Southern Nuclear Operating Company; Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant Units 1 and 2; Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Exemption, 85254-85257 [2024-24917]
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85254
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 207 / Friday, October 25, 2024 / Notices
participatory activity, it is therefore
expected that both the Evaluation Plan
and Annual Evaluation Report would
involve and engage across and within an
NSF Engine.
Finally, the upper bound estimate for
the Annual Evaluation Report reflects
not only the effort for writing the report
but also account for data cleaning, data
analysis, and data visualization. We
anticipate that the burden for
subsequent years to be lower as
workflow and cadence will be
established after the first year.
Additional Information: The meeting
will be held in the 8th Floor Conference
Center, Marquis One Tower, 245
Peachtree Center Avenue NE, Suite
1200, Atlanta, Georgia. The public is
invited to attend the Commission’s
meeting in person or watch live via
webcast at the web address—https://
video.nrc.gov/.
Dated: October 22, 2024.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science
Foundation.
Week of November 11, 2024
Meeting) (Contact: Katie McCurry:
404–997–4438)
Week of November 4, 2024—Tentative
There are no meetings scheduled for
the week of November 4, 2024.
9:00 a.m. Strategic Programmatic
Overview of the Operating Reactors
and New Reactors Business Lines
(Public Meeting) (Contact: Annie
Ramirez: 301–415–6780)
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[NRC–2024–0001]
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November 4, 11, 18, 25, and December
2, 2024. The schedule for Commission
meetings is subject to change on short
notice. The NRC Commission Meeting
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public-meetings/schedule.html.
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will be made on a case-by-case basis.
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MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:
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TIME AND DATE:
Week of October 28, 2024
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
1:00 p.m. Today and Tomorrow Across
Region II Business Lines (Public
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Additional Information: The meeting
will be held in the Commissioners’
Hearing Room, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland. The public is
invited to attend the Commission’s
meeting in person or watch live via
webcast at the web address—https://
video.nrc.gov/.
Week of November 18, 2024—Tentative
There are no meetings scheduled for
the week of November 18, 2024.
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There are no meetings scheduled for
the week of November 25, 2024.
Week of December 2, 2024
Thursday, December 5, 2024
10:00 a.m. Briefing on Equal
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Affirmative Employment, and Small
Business (Public Meeting) (Contact:
Erin Deeds: 301–415–2887)
Additional Information: The meeting
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Rockville, Maryland. The public is
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CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:
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The NRC is holding the meetings
under the authority of the Government
in the Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. 552b.
Dated: October 23, 2024.
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[FR Doc. 2024–24998 Filed 10–23–24; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 72–36, 50–321, and 50–366;
NRC–2024–0147]
Southern Nuclear Operating Company;
Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant Units 1
and 2; Independent Spent Fuel Storage
Installation; Exemption
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Notice; issuance.
AGENCY:
Thursday, November 14, 2024
[FR Doc. 2024–24913 Filed 10–24–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555–01–P
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Wesley W. Held,
Policy Coordinator, Office of the Secretary.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) issued an exemption
to Southern Nuclear Operating
Company permitting Edwin I. Hatch
Nuclear Plant (Hatch) to maintain three
loaded and to load five new 68M multipurpose canisters with continuous
basket shims in HI–STORM 100 Cask
System at its Hatch Units 1 and 2
independent spent fuel storage
installation in a storage condition where
the terms, conditions, and specifications
in Certificate of Compliance No. 1014,
Amendment No. 11 are not met.
DATES: The exemption was issued on
October 11, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2024–0147 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–2024–0147. 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
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 207 / Friday, October 25, 2024 / Notices
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:
Heath Stroud, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555–0001; telephone: 301–287–
3664; email: Heath.Stroud@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of
the exemption is attached.
Dated: October 22, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Yoira Diaz-Sanabria, Chief,
Storage and Transportation Licensing Branch,
Division of Fuel Management, Office of
Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguards.
Attachment—Exemption
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
Docket Nos. 72–36, 50–321, and 50–366
Southern Nuclear Operating Company;
Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant Units 1
and 2; Independent Spent Fuel Storage
Installation
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I. Background
Southern Nuclear Operating Company
(SNC) is the holder of Renewed Facility
Operating License Nos. DPR–57 and
NPF–5, which authorize operation of
the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant
(Hatch), Units 1 and 2 in Baxley,
Georgia, pursuant to part 50 of title 10
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10
CFR), ‘‘Domestic Licensing of
Production and Utilization Facilities.’’
