[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 18 (Monday, January 28, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4924-4926]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-1492]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-027; EA-08-023]


In the Matter of: Washington State University (Washington State 
University TRIGA Reactor); Order Modifying Amended Facility Operating 
License No. R-76

I.

    Washington State University (the licensee) is the holder of Amended 
Facility Operating License No. R-76 (the license) originally issued on 
March 6, 1961, by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and subsequently 
renewed on August 11, 1982, by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(the NRC or the Commission). The license authorizes operation of the 
Washington State University TRIGA Reactor (the facility) at a power 
level up to 1,000 kilowatts thermal and to receive, possess, and use 
special nuclear material associated with the operation. The facility is 
a research reactor located on the campus of the Washington State 
University, in the city of Pullman, Whitman County, Washington. The 
mailing address is Nuclear Radiation Center, Washington State 
University, P.O. Box 641300, Pullman, Washington 99164-1300.

II.

    Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) section 50.64, 
limits the use of high-enriched uranium (HEU) fuel in domestic non-
power reactors (research and test reactors) (see 51 FR 6514). The 
regulation, which became effective on March 27, 1986, requires that if 
Federal Government funding for conversion-related costs is available, 
each licensee of a non-power reactor authorized to use HEU fuel shall 
replace it with low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel acceptable to the 
Commission unless the Commission has determined that the reactor has a 
unique purpose. The Commission's stated purpose for these requirements 
was to reduce, to the maximum extent possible, the use of HEU fuel in 
order to reduce the risk of theft and diversion of HEU fuel used in 
non-power reactors.
    Paragraphs 50.64(b)(2)(i) and (ii) require that a licensee of a 
non-power reactor (1) not acquire more HEU fuel if LEU fuel that is 
acceptable to the Commission for that reactor is available when the 
licensee proposes to acquire HEU fuel and (2) replace all HEU fuel in 
its possession with available LEU fuel acceptable to the Commission for 
that reactor in accordance with a schedule determined pursuant to 10 
CFR 50.64(c)(2).
    Paragraph 50.64(c)(2)(i) requires, among other things, that each 
licensee of a non-power reactor authorized to possess and to use HEU 
fuel develop and submit to the Director of the Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation (Director) by March 27, 1987, and at 12-month 
intervals thereafter, a written proposal for meeting the requirements 
of the rule. The licensee shall include in its proposal a certification 
that Federal Government funding for conversion is available through the 
U.S. Department of Energy or other appropriate Federal agency; and a 
schedule for conversion, based upon availability of replacement fuel 
acceptable to the Commission for that reactor and upon consideration of 
other factors such as the availability of shipping casks, 
implementation of arrangements for available financial support, and 
reactor usage.
    Paragraph 50.64(c)(2)(iii) requires the licensee to include in the 
proposal, to the extent required to effect conversion, all necessary 
changes to the license, to the facility, and to licensee procedures. 
This paragraph also requires the licensee to submit supporting safety 
analyses in time to meet the conversion schedule.
    Paragraph 50.64(c)(2)(iii) also requires the Director to review the 
licensee proposal, to confirm the status of Federal Government funding, 
and to determine a final schedule, if the licensee has submitted a 
schedule for conversion.
    Section 50.64(c)(3) requires the Director to review the supporting 
safety analyses and to issue an appropriate enforcement order directing 
both the conversion and, to the extent consistent with protection of 
public health and safety, any necessary changes to the license, the 
facility, and licensee procedures. In the Federal Register notice of 
the final rule (51 FR 6514), the Commission explained that in most, if 
not all, cases, the enforcement order would be an order to modify the 
license under 10 CFR 2.204 (now 10 CFR 2.202).
    Section 2.309 states the requirements for a person whose interest 
may be affected by any proceeding to initiate a hearing or to 
participate as a party.

III.

