[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 151 (Monday, August 8, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-19265]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: August 8, 1994]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-320]

 

General Public Utilities Nuclear Corp., (Three Mile Island 
Nuclear Station, Unit 2); Exemption

I

    GPU Nuclear Corporation (GPUN or the licensee), is the holder of 
Facility Operating (Possession Only) License No. DPR-73 which 
authorizes possession and maintenance of the Three Mile Island Nuclear 
Station, Unit 2 (TMI-2 or the plant). The license provides, among other 
things, that the plant is subject to all rules, regulations, and orders 
of the Commission now or hereafter in effect.
    The plant is a permanently shut down pressurized light water 
reactor, currently in Post-Defueling Monitored Storage (PDMS), and is 
located at a site in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. TMI-2 is co-located 
with Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1, which remains 
operational.

II

    TMI-2 permanently ceased power operations in March 1979, and fuel 
has been removed from the reactor\1\ and the site. License No. DPR-73 
was modified by Amendment No. 48 (December 28, 1993) which extensively 
altered TMI-2 Technical Specifications to be consistent with post-
defueling monitored storage.
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    \1\To the extent reasonably achievable, all fuel has been 
removed from the reactor vessel, less than 1 percent of the original 
core inventory remains; therefore, the term defueled will be used to 
describe TMC-2. An estimated 2040 lbs and 385 lbs of residual fuel 
(core debris) remain in the reactor vessel and balance of the 
facility external to the reactor vessel, respectively. Independent 
evaluations performed by the NRC and its consultants confirmed the 
licensee analysis that the fuel debris could not sustain 
criticality.
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    Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 140.11(a)(4) 
(10 CFR 140.11(a)(4)), requires each licensee to have and maintain 
primary nuclear liability insurance in an amount equal to $200 million. 
In addition, each licensee is required to maintain secondary financial 
protection in the form of private liability insurance under an industry 
retrospective plan. However, 10 CFR 140.8 allows that the Commission 
may, upon application of any interested person or upon its own 
initiative, grant such exemptions from the requirements of Part 140 as 
it determines are authorized by the law and are otherwise in the public 
interest.
    By letter dated October 28, 1993, the licensee requested the 
elimination of the current requirement for TMI-2 to participate in the 
industry retrospective rating plan for secondary level coverage as 
required in 10 CFR 140.11(a)(4).

III

    The justification presented by the licensee for the request is that 
the Commission decision, as presented in the July 13, 1993, Staff 
Requirements Memorandum (SRM) on SECY-93-127, ``Financial Protection 
Required of Licensees of Large Nuclear Power Plants During 
Decommissioning,'' allows withdrawal from participation in the 
secondary financial protection layer.
    The NRC staff independently evaluated the legal and technical 
issues associated with the application of the Price-Anderson Act to 
permanently shut down reactors in SECY-93-127. In this evaluation, the 
staff concluded that the Commission has the discretionary authority to 
respond to licensee requests for a reduction in the level of primary 
financial protection and withdrawal from participation in the industry 
retrospective rating plan. Depending on the plant-specific 
configuration and the time since permanent shutdown, the staff also 
concluded that potential hazards may exist at permanently shutdown 
reactors for which continued financial protection is warranted. The 
staff further concluded that accidents and hazards insured against 
under Price-Anderson Act go beyond design basis accidents and beyond 
those considered ``credible'' as that term is used in 10 CFR Part 100 
and cases interpreting the application of that regulation. The 
Commission issued an SRM addressing SECY-93-127 on July 13, 1993, and 
among other things, approved the staff recommendation to allow the 
withdrawal of the secondary financial protection layer.
    In the exercise of its discretionary authority, the Commission may, 
as long as a potential hazard exists at a permanently shutdown reactor, 
require the full amount of primary financial protection and full 
participation in the industry retrospective rating plan. At such time 
as the hazard is determined to no longer exist, the Commission may 
reduce the amount of primary financial protection and permit the 
licensee to withdraw from participation in the industry retrospective 
rating plan.
    Since the legislative history of the Price-Anderson Act does not 
explicitly consider the potential hazards that might exist after 
termination of operation, the staff generically evaluated the offsite 
consequences associated with normal and abnormal operations, design 
basis accidents, and beyond design basis accidents for reactors that 
have been permanently defueled and shut down. With regard to TMI-2, the 
staff has concluded that, in view of the time that has elapsed since 
plant shutdown, aside from the handling, storage, and transportation of 
the remaining core debris and radioactive materials, no reasonably 
conceivable potential accident exists that could cause significant 
offsite damage.
    Typically, the most significant accident sequence for a permanently 
defueled and shutdown reactor involves the complete loss of water from 
a light water reactor spend fuel pool. This accident scenario is not 
credible at TMI-2 since the spend fuel pool is drained and no spent 
fuel is stored in the pool.
    The staff considered liability coverage needs associated with 
decommissioning activities and transportation of radioactive materials. 
The staff recognizes that the potential hazards and consequences 
associated with a permanently shutdown reactor with no spent fuel are 
greatly reduced, and that the permanently shutdown reactor does not 
contribute a level of risk to the participants in the secondary pool 
proportionate to that of an operating reactor; therefore, relief from 
financial protection requirements would be warranted. The results of 
our evaluation, as endorsed in the July 13, 1993, SRM on SECY-93-127, 
allow a reduction in the amount of financial protection required of 
licensees of large nuclear plants that have been prematurely shut down. 
GPUN meets the criterion established in SECY-93-127 for relief from 
secondary financial protection requirements since the staff issued an 
order on July 20, 1979, suspending the authority of the licensee to 
operate the facility, no TMI-2 spend fuel is stored onsite, and the 
TMI-2 license was amended on September 14, 1993, allowing the licensee 
to possess, but not operate the facility.

IV

    The staff, based on its independent evaluation consistent with the 
Commission July 13, 1993 SRM, and based on SECY-93-127, has concluded 
that sufficient bases exist for our approval of relief from the 
financial protection requirements for the Three Mile Island Nuclear 
Station, Unit 2. The staff has also concluded that granting the 
proposed exemption does not increase the probability or consequences of 
any accidents or reduce the margin of safety at this facility.

V

    Based on the discussion presented in Sections III and IV above, the 
Commission has determined, that pursuant to 10 CFR 140.8, this 
exemption is authorized by law and is otherwise in the public interest. 
Therefore, the Commission grants an exemption from the requirement of 
10 CFR 140.11(a)(4) to participate in the industry retrospective rating 
plan (secondary level financial protection) for Three Mile Island 
Nuclear Station, Unit 2.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that the 
granting of this exemption will not have a significant effect on the 
quality of the human environment (59 FR 38648 dated July 29, 1994).
    This exemption is effective upon issuance.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of July 1994.

Brain K. Grimes,
Director, Division of Operating Reactor Support Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 94-19265 Filed 8-5-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M