The licenses provide, among other
things, that the facility is subject to all
rules, regulations, and orders of the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
now or hereafter in effect.
Consistent with 10 CFR part 72,
subpart K, ‘‘General License for Storage
of Spent Fuel at Power Reactor Sites,’’
a general license is issued for the storage
of spent fuel in an independent spent
fuel storage installation (ISFSI) at power
reactor sites to persons authorized to
possess or operate nuclear power
reactors under 10 CFR part 50. SNC is
authorized to operate nuclear power
reactors under 10 CFR part 50 and holds
a 10 CFR part 72 general license for
storage of spent fuel at the Hatch ISFSI.
Under the terms of the general license,
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SNC stores spent fuel at its Hatch ISFSI
using the HI–STORM 100 Cask System
in accordance with Certificate of
Compliance (CoC) No. 1014,
Amendment No. 11.
II. Request/Action
By a letter dated June 25, 2024
(Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System [ADAMS]
Accession No. ML24177A217), as
supplemented on July 26, 2024
(ML24208A172), SNC requested an
exemption 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 that require Hatch to comply
with the terms, conditions, and
specifications of CoC No. 1014,
Amendment No. 11 (ML23328A045). If
approved, SNC’s exemption request
would accordingly allow Hatch to
maintain three loaded and to load five
multi-purpose canisters (MPCs) with an
unapproved, variant basket design with
continuous basket shims (CBS) (i.e.,
MPC–68M–CBS) in the HI–STORM 100
Cask System, and thus, to maintain and
load the systems in a storage condition
where the terms, conditions, and
specifications in CoC No. 1014,
Amendment No. 11 are not met.
SNC currently uses the HI–STORM
100 Cask System under CoC No. 1014,
Amendment No. 11, for dry storage of
spent nuclear fuel in MPC–68M at the
Hatch ISFSI. Holtec International
(Holtec), the designer and manufacturer
of the HI–STORM 100 Cask System,
developed a variant of the design with
CBS for the MPC–68M, known as MPC–
68M–CBS. Holtec performed a nonmechanistic tip-over analysis with
favorable results and implemented the
CBS variant design under the provisions
of 10 CFR 72.48, ‘‘Changes, tests, and
experiments,’’ 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 is not the type of change
allowed without a CoC amendment. For
this reason, the NRC issued three
Severity Level IV violations to Holtec
(ML24016A190).
Prior to the issuance of the violation,
SNC had loaded three MPC–68M–CBS
in the HI–STORM 100 Cask System,
which are safely in storage at the Hatch
ISFSI. SNC’s loading campaign for the
Hatch ISFSI include loading five MPC–
68M–CBS in the HI–STORM 100 Cask
System beginning in April 2025. While
Holtec was required to submit a CoC
amendment to the NRC to seek approval
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85255
of the CBS variant design, such a
process will not be completed in time to
inform decisions for this loading
campaign. Therefore, SNC submitted
this exemption request to allow for the
continued storage of the three already
loaded MPC–68–CBS, and future
loading of five MPC–68M–CBS
beginning in April 2025 at the Hatch
ISFSI. This exemption is limited to the
use of MPC–68M–CBS in the HI–
STORM 100 Cask System only for the
three already loaded canisters and the
planned loading of five specific new
canisters using the MPC–68M–CBS
variant basket design.
III. Discussion
Pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, ‘‘Specific
exemptions,’’ the Commission may,
upon application by any interested
person or upon its own initiative, grant
such exemptions from the requirements
of the regulations of 10 CFR part 72 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
This exemption would allow SNC to
maintain three loaded and to load five
MPC–68M–CBS in the HI–STORM 100
Cask System at its Hatch ISFSI in a
storage condition where the terms,
conditions, and specifications in CoC
No. 1014, Amendment No. 11, are not
met. SNC is requesting an exemption
from the provisions in 10 CFR part 72
that require the licensee to comply with
the terms, conditions, and specifications
of the CoC for the approved cask model
it uses. Section 72.7 allows the NRC to
grant exemptions from the requirements
of 10 CFR part 72. This authority to
grant exemptions is consistent with the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended,
and is not otherwise inconsistent with
NRC’s regulations or other applicable
laws. Additionally, no other law
prohibits the activities that would be
authorized by the exemption. Therefore,
the NRC concludes that there is no
statutory prohibition on the issuance of
the requested exemption, and the NRC
is authorized to grant the exemption by
law.
