Constellation Energy Generation, LLC; Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Unit 2 and Unit 3; Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact, 22463-22465 [2024-06772]
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 63 / Monday, April 1, 2024 / Notices
requirements shall be met. On February
29, 2024, the NRC issued an exemption
for MYAPC (ADAMS Package Accession
No. ML23286A325). The NRC staff also
prepared an environmental assessment
and finding of no significant impact
regarding the proposed exemption
request, published in the Federal
Register on February 28, 2024 (89 FR
14723), and concluded that the
proposed exemption would not have a
significant impact on the quality of the
human environment.
Dated: March 27, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Yoira K. Diaz-Sanabria,
Chief, Storage and Transportation Licensing
Branch, Division of Fuel Management, Office
of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024–06820 Filed 3–29–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 72–37, 50–237, and 50–249;
NRC–2024–0054]
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC;
Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Unit 2
and Unit 3; Independent Spent Fuel
Storage Installation; Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Notice; issuance.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is issuing an
environmental assessment (EA) and a
finding of no significant impact (FONSI)
for an exemption request submitted by
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC
(Constellation) that would permit
Dresden Nuclear Power Station
(Dresden) to maintain loaded and to
load 68M multi-purpose canister (MPC)
with continuous basket shims (CBS) in
the HI–STORM 100 Cask System at its
Dresden Unit 2 and Unit 3 independent
spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) in
a storage condition where the terms,
conditions, and specifications in the
Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No.
1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No.
1 are not met.
DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in
this document are available on April 1,
2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2024–0054 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:
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
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Jkt 262001
• Federal Rulemaking website: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2024–0054. 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. For the
convenience of the reader, instructions
about obtaining materials referenced in
this document are provided in the
‘‘Availability of Documents’’ section.
• 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: YenJu Chen, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555; telephone: 301–415–1018;
email: Yen-Ju.Chen@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is reviewing an exemption
request from Constellation, dated
February 23, 2024, and supplemented
on February 28, 2024, and March 8,
2024. Constellation is requesting an
exemption, pursuant to section 72.7 of
title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), in sections
72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3),
72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), and
72.214 that require Constellation to
comply with the terms, conditions, and
specifications of the CoC No. 1014,
Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1. If
approved, the exemption would allow
Constellation to maintain loaded and to
load MPC–68–CBS in the HI–STORM
100 Cask System at the Dresden ISFSI
in a storage condition where the terms,
conditions, and specifications in the
CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8,
Revision No. 1, are not met.
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22463
II. Environmental Assessment
Background
Dresden is located on the south bank
of the Illinois River at the confluence of
the Des Plaines and the Kankakee Rivers
in Goose Lake Township, Grundy
County, near the city of Morris, Illinois.
Unit 2 began operating in 1970 and Unit
3 began operating in 1971. Constellation
has been storing spent fuel in an ISFSI
at Dresden under a general license as
authorized by 10 CFR part 72, subpart
K, ‘‘General License for Storage of Spent
Fuel at Power Reactor Sites.’’
Constellation currently uses the HI–
STORM 100 Cask System under CoC
No. 72–1014, Amendment No. 8,
Revision No. 1 for dry storage of spent
nuclear fuel in a specific MPC (i.e.,
MPC–68M) at the Dresden ISFSI.
Description of the Proposed Action
The CoC is the NRC approved design
for each dry cask storage system. The
proposed action would exempt the
applicant from the requirements of 10
CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3),
72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), and
72.214 only as these requirements
pertain to the use of the MPC–68–CBS
in the HI–STORM 100 Cask System for
the already loaded systems and the
near-term planned loadings of the
systems. The exemption would allow
Constellation to maintain loaded and to
load MPC–68–CBS in the HI–STORM
100 Cask System at the Dresden ISFSI,
despite the MPC–68–CBS in the HI–
STORM 100 Cask System not being in
compliance with the terms, conditions,
and specifications in the CoC No. 1014,
Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1.
