Tennessee Valley Authority; Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2; Exemption, 58773-58775 [2024-15940]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 139 (Friday, July 19, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58773-58775]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-15940]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-390, 50-391, and 72-1048; NRC-2024-0118]


Tennessee Valley Authority; Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 
2; Exemption

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued an 
exemption in response to a request dated September 28, 2023, as 
supplemented by letter dated March 14, 2024, from Tennessee Valley 
Authority related to the use of a locked door or gate with a monitored 
alarm at the access control point to radioactive waste that contains 
category 1 or category 2 quantities of radioactive material at the 
Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, site.

DATES: The exemption was issued on July 15, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0118 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-2024-0118. 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]. 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: Kimberly Green, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-1627; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the exemption is attached.

    Dated: July 16, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Kimberly Green,
Senior Project Manager, Licensing Plant Branch II-2, Division of 
Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

Attachment--Exemption.

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-390, 50-391, and 72-1048; NRC-2024-0118]

Tennessee Valley Authority; Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2; 
Exemption

I. Background

    The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is the holder of Facility 
Operating License Nos. NPF-90 and NPF-96, and General License No. 72-
1048, for operation of the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, and 
an independent spent fuel storage installation (Watts Bar site), 
respectively, located in Rhea County, Tennessee. The operating licenses 
are subject to all applicable provisions of the Atomic Energy Act, and 
to the rules, regulations, and orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC or Commission) now or hereafter in effect.

II. Request/Action

    By letter dated September 28, 2023 (Agencywide Documents Access and 
Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML23271A063), as supplemented 
on March 14, 2024 (ML24074A457), TVA requested an exemption from the 
requirement in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), 
part 37, paragraph 37.11(c)(2) to use a locked door or gate at the 
access control point to where radioactive waste

[[Page 58774]]

that contains category 1 or category 2 quantities of radioactive 
material is stored.
    The provisions of 10 CFR part 37 establish physical security 
requirements to prevent the theft or diversion of risk-significant 
radioactive materials (i.e., category 1 and category 2 quantities of 
radioactive material). As stated in NUREG-2155, Rev. 2, 
``Implementation Guidance for 10 CFR part 37, `Physical Protection of 
Category 1 and Category 2 Quantities of Radioactive Material''' 
(ML22083A141), 10 CFR 37.11 exempts radioactive wastes that contain 
category 2 quantities or greater of radioactive material from the 
security requirements in subparts B, C, and D of 10 CFR part 37. 
Instead, the radioactive waste is subject to the requirements in 10 CFR 
37.11(c)(1) through (c)(4). The regulation at 10 CFR 37.11(c)(2) 
requires that the licensee secure the radioactive waste by a locked 
door or gate with monitored alarm at the access control point.
    The Watts Bar site includes old steam generator storage facilities 
(OSGSFs) that are used to store the contaminated old steam generators 
(OSGs). The OSGs exceed the threshold for a category 2 quantity of 
radioactivity, as defined in 10 CFR 37.5, but do not contain discrete 
radioactive sources, ion-exchange resins, or activated materials that 
weigh less than 2,000 kilograms (4,409 pounds), as described in 10 CFR 
37.11(c). As such, the licensee is required by 10 CFR 37.11(c)(2) to 
have a monitored alarm at the access control point to the OSGSFs where 
the OSGs are stored.
    TVA describes the OSGSFs as robust structures that are closed with 
10 stacked precast concrete panels weighing approximately 17,237 
kilograms (38,000 pounds) each. The OSGSFs are located outside the 
Watts Bar protected area, but within the exclusion area and site 
boundary. Removal of the concrete panels is the only access point of 
sufficient size to remove an OSG and requires heavy lifting and rigging 
equipment that cannot be staged or utilized quickly. Removal of the 
concrete panels is an evolution that is easily observable over an 
extended period of time.
    TVA has requested a permanent exemption from the requirement in 10 
CFR 37.11(c)(2) to address a regulatory noncompliance that has resulted 
in the issuance of minor violations at the Watts Bar site.

III. Discussion

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 37.11(a), the Commission may, upon application 
of any interested person or upon its own initiative, grant such 
exemptions from the requirements of the regulations in 10 CFR part 37 
as it determines are authorized by law and will not endanger life or 
property or the common defense and security, and are otherwise in the 
public interest.

A. The Exemption Is Authorized by Law

    The exemption would exempt the licensee from the requirement to 
have a monitored alarm at the access control point to the OSGSFs where 
the OSGs are stored. As stated previously, 10 CFR 37.11(a) allows the 
NRC to grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 37. The 
NRC staff has determined that granting of the exemption is permissible 
under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and other regulatory 
requirements. Therefore, the exemption is authorized by law.