B. The Exemption Will Not Endanger
Life or Property or the Common Defense
and Security
This exemption would allow SNC to
maintain three loaded and to load five
MPC–68M–CBS in the HI–STORM 100
Cask System at the Hatch ISFSI in a
storage condition where the terms,
conditions, and specifications in CoC
No. 1014, Amendment No. 11, are not
met. In support of its exemption request,
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SNC asserts that issuance of the
exemption would not endanger life or
property because the administrative
controls the applicant has in place
prevent a tip-over or handling event,
and that the containment boundary
would be maintained in such an event.
SNC relies, in part, on the approach in
the NRC’s Safety Determination
Memorandum (ML24018A085). The
NRC issued this Safety Determination
Memorandum to address whether, with
respect to the enforcement action
against Holtec regarding this violation,
there was any need to take an
immediate action for the cask systems
that were already loaded with noncompliant basket designs. The Safety
Determination Memorandum
documents a risk-informed approach
concluding that, during the design basis
event of a non-mechanistic tip-over, the
fuel in the basket in the MPC–68M–CBS
remains in a subcritical condition.
SNC also provided site-specific
technical information, including
information explaining why the use of
the approach in the NRC’s Safety
Determination Memorandum is
appropriate for determining the safe use
of the CBS variant baskets at the Hatch
ISFSI. Specifically, SNC described that
the analysis of the tip-over design basis
event that is relied upon in the NRC’s
Safety Determination Memorandum,
which demonstrates that the MPC
confinement barrier is maintained, is
documented in the updated final safety
analysis report (UFSAR) for the HI–
STORM 100 Cask System CoC No. 1014,
Amendment No. 11 that is used at the
Hatch site. SNC also described its
administrative controls for handling of
the HI–STORM 100 Cask System at the
Hatch ISFSI to prevent a tip-over or
handling event. Those controls include
operational procedures that demonstrate
lift height restrictions and that the
system is handled with a single failure
proof device, which comply with CoC
No. 1014, Amendment No. 11,
Appendix A.
Additionally, SNC provided specific
information from Hatch’s 72.212
Evaluation Report, Revision 27,
indicating that during the design basis
event of a non-mechanistic tip-over,
Hatch’s ISFSI would meet the
requirements in 10 CFR 72.104,
‘‘Criteria for radioactive materials in
effluents and direct radiation from an
ISFSI or MRS,’’ and 72.106, ‘‘Controlled
area of an ISFSI or MRS.’’ Specifically,
SNC described that, in the highly
unlikely event of a tip-over, any
potential fuel damage from a nonmechanistic tip-over event would be
localized, the confinement barrier
would be maintained, and the shielding
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17:40 Oct 24, 2024
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material would remain intact. SNC
concluded that compliance with 72.104
and 72.106 is not impacted by
approving this exemption request.
The NRC staff reviewed the
information provided by SNC and
concludes that issuance of the
exemption would not endanger life or
property because the administrative
controls that SNC has in place at the
Hatch ISFSI sufficiently minimize the
possibility of a tip-over or handling
event, and that the containment
boundary would be maintained in such
an event. The staff confirmed that these
administrative controls are documented
in the technical specifications and
UFSAR for the HI–STORM 100 Cask
System CoC No. 1014, Amendment No.
11, that is used at the Hatch site. In
addition, the staff confirmed that the
information provided by SNC regarding
Hatch’s 72.212 Evaluation Report,
Revision 27, demonstrates that the
consequences of normal and accident
conditions would be within the
regulatory limits of the 10 CFR 72.104
and 10 CFR 72.106. The staff also
determined that the requested
exemption is not related to any aspect
of the physical security or defense of the
Hatch ISFSI; therefore, granting the
exemption would not result in any
potential impacts to common defense
and security.
