Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC and Holtec Palisades, LLC; Palisades Nuclear Plant; Exemption, 418-422 [2023-28909]
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418
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 2 / Wednesday, January 3, 2024 / Notices
The Administrator also establishes
APQ for all other schedule I and II
controlled substances included in 21
CFR 1308.11 and 1308.12 at zero. In
accordance with 21 CFR 1303.13 and 21
CFR 1315.13, upon consideration of the
relevant factors, the Administrator may
adjust the 2024 APQ and AAN as
needed.
Signing Authority
This document of the Drug
Enforcement Administration was signed
on December 28, 2023, by Administrator
Anne Milgram. That document with the
original signature and date is
maintained by DEA. For administrative
purposes only, and in compliance with
requirements of the Office of the Federal
Register, the undersigned DEA Federal
Register Liaison Officer has been
authorized to sign and submit the
document in electronic format for
publication, as an official document of
DEA. This administrative process in no
way alters the legal effect of this
document upon publication in the
Federal Register.
Scott Brinks,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, Drug
Enforcement Administration.
[FR Doc. 2023–28962 Filed 12–29–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410–09–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50–382; NRC–2023–0046]
Entergy Operations, Inc.; Waterford
Steam Electric Station, Unit 3; License
Amendment Application
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Notice; withdrawal by
applicant.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC, the Commission) has
granted the request of Entergy
Operations, Inc. (the licensee) to
withdraw its application dated
November 1, 2022, for a proposed
amendment to Renewed Facility
Operating License No. NPF–38 for the
Waterford Steam Electric Station, Unit
3. The proposed amendment would
have revised Technical Specification 3/
4.3–2, Table 4.3–2, ‘‘Engineered Safety
Features Actuation System
Instrumentation Surveillance
Requirements,’’ Table Notation (3), to
remove the exemption from testing
relays K114, K305, and K313 at power.
DATES: This document was published in
the Federal Register on January 3, 2024.
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
SUMMARY:
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Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2023–0046 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–2023–0046. Address
questions about Docket IDs in
Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301–415–0624; email:
Stacy.Schumann@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, at
301–415–4737, or by email to
PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. 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: The PDR, where you
may examine and order copies of
publicly available documents, is open
by appointment. To make an
appointment to visit the PDR, please
send an email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov
or call 1–800–397–4209 or 301–415–
4737, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern
time (ET), Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jason Drake, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001, telephone: 301–415–8378; email:
Jason.Drake@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NRC
has granted the request of the licensee
to withdraw its application dated
November 1, 2022 (ADAMS Accession
No. ML22305A693) for the proposed
amendment to Renewed Facility
Operating License No. NPF–38 for the
Waterford Steam Electric Station, Unit
3, located in St. Charles Parish,
Louisiana.
The proposed amendment would
have revised TS 3/4.3–2, Table 4.3–2,
‘‘Engineered Safety Features Actuation
system Instrumentation Surveillance
Requirements,’’ Table Notation (3), to
remove the exemption from testing
relays K114, K305, and K313 at power.
ADDRESSES:
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The Commission had previously
issued a Notice of Consideration of
Issuance of Amendment published in
the Federal Register on February 21,
2023 (88 FR 10557). However, by letter
dated September 28, 2023 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML23271A178), the
licensee withdrew the proposed
amendment.
Dated: December 28, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jason J. Drake,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch IV,
Division of Operating Reactor Licensing,
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2023–28891 Filed 1–2–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50–255; NRC–2023–0193]
Holtec Decommissioning International,
LLC and Holtec Palisades, LLC;
Palisades Nuclear Plant; Exemption
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Notice; issuance.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) has issued an
exemption in response to a request from
Holtec Decommissioning International,
LLC (HDI), an indirect wholly owned
subsidiary of Holtec International, that
would allow HDI and Holtec Palisades,
LLC, to reduce the minimum coverage
limit for onsite property damage
insurance from $1.06 billion to $50
million for the Palisades Nuclear Plant.
DATES: The exemption was issued on
December 21, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2023–0193 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–2023–0193. Address
questions about Docket IDs in
Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301–415–0624; email:
Stacy.Schumann@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
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\03JAN1.SGM
03JAN1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 2 / Wednesday, January 3, 2024 / Notices
‘‘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, at
301–415–4737, or by email to
PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. 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: The PDR, where you
may examine and order copies of
publicly available documents, is open
by appointment. To make an
appointment to visit the PDR, please
send an email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov
or call 1–800–397–4209 or 301–415–
4737, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern
time (ET), Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Tanya E. Hood, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone:
301–415–1387; email: Tanya.Hood@
nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The text of
the exemption is attached.
Dated: December 28, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Tanya E. Hood,
Project Manager, Reactor Decommissioning
Branch, Division of Decommissioning,
Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs,
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards.
Attachment—Exemption
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Docket No. 50–255
Holtec Decommissioning International,
LLC, and Holtec Palisades, LLC;
Palisades Nuclear Plant, Exemption
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I. Background
By letter dated October 19, 2017
(Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System Accession No.
ML17292A032), Entergy Nuclear
Operations, Inc. (ENOI) certified to the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC, or Commission) that it planned to
permanently cease power operations at
the Palisades Nuclear Plant (Palisades)
no later than May 31, 2022. On May 20,
2022, ENOI permanently ceased power
operations at Palisades, and by letter
dated June 13, 2022 (ML22164A067),
ENOI certified to the NRC that the fuel
was permanently removed from the
Palisades reactor vessel and placed in
the spent fuel pool (SFP) on June 10,
2022. Accordingly, pursuant to
paragraphs 50.82(a)(2) of title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
the 10 CFR part 50 renewed facility
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operating license for Palisades no longer
authorizes operation of the reactor or
emplacement or retention of fuel in the
reactor vessel. The facility is still
authorized to possess, and store
irradiated (i.e., spent) nuclear fuel.
Palisades spent fuel is currently stored
in the SFP and in dry cask storage at the
independent spent fuel storage
installation (ISFSI).
