[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 117 (Friday, June 19, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29244-29247]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-14423]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-156; EA-09-141; NRC-2009-0245]


In the Matter of University of Wisconsin (University of Wisconsin 
Nuclear Reactor); Order Modifying Facility Operating License No. R-74

I

    University of Wisconsin (the licensee) is the holder of Amended 
Facility Operating License No. R-74 (the license) originally issued on 
February 4, 1974, by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. The license 
authorizes operation of the University of Wisconsin Nuclear Reactor 
(the facility) at a power level up to 1,000 kilowatts thermal and in 
the pulse mode, with reactivity insertions not to exceed 1.4%[Delta]k/
k, and to receive, possess, and use special nuclear material associated 
with facility operation. The facility is a research reactor located on 
the campus of the University of Wisconsin, in the city of Madison, Dane 
County, Wisconsin. The mailing address is Nuclear Reactor Laboratory, 
University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1513 University Avenue, Room 1215 ME, 
Madison, WI 53706-1687.

II

    Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Section 50.64, 
``Limitations on the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) in Domestic 
Nonpower Reactors,'' limits the use of high-enriched uranium (HEU) fuel 
in domestic non-power reactors (research and test reactors). The 
regulation, which became effective on March 27, 1986 (Volume 51 of the 
Federal Register,

[[Page 29245]]

page 6514 (51 FR 6514)), 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, submit to the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation (the 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. The proposal 
should also provide a schedule for conversion, based upon the 
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, the facility, and 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 the 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).
    Any person, other than the licensee, whose interest may be affected 
by this proceeding and who desires to participate as a party must file 
a written request for hearing or petition for leave to intervene 
meeting the requirements of 10 CFR 2.309, ``Hearing Requests, Petitions 
to Intervene, Requirements for Standing, and Contentions.''

III

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) maintains the 
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), which 
provides text and image files of the NRC's public documents. On August 
25, 2008, the licensee submitted its conversion proposal (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML090760776), which was supplemented on April 10, 2009 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML091470391), May 1, 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML091470390), and June 4, 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. ML091610704), 
including its proposed modifications and supporting safety analyses. 
HEU fuel elements are to be replaced with LEU fuel elements. The 
reactor core contains fuel elements of the TRIGA design, with the LEU 
fuel consisting of uranium-zirconium hydride with 30 weight percent 
uranium. These LEU fuel elements contain 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 have 
determined that public health and safety and common defense and 
security require the licensee to convert the facility from the use of 
HEU to LEU fuel in accordance with the attachments to this Order and 
the schedule included herein. The attachments to this Order specify the 
changes to the license conditions, technical specifications, and 
emergency plan that are needed to amend the facility license and 
contain an outline of a reactor startup report to be submitted to the 
NRC within 6 months following the return of the converted reactor to 
normal operation.

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:
    Facility Operating License No. R-74 is modified by amending the 
license conditions, technical specifications, and emergency plan as 
stated in the attachments to this Order (Attachment 1: Modifications to 
Facility Operating License No. R-74; Attachment 2: Modifications to 
Emergency Plan; Attachment 3: Outline of Reactor Startup Report). 
License Condition 2.B, allowing possession of LEU fuel, becomes 
effective, provided there are no requests for a hearing, 20 days after 
the date of publication of this Order in the Federal Register. All 
other changes become effective, provided there are no requests for a 
hearing, on the later date of either (1) the day the licensee receives 
an adequate number and type of LEU fuel elements to operate the 
facility as specified in the licensee proposal dated August 25, 2008 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML090760776), as supplemented on April 10, 2009 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML091470391), May 1, 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML091470390), and June 4, 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. ML091610704), or 
(2) 20 days after the date of publication of this Order in the Federal 
Register.