For these reasons, the NRC staff has
determined that under the requested
exemption, the storage system will
continue to meet the safety
requirements of 10 CFR part 72 and the
offsite dose limits of 10 CFR part 20
and, therefore, will not endanger life or
property or the common defense and
security.
C. The Exemption is Otherwise in the
Public Interest
The proposed exemption would allow
the three already loaded MPC–68M–
CBS in the HI–STORM 100 Cask System
to remain in storage at the Hatch ISFSI,
and allow SNC to load five MPC–68M–
CBS in the HI–STORM 100 Cask System
beginning in April 2025 at the Hatch
ISFSI, even though the CBS variant
basket design is not part of the approved
CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 11.
According to SNC, the exemption is in
the public interest because being unable
to load fuel into dry storage in the future
loading campaign would impact SNC’s
ability to offload fuel from the Hatch
reactor units, consequently impacting
continued safe reactor operation.
SNC rescheduled its 2024 loading
campaign to 2025 and stated that further
delaying the future loading campaign
would impact its ability to effectively
manage the margin to capacity in the
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Hatch Units 1 and 2 spent fuel pools.
The low spent fuel pool capacity would
make it difficult to refuel and present
potential risks to fuel handling
operations. In addition, a crowded spent
fuel pool would challenge the decay
heat removal demand of the pool and
increase the likelihood of a loss of fuel
pool cooling event and a fuel handling
accident. Furthermore, Hatch planned
the cask loading campaign years in
advance based on availability of the
specialized resources and equipment.
These specialty resources support
competing activities and priorities,
including spent fuel pool clean-up and
refueling outages. Therefore, the
available windows to complete cask
loading campaigns are limited, and any
delays would have a cascading impact
on other scheduled specialized
activities. SNC also stated that leaving
the three loaded CBS canisters is in the
public interest because it eliminates the
risks associated with dispositioning
spent fuel, including increased radiation
dose to workers and affecting SNC’s
ability to manage the spent fuel pool
capacity. SNC has ordered an additional
five MPC–68M canisters for the planned
loading starting in April 2025, that
comply with CoC No. 1014, Amendment
No. 11. However, due to factors outside
of SNC’s control, delivery of the
compliant canisters is not guaranteed
for the April 2025 loading. It would put
the 2025 campaign and Hatch’s
capability for full core offloading of both
reactors at risk.
For the reasons described by SNC in
the exemption request, the NRC agrees
that it is in the public interest to grant
the exemption. If the exemption is not
granted, in order to comply with the
CoC, SNC would have to unload MPC–
68M–CBS from the HI–STORM 100
Cask System at the Hatch ISFSI and
reload into the older design MPC–68M
to restore compliance with the terms,
conditions, and specifications of the
CoC. This would subject onsite
personnel to additional radiation
exposures and increase the risk of a
possible fuel handling accident.
Furthermore, the removed spent fuel
would need to be placed in the spent
fuel pool until it can be loaded into
another storage cask or remain in the
spent fuel pool if it is not permitted to
be loaded into CBS casks for the future
loadings. As described by SNC, this
scenario would affect SNC ability to
effectively manage the spent pool
capacity and reactor fuel offloading at
Hatch. In addition, the rescheduling of
the specialized resources for the future
loading campaign would impact the
operations of Hatch.
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This exemption is effective upon
issuance.
Therefore, the staff concludes that
approving the exemption is in the
public interest.
Environmental Consideration
The NRC staff also considered
whether there would be any significant
environmental impacts associated with
the exemption. For this proposed action,
the NRC staff performed an
environmental assessment pursuant to
10 CFR 51.30. The environmental
assessment concluded that the proposed
action would not significantly impact
the quality of the human environment.
The NRC staff concluded that the
proposed action would not result in any
changes in the types or amounts of any
radiological or non-radiological
effluents that may be released offsite,
and there would be no significant
increase in occupational or public
radiation exposure because of the
proposed action. The environmental
assessment and the finding of no
significant impact was published on
October 11, 2024 (89 FR 82645).
IV. Conclusion
Based on these considerations, the
NRC has determined that, pursuant to
10 CFR 72.7, the exemption is
authorized by law, will not endanger
life or property or the common defense
and security, and is otherwise in the
public interest. Therefore, the NRC
grants SNC an exemption from the
requirements of §§ 72.212(a)(2),
72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i),
72.212(b)(11), and 72.214 with respect
to the ongoing storage of three MPC–
68M–CBS in the HI–STORM 100 Cask
System and a future loading in the HI–
STORM 100 Cask System of five new
MPC–68M–CBS beginning in April
2025.