B. The Exemption Will Not Endanger Life or Property or the Common 
Defense and Security

    The purpose of 10 CFR part 37 is to provide reasonable assurance of 
the security of category 1 or category 2 quantities of radioactive 
material by protecting these materials from theft or diversion. As 
required by 10 CFR 37.11, each licensee that possesses radioactive 
waste that contains category 1 or category 2 quantity of radioactive 
material shall implement the following requirements to secure the 
radioactive waste: (1) use continuous physical barriers that allow 
access to the radioactive waste only through established access control 
points; (2) use a locked door or gate with monitored alarm at the 
access control point; (3) assess and respond to each actual or 
attempted unauthorized access to determine whether an actual or 
attempted theft, sabotage, or diversion occurred; and (4) immediately 
notify the local law enforcement agency (LLEA) and request an armed 
response from the LLEA upon determination that there was an actual or 
attempted theft, sabotage, or diversion of the radioactive waste that 
contains category 1 or category 2 quantities of radioactive material.
    After issuance of the final part 37 rule, the NRC issued 
Enforcement Guidance Memorandum (EGM) 2014-001, ``Interim Guidance for 
Dispositioning 10 CFR part 37 Violations with Respect to Large 
Components or Robust Structures Containing Category 1 or Category 2 
Quantities of Material at Power Reactor Facilities Licensed Under 10 
CFR parts 50 and 52'' (ML14056A151), on March 13, 2014, to provide 
guidance to NRC staff for dispositioning violations associated with 10 
CFR part 37 with respect to large components containing category 1 and 
category 2 quantities of radioactive material stored in robust 
structures at power reactor facilities licensed under 10 CFR parts 50 
and 52. The EGM acknowledges that due to their size and weight, these 
large components are not easily moved without cranes, rigging, and 
heavy equipment. In addition, these large components are not easily 
concealed during loading or when they are in motion, and the amount of 
time required to steal or divert these large components is such that it 
is reasonable to expect that the licensee would detect these 
activities.
    TVA has a written 10 CFR part 37 security plan for Watts Bar that 
identifies the OSGs as large components and the OSGSFs as robust 
structures containing category 1 or category 2 quantities of 
radioactive material. The plan also identifies the security measures 
that are adequate to detect, assess, and respond to actual or attempted 
theft or diversion of stored materials from the OSGSFs. TVA provided a 
written analysis that considers the time needed to accomplish these 
activities given the proximity and mobility of the equipment available 
for the large components and robust structures supporting the 10 CFR 
part 37 security plan. TVA also provided a written analysis documenting 
that the measures for the protection of large components or robust 
structures containing category 1 or category 2 quantities of material 
do not decrease the effectiveness of the 10 CFR part 73 security plan.
    Because TVA has a security plan that contains measures to control 
access to the radioactive waste, assess and respond to unauthorized 
access, and notify and request an armed response by the LLEA, the NRC 
finds that the exemption will not endanger life or property or the 
common defense and security.

C. The Exemption Is in the Public Interest

    TVA stated that the exemption would preclude the expenditure of 
resources that provide no additional security and protection for the 
OSGs. Granting of the exemption would also allow TVA to address a 
regulatory noncompliance and avoid future violations.
    As noted previously, the OSGs are large components that are stored 
in robust structures that would require the use of heavy lifting and 
rigging equipment that cannot be staged or utilized quickly. Requiring 
the use of a

[[Page 58775]]

locked door or gate with monitored alarm at the access control point is 
supplanted by the licensee's security plan which utilizes other means 
to detect unauthorized access, while the exemption would reduce the 
regulatory burden on the licensee and the NRC staff. Therefore, the NRC 
staff concludes that the exemption is in the public interest.

IV. Environmental Considerations

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.21, 51.32, and 51.35, an environmental 
assessment and finding of no significant impact regarding this 
exemption request was published in the Federal Register on June 27, 
2024 (89 FR 53665). Based upon the environmental assessment, the 
Commission has determined that issuance of this exemption will not have 
a significant effect on the quality of the human environment.

V. Conclusions

    Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 
37.11(a), the exemption is authorized by law, will not endanger life or 
property or the common defense and security, and is in the public 
interest.

    Dated: July 15, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

/RA/

Bo Pham,
Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 2024-15940 Filed 7-18-24; 8:45 am]
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