II. Request/Action
By letter dated October 26, 2022
(ML22299A062), Holtec
Decommissioning International, LLC
(HDI), one of the licensees of Palisades
and an indirect wholly owned
subsidiary of Holtec International
(Holtec), requested an exemption on
behalf of Holtec Palisades, LLC, the
other Palisades licensee, from 10 CFR
50.54(w)(1) concerning onsite liability
insurance. HDI and Holtec Palisades,
LLC, are hereafter collectively referred
to as the licensee. The exemption from
10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) would permit the
licensee to reduce the required level of
onsite property damage insurance from
$1.06 billion to $50 million for
Palisades.
The regulation at 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1)
requires licensees to have and maintain
onsite property damage insurance to
stabilize and decontaminate the reactor
and reactor site in the event of an
accident. The onsite insurance coverage
must be either $1.06 billion or whatever
amount of insurance is generally
available from private sources
(whichever is less).
The licensee states that the risk of an
incident at a permanently shutdown
and defueled reactor is much less than
the risk from an operating power
reactor. In addition, since reactor
operation is no longer authorized at
Palisades, there are no events that
would require the stabilization of
reactor conditions after an accident.
Similarly, the risk of an accident that
would result in significant onsite
contamination at Palisades is also much
lower than the risk of such an event at
operating reactors. Therefore, the
licensee requested an exemption from
10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) to reduce its onsite
property damage insurance from $1.06
billion to $50 million, commensurate
with the reduced risk of an incident at
the permanently shutdown and
defueled Palisades site.
III. Discussion
Under 10 CFR 50.12, the Commission
may, upon application by any interested
person or upon its own initiative, grant
exemptions from the requirements of 10
CFR part 50 when (1) the exemptions
are authorized by law, will not present
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419
an undue risk to public health or safety,
and are consistent with the common
defense and security; and (2) any of the
special circumstances listed in 10 CFR
50.12(a)(2) are present.
The financial protection limits of 10
CFR 50.54(w)(1) were established after
the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station,
Unit 2 accident out of concern that
licensees may be unable to financially
cover onsite cleanup costs in the event
of a major nuclear accident. The
specified $1.06 billion coverage amount
requirement was developed based on an
analysis of an accident at a nuclear
reactor operating at power, resulting in
a large fission product release and
requiring significant resource
expenditures to stabilize the reactor and
ultimately decontaminate and cleanup
the site.
These cost estimates were developed
based on the spectrum of postulated
accidents for an operating nuclear
reactor. Those costs were derived from
the consequences of a release of
radioactive material from the reactor.
Although the risk of an accident at an
operating reactor is very low, the
consequences onsite and offsite can be
significant. In an operating plant, the
high temperature and pressure of the
reactor coolant system (RCS) and the
inventory of relatively short-lived
radionuclides contribute to both the risk
and consequences of an accident. With
the permanent cessation of reactor
operations at Palisades and the
permanent removal of the fuel from the
reactor vessel, such accidents are no
longer possible. As a result, the reactor
vessel, RCS, and supporting systems no
longer operate and have no function
related to the storage of the irradiated
fuel. Therefore, postulated accidents
involving failure or malfunction of the
reactor, RCS, or supporting systems are
no longer applicable.
During reactor decommissioning, the
largest radiological risks are associated
with the storage of spent fuel onsite. In
the exemption request dated October 26,
2022, the licensee discussed both
design-basis and beyond design-basis
events involving irradiated fuel stored
in the SFP. The licensee determined
that there are no possible design-basis
events at Palisades that could result in
an offsite radiological release exceeding
the limits established by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency’s
(EPA) early phase Protective Action
Guides (PAGs) of 1 roentgen equivalent
man (rem) at the exclusion area
boundary, as a way to demonstrate that
any possible radiological releases would
be minimal and would not require
precautionary protective actions (e.g.,
sheltering in place or evacuation).
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 2 / Wednesday, January 3, 2024 / Notices
The NRC staff evaluated the
radiological consequences associated
with various decommissioning activities
and the design-basis accidents (DBAs) at
Palisades in consideration of a
permanently shutdown and defueled
condition. The possible DBA scenarios
at Palisades have greatly reduced
radiological consequences. Based on its
review, the NRC staff concluded that no
reasonably conceivable DBA exists that
could cause an offsite release greater
than the EPA PAGs.
The only incident that has the
potential to lead to a significant
radiological release at a
decommissioning reactor is a zirconium
fire. The zirconium fire scenario is a
postulated, but highly unlikely, beyond
DBA scenario that involves loss of water
inventory from the SFP resulting in a
significant heatup of the spent fuel and
culminating in substantial zirconium
cladding oxidation and fuel damage.
The probability of a zirconium fire
scenario is related to the decay heat of
the irradiated fuel stored in the SFP.
Therefore, the risks from a zirconium
fire scenario continue to decrease as a
function of the time since Palisades has
been permanently shutdown.
The Commission has previously
authorized a lesser amount of onsite
financial protection based on this
analysis of the zirconium fire risk. In
SECY–96–256, ‘‘Changes to Financial
Protection Requirements for
Permanently Shutdown Nuclear Power
Reactors, 10 CFR 50.54(w) and 10 CFR
140.11,’’ dated December 17, 1996
(ML15062A483), the NRC staff
recommended changes to the power
reactor financial protection regulations
that would allow licensees to lower
onsite insurance levels to $50 million
upon demonstration that the fuel stored
in the SFP can be air-cooled. In its Staff
Requirements Memorandum to SECY–
96–256, dated January 28, 1997
(ML15062A454), the Commission
supported the NRC staff’s
recommendation that, among other
things, would allow permanently
shutdown power reactor licensees to
reduce commercial onsite property
damage insurance coverage to $50
million when the licensee was able to
demonstrate the technical criterion that
the spent fuel could be air-cooled if the
SFP was drained of water.
The NRC staff has used this technical
criterion to grant similar exemptions to
other decommissioning reactors (e.g.,
Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station,
published in the Federal Register on
January 14, 2020 (85 FR 2153); Three
Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1,
published in the Federal Register on
March 26, 2021 (86 FR 16241); and
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Duane Arnold Energy Center, published
in the Federal Register on May 18, 2021
(86 FR 26946)). These prior exemptions
were based on these licensees
demonstrating that the SFP could be aircooled, consistent with the technical
criterion discussed above.