    The NRC maintains an Agencywide Documents Access and Management 
System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public 
documents. On August 15, 2007 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML072410493 and 
ML080170058), as supplemented on December 14, 2007 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML080090628), and January 15, 2008 (ADAMS Accession No. ML080170037), 
the licensee submitted its conversion proposal. The NRC staff is in the 
process of reviewing the conversion proposal. The licensee indicated in 
their conversion proposal that a separate order increasing the uranium-
235 possession limit in its license was needed to minimize down time of 
the reactor during the refueling process. The licensee also stated that 
there is a constraint on the shipment of LEU fuel because the 
certification of the shipping cask used to transfer the LEU fuel from 
the manufacturer in France will expire before the order for reactor 
conversion can be issued. The receipt and possession, but not use in 
the reactor, of the LEU fuel is required by the licensee at this time 
to assemble the fuel elements in order to meet the proposed timely 
conversion. The LEU fuel contains the uranium-235 isotope at an 
enrichment of less than 20 percent. The NRC staff reviewed the 
licensee's proposal and the requirements of 10 CFR 50.64, and has 
determined that the public health and safety and common defense and 
security require the licensee to receive and possess the LEU fuel prior 
to the conversion. This is necessary so that LEU fuel can be shipped to 
the licensee before the shipping cask certification expires and that 
the LEU fuel elements may be prepared to convert the reactor from HEU 
fuel in accordance with the schedules planned by the Department of 
Energy to support U.S. non-proliferation policies and the licensee to 
support its academic mission.

IV.

    Accordingly, pursuant to sections 51, 53, 57, 101, 104, 161b, 161i, 
and 161o of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and to 
Commission regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR 50.64, it is hereby 
ordered that:

[[Page 4925]]

    Amended Facility Operating License No. R-76 is modified by adding 
the following license condition:

    2.B.(4) Pursuant to 10 CFR Part 70, ``Domestic Licensing of 
Special Nuclear Material,'' to receive and possess, but not use in 
the reactor, in addition to the amount specified under License 
Condition 2.B.(2), up to 15.0 kilograms of contained uranium-235 in 
the form of reactor fuel, at enrichments less than 20 percent.

This Order will be effective 20 days after the date of publication of 
this Order in the Federal Register.

V.

