[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 16, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34181-34182]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14498]



[[Page 34181]]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Dockets 50-213, 72-39; NRC-2010-0205]


Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company, Haddam Neck Plant, 
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation, Issuance of Environmental 
Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact Regarding the Request 
for Exemption in Accordance With 10 CFR 72.7

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No 
Significant Impact.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Goshen, Project Manager, Division 
of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555. Telephone: (301) 492-3325; Fax number: (301) 492-3342; E-
mail: [email protected].

Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
issuance of an exemption to Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company 
(CYAPCO), pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, from the specific provisions of 10 
CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(2)(i), 72.212(b)(7), and 72.214.
    CYAPCO is using a dry cask storage system, the NAC-MPC, Certificate 
of Compliance (CoC) No. 1025, to store spent nuclear fuel under a 
general license in an independent spent fuel storage installation 
(ISFSI) associated with the decommissioned Haddam Neck Plant, located 
in Middlesex County, Connecticut. CYAPCO stores spent fuel in forty 
NAC-MPC casks at the CYAPCO ISFSI, all loaded under Amendment No. 4 to 
CoC No. 1025. Under the current 10 CFR Part 72 regulations, the general 
licensee is bound by the terms and conditions of the CoC under which it 
loaded a given cask. Amendment No. 4 will remain in effect for the 
casks at the CYAPCO ISFSI until the NRC expressly approves the 
application of changes authorized by a later CoC amendment. Such an 
approval is typically accomplished through a 10 CFR 72.7 exemption.
    In its letter dated September 1, 2009, CYAPCO stated that it 
intended to adopt Amendment No. 5 to CoC No. 1025 for all forty NAC-MPC 
casks at the site and specifically requested an exemption from the 
requirements of Amendment No. 5, Appendix A, Technical Specifications 
(TS), Section A 5.1, Training Program. The requested exemption would 
relieve CYAPCO from the requirement to develop training modules under 
its Systems Approach to Training (SAT) that includes comprehensive 
instructions for the operation and maintenance of the ISFSI, except for 
the NAC-MPC System. The NRC has previously granted a similar exemption 
to CYAPCO from the requirements of CoC No. 1025, Amendment No. 4, in 
its letter to CYAPC dated September 22, 2005 (Agencywide Document 
Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML052660399)).
    Implementation of Amendment No. 5 of CoC No. 1025 to all forty NAC-
MPC casks will allow a visual alternative to Technical Specification 
(TS) Surveillance Requirement 3.1.6.1 to verify the operability of the 
concrete cask heat removal system to maintain safe storage conditions 
and will also remove a specification in the CoC for tamper indicating 
devices. The NRC published the direct final rule for Amendment No. 5 of 
CoC No. 1025 on May 10, 2007 (72 FR 26535), with the effective date of 
Amendment No. 5 being July 24, 2007 (72 FR 38468, July 13, 2007).
    CYAPCO, in its September 1, 2009 letter, did not request that NRC 
expressly approve implementation of Amendment No. 5 to all forty NAC-
MPC casks at the site. CYAPCO did state, however, that it had performed 
an evaluation to verify that the Haddam Neck Plant ISFSI will fully 
conform to the terms of CoC No. 1025, Amendment No. 5. Under the 
current 10 CFR Part 72 regulations, a general licensee, such as CYAPCO, 
is not authorized to apply changes allowed by a later CoC amendment (in 
this case, Amendment No. 5) to a cask loaded under an earlier CoC 
amendment (in this case, Amendment No. 4) without express prior 
approval of the NRC.\1\ Thus, in order to effectuate the requested 
exemption, the NRC will have to expand the scope of the requested 
exemption to include the application of the changes authorized by 
Amendment No. 5 to the subject casks. The applicable regulation, 10 CFR 
72.7, allows the NRC to grant exemptions upon its own initiative.
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    \1\ See Enforcement Guidance Memorandum 09-006, dated September 
15, 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. ML091970035).
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    In accordance with the requirements in 10 CFR part 51, the NRC has 
prepared an environmental assessment for the NRC action of approving or 
disapproving an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 
72.212(b)(2)(i), 72.212(b)(7), and 72.214, which if approved, will 
allow CYAPCO to apply the changes authorized by Amendment No. 5 to CoC 
No. 1025 to all forty NAC-MPC casks at the site. Based on this 
environmental assessment, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No 
Significant Impact is appropriate. The NRC's action to either approve 
or disapprove of the CYAPCO request for an exemption from the 
requirements of Appendix A, Section A 5.1, Training Program is 
categorically excluded from further environmental review in accordance 
with 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(vi)(E).