In its October 26, 2022 request, the
licensee compared Palisades fuel storage
parameters with those used in NRC
generic evaluations of fuel cooling
included in NUREG/CR–6451, ‘‘A Safety
and Regulatory Assessment of Generic
BWR [Boiling-Water Reactor] and PWR
[Pressurized-Water Reactor]
Permanently Shutdown Nuclear Power
Plants,’’ dated August 1997
(ML082260098). The analysis described
in NUREG/CR–6451 determined that
natural air circulation would adequately
cool fuel that has decayed for 17 months
after operation in a typical PWR. The
licensee compared the post-shutdown
fuel storage conditions with those
assumed for the analysis presented in
NUREG/CR–6451.
In SECY–00–0145, ‘‘Integrated
Rulemaking Plan for Nuclear Power
Plant Decommissioning,’’ dated June 28,
2000, and SECY–01–0100, ‘‘Policy
Issues Related to Safeguards, Insurance,
and Emergency Preparedness
Regulations at Decommissioning
Nuclear Power Plants Storing Fuel in
Spent Fuel Pools,’’ dated June 4, 2001
(ML003721626 and ML011450420,
respectively), the NRC staff discussed
additional information concerning SFP
zirconium fire risks at decommissioning
reactors and associated implications for
onsite property damage insurance.
Providing an analysis of when the spent
fuel stored in the SFP is capable of aircooling is one measure that can be used
to demonstrate that the probability of a
zirconium fire is exceedingly low.
However, the NRC staff has more
recently used an additional analysis that
bounds an incomplete drain down of
the SFP water, or some other
catastrophic event (such as a complete
drainage of the SFP with rearrangement
of spent fuel rack geometry and/or the
addition of rubble to the SFP). The
analysis postulates that decay heat
transfer from the spent fuel via
conduction, convection, or radiation
would be impeded. This analysis is
often referred to as an adiabatic heatup.
In its exemption dated October 26,
2022, the licensee stated, and the NRC
staff confirmed, that the bounding
analyses for the Palisades SFP for
beyond design basis events demonstrate
that 12 months after shutdown of
Palisades a minimum of 10 hours is
available before the fuel cladding
temperature of the hottest fuel assembly
in the SFP reaches 900 °C with a
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complete loss of SFP water inventory.
This analysis, ‘‘Holtec Spent Fuel Pool
Calculations,’’ dated July 8, 2022, [nonpublic] was submitted as Attachment 1
by the licensee in support of the letter
dated July 11, 2022 (ML22192A134), in
which the licensee requested
exemptions from specific portions of 10
CFR 50.47 and appendix E to 10 CFR
part 50 for the Palisades license.
As stated in NUREG–1738,
‘‘Technical Study of Spent Fuel Pool
Accident Risk at Decommissioning
Nuclear Power Plants,’’ dated February
2001 (ML010430066), 900 °C is an
acceptable temperature to use for
assessing the onset of fission product
release, where the SFP is drained and
air cooling is not possible; at least 10
hours would be available from the time
spent fuel cooling is lost until the
hottest fuel assembly reaches a
temperature of 900 °C. The 10-hour
criterion, conservatively, does not
consider the time to uncover the fuel
and assumes instantaneous loss of
cooling to the fuel. The 10-hour time
period is also not intended to represent
the time that it would take to repair all
key safety systems or to repair a large
SFP breach. The 10-hour criterion is a
conservative period of time in which
pre-planned mitigation measures to
provide makeup water or spray to the
SFP can be reliably implemented before
the onset of a zirconium cladding
ignition. In addition, in the unlikely
event that a release is projected to occur,
10 hours would provide sufficient time
for offsite agencies, if deemed
warranted, to take appropriate action to
protect the health and safety of the
public.
In the NRC staff’s evaluation
contained in SECY–23–0043, ‘‘Request
by Holtec Decommissioning
International, LLC for Exemptions from
Certain Emergency Planning
Requirements for Palisades Nuclear
Plant,’’ dated May 15, 2023
(ML23054A179), the NRC staff assessed
the licensee’s accident analyses
associated with the radiological risks
from a zirconium fire at a permanently
shutdown and defueled Palisades after
12 months of fuel decay. For the highly
unlikely beyond design-basis accident
scenario where the SFP coolant
inventory is lost in such a manner that
all methods of heat removal from the
spent fuel are no longer available, the
NRC staff found that there will be a
minimum of 10 hours from the
initiation of the accident until the
cladding reaches a temperature where
offsite radiological release might occur.
The NRC staff finds that 10 hours is
sufficient time to support deployment of
mitigation equipment, consistent with
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plant conditions, to prevent the
zirconium cladding from reaching a
point of rapid oxidation. As a result, the
likelihood that such a scenario would
progress to a zirconium fire is deemed
not credible.
However, the NRC staff has postulated
that there is still a potential for other
radiological incidents at a
decommissioning reactor that could
result in significant onsite
contamination besides a zirconium fire.
In SECY–96–256, the NRC staff cited the
rupture of a large, contaminated liquid
storage tank (∼450,000 gallons) causing
soil contamination and potential
groundwater contamination as the
costliest postulated event to
decontaminate and remediate (other
than an SFP zirconium fire). The
postulated large liquid radiological
waste storage tank rupture event was
determined to have a bounding onsite
cleanup cost of approximately $50
million. Therefore, the NRC staff
determined that the licensee’s proposal
to reduce onsite insurance to a level of
$50 million would be consistent with
the bounding cleanup and
decontamination cost, as discussed in
SECY–96–256, to account for the
postulated rupture of a large liquid
radiological waste tank at the Palisades
site, should such an event occur.
The NRC staff has determined that the
licensee’s proposed reduction in onsite
property damage insurance coverage to
a level of $50 million is consistent with
SECY–96–256 and subsequent
insurance considerations resulting from
additional zirconium fire risks as
discussed in SECY–00–0145 and SECY–
01–0100, as well as NUREG/CR–6451
and NUREG–1738. In addition, the NRC
staff notes that similar exemptions have
been granted to other permanently
shutdown and defueled power reactors,
upon demonstration that the criterion of
the zirconium fire risks from the
irradiated fuel stored in the SFP is of
negligible concern.
A. The Exemption Is Authorized by Law
The requested exemption from 10
CFR 50.54(w)(1) would allow the
licensee to reduce the minimum
coverage limit for onsite property
damage insurance. As stated above, 10
CFR 50.12 allows the NRC to grant
exemptions from the requirements of 10
CFR part 50 when the exemptions are
authorized by law.
