[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 248 (Tuesday, December 28, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72700-72701]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-33683]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-295 and 50-304]


In the Matter of Commonwealth Edison Company (Zion Nuclear Power 
Station, Units 1 and 2); Exemption

I

    Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd or the licensee) is the holder 
of Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-39 and DPR-48, which authorize 
the licensee to possess the Zion Nuclear Power Station (ZNPS). The 
license states, among other things, 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 two pressurized-water reactors located at the 
ComEd site on the west shore of Lake Michigan about 40 miles north of 
Chicago, Illinois, in the extreme eastern portion of the city of Zion, 
Illinois (Lake County). 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 10 CFR Part 50 requires power reactor licensees 
to maintain onsite property damage insurance coverage in the amount of 
$1.06 billion or whatever amount of insurance is generally available 
from private sources, whichever is less. Section 140.11(a)(4) of 10 CFR 
Part 140 requires a reactor with a rated capacity of 100,000 electrical 
kilowatts or more to maintain liability insurance of $200 million and 
to participate in a secondary insurance pool.
    NRC may grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50 of 
the regulations, which pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a), (1) are authorized 
by law, will not present an undue risk to public health and safety, and 
are consistent with the common defense and security, and (2) present 
special circumstances. Special circumstances exist when (1) application 
of the regulation 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)), or (2) 
compliance would result in undue hardship or costs that are 
significantly in excess of those incurred by others similarly situated. 
The underlying purpose of Section 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.
    Also, the NRC may grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR 
Part 140 of the regulations, which pursuant to 10 CFR 140.8, are 
authorized by law and are otherwise in the public interest. The 
underlying purpose of Section 140.11 is to provide sufficient liability 
insurance to ensure funding for claims resulting from a nuclear 
incident or a precautionary evacuation.

III

    On October 22, 1999, ComEd requested an exemption from the 
financial protection requirement limits of 10 CFR 50.54(w) and 10 CFR 
140.11(a)(4). ComEd requested that the amount of insurance coverage it 
must maintain be reduced to $50 million for onsite property damage and 
$100 million for offsite financial protection and to withdraw from 
participation in the secondary liability insurance pool. The licensee 
stated that special circumstances exist because of the permanently 
shutdown and defueled condition of ZNPS.
    The financial protection limits of 10 CFR 50.54(w) and 10 CFR 
140.11 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. In a permanently shutdown and 
defueled reactor facility, the reactor will never again be operated, 
thus eliminating the possibility of accidents involving the reactor. 
The Defueled Safety Analysis Report (DSAR) analyzed the remaining 
design basis accidents that are relevant at ZNPS in its defueled 
condition. These are: a loss of spent fuel inventory and cooling; a 
fuel handling accident in the fuel building; and a radioactive waste 
handling accident. The staff evaluated these accidents in the safety 
evaluation supporting the ZNPS exemption from offsite emergency 
planning requirements dated August 31, 1999. In its analysis, the staff 
determined that the radiological consequences of the design basis 
accidents cannot exceed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
early-phase Protective Action Guidelines (PAGs) of 1.0 rem.
    The ZNPS was shut down in February 1997. The decay heat from the 
spent fuel stored in the spent fuel pool decreases over time. In this 
regard, the staff has determined that as of June 1999, air cooling of 
the fuel would be sufficient to maintain the integrity of the fuel 
cladding, and a complete loss of water from the ZNPS spent fuel pool 
(SFP) would not result in an offsite release of fission products 
exceeding the EPA early-phase PAGs.
    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 staff estimated the onsite 
cleanup costs of accidents considered to be the most costly at a 
permanently defueled site with spent fuel stored in the SFP. 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 proposed insurance coverage levels in SECY 96-256 
were calculated on a per-reactor basis and each reactor at a multi-unit 
site would be treated as having its own SFP. Although ZNPS is a two-
reactor site, there is only one SFP. Therefore, the licensee's proposed 
level of $50 million for onsite property insurance is sufficient to 
cover these estimated cleanup costs.
    The offsite cleanup costs of the accident scenarios previously 
discussed are estimated to be negligible in SECY 96-256. However, a 
licensee's liability for offsite costs may be significant as a result 
of lawsuits alleging damages from offsite releases. Experience at Three 
Mile Island Unit 2 showed that significant judgments against a licensee 
are possible despite negligible dose consequences from an offsite 
release. An appropriate level of financial liability coverage is needed 
to account for potential judgments and settlements and to protect the 
Federal Government from indemnity claims. The licensee's proposed level 
of $100 million in primary offsite liability coverage is sufficient for 
this purpose.
    The staff has determined that participation in the secondary 
insurance pool for offsite financial protection is

[[Page 72701]]

not required for a permanently shutdown and defueled plant after the 
time that air cooling of the spent fuel is sufficient to maintain the 
integrity of the fuel cladding. As previously noted, the staff finds 
that sufficient time has elapsed to ensure the integrity of the ZNPS 
spent fuel cladding.

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 and $100 million for offsite liability insurance. On the 
basis of its review, the NRC staff finds that the spent fuel stored in 
the Zion Nuclear Power Station's SPF is no longer susceptible to rapid 
zirconium oxidation. The requested reductions are consistent with SECY 
96-256. The licensee's proposed financial protection limits will 
provide sufficient insurance to recover from 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 authorized by law, will not present an undue risk to 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 an 
exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.54(w).
    In addition, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 
140.8, an exemption to reduce primary offsite liability insurance to 
$100 million, accompanied by withdrawal from the secondary insurance 
pool for offsite liability insurance, is authorized by law and is in 
the public interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants an 
exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 140.11(a)(4).
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that this 
exemption will not have a significant effect on the quality of the 
human environment (64 FR 69806).
    These exemptions are effective upon issuance.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of December 1999.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Suzanne C. Black,
Acting Director, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 99-33683 Filed 12-27-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P