The HI–STORM 100 Cask System CoC
provides the requirements, conditions,
and operating limits necessary for use of
the system to store spent fuel. Holtec
International (Holtec), the designer and
manufacturer of the HI–STORM 100
Cask System, developed a variant of the
design with continuous basket shims
(CBS) for the MPC–68M, known as
MPC–68M–CBS. Holtec originally
implemented the CBS variant design
under the provisions of 10 CFR 72.48,
which allows licensees to make changes
to cask designs without a CoC
amendment under certain conditions
(listed in 10 CFR 72.48(c)). After
evaluating the specific changes to the
cask designs, the NRC determined that
Holtec erred when it implemented the
CBS variant design under 10 CFR 72.48,
as this was not the type of change
allowed without a CoC amendment. For
this reason, the NRC issued three
Severity Level IV violations to Holtec.
Prior to the issuance of the violations,
Constellation had already loaded four
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 63 / Monday, April 1, 2024 / Notices
MPC–68M–CBS in a HI–STORM 100
Cask System, which are safely in storage
on the Dresden ISFSI pad. Additionally,
Constellation plans to load one MPC–
68M–CBS in the HI–STORM 100 Cask
System in May 2024 and four MPC–
68M–CBS in March 2025. This
exemption considers the loading of the
already loaded systems and the nearterm planned loadings of the systems
with the CBS variant basket design.
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Need for the Proposed Action
Constellation requested this
exemption because Constellation is
currently out of compliance with NRC
requirements, resulting from the
previous loading of spent fuel into a
storage system with the CBS variant
basket design. This exemption would
allow four already loaded MPC–68M–
CBS in the HI–STORM 100 Cask System
to remain in storage at the Dresden
ISFSI. The applicant also requested the
exemption in order to allow Dresden to
load MPC–68M–CBS in HI–STORM 100
Cask System at the Dresden ISFSI for
the future loading campaigns scheduled
in May 2024 and in March 2025.
Approval of the exemption request
would allow Constellation to effectively
manage the spent fuel pool margin and
capacity to enable refueling and
offloading fuel from the reactor. It
would also allow Constellation to
effectively manage the availability of the
specialized workforce and equipment
needed to support competing fuel
loading and operational activities at
Dresden and other Constellation sites.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed
Action
This EA evaluates the potential
environmental impacts of granting an
exemption from the terms, conditions,
and specifications in CoC No. 1014,
Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1. The
exemption would allow four loaded
MPC–68M–CBS in the HI–STORM 100
Cask System to remain loaded at the
Dresden ISFSI. The exemption also
would allow five additional MPC–68M–
CBS to be loaded in the HI–STORM 100
Cask System in near-term loading
campaigns and maintained in storage at
the Dresden ISFSI.
The potential environmental impacts
of storing spent nuclear fuel in NRCapproved storage systems have been
documented in previous assessments.
On July 18, 1990 (55 FR 29181), the
NRC amended 10 CFR part 72 to
provide for the storage of spent fuel
under a general license in cask designs
approved by the NRC. The EA for the
1990 final rule analyzed the potential
environmental impacts of using NRCapproved storage casks. The EA for the
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HI–STORM 100 Cask System, CoC No.
1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No.
1, (80 FR 49887), published in 2015,
tiers off of the EA issued for the July 18,
1990, final rule. ‘‘Tiering’’ off earlier
EAs is a standard process encouraged by
the regulations implementing the
National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA) that entails the use of
impact analyses of previous EAs to
bound the impacts of a proposed action
where appropriate. The Holtec HI–
STORM 100 Cask System is designed to
mitigate the effects of design basis
accidents that could occur during
storage. Considering the specific design
requirements for the accident
conditions, the design of the cask would
prevent loss of containment, shielding,
and criticality control. If there is no loss
of containment, shielding, or criticality
control, the environmental impacts
would not be significant.