As explained above, the NRC staff has
determined that the licensee’s proposed
reduction in onsite property damage
insurance coverage to a level of $50
million is consistent with SECY–96–
256. Moreover, the NRC staff concluded
that 12 months after the permanent
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cessation of power operations, sufficient
irradiated fuel decay time will have
elapsed at Palisades to decrease the
probability of an onsite and offsite
radiological release from a postulated
zirconium fire accident to negligible
levels. In addition, the licensee’s
proposal to reduce onsite insurance to a
level of $50 million is consistent with
the maximum estimated cleanup costs
for the recovery from the rupture of a
large liquid radiological waste storage
tank.
The NRC staff has determined that
granting the licensee’s proposed
exemption will not result in a violation
of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as
amended, or the Commission’s
regulations. Therefore, based on its
review of the licensee’s exemption
request as discussed above, and
consistent with SECY–96–256, the NRC
staff concludes that the exemption is
authorized by law.
B. The Exemption Presents No Undue
Risk to the Public Health and Safety
The onsite property damage insurance
requirements of 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1)
were established to provide financial
assurance that following a significant
nuclear incident, onsite conditions
could be stabilized and the site
decontaminated. The requirements of 10
CFR 50.54(w)(1) and the existing level
of onsite insurance coverage for
Palisades are predicated on the
assumption that the reactor is operating.
However, Palisades was permanently
shut down on May 20, 2022, and
defueled on June 10, 2022. The
permanently shutdown and defueled
status of the facility results in a
significant reduction in the number and
severity of potential accidents and,
correspondingly, a significant reduction
in the potential for and severity of
onsite property damage. The proposed
reduction in the amount of onsite
insurance coverage does not impact the
probability or consequences of potential
accidents. The proposed level of
insurance coverage is commensurate
with the reduced consequences of
potential nuclear accidents at Palisades.
Therefore, the NRC staff concludes that
granting the requested exemption will
not present an undue risk to the health
and safety of the public.
C. The Exemption Is Consistent With the
Common Defense and Security
The proposed exemption would not
eliminate any requirements associated
with physical protection of the site and
would not adversely affect the licensee’s
ability to physically secure the site or
protect special nuclear material.
Physical security measures at Palisades
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421
are not affected by the requested
exemption. Therefore, the proposed
exemption is consistent with the
common defense and security.
D. Special Circumstances
Special circumstances, in accordance
with 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii), are present
whenever application of the regulation
in the particular circumstances is not
necessary to achieve the underlying
purpose of the regulation. The
underlying purpose of 10 CFR
50.54(w)(1) is to provide reasonable
assurance that adequate funds will be
available to stabilize reactor conditions
and cover onsite cleanup costs
associated with site decontamination
following an accident that results in the
release of a significant amount of
radiological material. Since Palisades
permanently shut down on May 20,
2022, and defueled on June 10, 2022, it
is no longer possible for the radiological
consequences of DBAs or other credible
events at Palisades to exceed the limits
of the EPA PAGs at the exclusion area
boundary.
The licensee has evaluated the
consequences of highly unlikely,
beyond-design-basis conditions
involving a loss of inventory from the
SFP. The analyses show that 12 months
after the permanent cessation of power
operations on May 20, 2022, the
likelihood of such an event leading to a
large radiological release is negligible.
The NRC staff’s evaluation of the
licensee’s analyses confirms this
conclusion.
The NRC staff also finds that the
licensee’s proposed $50 million level of
onsite insurance is consistent with the
bounding cleanup and decontamination
cost as discussed in SECY–96–256 to
account for the hypothetical rupture of
a large liquid radiological waste tank at
the Palisades site should such an event
occur. Therefore, the NRC staff
concludes that the application of the
current requirements in 10 CFR
50.54(w)(1) to maintain $1.06 billion in
onsite insurance coverage is not
necessary to achieve the underlying
purpose of the rule for the permanently
shutdown and defueled Palisades
reactor.
Under 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(iii), special
circumstances are present whenever
compliance would result in undue
hardship or other costs that are
significantly in excess of those
contemplated when the regulation was
adopted, or that are significantly in
excess of those incurred by others
similarly situated.
The NRC staff concludes that if the
licensee was required to continue to
maintain an onsite insurance level of
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 2 / Wednesday, January 3, 2024 / Notices
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
$1.06 billion, the associated insurance
premiums would be in excess of those
necessary and commensurate with the
radiological contamination risks posed
by the site. In addition, such insurance
levels would be significantly in excess
of other decommissioning reactor
facilities that have been granted similar
exemptions by the NRC.
The NRC staff finds that compliance
with the existing rule would result in an
undue hardship or other costs that are
significantly in excess of those
contemplated when the regulation was
adopted and are significantly in excess
of those incurred by others similarly
situated. Therefore, the special
circumstances required by 10 CFR
50.12(a)(2)(ii) and 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(iii)
exist.
E. Environmental Considerations
The NRC’s approval of an exemption
from insurance or indemnity
requirements belongs to a category of
actions that the Commission, by rule or
regulation, has declared to be a
categorical exclusion after first finding
that the category of actions does not
individually or cumulatively have a
significant effect on the human
environment. Specifically, the
exemption is categorically excluded
from the requirement to prepare an
environmental assessment or
environmental impact statement in
accordance with 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25).
Under 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25), granting
of an exemption from the requirements
of any regulation of Chapter I to 10 CFR
is a categorical exclusion provided that:
(i) there is no significant hazards
consideration; (ii) there is no significant
change in the types or significant
increase in the amounts of any effluents
that may be released offsite; (iii) there is
no significant increase in individual or
cumulative public or occupational
radiation exposure; (iv) there is no
significant construction impact; (v)
there is no significant increase in the
potential for or consequences from
radiological accidents; and (vi) the
requirements from which an exemption
is sought involve surety, insurance, or
indemnity requirements.