V

    Those permitted to intervene become parties to the proceeding, 
subject to any limitations in the order granting leave to intervene, 
and have the opportunity to participate fully in the conduct of the 
hearing.
    All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including a 
request for hearing, a petition for leave to intervene, any motion or 
other document filed in the proceeding prior to the submission of a 
request for hearing or petition to intervene, and documents filed by 
interested governmental entities participating under 10 CFR 2.315(c), 
must be filed in accordance with the NRC E-Filing rule, which the NRC 
promulgated in August 2007, 72 FR 49139 (Aug. 28, 2007). The E-Filing 
process requires participants to submit and serve all adjudicatory 
documents over the Internet, or in some cases to mail copies on 
electronic storage media. Participants may not submit paper copies of 
their filings unless they seek an exemption in accordance with the 
procedures described below.
    To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 
ten (10) days prior to the filing deadline, the petitioner/requestor 
should contact the

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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 proceeding in 
which it is participating; and/or (2) creation of an electronic docket 
for the proceeding (even in instances in which the petitioner/requestor 
(or its counsel or representative) already holds an NRC-issued digital 
ID certificate). Each petitioner/requestor will need to download the 
Workplace Forms ViewerTM to access the Electronic 
Information Exchange (EIE), a component of the E-Filing system. The 
Workplace Forms ViewerTM 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 is available on NRC's 
public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/apply-certificates.html.
    Once a petitioner/requestor has obtained a digital ID certificate, 
had a docket created, and downloaded the EIE viewer, it can then submit 
a request for hearing or petition for leave to intervene. 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 
documents through EIE. To be timely, an electronic filing 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 documents on those participants separately. 
Therefore, applicants and other participants (or their counsel or 
representative) must apply for and receive a digital ID certificate 
before a hearing request/petition to intervene is filed so that they 
can obtain access to the document via the E-Filing system.
    A person filing electronically using the agency's adjudicatory E-
filing system 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 electronic filing help desk, 
which is available between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday 
through Friday, excluding government holidays. The toll-free help line 
number is (866) 672-7640. A person filing electronically may also seek 
assistance by sending an e-mail to the NRC electronic filing help desk 
at [email protected].
    Participants who believe that they have a good cause for not 
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, 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.
    Non-timely requests and/or petitions and contentions will not be 
entertained absent a determination by the Commission, the presiding 
officer, or the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board that the petition 
and/or request should be granted and/or the contentions should be 
admitted based on a balancing of the factors specified in 10 CFR 
2.309(c)(1)(i)-(viii). To be timely, filings must be submitted no later 
than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date.
    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, unless an NRC regulation or 
other law requires submission of such information. 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 submission.
    If a hearing is requested and the request is granted by the 
Commission, the NRC will issue an order designating the time and place 
of the hearing.
    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 or environmental impact 
statement is required.
    Detailed guidance that the NRC uses to review applications from 
research reactor licensees appears in NUREG-1537, ``Guidelines for 
Preparing and Reviewing Applications for the Licensing of Non-Power 
Reactors,'' issued February 1996, which can be obtained from the 
Commission's Public Document Room (PDR). The public may also access 
NUREG-1537 through the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room on the 
Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html under ADAMS 
Accession Nos. ML0412430055 for Part 1 and ML042430048 for Part 2.
    For further information see the application from the licensee dated 
August 25, 2008 (ADAMS Accession No. ML090760776), as supplemented on 
April 10, 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. ML091470391), May 1, 2009 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML091470390), and June 4, 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML091610704), the NRC staff's request for additional information (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML090540005), and the cover letter to the licensee and 
the staff's safety evaluation dated June 11, 2009, (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML091390802). These documents are available for public inspection in 
the PDR, located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1 F21, 
11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, MD. Publicly available 
records will be accessible electronically from the Public Electronic 
Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who 
do not have access to

[[Page 29247]]

ADAMS or who have problems accessing the documents in ADAMS should 
contact the NRC PDR reference staff by telephone at (800) 397-4209 or 
(301) 415-4737 or by e-mail to [email protected].