Dated: October 11, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Yoira Diaz-Sanabria,
Chief, Storage and Transportation Licensing
Branch, Division of Fuel Management, Office
of Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024–24917 Filed 10–24–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD
Proposed Collection; Comment
Request
In accordance with the requirement of
section 3506 (c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 which provides
opportunity for public comment on new
or revised data collections, the Railroad
Retirement Board (RRB) will publish
periodic summaries of proposed data
collections.
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether
the proposed information collection is
necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the agency, including
whether the information has practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the RRB’s
estimate of the burden of the collection
of the information; (c) ways to enhance
the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (d)
ways to minimize the burden related to
the collection of information on
respondents, including the use of
automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
Title and purpose of information
collection: Railroad Unemployment
Insurance Act Applications; OMB 3220–
0039.
Under section 2 of the Railroad
Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA)
(45 U.S.C. 362), sickness benefits are
payable to qualified railroad employees
who are unable to work because of
illness or injury. In addition, sickness
benefits are payable to qualified female
employees if they are unable to work, or
if working would be injurious, because
of pregnancy, miscarriage, or childbirth.
Under section 1(k) of the RUIA a
statement of sickness, with respect to
days of sickness of an employee, is to
be filed with the RRB within a 10-day
period from the first day claimed as a
day of sickness. The Railroad
Retirement Board’s (RRB) authority for
requesting supplemental medical
information is section 12(i) and 12(n) of
the RUIA. The procedures for claiming
sickness benefits and for the RRB to
obtain supplemental medical
information needed to determine a
claimant’s eligibility for such benefits
are prescribed in 20 CFR part 335.
The forms currently used by the RRB
to obtain information needed to
determine eligibility for, and the
amount of, sickness benefits due a
claimant follow: Form SI–1a,
Application for Sickness Benefits; Form
SI–1b, Statement of Sickness; Form SI–
3 (Manual & internet), Claim for
Sickness Benefits; Form SI–7,
Supplemental Doctor’s Statement; Form
SI–8, Verification of Medical
Information; and Form ID–11A,
Requesting Reason for Late Filing of
Sickness Benefit. Completion is
required to obtain or retain benefits.
One response is requested of each
respondent. The RRB proposes no
changes to Form SI–1a, SI–1b, SI–3, SI–
3 (internet), SI–7, SI–8, and ID–11a.
ESTIMATE OF ANNUAL RESPONDENT BURDEN
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Form No.
Annual responses
Time
(minutes)1/
Burden
(hours)
SI–1a (Employee) ......................................................................................................
SI–1b (Doctor) ...........................................................................................................
SI–3 (Manual) ............................................................................................................
SI–3 (Internet) ............................................................................................................
SI–7 ............................................................................................................................
SI–8 ............................................................................................................................
ID–11A .......................................................................................................................
11,179
11,179
100,120
82,812
12,151
24
284
10
8
5
5
8
5
4
1,863
1,490
8,343
6,901
1,620
2
19
Total ....................................................................................................................
217,749
..............................
20,238
Additional Information or Comments:
To request more information or to
obtain a copy of the information
collection justification, forms, and/or
supporting material, contact Kennisha
Money at (312) 469–2591 or
Kennisha.Money@rrb.gov. Comments
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:40 Oct 24, 2024
Jkt 265001
regarding the information collection
should be addressed to Brian Foster,
Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North
Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611–
1275 or emailed to Brian.Foster@rrb.gov.
PO 00000
Written comments should be received
within 60 days of this notice.
Brian Foster,
Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2024–24818 Filed 10–24–24; 8:45 am]
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 207 (Friday, October 25, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 85254-85257]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-24917]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 72-36, 50-321, and 50-366; NRC-2024-0147]
Southern Nuclear Operating Company; Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant
Units 1 and 2; Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Exemption
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued an
exemption to Southern Nuclear Operating Company permitting Edwin I.