As the Director of the Division of
Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery,
and Waste Programs in the NRC’s Office
of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards, I have determined that
approval of the exemption request
involves no significant hazards
consideration, as defined in 10 CFR
50.92, because reducing the licensee’s
onsite property damage insurance for
Palisades does not: (1) involve a
significant increase in the probability or
consequences of an accident previously
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:32 Jan 02, 2024
Jkt 262001
evaluated; (2) create the possibility of a
new or different kind of accident from
any accident previously evaluated; or
(3) involve a significant reduction in a
margin of safety. The exempted
financial protection regulation is
unrelated to the operation of Palisades
or site activities. Accordingly, there is
no significant change in the types or
significant increase in the amounts of
any effluents that may be released
offsite and no significant increase in
individual or cumulative public or
occupational radiation exposure. The
exempted regulation is not associated
with construction so there is no
significant construction impact. The
exempted regulation does not concern
the source term (i.e., potential amount
of radiation in an accident) nor any
activities conducted at the site.
Therefore, there is no significant
increase in the potential for, or
consequences of, a radiological
accident. In addition, there would be no
significant impacts to biota, water
resources, historic properties, cultural
resources, or socioeconomic conditions
in the region resulting from issuance of
the requested exemption. The
requirement for onsite property damage
insurance involves surety, insurance,
and indemnity matters only.
Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR
51.22(b) and 51.22(c)(25), no
environmental impact statement or
environmental assessment need be
prepared in connection with the
approval of this exemption request.
IV. Conclusions
Accordingly, the Commission has
determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
50.12(a), the exemption is authorized by
law, will not present an undue risk to
the public health and safety, and is
consistent with the common defense
and security. Also, special
circumstances are present as set forth in
10 CFR 50.12.
Therefore, the Commission hereby
grants Holtec Palisades and HDI an
exemption from the requirements of 10
CFR 50.54(w)(1) for Palisades. Palisades
permanently ceased power operations
on May 20, 2022. The exemption
permits Palisades to lower the minimum
required onsite insurance to $50 million
12 months after permanent cessation of
power operations, which was May 20,
2023. Because this period had already
elapsed, the exemption is effective upon
issuance.
Dated this 21st day of December, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jane Marshall,
Director, Division of Decommissioning,
Uranium, Recovery, and Waste Programs,
PO 00000
Frm 00104
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2023–28909 Filed 1–2–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. MC2024–132 and CP2024–138;
MC2024–135 and CP2024–141; MC2024–136
and CP2024–142; MC2024–137 and CP2024–
143; MC2024–138 and CP2024–144;
MC2024–139 and CP2024–145; MC2024–140
and CP2024–146; MC2024–141 and CP2024–
147; MC2024–142 and CP2024–148;
MC2024–143 and CP2024–149; MC2024–144
and CP2024–150]
New Postal Products
Postal Regulatory Commission.
Notice.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The Commission is noticing a
recent Postal Service filing for the
Commission’s consideration concerning
a negotiated service agreement. This
notice informs the public of the filing,
invites public comment, and takes other
administrative steps.
DATES: Comments are due: January 4,
2024.
SUMMARY:
Submit comments
electronically via the Commission’s
Filing Online system at https://
www.prc.gov. Those who cannot submit
comments electronically should contact
the person identified in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section by
telephone for advice on filing
alternatives.
ADDRESSES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
David A. Trissell, General Counsel, at
202–789–6820.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Docketed Proceeding(s)
I. Introduction
The Commission gives notice that the
Postal Service filed request(s) for the
Commission to consider matters related
to negotiated service agreement(s). The
request(s) may propose the addition or
removal of a negotiated service
agreement from the Market Dominant or
the Competitive product list, or the
modification of an existing product
currently appearing on the Market
Dominant or the Competitive product
list.
Section II identifies the docket
number(s) associated with each Postal
Service request, the title of each Postal
Service request, the request’s acceptance
date, and the authority cited by the
Postal Service for each request. For each
E:\FR\FM\03JAN1.SGM
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 3, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 418-422]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28909]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-255; NRC-2023-0193]
Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC and Holtec Palisades,
LLC; Palisades Nuclear Plant; Exemption
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice; issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued an
exemption in response to a request from Holtec Decommissioning
International, LLC (HDI), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Holtec
International, that would allow HDI and Holtec Palisades, LLC, to
reduce the minimum coverage limit for onsite property damage insurance
from $1.06 billion to $50 million for the Palisades Nuclear Plant.
DATES: The exemption was issued on December 21, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0193 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-2023-0193. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301-415-0624; 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
[[Page 419]]
``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, at 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: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. To make an
appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tanya E. Hood, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-1387; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the exemption is attached.
Dated: December 28, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Tanya E. Hood,
Project Manager, Reactor Decommissioning Branch, Division of
Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards.
Attachment--Exemption
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Docket No. 50-255
Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC, and Holtec Palisades, LLC;
Palisades Nuclear Plant, Exemption
I. Background
By letter dated October 19, 2017 (Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System Accession No. ML17292A032), Entergy Nuclear
Operations, Inc. (ENOI) certified to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC, or Commission) that it planned to permanently cease
power operations at the Palisades Nuclear Plant (Palisades) no later
than May 31, 2022. On May 20, 2022, ENOI permanently ceased power
operations at Palisades, and by letter dated June 13, 2022
(ML22164A067), ENOI certified to the NRC that the fuel was permanently
removed from the Palisades reactor vessel and placed in the spent fuel
pool (SFP) on June 10, 2022. Accordingly, pursuant to paragraphs
50.82(a)(2) of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
the 10 CFR part 50 renewed facility operating license for Palisades no
longer authorizes operation of the reactor or emplacement or retention
of fuel in the reactor vessel. The facility is still authorized to
possess, and store irradiated (i.e., spent) nuclear fuel. Palisades
spent fuel is currently stored in the SFP and in dry cask storage at
the independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI).
II. Request/Action
By letter dated October 26, 2022 (ML22299A062), Holtec
Decommissioning International, LLC (HDI), one of the licensees of
Palisades and an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Holtec
International (Holtec), requested an exemption on behalf of Holtec
Palisades, LLC, the other Palisades licensee, from 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1)
concerning onsite liability insurance. HDI and Holtec Palisades, LLC,
are hereafter collectively referred to as the licensee. The exemption
from 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) would permit the licensee to reduce the
required level of onsite property damage insurance from $1.06 billion
to $50 million for Palisades.
The regulation at 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) requires licensees to have and
maintain onsite property damage insurance to stabilize and
decontaminate the reactor and reactor site in the event of an accident.