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202, any person(s) whose interest may be 
affected by this proceeding and who wishes to participate as a party in 
the proceeding must file a written request within 20 days after the 
date of publication of this Order setting forth with particularity the 
manner in which his interest is adversely affected by this Order and 
shall address the criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309. If a hearing is 
held, the issue to be considered at such hearing shall be whether this 
Order should be sustained.
    A request for a hearing must be filed in accordance with the NRC E-
Filing rule, which became effective on October 15, 2007. The NRC E-
Filing Final Rule was issued on August 28, 2007, (72 FR 49,139) and 
codified in pertinent part at 10 CFR Part 2, Subpart B. The E-Filing 
process requires participants to submit and serve documents over the 
internet or, in some cases, to mail copies on electronic optical 
storage media. Participants may not submit paper copies of their 
filings unless they seek a waiver in accordance with the procedures 
described below.
    To comply with the procedural requirements associated with E-
Filing, at least five (5) days prior to the filing deadline the 
requestor must contact the Office of the Secretary by e-mail at 
[email protected], or by calling (301) 415-1677, to request (1) a 
digital ID certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or 
representative) to digitally sign documents and access the E-Submittal 
server for any NRC proceeding in which it is participating; and/or (2) 
creation of an electronic docket for the proceeding (even in instances 
when the requestor (or its counsel or representative) already holds an 
NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Each requestor will need to 
download the Workplace Forms Viewer\TM\ to access the Electronic 
Information Exchange (EIE), a component of the E-Filing system. The 
Workplace Forms Viewer\TM\ is free and is available at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/install-viewer.html. Information 
about applying for a digital ID certificate also is available on NRC's 
public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/apply-certificates.html.
    Once a requestor has obtained a digital ID certificate, had a 
docket created, and downloaded the EIE viewer, it can then submit a 
request for a hearing through EIE. Submissions should be in Portable 
Document Format (PDF) in accordance with NRC guidance available on the 
NRC public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. 
A filing is considered complete at the time the filer submits its 
document through EIE. To be timely, electronic filings must be 
submitted to the EIE system no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on 
the due date. Upon receipt of a transmission, the E-Filing system time-
stamps the document and sends the submitter an e-mail notice confirming 
receipt of the document. The EIE system also distributes an e-mail 
notice that provides access to the document to the NRC Office of the 
General Counsel and any others who have advised the Office of the 
Secretary that they wish to participate in the proceeding, so that the 
filer need not serve the document on those participants separately. 
Therefore, any others who wish to participate in the proceeding (or 
their counsel or representative) must apply for and receive a digital 
ID certificate before a hearing request is filed so that they may 
obtain access to the document via the E-Filing system.
    A person filing electronically may seek assistance through the 
``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html or by calling the NRC technical help line, 
which is available between 8:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., Eastern Time, 
Monday through Friday. The help line number is (800) 397-4209 or 
locally, (301) 415-4737.
    Participants who believe that they have good cause for not 
submitting documents electronically must file a motion, in accordance 
with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing requesting 
authorization to continue to submit documents in paper format. Such 
filings must be submitted by (1) first class mail addressed to the 
Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemaking and 
Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or expedited 
delivery service to the Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One 
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, 
Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. Participants filing a 
document in this manner are responsible for serving the document on all 
other participants. Filing is considered complete by first-class mail 
as of the time of deposit in the mail, or by courier, express mail, or 
expedited delivery service upon depositing the document with the 
provider of the service.
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in 
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at 
http://ehd.nrc.gov/EHD_Proceeding/home.asp, unless excluded pursuant 
to an order of the Commission, an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, or 
a Presiding Officer. Participants are requested not to include personal 
privacy information, such as social security numbers, home addresses, 
or home phone numbers in their filings. With respect to copyrighted 
works, except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the 
adjudicatory filings and would constitute a Fair Use application, 
participants are requested not to include copyrighted materials in 
their works.
    If a hearing is requested, an Order designating the time and place 
of any hearing will be issued.
    In the absence of any request for hearing, the provisions as 
specified in Section IV shall be final twenty (20) days after the date 
of publication of this Order in the Federal Register.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 51.10(d) this Order is not subject to 
Section 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act, as amended. 
The NRC staff notes, however, that with respect to environmental 
impacts associated with the changes imposed by this Order as described 
in the safety evaluation, the changes would, if imposed by other than 
an Order, meet the definition of a categorical exclusion in accordance 
with 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9). Thus, pursuant to either 10 CFR 51.10(d) or 
51.22(c)(9), no environmental assessment nor environmental impact 
statement is required.
    Detailed guidance which the NRC uses to review applications from 
research reactor licensees can be found in the document NUREG-1537, 
entitled ``Guidelines for Preparing and Reviewing Applications for the 
Licensing of Non-Power Reactors,'' which can be obtained from the 
Commission's PDR. The detailed review guidance (NUREG-1537) may be 
accessed through the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room on the 
Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html under ADAMS 
Accession Nos. ML041230055 for Part one and ML041230048 for Part two.

[[Page 4926]]

    For further information see the application from the licensee dated 
August 15, 2007 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML072410493 and ML080170058), as 
supplemented on December 14, 2007 (ADAMS Accession No. ML080090628) and 
January 15, 2008 (ADAMS Accession No. ML080170037), the NRC staff's 
request for additional information (ADAMS Accession No. ML073240018), 
and the cover letter to the licensee and the staff's safety evaluation 
dated January 23, 2008 (ADAMS Accession No. ML073550839), available for 
public inspection at the Commission's PDR, located at One White Flint 
North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), 
Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records will be accessible 
electronically from the ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room on the 
Internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. 
Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who have problems in 
accessing the documents in ADAMS should contact the NRC PDR reference 
staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to 
[email protected].

    Dated this 23rd day of January 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
J.E. Dyer,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E8-1492 Filed 1-25-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P