[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 57 (Thursday, March 23, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15660-15661]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-7243]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 72-13]


Entergy Operations, Inc., Arkansas Nuclear One Power Plant; 
Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant 
Impact Regarding the Proposed Exemption From Certain Requirements of 10 
CFR Part 72

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) is 
considering issuance of an exemption, pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, from the 
provisions of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2) and 72.214 to Entergy Operations, 
Inc. (Entergy). The exemption would allow Entergy to store burnable 
poison rod assemblies (BPRAs) in Ventilated Storage Cask-24 (VSC-24) 
systems at the Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO) Independent Spent Fuel 
Storage Installation (ISFSI).

Environmental Assessment (EA)

Identification of Proposed Action

    By letter dated February 3, 2000, Entergy requested an extension to 
a previous exemption granted to Entergy by NRC on April 9, 1999, from 
the requirements of 10 CFR 72.12(a)(2) and 72.214 to store BPRAs in 
VSC-24s at the ANO ISFSI. NRC published an Environmental Assessment and 
Finding Of No Significant Impact for the previous exemption request in 
the Federal Register (64 FR 13611, March 19, 1999). The April 9, 1999, 
NRC letter placed conditions on the exemption, including that no more 
than four VSC-24s containing BPRAs could be loaded and the loading of 
these four VSC-24s would need to be accomplished prior to September 
1999. These conditions were based on (1) ANO's request to load four 
casks prior to the September refuel outage to regain full core offload 
reserves in the Unit 1 spent fuel pool and (2) NRC's expectation of 
completion of a rulemaking, under 10 CFR 72.214 before the next ANO 
refueling outage, which would amend the Certificate of Compliance (CoC) 
for the VSC-24 cask to permit storage of spent fuel containing BPRAs 
(64 FR 51187, September 22, 1999).
    The 10 CFR 72.124 rulemaking is not completed and the ANO, Unit 1, 
spent fuel pool has again lost full core offload reserves. ANO must 
load three VSC-24s with fuel containing BPRAs to regain full core 
offload reserves prior to the next refueling outage, scheduled for 
Spring 2000.
    ANO is a general licensee, authorized by NRC to use spent fuel 
storage casks approved under 10 CFR Part 72, Subpart K. ANO is using 
the VSC-24 design approved by NRC under CoC No. 1007 to store spent 
fuel at the ISFSI. However, CoC No. 1007 does not authorize the storage 
of BPRAs.
    The ISFSI is located 6 miles west-northwest of Russellville, 
Arkansas, on the ANO Power Plant site. The ANO ISFSI is an existing 
facility constructed for interim dry storage of spent ANO nuclear fuel.
    By exempting ANO from 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2) and 72.214, ANO will be 
authorized to use its general license to store spent fuel with BPRAs in 
casks approved under part 72, as exempted, until the 10 CFR 72.214 
rulemaking is complete. The proposed action before the Commission is 
whether to grant this exemption under 10 CFR 72.7.
    On December 30, 1998, the cask designer, Sierra Nuclear Corporation 
(SNC), submitted a Certificate of Compliance amendment request to NRC 
to address the storage of Babcock and Wilcox (B&W) 15x15 fuel with 
BPRAs. The NRC staff has reviewed the application and determined that 
storing B&W 15x15 fuel with BPRAs in the VSC-24 would have minimal 
impact on the design basis and would not be inimical to public health 
and safety.

Need for the Proposed Action

    ANO has lost full core offload reserves in the Unit 1 spent fuel 
pool and Unit 1 is scheduled for a refueling outage in Spring 2000. ANO 
must load three VSC-24s with fuel containing BPRAs to regain full core 
offload reserves.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The potential environmental impact of using the VSC-24 system was 
initially presented in the EA for the Final Rule to add the VSC-24 to 
the list of approved spent fuel storage casks in 10 CFR 72.214 (58 FR 
17948 (1993)). Furthermore, each general licensee must assess the 
environmental impacts of the specific ISFSI in accordance with the 
requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(b)(2)(iii). This section requires the 
general licensee to perform written evaluations to demonstrate 
compliance with the environmental requirements of 10 CFR 72.104, 
``Criteria for radioactive materials in effluents and direct radiation 
from an ISFSI or MRS [Monitored Retrievable Storage Installation].''
    VSC-24s are designed to mitigate the effects of design basis 
accidents that could occur during storage. Design basis accidents 
account for human-induced events and the most severe natural