The exemptions requested by
Constellation at the Dresden site as they
relate to CoC No. 1014, Amendment No.
8, Revision No. 1, for the HI–STORM
100 Cask System are limited to the use
of the CBS variant basket design only for
the already loaded four systems and
near-term planned loadings of five
systems utilizing the CBS variant basket
design. The staff has determined that
this change in the basket will not result
in either radiological or non-radiological
environmental impacts that significantly
differ from the environmental impacts
evaluated in the environmental
assessment supporting the issuance of
CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8,
Revision No. 1. If the exemption is
granted, there will be no significant
change in the types or amounts of any
effluents released, no significant
increase in individual or cumulative
public or occupational radiation
exposure, and no significant increase in
the potential for or consequences from
radiological accidents. Accordingly, the
Commission concludes that there would
be no significant environmental impacts
associated with the proposed action.
Alternative to the Proposed Action
The staff considered the no-action
alternative. The no-action alternative
(denial of the exemption request) would
require Constellation to unload spent
fuel from the MPC–68M–CBS in the HI–
STORM 100 Cask System to bring it in
compliance with the CoC terms,
conditions, and specifications in the
CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8,
Revision No. 1. Unloading the cask
would subject station personnel to
additional radiation exposure, generate
additional contaminated waste, increase
the risk of a possible fuel handling
accident, and increase the risk of a
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Frm 00093
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
possible heavy load handling accident.
Furthermore, the removed spent fuel
would need to be placed in the spent
fuel pool, where it would remain until
it could be loaded into an approved
storage cask. Delay in the loading of this
spent fuel into other casks could affect
Constellation’s ability to effectively
manage the spent fuel pool capacity and
reactor fuel offloading. Not allowing the
two planned future loading campaigns
could also affect Constellation’s ability
to manage pool capacity, reactor fuel
offloading, and refueling. It could also
pose challenges to spent fuel heat
removal and impact the availability of
the specialized workforce and
equipment needed to support competing
fuel loading and operational activities at
Dresden and other Constellation sites.
The NRC has determined that the noaction alternative would result in undue
potential human health and safety
impacts that could be avoided by
proceeding with the proposed
exemption, especially given that the
staff has concluded in NRC’s Safety
Determination Memorandum, issued
with respect to the enforcement action
against Holtec regarding these
violations, that fuel can be stored safety
in the MPC–68M–CBS casks.
Agencies Consulted
The NRC provided the Illinois
Emergency Management Agency and
Office of Homeland Security (IL IEMA–
OHS) a copy of this draft EA for review
by an email dated March 15, 2024. On
March 22, 2024, IL–IEMA–OHS
provided its concurrence by email.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The environmental impacts of the
proposed action have been reviewed in
accordance with the requirements in 10
CFR part 51, which implement NEPA.
Based upon the foregoing environmental
assessment, the NRC finds that the
proposed action of granting the
exemption from the regulations in 10
CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3),
72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11) and
72.214, which require the licensee to
comply with the terms, conditions, and
specifications of the CoC, in this case
limited to past and specific future
loadings of baskets with the CBS variant
design, would not significantly impact
the quality of the human environment.
Accordingly, the NRC has determined
that a finding of no significant impact
(FONSI) is appropriate, and an
environmental impact statement is not
warranted.
IV. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the
following table are available to
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 63 / Monday, April 1, 2024 / Notices
22465
interested persons through ADAMS, as
indicated.
ADAMS accession No. or Federal
Register notice
Document description
Constellation’s request for exemption, dated February 23, 2024 .....................................................................
Supplements to request for exemption, dated February 28, 2024, and March 8, 2024 ...................................
Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, Amendment 8, Revision 1, dated February 10, 2016 .............................
Notice of Violation to Holtec International, Inc., The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspection Report No. 07201014/2022–201, EA–23–044, dated January 30, 2024.