    Dated this 11th day of June 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James T. Wiggins,
Deputy Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

Attachment 1--Modifications to Facility Operating License No. R-74

A. License Conditions Revised by This Order

    1. The license applies to the University of Wisconsin's nuclear 
reactor with the TRIGA nuclear core and control system (herein ``the 
reactor'') owned by the University of Wisconsin (herein ``the 
licensee''), and located on the University's campus in Madison, 
Wisconsin, and described in the licensee's application for license 
dated July 13, 1966, and amendments thereto including the amendment 
dated June 6, 1973, and supplements dated August 1, and August 21, 
1973, (herein ``the application'').
    2.B. Pursuant to the Act and 10 CFR Part 70, ``Domestic 
Licensing of Special Nuclear Material,''
    (1) To receive, possess and use, in connection with operation of 
the facility, up to 15.0 kilograms of contained uranium-235 enriched 
to less than 20 percent in the form of TRIGA reactor fuel;
    (2) To receive, possess and use, in connection with operation of 
the facility, up to 150 grams of contained uranium-235 of any 
enrichment in the form of neutron detectors;
    (3) To receive, possess and use, in connection with operation of 
the facility, up to 16 grams of contained plutonium in the form of 
plutonium-beryllium neutron source;
    (4) To receive, possess, use, but not separate, in connection 
with operation of the facility, such special nuclear material as may 
be produced by operation of the facility; and
    (5) To possess, but not use, up to 18.0 kilograms of contained 
uranium-235 at equal to or greater than 20 percent enrichment in the 
form of TRIGA fuel until the existing inventory of this fuel is 
removed from the facility.

3.B. Technical Specifications

    The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A, as revised 
through Amendment No. 17, are hereby incorporated in the license. 
The licensee shall operate the facility in accordance with the 
Technical Specifications.

Attachment 2--Modifications to Emergency Plan

    Replace the following pages of the University of Wisconsin 
Nuclear Reactor Emergency Plan (EP) with the enclosed pages.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Remove                               Insert
------------------------------------------------------------------------
EP Page 1.............................  EP Page 1, Rev 6.
EP Page 5.............................  EP Page 5, Rev 7.
EP Page 6.............................  EP Page 6, Rev 6.
EP Page 7.............................  EP Page 7, Rev 6.
EP Page 13............................  EP Page 13, Rev 7.
EP Page 14............................  EP Page 14, Rev 7.
EP Page 15............................  EP Page 15, Rev 7.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Attachment 3--Outline of Reactor Startup Report

    Within six months following the return of the converted reactor 
to normal operation, submit the following information to the NRC. 
Information on the HEU core should be presented to the extent it 
exists.
    1. Critical mass.
    Measurement with HEU.
    Measurement with LEU.
    Comparisons with calculations for LEU and if available, HEU.
    2. Excess (operational) reactivity.
    Measurement with HEU.
    Measurement with LEU.
    Comparisons with calculations for LEU and if available, HEU.
    3. Control rod calibrations.
    Measurement of HEU and LEU rod worths and comparisons with 
calculations for LEU and if available, HEU.
    4. Reactor power calibration.
    Methods and measurements that ensure operation within the 
license limit and comparison between HEU and LEU nuclear 
instrumentation set points, detector positions and detector output.
    5. Shutdown margin.
    Measurement with HEU.
    Measurement with LEU.
    Comparisons with calculations for LEU and if available, HEU.
    6. Thermal neutron flux distributions.
    Measurements of the core and measured experimental facilities 
(to the extent available) with HEU and LEU and comparisons with 
calculations for LEU and if available, HEU.
    7. Reactor physics measurements.
    Results of determination of LEU effective delayed neutron 
fraction, temperature coefficient, and void coefficient to the 
extent that measurements are possible and comparison with 
calculations and available HEU core measurements.
    8. Initial LEU core loading.
    Measurements made during initial loading of the LEU fuel, 
presenting subcritical multiplication measurements, predictions of 
multiplication for next fuel additions, and prediction and 
verification of final criticality conditions.
    9. Primary coolant measurements.
    Results of any primary coolant water sample measurements for 
fission product activity taken during the first 30 days of LEU 
operation.
    10. Results of any test pulses performed and comparison with 
calculations and available HEU core measurements.
    11. Discussion of results.
    Discussion of the comparison of the various results including an 
explanation of any significant differences that could affect normal 
operation and accident analyses.

[FR Doc. E9-14423 Filed 6-18-09; 8:45 am]
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