board to
review NAC's design changes with experienced, qualified 10 CFR 50.59/
72.48 individuals on both NAC MAGNASTOR and NAC UMS systems applicable
to APS prior to all loading campaigns. By March 31 of the calendar year
following the Condition H reviews, APS will send a copy of the previous
calendar year reviews and a copy of any additional corrective actions
developed from the reviews to the NRC.
Training Assessment
I. Within 12 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order,
APS will perform a training needs analysis to determine what training
should be provided to engineering personnel relative to software
quality assurance. The training needs analysis will consider procedures
and processes related to the APS software quality assurance program and
aspects of NUREG-2215, ``Standard Review Plan for Spent Fuel Dry
Storage Systems and Facilities,'' Appendix 4A, ``Computational Modeling
Software Technical Review Guidance,'' NRC's Agencywide Documents Access
and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML20121A190. APS will send
the results of the training needs analysis and proposed training to the
NRC for its review. The NRC will provide any comments to APS on the
training within 1 month from the date of the submittal. APS will
consider the NRC's comments and incorporate those comments that APS
agrees are appropriate.
J. Within 24 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order,
APS will provide the training resulting from the training needs
analysis discussed in Condition I to qualified personnel in the
development, review, and approval of 10 CFR 50.59/72.48 changes.
Effectiveness Reviews
K. By December 31 of calendar years 2021 and 2023, APS will perform
an effectiveness review of the implemented root cause evaluation
corrective actions, and actions associated with the Confirmatory Order.
The effectiveness review will include lessons learned from each action
implementation or completion, new operating experience since issuance
of the Confirmatory Order, and training feedback associated with 10 CFR
50.59/72.48 which occurred during the effectiveness review period. APS
will modify its corrective actions, as needed and consistent with the
Confirmatory Order, based on the results of the effectiveness review.
By March 31 of each year following the effectiveness review, APS will
send a copy of the effectiveness review and a copy of any additional
corrective actions developed from the effectiveness review to the NRC.
Administrative Items
L. Until December 31, 2026, APS will retain a copy of all
documentation created during the implementation of the Confirmatory
Order Conditions.
M. Documents that are required to be sent to the NRC as a result of
the Confirmatory Order Conditions will be sent to the Director,
Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Region IV, 1600 E Lamar Blvd., Arlington, TX 76011-4511 and
emailed to [email protected].
N. In consideration of the Conditions delineated above, the NRC
agrees that the issuance of this Confirmatory Order will not be
considered as escalated enforcement. However, for any future escalated
enforcement actions involving 10 CFR 72.48 or 10 CFR 72.146, the NRC
will consider this Confirmatory Order for the civil penalty assessment
purposes as discussed in the NRC Enforcement Policy.
O. In consideration of the Conditions delineated above, the NRC
agrees not to issue a notice of violation and not
[[Page 78878]]
impose a civil penalty for the apparent violations discussed in the NRC
inspection report to APS dated July 6, 2020.
In the event of the transfer of the license of APS to another
entity, the terms and conditions set forth hereunder shall continue to
apply to the new entity and accordingly survive any transfer of
ownership or license. The Regional Administrator, Region IV, may, in
writing, relax, rescind, or withdraw any of the above conditions upon
demonstration by APS or its successors of good cause.
VI
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR 2.309, any person
adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order, other than APS, may
request a hearing within thirty (30) calendar days of the date of
issuance of this Confirmatory Order. Where good cause is shown,
consideration will be given to extending the time to request a hearing.
A request for extension of time must be made in writing to the
Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555, and include a statement of good cause for the
extension.
All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including a
request for hearing and petition for leave to intervene (petition), any
motion or other document filed in the proceeding prior to the
submission of a request for hearing or petition to intervene, and
documents filed by interested governmental entities that request to
participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in accordance with the
NRC's E-Filing rule (72 FR 49139; August 28, 2007, as amended at 77 FR
46562; August 3, 2012). The E-Filing process requires participants to
submit and serve all adjudicatory documents over the internet, or in
some cases to mail copies on electronic storage media. Detailed
guidance on making electronic submissions may be found in the Guidance
for Electronic Submissions to the NRC and on the NRC website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. Participants may not submit
paper copies of their filings unless they seek an exemption in
accordance with the procedures described below.