10 CFR part 72 amendment to allow spent fuel storage in NRC-approved casks, dated July 18, 1990 ........
EA for part 72 amendment to allow spent fuel storage in NRC-approved casks, dated March 8, 1989 .........
Final rule for List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: HI–STORM 100 Cask System, CoC No. 1014,
Amendment 8, Revision 1, dated August 18, 2015.
Safety Determination of a Potential Structural Failure of the Fuel Basket During Accident Conditions for the
HI–STORM 100 and HI–STORM Flood/Wind Dry Cask Storage Systems, dated January 31, 2024.
NRC email to IL IEMA–OHS, ‘‘Request: State review of the Dresden exemption request environmental assessment,’’ dated March 15, 2024.
IL IEMA–OHS email response, ‘‘IEMA–OHS review of Draft Environmental Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact Related to Constellation’s Exemption Request for Dresden Nuclear Power Station,
Units 2 and 3, from Certain Requirements in 10 CFR 72.212 and 10 CFR 72.214,’’ dated March 22,
2024.
Dated: March 26, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Yoira K. Diaz-Sanabria,
Chief, Storage and Transportation Branch,
Division of Fuel Management, Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Docketed Proceeding(s)
[FR Doc. 2024–06772 Filed 3–29–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. MC2024–214 and CP2024–220;
MC2024–215 and CP2024–221; MC2024–216
and CP2024–222]
New Postal Products
Postal Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
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: April 3,
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.
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
ADDRESSES:
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
request, the Commission appoints an
officer of the Commission to represent
the interests of the general public in the
proceeding, pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505
(Public Representative). Section II also
establishes comment deadline(s)
pertaining to each request.
The public portions of the Postal
Service’s request(s) can be accessed via
the Commission’s website (https://
www.prc.gov). Non-public portions of
the Postal Service’s request(s), if any,
can be accessed through compliance
with the requirements of 39 CFR
3011.301.1
The Commission invites comments on
whether the Postal Service’s request(s)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
David A. Trissell, General Counsel, at
202–789–6820.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:17 Mar 29, 2024
Jkt 262001
1 See Docket No. RM2018–3, Order Adopting
Final Rules Relating to Non-Public Information,
June 27, 2018, Attachment A at 19–22 (Order No.
4679).
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
ML24054A031.
ML24065A292.
ML24068A069.
ML16041A233 (Package).
ML24016A190.
55 FR 29181.
ML051230231.
80 FR 49887.
ML24018A085.
ML24078A377.
ML24083A002.
in the captioned docket(s) are consistent
with the policies of title 39. For
request(s) that the Postal Service states
concern Market Dominant product(s),
applicable statutory and regulatory
requirements include 39 U.S.C. 3622, 39
U.S.C. 3642, 39 CFR part 3030, and 39
CFR part 3040, subpart B. For request(s)
that the Postal Service states concern
Competitive product(s), applicable
statutory and regulatory requirements
include 39 U.S.C. 3632, 39 U.S.C. 3633,
39 U.S.C. 3642, 39 CFR part 3035, and
39 CFR part 3040, subpart B. Comment
deadline(s) for each request appear in
section II.
II. Docketed Proceeding(s)
1. Docket No(s).: MC2024–214 and
CP2024–220; Filing Title: USPS Request
to Add Priority Mail & USPS Ground
Advantage Contract 206 to Competitive
Product List and Notice of Filing
Materials Under Seal; Filing Acceptance
Date: March 26, 2024; Filing Authority:
39 U.S.C. 3642, 39 CFR 3040.130
through 3040.135, and 39 CFR 3035.105;
Public Representative: Kenneth R.
Moeller; Comments Due: April 3, 2024.
2. Docket No(s).: MC2024–215 and
CP2024–221; Filing Title: USPS Request
to Add Priority Mail & USPS Ground
Advantage Contract 207 to Competitive
Product List and Notice of Filing
Materials Under Seal; Filing Acceptance
Date: March 26, 2024; Filing Authority:
39 U.S.C. 3642, 39 CFR 3040.130
through 3040.135, and 39 CFR 3035.105;
Public Representative: Kenneth R.