The onsite insurance coverage must be either $1.06 billion or whatever
amount of insurance is generally available from private sources
(whichever is less).
The licensee states that the risk of an incident at a permanently
shutdown and defueled reactor is much less than the risk from an
operating power reactor. In addition, since reactor operation is no
longer authorized at Palisades, there are no events that would require
the stabilization of reactor conditions after an accident. Similarly,
the risk of an accident that would result in significant onsite
contamination at Palisades is also much lower than the risk of such an
event at operating reactors. Therefore, the licensee requested an
exemption from 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) to reduce its onsite property damage
insurance from $1.06 billion to $50 million, commensurate with the
reduced risk of an incident at the permanently shutdown and defueled
Palisades site.
III. Discussion
Under 10 CFR 50.12, the Commission may, upon application by any
interested person or upon its own initiative, grant exemptions from the
requirements of 10 CFR part 50 when (1) the exemptions are authorized
by law, will not present an undue risk to public health or safety, and
are consistent with the common defense and security; and (2) any of the
special circumstances listed in 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2) are present.
The financial protection limits of 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) were
established after the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 2
accident out of concern that licensees may be unable to financially
cover onsite cleanup costs in the event of a major nuclear accident.
The specified $1.06 billion coverage amount requirement was developed
based on an analysis of an accident at a nuclear reactor operating at
power, resulting in a large fission product release and requiring
significant resource expenditures to stabilize the reactor and
ultimately decontaminate and cleanup the site.
These cost estimates were developed based on the spectrum of
postulated accidents for an operating nuclear reactor. Those costs were
derived from the consequences of a release of radioactive material from
the reactor. Although the risk of an accident at an operating reactor
is very low, the consequences onsite and offsite can be significant. In
an operating plant, the high temperature and pressure of the reactor
coolant system (RCS) and the inventory of relatively short-lived
radionuclides contribute to both the risk and consequences of an
accident. With the permanent cessation of reactor operations at
Palisades and the permanent removal of the fuel from the reactor
vessel, such accidents are no longer possible. As a result, the reactor
vessel, RCS, and supporting systems no longer operate and have no
function related to the storage of the irradiated fuel. Therefore,
postulated accidents involving failure or malfunction of the reactor,
RCS, or supporting systems are no longer applicable.
During reactor decommissioning, the largest radiological risks are
associated with the storage of spent fuel onsite. In the exemption
request dated October 26, 2022, the licensee discussed both design-
basis and beyond design-basis events involving irradiated fuel stored
in the SFP. The licensee determined that there are no possible design-
basis events at Palisades that could result in an offsite radiological
release exceeding the limits established by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's (EPA) early phase Protective Action Guides (PAGs)
of 1 roentgen equivalent man (rem) at the exclusion area boundary, as a
way to demonstrate that any possible radiological releases would be
minimal and would not require precautionary protective actions (e.g.,
sheltering in place or evacuation).
[[Page 420]]
The NRC staff evaluated the radiological consequences associated
with various decommissioning activities and the design-basis accidents
(DBAs) at Palisades in consideration of a permanently shutdown and
defueled condition. The possible DBA scenarios at Palisades have
greatly reduced radiological consequences. Based on its review, the NRC
staff concluded that no reasonably conceivable DBA exists that could
cause an offsite release greater than the EPA PAGs.
The only incident that has the potential to lead to a significant
radiological release at a decommissioning reactor is a zirconium fire.
The zirconium fire scenario is a postulated, but highly unlikely,
beyond DBA scenario that involves loss of water inventory from the SFP
resulting in a significant heatup of the spent fuel and culminating in
substantial zirconium cladding oxidation and fuel damage. The
probability of a zirconium fire scenario is related to the decay heat
of the irradiated fuel stored in the SFP. Therefore, the risks from a
zirconium fire scenario continue to decrease as a function of the time
since Palisades has been permanently shutdown.
The Commission has previously authorized a lesser amount of onsite
financial protection based on this analysis of the zirconium fire risk.
In SECY-96-256, ``Changes to Financial Protection Requirements for
Permanently Shutdown Nuclear Power Reactors, 10 CFR 50.54(w) and 10 CFR
140.11,'' dated December 17, 1996 (ML15062A483), the NRC staff
recommended changes to the power reactor financial protection
regulations that would allow licensees to lower onsite insurance levels
to $50 million upon demonstration that the fuel stored in the SFP can
be air-cooled. In its Staff Requirements Memorandum to SECY-96-256,
dated January 28, 1997 (ML15062A454), the Commission supported the NRC
staff's recommendation that, among other things, would allow
permanently shutdown power reactor licensees to reduce commercial
onsite property damage insurance coverage to $50 million when the
licensee was able to demonstrate the technical criterion that the spent
fuel could be air-cooled if the SFP was drained of water.
The NRC staff has used this technical criterion to grant similar
exemptions to other decommissioning reactors (e.g., Pilgrim Nuclear
Power Station, published in the Federal Register on January 14, 2020
(85 FR 2153); Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1, published in
the Federal Register on March 26, 2021 (86 FR 16241); and Duane Arnold
Energy Center, published in the Federal Register on May 18, 2021 (86 FR
26946)). These prior exemptions were based on these licensees
demonstrating that the SFP could be air-cooled, consistent with the
technical criterion discussed above.
In its October 26, 2022 request, the licensee compared Palisades
fuel storage parameters with those used in NRC generic evaluations of
fuel cooling included in NUREG/CR-6451, ``A Safety and Regulatory
Assessment of Generic BWR [Boiling-Water Reactor] and PWR [Pressurized-
Water Reactor] Permanently Shutdown Nuclear Power Plants,'' dated
August 1997 (ML082260098). The analysis described in NUREG/CR-6451
determined that natural air circulation would adequately cool fuel that
has decayed for 17 months after operation in a typical PWR. The
licensee compared the post-shutdown fuel storage conditions with those
assumed for the analysis presented in NUREG/CR-6451.