[[Page 15661]]

phenomena reported for the site and surrounding area. Postulated 
accidents analyzed for an ISFSI include tornado winds and tornado 
generated missiles, design basis earthquake, design basis flood, 
accidental cask drop, lightening effects, fire, explosions, and other 
incidents.
    Special cask design features include a double-closure welded steel 
multi-assembly sealed basket (MSB) made from SA-516 Gr 70 pressure 
vessel steel to contain the spent fuel. This MSB is up to 181-inches 
long, 62.5 inches in diameter, with 1.0-inch thick walls. The MSB is 
placed inside of a ventilated Concrete Cask (VCC) and positioned for 
storage on the concrete ISFSI pad. The VCC is up to 213-inches long, 
132 inches in diameter, and 31.75-inches thick. The VCC wall consists 
of a 1.75-inch thick steel inner liner surrounded by reinforced 
concrete and steel ducts for a passive ventilation system.
    Considering the specific design requirements for each accident 
condition, the design of the cask would prevent loss of containment, 
shielding, and criticality control. Without the loss of either 
containment, shielding, or criticality control, the risk to public 
health and safety is not compromised.
    Storage of B&W 15x15 fuel containing BPRAs would increase the 
maximum potential cask does rates by no or than 13 percent at any 
location on a loaded VSC-24 system. For a VSC-24 loaded with fuel 
containing BPRAs, the highest dose would be found at the top center of 
the cask. This dose was calculated to increase from 30 mrem/hr without 
BPRAs to 32.2 mrem/hr with BPRAs. The occupational exposure is not 
significantly increased and off-site dose rates remain well within the 
10 CFR Part 20 limits. Therefore, the proposed action now under 
consideration would not change the potential environmental effects 
assessed in the initial rulemaking (58 FR 17948).
    Therefore, the staff has determined that there is no reduction in 
the safety margin nor significant environmental impacts as a result of 
storing B&W 15 x 15 fuel with BPRAs in the VSC-24 system.

Alternative to the Proposed Action

    The staff evaluated other alternatives involving removal of the 
BPRAs from the fuel assemblies and found that these alternatives 
produced a greater occupational exposure and an increased environmental 
impact as a result of handling the BPRAs separately as low-level waste. 
The alternative to the proposed action would be to deny approval of the 
exemption and, therefore, require ANO to disassemble and store the 
BPRAs as low-level waste in separate containers.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    On February 11, 2000, Bernard Bevill from the Division of Radiation 
Control and Emergency Management, Arkansas Department of Health, was 
contacted about the EA for the proposed action and had no concerns.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    The environmental impacts of the proposed action have been reviewed 
in accordance with the requirements set forth in 10 CFR part 51. Based 
upon the foregoing EA, the Commission finds that the proposed action of 
granting an exemption from 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2) and 72.214 so that ANO 
may store B&W 15x15 fuel containing BPRAs in VSC-24s will not 
significantly impact the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, 
the Commission has determined not to prepare an environmental impact 
statement for the proposed exemption.
    For further details with respect to this exemption request, see the 
Entergy exemption request dated February 3, 2000, which is docketed 
under 10 CFR part 72, Docket No. 72-13. The exemption request is 
available for public inspection at the Commission's Public Document 
Room, 2120 L Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20555 and accessible 
electronically through the ``ADAMS'' Public Electronic Reading Room 
link at the NRC Web site     (http://www.nrc.gov/nrc/reference.  html).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day of May 2000.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
E. Willliam Brach,
Director, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety 
and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 00-7243 Filed 3-22-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M