[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 143 (Tuesday, July 27, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40631-40632]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-19161]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-320]


GPU Nuclear, Inc., Three Mile Island, Unit 2; Exemption

I

    GPU Nuclear, Inc. (the licensee), is the holder of Facility 
Operating License No. DPR-73, which authorizes the licensee to possess 
the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 2 (TMI-2). The license 
states, in part, that the facility is subject to all the rules, 
regulations, and orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the 
Commission or NRC) now or hereafter in effect. The facility consists of 
a pressurized-water reactor located at the licensee's site in Dauphin 
County, Pennsylvania. The facility is permanently shut down and 
defueled and the licensee is no longer authorized to operate or place 
fuel in the reactor.

II

    Section 50.54(w) of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, 
part 50 (10 CFR part 50) requires power reactors to maintain onsite 
property damage insurance coverage in the amount of $1.06 billion. The 
NRC may grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 50 of the 
regulations, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a), which (1) are authorized by 
law, will not present an undue risk to the public health and safety, 
and are consistent with the common defense and security and (2) present 
special circumstances. Special circumstances exist when application of 
the regulations in the particular circumstance would not serve the 
underlying purpose of the rule or is not necessary to achieve the 
underlying purpose of the rule [10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii)]. The underlying 
purpose of Sec. 50.54(w) is to provide sufficient property damage 
insurance coverage to ensure funding for onsite post-accident recovery, 
stabilization, and decontamination costs in the unlikely event of an 
accident at a nuclear power plant.

III

    On March 9, 1999, the licensee requested exemption from the 
financial protection requirement limits of 10 CFR 50.54(w). The 
licensee requested that the amount of insurance coverage that it is 
required to maintain be reduced to $50 million for onsite property 
damage. The licensee stated that special circumstances exist because of 
the permanently shutdown and defueled condition of TMI-2.
    The financial protection limits of 10 CFR 50.54(w) were established 
to require a licensee to maintain sufficient insurance to cover the 
costs of a nuclear accident at an operating reactor. Those costs were 
derived from the consequences of a release of radioactive material from 
the reactor. Although the risk of an accident at an operating reactor 
is very low, the consequences can be large. In an operating plant, the 
high temperature and pressure of the reactor coolant system, as well as 
the large inventory of relatively short-lived radionuclides, contribute 
to both the risk and consequences of an accident. In a permanently 
shutdown and defueled reactor facility, the reactor coolant system will 
never be operated and contains no short-lived radionuclides, which 
eliminates the possibility of reactor accidents. A further reduction in 
risk occurs when fuel is shipped offsite as in the case at TMI-2, where 
over 99 percent of the fuel has been removed and shipped offsite.
    Along with the reduction in risk, the consequences of potential 
releases decrease after a reactor permanently shuts down and defuels. 
The short-lived radionuclides contained in the fuel, particularly 
volatile components such as iodines and noble gases decay, thereby, 
reducing the inventory of radioactive materials that are readily 
dispersible and transportable in air.
    Although the risk and consequences of radiological releases decline 
substantially after a plant permanently defuels the reactor, they are 
not completely eliminated. There are potential onsite and offsite 
radiological consequences that can be associated with storage of 
activated reactor components, contaminated materials, and the remaining 
fuel debris at TMI-2. In addition, an inventory of liquid and solid 
radioactive wastes can be created during the future decontamination 
phases of the TMI-2 decommissioning process. For the purposes of 
modifying the amount of insurance coverage maintained by the licensee, 
the potential consequences, despite the very low risk, are an 
appropriate consideration.
    In order to determine the insurance coverage sufficient for a 
permanently defueled facility, the cost of recovery from potential 
accident scenarios must be evaluated. At TMI-2, greater than 99 percent 
of the fuel debris has been removed and transported offsite. The 
remaining fuel debris is stored dry with no need for forced cooling. 
Loss of spent fuel cooling water accident scenarios are not applicable 
to the TMI-2 plant condition. In SECY 96-256, ``Changes to the 
Financial Protection Requirements for Permanently Shutdown Nuclear 
Power Reactors, 10 CFR 50.54(w) and 10 CFR 140.11,'' dated December 17, 
1996, the NRC staff estimated the onsite cleanup costs of accidents 
considered to be the most costly at a permanently shut down reactor 
with spent fuel stored in the spent fuel pool. The staff found that the 
onsite recovery costs for a fuel handling accident could range up to 
$24 million. The estimated onsite cleanup costs to recover from the 
rupture of a large liquid radwaste storage tank could range up to $50 
million. The licensee's proposed level of $50 million for onsite 
property insurance is sufficient to cover these estimated cleanup 
costs.

IV

    The NRC staff has completed its review of the licensee's request to 
reduce financial protection limits to $50 million for onsite property 
insurance. The requested reductions are consistent with SECY 96-256. 
The Commission informed the staff in a staff requirements memo dated 
January 28, 1997, that it did not object to the insurance reductions 
recommended in SECY 96-256. The licensee's proposed financial 
protection limits will provide sufficient insurance to recover from the 
limiting hypothetical events, if they occur. Thus, the underlying 
purposes of the regulations will not be adversely affected by the 
reductions in insurance coverage.
    Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 
50.12(a), an exemption to reduce onsite property insurance to $50 
million is

[[Page 40632]]

authorized by law, will not present an undue risk to the public health 
and safety, and is consistent with the common defense and security. 
Further, special circumstances are present, as set forth in 10 CFR 
50.12(a)(2)(ii). Therefore, the Commission hereby grants the licensee 
an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.54(w).
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that the 
granting of this exemption will have no significant effect on the 
quality of the human environment (64 FR 39178). This exemption is 
effective immediately.

    Dated at Rockville, MD., this 21st day of July 1999.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John A. Zwolinski,
Director, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 99-19161 Filed 7-26-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P