Hatch Nuclear Plant (Hatch) to maintain three loaded and to load five
new 68M multi-purpose canisters with continuous basket shims in HI-
STORM 100 Cask System at its Hatch Units 1 and 2 independent spent fuel
storage installation in a storage condition where the terms,
conditions, and specifications in Certificate of Compliance No. 1014,
Amendment No. 11 are not met.
DATES: The exemption was issued on October 11, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0147 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-2024-0147. 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
[[Page 85255]]
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: Heath Stroud, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-287-3664; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the exemption is attached.
Dated: October 22, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Yoira Diaz-Sanabria, Chief,
Storage and Transportation Licensing Branch, Division of Fuel
Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguards.
Attachment--Exemption
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Docket Nos. 72-36, 50-321, and 50-366
Southern Nuclear Operating Company; Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant Units
1 and 2; Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation
I. Background
Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC) is the holder of Renewed
Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-57 and NPF-5, which authorize
operation of the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant (Hatch), Units 1 and 2 in
Baxley, Georgia, pursuant to part 50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of Production and
Utilization Facilities.'' The licenses provide, among other things,
that the facility is subject to all rules, regulations, and orders of
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) now or hereafter in
effect.
Consistent with 10 CFR part 72, subpart K, ``General License for
Storage of Spent Fuel at Power Reactor Sites,'' a general license is
issued for the storage of spent fuel in an independent spent fuel
storage installation (ISFSI) at power reactor sites to persons
authorized to possess or operate nuclear power reactors under 10 CFR
part 50. SNC is authorized to operate nuclear power reactors under 10
CFR part 50 and holds a 10 CFR part 72 general license for storage of
spent fuel at the Hatch ISFSI. Under the terms of the general license,
SNC stores spent fuel at its Hatch ISFSI using the HI-STORM 100 Cask
System in accordance with Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1014,
Amendment No. 11.
II. Request/Action
By a letter dated June 25, 2024 (Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System [ADAMS] Accession No. ML24177A217), as supplemented
on July 26, 2024 (ML24208A172), SNC requested an exemption 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 that require Hatch to comply with the terms,
conditions, and specifications of CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 11
(ML23328A045). If approved, SNC's exemption request would accordingly
allow Hatch to maintain three loaded and to load five multi-purpose
canisters (MPCs) with an unapproved, variant basket design with
continuous basket shims (CBS) (i.e., MPC-68M-CBS) in the HI-STORM 100
Cask System, and thus, to maintain and load the systems in a storage
condition where the terms, conditions, and specifications in CoC No.
1014, Amendment No. 11 are not met.
SNC currently uses the HI-STORM 100 Cask System under CoC No. 1014,
Amendment No. 11, for dry storage of spent nuclear fuel in MPC-68M at
the Hatch ISFSI. Holtec International (Holtec), the designer and
manufacturer of the HI-STORM 100 Cask System, developed a variant of
the design with CBS for the MPC-68M, known as MPC-68M-CBS. Holtec
performed a non-mechanistic tip-over analysis with favorable results
and implemented the CBS variant design under the provisions of 10 CFR
72.48, ``Changes, tests, and experiments,'' 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 is
not the type of change allowed without a CoC amendment. For this
reason, the NRC issued three Severity Level IV violations to Holtec
(ML24016A190).
Prior to the issuance of the violation, SNC had loaded three MPC-
68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System, which are safely in storage at
the Hatch ISFSI. SNC's loading campaign for the Hatch ISFSI include
loading five MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System beginning in
April 2025. While Holtec was required to submit a CoC amendment to the
NRC to seek approval of the CBS variant design, such a process will not
be completed in time to inform decisions for this loading campaign.
Therefore, SNC submitted this exemption request to allow for the
continued storage of the three already loaded MPC-68-CBS, and future
loading of five MPC-68M-CBS beginning in April 2025 at the Hatch ISFSI.
This exemption is limited to the use of MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100
Cask System only for the three already loaded canisters and the planned
loading of five specific new canisters using the MPC-68M-CBS variant
basket design.