Environmental Assessment

    Identification of Proposed Action: The NRC proposes to issue an 
exemption to CYAPCO from the requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 
72.212(b)(2)(i)(A), 72.212(b)(7), and 72.214, thereby allowing CYAPCO 
to apply the changes authorized by Amendment No. 5 to CoC No. 1025 to 
all forty NAC-MPC casks at the Haddam Neck ISFSI, which were loaded 
under Amendment No. 4 to CoC No. 1025. Section 72.212(a)(2) provides 
that the general license is limited to storage of spent fuel in casks 
approved under the provisions of part 72; section 72.212(b)(2)(i)(A) 
requires the general licensee to perform written evaluations, prior to 
use of a cask, that establish that the conditions set forth in the CoC 
have been met; section 72.212(b)(7) requires that the general licensee 
comply with the terms and conditions of the CoC; and section 72.214 
lists the cask designs that have been approved by the NRC and are 
available for use by general licensees under the 10 CFR part 72 general 
license. The NRC's regulatory authority to grant these exemptions is 10 
CFR 72.7.
    Need for the Proposed Action: Implementation of the changes 
authorized by Amendment No. 5 of CoC No. 1025 to all forty NAC-MPC 
casks will allow a visual alternative to Technical Specification (TS) 
Surveillance Requirement 3.1.6.1 to verify the operability of the 
concrete cask heat removal system to maintain safe storage conditions 
and will also remove a specification in the CoC for tamper indicating 
devices. These changes will provide the applicant with significant cost 
savings and flexibility without any decrease in safety.
    Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action: The NRC has reviewed 
the exemption request submitted by CYAPCO and has determined that 
allowing CYAPCO to apply the changes authorized by Amendment No. 5 of 
CoC No. 1025 to the casks at the Haddam Neck ISFSI, if approved, would 
have no significant impact to the environment.

[[Page 34182]]

In connection with the approval of Amendment No. 5 of CoC 1025, the NRC 
prepared and published in the Federal Register a Finding of No 
Significant Impact, based upon an environmental assessment, for the 
generic use of the changes authorized by Amendment No. 5 (72 FR 26535, 
26537, May 10, 2007).
    Further, NRC has evaluated the impact to public safety that would 
result from granting the proposed action. The approval of the proposed 
action would not increase the probability or consequences of accidents, 
no changes would be made to the types of effluents released offsite, 
and there would be no increase in occupational or public radiation 
exposure. Therefore, there are no significant radiological 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action. Additionally 
the proposed action would not involve any construction or other ground 
disturbing activities, would not change the footprint of the existing 
ISFSI, and would have no other significant non-radiological impacts. In 
this regard, and as the ISFSI is located on previously disturbed land, 
it is extremely unlikely that approval of the proposed action would 
create any significant impact on the aquatic or terrestrial habitat in 
the vicinity of the plant, or to threatened, endangered, or protected 
species under the Endangered Species Act, or to essential fish habitat 
covered by the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Similarly, approval of the 
proposed action is not the type of activity that has the potential to 
cause effects on historic or cultural properties, assuming such 
properties are present at the site of the Haddam Neck ISFSI.
    Alternative to the Proposed Action: Since there is no significant 
environmental impact associated with the proposed action, any 
alternatives with equal or greater environmental impact are not 
evaluated. The alternative to the proposed action would be to deny 
approval of the exemption. This alternative would have the same 
environmental impact.
    Given that there are no significant differences in environmental 
impact between the proposed action and the alternative considered and 
that CYAPCO has a legitimate need, the Commission concludes that the 
preferred alternative is to grant the requested exemption.

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 Environmental Assessment, the Commission finds that 
the proposed action of granting an exemption from the specific 
requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(2)(i), 72.212(b)(7), and 
72.214, 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 action.

Further Information

    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of NRC's ``Rules of Practice,'' NRC 
records and documents related to this action, including the application 
for exemption and supporting documentation are available electronically 
at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room, at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can access NRC's ADAMS, which 
provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS 
Accession Number for the application, dated September 1, 2009, is 
ML092520319.
    If you do not have access to ADAMS, or if there are problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact NRC's Public Document 
Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-
mail to [email protected].
    These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public 
computers located at NRC's PDR, O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction contractor 
will copy documents, for a fee.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of June 2010.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
B. Jennifer Davis,
Acting Chief, Licensing Branch, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and 
Transportation, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2010-14498 Filed 6-15-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P