Moeller; Comments Due: April 3, 2024.
3. Docket No(s).: MC2024–216 and
CP2024–221; Filing Title: USPS Request
to Add Priority Mail & USPS Ground
Advantage Contract 208 to Competitive
E:\FR\FM\01APN1.SGM
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 63 (Monday, April 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22463-22465]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06772]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 72-37, 50-237, and 50-249; NRC-2024-0054]
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC; Dresden Nuclear Power
Station, Unit 2 and Unit 3; Independent Spent Fuel Storage
Installation; Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant
Impact
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice; issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an
environmental assessment (EA) and a finding of no significant impact
(FONSI) for an exemption request submitted by Constellation Energy
Generation, LLC (Constellation) that would permit Dresden Nuclear Power
Station (Dresden) to maintain loaded and to load 68M multi-purpose
canister (MPC) with continuous basket shims (CBS) in the HI-STORM 100
Cask System at its Dresden Unit 2 and Unit 3 independent spent fuel
storage installation (ISFSI) in a storage condition where the terms,
conditions, and specifications in the Certificate of Compliance (CoC)
No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1 are not met.
DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on
April 1, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0054 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-2024-0054. 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 ``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]. For the convenience of the reader,
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
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: Yen-Ju Chen, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555; telephone: 301-415-1018; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is reviewing an exemption request from Constellation, dated
February 23, 2024, and supplemented on February 28, 2024, and March 8,
2024. Constellation is requesting an exemption, pursuant to section
72.7 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), in
sections 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11),
and 72.214 that require Constellation to comply with the terms,
conditions, and specifications of the CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8,
Revision No. 1. If approved, the exemption would allow Constellation to
maintain loaded and to load MPC-68-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System
at the Dresden ISFSI in a storage condition where the terms,
conditions, and specifications in the CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8,
Revision No. 1, are not met.
II. Environmental Assessment
Background
Dresden is located on the south bank of the Illinois River at the
confluence of the Des Plaines and the Kankakee Rivers in Goose Lake
Township, Grundy County, near the city of Morris, Illinois. Unit 2
began operating in 1970 and Unit 3 began operating in 1971.
Constellation has been storing spent fuel in an ISFSI at Dresden under
a general license as authorized by 10 CFR part 72, subpart K, ``General
License for Storage of Spent Fuel at Power Reactor Sites.''
Constellation currently uses the HI-STORM 100 Cask System under CoC No.
72-1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1 for dry storage of spent
nuclear fuel in a specific MPC (i.e., MPC-68M) at the Dresden ISFSI.
Description of the Proposed Action
The CoC is the NRC approved design for each dry cask storage
system. The proposed action would exempt the applicant from the
requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i),
72.212(b)(11), and 72.214 only as these requirements pertain to the use
of the MPC-68-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System for the already
loaded systems and the near-term planned loadings of the systems. The
exemption would allow Constellation to maintain loaded and to load MPC-
68-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System at the Dresden ISFSI, despite
the MPC-68-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System not being in compliance
with the terms, conditions, and specifications in the CoC No. 1014,
Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1.
The HI-STORM 100 Cask System CoC provides the requirements,
conditions, and operating limits necessary for use of the system to
store spent fuel. Holtec International (Holtec), the designer and
manufacturer of the HI-STORM 100 Cask System, developed a variant of
the design with continuous basket shims (CBS) for the MPC-68M, known as
MPC-68M-CBS. Holtec originally implemented the CBS variant design under
the provisions of 10 CFR 72.48, which allows licensees to make changes
to cask designs without a CoC amendment under certain conditions
(listed in 10 CFR 72.48(c)). After evaluating the specific changes to
the cask designs, the NRC determined that Holtec erred when it
implemented the CBS variant design under 10 CFR 72.48, as this was not
the type of change allowed without a CoC amendment. For this reason,
the NRC issued three Severity Level IV violations to Holtec. Prior to
the issuance of the violations, Constellation had already loaded four
[[Page 22464]]
MPC-68M-CBS in a HI-STORM 100 Cask System, which are safely in storage
on the Dresden ISFSI pad. Additionally, Constellation plans to load one
MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System in May 2024 and four MPC-
68M-CBS in March 2025. This exemption considers the loading of the
already loaded systems and the near-term planned loadings of the
systems with the CBS variant basket design.