In SECY-00-0145, ``Integrated Rulemaking Plan for Nuclear Power
Plant Decommissioning,'' dated June 28, 2000, and SECY-01-0100,
``Policy Issues Related to Safeguards, Insurance, and Emergency
Preparedness Regulations at Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants
Storing Fuel in Spent Fuel Pools,'' dated June 4, 2001 (ML003721626 and
ML011450420, respectively), the NRC staff discussed additional
information concerning SFP zirconium fire risks at decommissioning
reactors and associated implications for onsite property damage
insurance. Providing an analysis of when the spent fuel stored in the
SFP is capable of air-cooling is one measure that can be used to
demonstrate that the probability of a zirconium fire is exceedingly
low. However, the NRC staff has more recently used an additional
analysis that bounds an incomplete drain down of the SFP water, or some
other catastrophic event (such as a complete drainage of the SFP with
rearrangement of spent fuel rack geometry and/or the addition of rubble
to the SFP). The analysis postulates that decay heat transfer from the
spent fuel via conduction, convection, or radiation would be impeded.
This analysis is often referred to as an adiabatic heatup.
In its exemption dated October 26, 2022, the licensee stated, and
the NRC staff confirmed, that the bounding analyses for the Palisades
SFP for beyond design basis events demonstrate that 12 months after
shutdown of Palisades a minimum of 10 hours is available before the
fuel cladding temperature of the hottest fuel assembly in the SFP
reaches 900 [deg]C with a complete loss of SFP water inventory. This
analysis, ``Holtec Spent Fuel Pool Calculations,'' dated July 8, 2022,
[non-public] was submitted as Attachment 1 by the licensee in support
of the letter dated July 11, 2022 (ML22192A134), in which the licensee
requested exemptions from specific portions of 10 CFR 50.47 and
appendix E to 10 CFR part 50 for the Palisades license.
As stated in NUREG-1738, ``Technical Study of Spent Fuel Pool
Accident Risk at Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants,'' dated February
2001 (ML010430066), 900 [deg]C is an acceptable temperature to use for
assessing the onset of fission product release, where the SFP is
drained and air cooling is not possible; at least 10 hours would be
available from the time spent fuel cooling is lost until the hottest
fuel assembly reaches a temperature of 900 [deg]C. The 10-hour
criterion, conservatively, does not consider the time to uncover the
fuel and assumes instantaneous loss of cooling to the fuel. The 10-hour
time period is also not intended to represent the time that it would
take to repair all key safety systems or to repair a large SFP breach.
The 10-hour criterion is a conservative period of time in which pre-
planned mitigation measures to provide makeup water or spray to the SFP
can be reliably implemented before the onset of a zirconium cladding
ignition. In addition, in the unlikely event that a release is
projected to occur, 10 hours would provide sufficient time for offsite
agencies, if deemed warranted, to take appropriate action to protect
the health and safety of the public.
In the NRC staff's evaluation contained in SECY-23-0043, ``Request
by Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC for Exemptions from
Certain Emergency Planning Requirements for Palisades Nuclear Plant,''
dated May 15, 2023 (ML23054A179), the NRC staff assessed the licensee's
accident analyses associated with the radiological risks from a
zirconium fire at a permanently shutdown and defueled Palisades after
12 months of fuel decay. For the highly unlikely beyond design-basis
accident scenario where the SFP coolant inventory is lost in such a
manner that all methods of heat removal from the spent fuel are no
longer available, the NRC staff found that there will be a minimum of
10 hours from the initiation of the accident until the cladding reaches
a temperature where offsite radiological release might occur. The NRC
staff finds that 10 hours is sufficient time to support deployment of
mitigation equipment, consistent with
[[Page 421]]
plant conditions, to prevent the zirconium cladding from reaching a
point of rapid oxidation. As a result, the likelihood that such a
scenario would progress to a zirconium fire is deemed not credible.
However, the NRC staff has postulated that there is still a
potential for other radiological incidents at a decommissioning reactor
that could result in significant onsite contamination besides a
zirconium fire. In SECY-96-256, the NRC staff cited the rupture of a
large, contaminated liquid storage tank (~450,000 gallons) causing soil
contamination and potential groundwater contamination as the costliest
postulated event to decontaminate and remediate (other than an SFP
zirconium fire). The postulated large liquid radiological waste storage
tank rupture event was determined to have a bounding onsite cleanup
cost of approximately $50 million. Therefore, the NRC staff determined
that the licensee's proposal to reduce onsite insurance to a level of
$50 million would be consistent with the bounding cleanup and
decontamination cost, as discussed in SECY-96-256, to account for the
postulated rupture of a large liquid radiological waste tank at the
Palisades site, should such an event occur.
The NRC staff has determined that the licensee's proposed reduction
in onsite property damage insurance coverage to a level of $50 million
is consistent with SECY-96-256 and subsequent insurance considerations
resulting from additional zirconium fire risks as discussed in SECY-00-
0145 and SECY-01-0100, as well as NUREG/CR-6451 and NUREG-1738. In
addition, the NRC staff notes that similar exemptions have been granted
to other permanently shutdown and defueled power reactors, upon
demonstration that the criterion of the zirconium fire risks from the
irradiated fuel stored in the SFP is of negligible concern.
A. The Exemption Is Authorized by Law
The requested exemption from 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) would allow the
licensee to reduce the minimum coverage limit for onsite property
damage insurance. As stated above, 10 CFR 50.12 allows the NRC to grant
exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 50 when the exemptions
are authorized by law.
As explained above, the NRC staff has determined that the
licensee's proposed reduction in onsite property damage insurance
coverage to a level of $50 million is consistent with SECY-96-256.
Moreover, the NRC staff concluded that 12 months after the permanent
cessation of power operations, sufficient irradiated fuel decay time
will have elapsed at Palisades to decrease the probability of an onsite
and offsite radiological release from a postulated zirconium fire
accident to negligible levels. In addition, the licensee's proposal to
reduce onsite insurance to a level of $50 million is consistent with
the maximum estimated cleanup costs for the recovery from the rupture
of a large liquid radiological waste storage tank.
The NRC staff has determined that granting the licensee's proposed
exemption will not result in a violation of the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended, or the Commission's regulations. Therefore, based on
its review of the licensee's exemption request as discussed above, and
consistent with SECY-96-256, the NRC staff concludes that the exemption
is authorized by law.