III. Discussion
Pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, ``Specific exemptions,'' the Commission
may, upon application by any interested person or upon its own
initiative, grant such exemptions from the requirements of the
regulations of 10 CFR part 72 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
This exemption would allow SNC to maintain three loaded and to load
five MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System at its Hatch ISFSI in
a storage condition where the terms, conditions, and specifications in
CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 11, are not met. SNC is requesting an
exemption from the provisions in 10 CFR part 72 that require the
licensee to comply with the terms, conditions, and specifications of
the CoC for the approved cask model it uses. Section 72.7 allows the
NRC to grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 72. This
authority to grant exemptions is consistent with the Atomic Energy Act
of 1954, as amended, and is not otherwise inconsistent with NRC's
regulations or other applicable laws. Additionally, no other law
prohibits the activities that would be authorized by the exemption.
Therefore, the NRC concludes that there is no statutory prohibition on
the issuance of the requested exemption, and the NRC is authorized to
grant the exemption by law.
B. The Exemption Will Not Endanger Life or Property or the Common
Defense and Security
This exemption would allow SNC to maintain three loaded and to load
five MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System at the Hatch ISFSI in
a storage condition where the terms, conditions, and specifications in
CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 11, are not met. In support of its
exemption request,
[[Page 85256]]
SNC asserts that issuance of the exemption would not endanger life or
property because the administrative controls the applicant has in place
prevent a tip-over or handling event, and that the containment boundary
would be maintained in such an event. SNC relies, in part, on the
approach in the NRC's Safety Determination Memorandum (ML24018A085).
The NRC issued this Safety Determination Memorandum to address whether,
with respect to the enforcement action against Holtec regarding this
violation, there was any need to take an immediate action for the cask
systems that were already loaded with non-compliant basket designs. The
Safety Determination Memorandum documents a risk-informed approach
concluding that, during the design basis event of a non-mechanistic
tip-over, the fuel in the basket in the MPC-68M-CBS remains in a
subcritical condition.
SNC also provided site-specific technical information, including
information explaining why the use of the approach in the NRC's Safety
Determination Memorandum is appropriate for determining the safe use of
the CBS variant baskets at the Hatch ISFSI. Specifically, SNC described
that the analysis of the tip-over design basis event that is relied
upon in the NRC's Safety Determination Memorandum, which demonstrates
that the MPC confinement barrier is maintained, is documented in the
updated final safety analysis report (UFSAR) for the HI-STORM 100 Cask
System CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 11 that is used at the Hatch site.
SNC also described its administrative controls for handling of the HI-
STORM 100 Cask System at the Hatch ISFSI to prevent a tip-over or
handling event. Those controls include operational procedures that
demonstrate lift height restrictions and that the system is handled
with a single failure proof device, which comply with CoC No. 1014,
Amendment No. 11, Appendix A.
Additionally, SNC provided specific information from Hatch's 72.212
Evaluation Report, Revision 27, indicating that during the design basis
event of a non-mechanistic tip-over, Hatch's ISFSI would meet the
requirements in 10 CFR 72.104, ``Criteria for radioactive materials in
effluents and direct radiation from an ISFSI or MRS,'' and 72.106,
``Controlled area of an ISFSI or MRS.'' Specifically, SNC described
that, in the highly unlikely event of a tip-over, any potential fuel
damage from a non-mechanistic tip-over event would be localized, the
confinement barrier would be maintained, and the shielding material
would remain intact. SNC concluded that compliance with 72.104 and
72.106 is not impacted by approving this exemption request.
The NRC staff reviewed the information provided by SNC and
concludes that issuance of the exemption would not endanger life or
property because the administrative controls that SNC has in place at
the Hatch ISFSI sufficiently minimize the possibility of a tip-over or
handling event, and that the containment boundary would be maintained
in such an event. The staff confirmed that these administrative
controls are documented in the technical specifications and UFSAR for
the HI-STORM 100 Cask System CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 11, that is
used at the Hatch site. In addition, the staff confirmed that the
information provided by SNC regarding Hatch's 72.212 Evaluation Report,
Revision 27, demonstrates that the consequences of normal and accident
conditions would be within the regulatory limits of the 10 CFR 72.104
and 10 CFR 72.106. The staff also determined that the requested
exemption is not related to any aspect of the physical security or
defense of the Hatch ISFSI; therefore, granting the exemption would not
result in any potential impacts to common defense and security.
For these reasons, the NRC staff has determined that under the
requested exemption, the storage system will continue to meet the
safety requirements of 10 CFR part 72 and the offsite dose limits of 10
CFR part 20 and, therefore, will not endanger life or property or the
common defense and security.