Need for the Proposed Action
Constellation requested this exemption because Constellation is
currently out of compliance with NRC requirements, resulting from the
previous loading of spent fuel into a storage system with the CBS
variant basket design. This exemption would allow four already loaded
MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System to remain in storage at the
Dresden ISFSI. The applicant also requested the exemption in order to
allow Dresden to load MPC-68M-CBS in HI-STORM 100 Cask System at the
Dresden ISFSI for the future loading campaigns scheduled in May 2024
and in March 2025.
Approval of the exemption request would allow Constellation to
effectively manage the spent fuel pool margin and capacity to enable
refueling and offloading fuel from the reactor. It would also allow
Constellation to effectively manage the availability of the specialized
workforce and equipment needed to support competing fuel loading and
operational activities at Dresden and other Constellation sites.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
This EA evaluates the potential environmental impacts of granting
an exemption from the terms, conditions, and specifications in CoC No.
1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1. The exemption would allow four
loaded MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System to remain loaded at
the Dresden ISFSI. The exemption also would allow five additional MPC-
68M-CBS to be loaded in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System in near-term
loading campaigns and maintained in storage at the Dresden ISFSI.
The potential environmental impacts of storing spent nuclear fuel
in NRC-approved storage systems have been documented in previous
assessments. On July 18, 1990 (55 FR 29181), the NRC amended 10 CFR
part 72 to provide for the storage of spent fuel under a general
license in cask designs approved by the NRC. The EA for the 1990 final
rule analyzed the potential environmental impacts of using NRC-approved
storage casks. The EA for the HI-STORM 100 Cask System, CoC No. 1014,
Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1, (80 FR 49887), published in 2015,
tiers off of the EA issued for the July 18, 1990, final rule.
``Tiering'' off earlier EAs is a standard process encouraged by the
regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA) that entails the use of impact analyses of previous EAs to bound
the impacts of a proposed action where appropriate. The Holtec HI-STORM
100 Cask System is designed to mitigate the effects of design basis
accidents that could occur during storage. Considering the specific
design requirements for the accident conditions, the design of the cask
would prevent loss of containment, shielding, and criticality control.
If there is no loss of containment, shielding, or criticality control,
the environmental impacts would not be significant.
The exemptions requested by Constellation at the Dresden site as
they relate to CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1, for the
HI-STORM 100 Cask System are limited to the use of the CBS variant
basket design only for the already loaded four systems and near-term
planned loadings of five systems utilizing the CBS variant basket
design. The staff has determined that this change in the basket will
not result in either radiological or non-radiological environmental
impacts that significantly differ from the environmental impacts
evaluated in the environmental assessment supporting the issuance of
CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1. If the exemption is
granted, there will be no significant change in the types or amounts of
any effluents released, no significant increase in individual or
cumulative public or occupational radiation exposure, and no
significant increase in the potential for or consequences from
radiological accidents. Accordingly, the Commission concludes that
there would be no significant environmental impacts associated with the
proposed action.