B. The Exemption Presents No Undue Risk to the Public Health and Safety
The onsite property damage insurance requirements of 10 CFR
50.54(w)(1) were established to provide financial assurance that
following a significant nuclear incident, onsite conditions could be
stabilized and the site decontaminated. The requirements of 10 CFR
50.54(w)(1) and the existing level of onsite insurance coverage for
Palisades are predicated on the assumption that the reactor is
operating. However, Palisades was permanently shut down on May 20,
2022, and defueled on June 10, 2022. The permanently shutdown and
defueled status of the facility results in a significant reduction in
the number and severity of potential accidents and, correspondingly, a
significant reduction in the potential for and severity of onsite
property damage. The proposed reduction in the amount of onsite
insurance coverage does not impact the probability or consequences of
potential accidents. The proposed level of insurance coverage is
commensurate with the reduced consequences of potential nuclear
accidents at Palisades. Therefore, the NRC staff concludes that
granting the requested exemption will not present an undue risk to the
health and safety of the public.
C. The Exemption Is Consistent With the Common Defense and Security
The proposed exemption would not eliminate any requirements
associated with physical protection of the site and would not adversely
affect the licensee's ability to physically secure the site or protect
special nuclear material. Physical security measures at Palisades are
not affected by the requested exemption. Therefore, the proposed
exemption is consistent with the common defense and security.
D. Special Circumstances
Special circumstances, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii),
are present whenever application of the regulation in the particular
circumstances is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the
regulation. The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) is to provide
reasonable assurance that adequate funds will be available to stabilize
reactor conditions and cover onsite cleanup costs associated with site
decontamination following an accident that results in the release of a
significant amount of radiological material. Since Palisades
permanently shut down on May 20, 2022, and defueled on June 10, 2022,
it is no longer possible for the radiological consequences of DBAs or
other credible events at Palisades to exceed the limits of the EPA PAGs
at the exclusion area boundary.
The licensee has evaluated the consequences of highly unlikely,
beyond-design-basis conditions involving a loss of inventory from the
SFP. The analyses show that 12 months after the permanent cessation of
power operations on May 20, 2022, the likelihood of such an event
leading to a large radiological release is negligible. The NRC staff's
evaluation of the licensee's analyses confirms this conclusion.
The NRC staff also finds that the licensee's proposed $50 million
level of onsite insurance is consistent with the bounding cleanup and
decontamination cost as discussed in SECY-96-256 to account for the
hypothetical rupture of a large liquid radiological waste tank at the
Palisades site should such an event occur. Therefore, the NRC staff
concludes that the application of the current requirements in 10 CFR
50.54(w)(1) to maintain $1.06 billion in onsite insurance coverage is
not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule for the
permanently shutdown and defueled Palisades reactor.
Under 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(iii), special circumstances are present
whenever compliance would result in undue hardship or other costs that
are significantly in excess of those contemplated when the regulation
was adopted, or that are significantly in excess of those incurred by
others similarly situated.
The NRC staff concludes that if the licensee was required to
continue to maintain an onsite insurance level of
[[Page 422]]
$1.06 billion, the associated insurance premiums would be in excess of
those necessary and commensurate with the radiological contamination
risks posed by the site. In addition, such insurance levels would be
significantly in excess of other decommissioning reactor facilities
that have been granted similar exemptions by the NRC.
The NRC staff finds that compliance with the existing rule would
result in an undue hardship or other costs that are significantly in
excess of those contemplated when the regulation was adopted and are
significantly in excess of those incurred by others similarly situated.
Therefore, the special circumstances required by 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii)
and 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(iii) exist.
E. Environmental Considerations
The NRC's approval of an exemption from insurance or indemnity
requirements belongs to a category of actions that the Commission, by
rule or regulation, has declared to be a categorical exclusion after
first finding that the category of actions does not individually or
cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment.
Specifically, the exemption is categorically excluded from the
requirement to prepare an environmental assessment or environmental
impact statement in accordance with 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25).
Under 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25), granting of an exemption from the
requirements of any regulation of Chapter I to 10 CFR is a categorical
exclusion provided that: (i) there is no significant hazards
consideration; (ii) there is no significant change in the types or
significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may be
released offsite; (iii) there is no significant increase in individual
or cumulative public or occupational radiation exposure; (iv) there is
no significant construction impact; (v) there is no significant
increase in the potential for or consequences from radiological
accidents; and (vi) the requirements from which an exemption is sought
involve surety, insurance, or indemnity requirements.
As the Director of the Division of Decommissioning, Uranium
Recovery, and Waste Programs in the NRC's Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards, I have determined that approval of the exemption
request involves no significant hazards consideration, as defined in 10
CFR 50.92, because reducing the licensee's onsite property damage
insurance for Palisades does not: (1) involve a significant increase in
the probability or consequences of an accident previously evaluated;
(2) create the possibility of a new or different kind of accident from
any accident previously evaluated; or (3) involve a significant
reduction in a margin of safety. The exempted financial protection
regulation is unrelated to the operation of Palisades or site
activities. Accordingly, there is no significant change in the types or
significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may be
released offsite and no significant increase in individual or
cumulative public or occupational radiation exposure. The exempted
regulation is not associated with construction so there is no
significant construction impact. The exempted regulation does not
concern the source term (i.e., potential amount of radiation in an
accident) nor any activities conducted at the site. Therefore, there is
no significant increase in the potential for, or consequences of, a
radiological accident. In addition, there would be no significant
impacts to biota, water resources, historic properties, cultural
resources, or socioeconomic conditions in the region resulting from
issuance of the requested exemption. The requirement for onsite
property damage insurance involves surety, insurance, and indemnity
matters only.
Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b) and 51.22(c)(25), no
environmental impact statement or environmental assessment need be
prepared in connection with the approval of this exemption request.
IV. Conclusions
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
50.12(a), the exemption is authorized by law, will not present an undue
risk to the public health and safety, and is consistent with the common
defense and security. Also, special circumstances are present as set
forth in 10 CFR 50.12.
Therefore, the Commission hereby grants Holtec Palisades and HDI an
exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) for Palisades.
Palisades permanently ceased power operations on May 20, 2022. The
exemption permits Palisades to lower the minimum required onsite
insurance to $50 million 12 months after permanent cessation of power
operations, which was May 20, 2023. Because this period had already
elapsed, the exemption is effective upon issuance.
Dated this 21st day of December, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jane Marshall,
Director, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium, Recovery, and Waste
Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2023-28909 Filed 1-2-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P