C. The Exemption is Otherwise in the Public Interest
The proposed exemption would allow the three already loaded MPC-
68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System to remain in storage at the
Hatch ISFSI, and allow SNC to load five MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100
Cask System beginning in April 2025 at the Hatch ISFSI, even though the
CBS variant basket design is not part of the approved CoC No. 1014,
Amendment No. 11. According to SNC, the exemption is in the public
interest because being unable to load fuel into dry storage in the
future loading campaign would impact SNC's ability to offload fuel from
the Hatch reactor units, consequently impacting continued safe reactor
operation.
SNC rescheduled its 2024 loading campaign to 2025 and stated that
further delaying the future loading campaign would impact its ability
to effectively manage the margin to capacity in the Hatch Units 1 and 2
spent fuel pools. The low spent fuel pool capacity would make it
difficult to refuel and present potential risks to fuel handling
operations. In addition, a crowded spent fuel pool would challenge the
decay heat removal demand of the pool and increase the likelihood of a
loss of fuel pool cooling event and a fuel handling accident.
Furthermore, Hatch planned the cask loading campaign years in advance
based on availability of the specialized resources and equipment. These
specialty resources support competing activities and priorities,
including spent fuel pool clean-up and refueling outages. Therefore,
the available windows to complete cask loading campaigns are limited,
and any delays would have a cascading impact on other scheduled
specialized activities. SNC also stated that leaving the three loaded
CBS canisters is in the public interest because it eliminates the risks
associated with dispositioning spent fuel, including increased
radiation dose to workers and affecting SNC's ability to manage the
spent fuel pool capacity. SNC has ordered an additional five MPC-68M
canisters for the planned loading starting in April 2025, that comply
with CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 11. However, due to factors outside of
SNC's control, delivery of the compliant canisters is not guaranteed
for the April 2025 loading. It would put the 2025 campaign and Hatch's
capability for full core offloading of both reactors at risk.
For the reasons described by SNC in the exemption request, the NRC
agrees that it is in the public interest to grant the exemption. If the
exemption is not granted, in order to comply with the CoC, SNC would
have to unload MPC-68M-CBS from the HI-STORM 100 Cask System at the
Hatch ISFSI and reload into the older design MPC-68M to restore
compliance with the terms, conditions, and specifications of the CoC.
This would subject onsite personnel to additional radiation exposures
and increase the risk of a possible fuel handling accident.
Furthermore, the removed spent fuel would need to be placed in the
spent fuel pool until it can be loaded into another storage cask or
remain in the spent fuel pool if it is not permitted to be loaded into
CBS casks for the future loadings. As described by SNC, this scenario
would affect SNC ability to effectively manage the spent pool capacity
and reactor fuel offloading at Hatch. In addition, the rescheduling of
the specialized resources for the future loading campaign would impact
the operations of Hatch.
[[Page 85257]]
Therefore, the staff concludes that approving the exemption is in
the public interest.
Environmental Consideration
The NRC staff also considered whether there would be any
significant environmental impacts associated with the exemption. For
this proposed action, the NRC staff performed an environmental
assessment pursuant to 10 CFR 51.30. The environmental assessment
concluded that the proposed action would not significantly impact the
quality of the human environment. The NRC staff concluded that the
proposed action would not result in any changes in the types or amounts
of any radiological or non-radiological effluents that may be released
offsite, and there would be no significant increase in occupational or
public radiation exposure because of the proposed action. The
environmental assessment and the finding of no significant impact was
published on October 11, 2024 (89 FR 82645).
IV. Conclusion
Based on these considerations, the NRC has determined that,
pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, the exemption is authorized by law, will not
endanger life or property or the common defense and security, and is
otherwise in the public interest. Therefore, the NRC grants SNC an
exemption from the requirements of Sec. Sec. 72.212(a)(2),
72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), and 72.214 with respect
to the ongoing storage of three MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask
System and a future loading in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System of five new
MPC-68M-CBS beginning in April 2025.
This exemption is effective upon issuance.
Dated: October 11, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Yoira Diaz-Sanabria,
Chief, Storage and Transportation Licensing Branch, Division of Fuel
Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024-24917 Filed 10-24-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