Alternative to the Proposed Action
The staff considered the no-action alternative. The no-action
alternative (denial of the exemption request) would require
Constellation to unload spent fuel from the MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM
100 Cask System to bring it in compliance with the CoC terms,
conditions, and specifications in the CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8,
Revision No. 1. Unloading the cask would subject station personnel to
additional radiation exposure, generate additional contaminated waste,
increase the risk of a possible fuel handling accident, and increase
the risk of a possible heavy load handling accident. Furthermore, the
removed spent fuel would need to be placed in the spent fuel pool,
where it would remain until it could be loaded into an approved storage
cask. Delay in the loading of this spent fuel into other casks could
affect Constellation's ability to effectively manage the spent fuel
pool capacity and reactor fuel offloading. Not allowing the two planned
future loading campaigns could also affect Constellation's ability to
manage pool capacity, reactor fuel offloading, and refueling. It could
also pose challenges to spent fuel heat removal and impact the
availability of the specialized workforce and equipment needed to
support competing fuel loading and operational activities at Dresden
and other Constellation sites. The NRC has determined that the no-
action alternative would result in undue potential human health and
safety impacts that could be avoided by proceeding with the proposed
exemption, especially given that the staff has concluded in NRC's
Safety Determination Memorandum, issued with respect to the enforcement
action against Holtec regarding these violations, that fuel can be
stored safety in the MPC-68M-CBS casks.
Agencies Consulted
The NRC provided the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and
Office of Homeland Security (IL IEMA-OHS) a copy of this draft EA for
review by an email dated March 15, 2024. On March 22, 2024, IL-IEMA-OHS
provided its concurrence by email.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The environmental impacts of the proposed action have been reviewed
in accordance with the requirements in 10 CFR part 51, which implement
NEPA. Based upon the foregoing environmental assessment, the NRC finds
that the proposed action of granting the exemption from the regulations
in 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11)
and 72.214, which require the licensee to comply with the terms,
conditions, and specifications of the CoC, in this case limited to past
and specific future loadings of baskets with the CBS variant design,
would not significantly impact the quality of the human environment.
Accordingly, the NRC has determined that a finding of no significant
impact (FONSI) is appropriate, and an environmental impact statement is
not warranted.
IV. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
[[Page 22465]]
interested persons through ADAMS, as indicated.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADAMS accession No. or
Document description Federal Register notice
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Constellation's request for exemption, ML24054A031.
dated February 23, 2024.
Supplements to request for exemption, dated ML24065A292.
February 28, 2024, and March 8, 2024. ML24068A069.
Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, ML16041A233 (Package).
Amendment 8, Revision 1, dated February
10, 2016.
Notice of Violation to Holtec ML24016A190.
International, Inc., The U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission Inspection Report
No. 07201014/2022-201, EA-23-044, dated
January 30, 2024.
10 CFR part 72 amendment to allow spent 55 FR 29181.
fuel storage in NRC-approved casks, dated
July 18, 1990.
EA for part 72 amendment to allow spent ML051230231.
fuel storage in NRC-approved casks, dated
March 8, 1989.
Final rule for List of Approved Spent Fuel 80 FR 49887.
Storage Casks: HI-STORM 100 Cask System,
CoC No. 1014, Amendment 8, Revision 1,
dated August 18, 2015.
Safety Determination of a Potential ML24018A085.
Structural Failure of the Fuel Basket
During Accident Conditions for the HI-
STORM 100 and HI-STORM Flood/Wind Dry Cask
Storage Systems, dated January 31, 2024.
NRC email to IL IEMA-OHS, ``Request: State ML24078A377.
review of the Dresden exemption request
environmental assessment,'' dated March
15, 2024.
IL IEMA-OHS email response, ``IEMA-OHS ML24083A002.
review of Draft Environmental Assessment
and Finding of No Significant Impact
Related to Constellation's Exemption
Request for Dresden Nuclear Power Station,
Units 2 and 3, from Certain Requirements
in 10 CFR 72.212 and 10 CFR 72.214,''
dated March 22, 2024.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dated: March 26, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Yoira K. Diaz-Sanabria,
Chief, Storage and Transportation Branch, Division of Fuel Management,
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024-06772 Filed 3-29-24; 8:45 am]
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