To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10
days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should contact the
Office of the Secretary by email at [email protected], or by
telephone at 301-415-1677, to (1) request a digital identification (ID)
certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign submissions and access the E-Filing
system for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise
the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a petition or
other adjudicatory document (even in instances in which the
participant, or its counsel or representative, already holds an NRC-
issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this information, the
Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the hearing in this
proceeding if the Secretary has not already established an electronic
docket.
Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/getting-started.html. Once a participant has obtained a
digital ID certificate and a docket has been created, the participant
can then submit adjudicatory documents. Submissions must be in Portable
Document Format (PDF). Additional guidance on PDF submissions is
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A filing is considered complete at the
time the document is submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To be
timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing system
no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. Upon receipt of
a transmission, the E-Filing system time-stamps the document and sends
the submitter an email notice confirming receipt of the document. The
E-Filing system also distributes an email notice that provides access
to the document to the NRC's Office of the General Counsel and any
others who have advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to
participate in the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the
document on those participants separately. Therefore, applicants and
other participants (or their counsel or representative) must apply for
and receive a digital ID certificate before adjudicatory documents are
filed so that they can obtain access to the documents via the E-Filing
system.
A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC's Electronic
Filing Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by
email to [email protected], or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-
7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m.
and 6 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, excluding government
holidays.
Participants who believe that they have good cause for not
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, in
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing
stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and
requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper
format. Such filings must be submitted by: (1) First class mail
addressed to the Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention:
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or
expedited delivery service to the Office of the Secretary, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, 20852, Attention: Rulemaking and
Adjudications Staff. Participants filing adjudicatory documents in this
manner are responsible for serving the document on all other
participants. Filing is considered complete by first-class mail as of
the time of deposit in the mail, or by courier, express mail, or
expedited delivery service upon depositing the document with the
provider of the service. A presiding officer, having granted an
exemption request from using E-Filing, may require a participant or
party to use E-Filing if the presiding officer subsequently determines
that the reason for granting the exemption from use of E-Filing no
longer exists.
Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at
https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an Order of the
Commission or the presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued
digital ID certificate as described above, click ``Cancel'' when the
link requests certificates and you will be automatically directed to
the NRC's electronic hearing dockets where you will be able to access
any publicly available documents in a particular hearing docket.
Participants are requested not to include personal privacy information,
such as social security numbers, home addresses, or personal phone
numbers in their filings, unless an NRC regulation or other law
requires submission of such information. For example, in some
instances, individuals provide home addresses in order to demonstrate
proximity to a facility or site. With respect to copyrighted works,
except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the adjudicatory
filings and would constitute a Fair Use application, participants are
requested not to include copyrighted materials in their submission.
[[Page 78879]]
The Commission will issue a notice or order granting or denying a
hearing request or intervention petition, designating the issues for
any hearing that will be held and designating the Presiding Officer. A
notice granting a hearing will be published in the Federal Register and
served on the parties to the hearing.
If a person (other than APS) requests a hearing, that person shall
set forth with particularity the manner in which his interest is
adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order and shall address the
criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d) and (f).
If a hearing is requested by a person whose interest is adversely
affected, the Commission will issue an order designating the time and
place of any hearings. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered
at such hearing shall be whether this Confirmatory Order should be
sustained.
In the absence of any request for hearing, or written approval of
an extension of time in which to request a hearing, the provisions
specified in Section V above shall be final 30 days from the date of
this Confirmatory Order without further order or proceedings. If an
extension of time for requesting a hearing has been approved, the
provisions specified in Section V shall be final when the extension
expires if a hearing request has not been received.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
/RA/
Scott A. Morris,
Regional Administrator, NRC Region IV.
Dated this 17th day of November 2020.
[FR Doc. 2020-26846 Filed 12-4-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
