[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 24, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58571-58573]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-23243]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-029, 50-213, 50-309, 72-030, 72-031, and 72-039; NRC-
2013-0217]


Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company, Connecticut Yankee Atomic 
Power Company, and The Yankee Atomic Electric Company

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Exemption; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an 
exemption in response to a May 16, 2011, request from Maine Yankee 
Atomic Power Company (Maine Yankee), Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power 
Company (Connecticut Yankee), and the Yankee Atomic Electric Company 
(Yankee Atomic) (together, ``licensees'' or ``the Yankee Companies'') 
from the foreign ownership, control, or domination (FOCD) requirements.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0217 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may access publicly-available information related to this action by the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0217. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC 
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the 
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's 
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number 
for each

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document referenced in this document (if that document is available in 
ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is referenced.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Goshen, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-287-9250; email: 
[email protected].

1.0 Background

    Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company (Maine Yankee), Connecticut 
Yankee Atomic Power Company (Connecticut Yankee), and the Yankee Atomic 
Electric Company (Yankee Atomic) (together, ``licensees'' or ``the 
Yankee Companies'') hold part 50 of Title10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) possession only licenses for the following 
facilities: Haddam Neck Plant (Connecticut Yankee); Maine Yankee Atomic 
Power Station (Maine Yankee); and, Yankee Nuclear Power Station (Yankee 
Atomic), (together, ``the facilities''). The facilities ceased power 
operations between 1991 and 1997, and all have completed the 
decommissioning process. All reactor plant facilities have been 
dismantled and removed, and only the independent spent fuel storage 
installations (ISFSIs) remain at the stations.

2.0 Request/Action

    On May 16, 2011, the Yankee Companies submitted a request for 
exemption from the FOCD requirements of 10 CFR 50.38 in accordance with 
10 CFR 50.12.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(1), the Commission may grant exemptions 
from the requirements of 10 CFR part 50 which:
    Are authorized by law, will not present an undue risk to the public 
health and safety, and are consistent with the common defense and 
security.
    Sections [103d.and] 104d. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as 
amended, (AEA, the Act) state that:

No license may be issued to [an alien or] any corporation or other 
entity if the Commission knows or has reason to believe it is owned, 
controlled, or dominated by an alien, a foreign corporation or a 
foreign government. In any event, no license may be issued to any 
person within the United States if, in the opinion of the Commission, 
the issuance of a license to such person would be inimical to the 
    common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public.
Section 50.38 implements Sections 103d. and 104d. of the AEA.

    In the exemption application, the licensees stated that Sections 
103d. and 104d. of the AEA, apply only to a license for a production or 
utilization facility as defined in the AEA. The licensees stated that 
regardless of their 10 CFR part 50 licenses, the possession only 
conditions of the licenses do not allow their use as a production or 
utilization facility, and they are therefore not subject to Sections 
103d. or 104d. of the AEA.
    Due to the complete decommissioning and dismantlement of the 
reactor facilities, the 10 CFR part 50 licenses for operation of the 
stations held by the Yankees have been amended to allow for only the 
possession of spent nuclear fuel (SNF). Under 10 CFR 72, Subpart K, 
``General License for Storage of Spent Fuel at Power Reactor Sites,'' 
the Yankee Companies are authorized to store spent fuel. Specifically, 
under 10 CFR 72.210, the Yankees have a general license to store spent 
fuel in an ISFSI at each site by virtue of their Part 50 licenses to 
possess nuclear power reactors.
    Each Yankee company is partially indirectly owned by foreign 
entities. The remaining owner is a U.S. entity.

3 Discussion

3.1 Exemption is Authorized by Law

    The NRC staff concluded that Section 103d. of the AEA does not 
apply to ISFSIs. The plain language of the statute demonstrates that it 
applies to commercial licenses for production and utilization 
facilities.\1\ The section, which refers to ``license[s] under this 
section'' and therefore, applies solely to licenses for production or 
utilization facilities, states that ``[n]o license may be issued to an 
alien or any corporation or other entity if the Commission knows or has 
reason to believe it is owned, controlled, or dominated by an alien, a 
foreign corporation, or a foreign government.'' The AEA definitions of 
``production facility'' (Section 11.v) and ``utilization facility'' 
(Section 11.cc) do not include ISFSIs. Therefore, Section 103d. does 
not preclude the NRC from granting the Yankee Companies an exemption 
from 10 CFR 50.38.
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    \1\ AEA Sec. Sec.  101, 103.
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    Additionally, the Commission's regulations at 10 CFR 50.2 defines 
``production facility'' as a facility designed or used for the 
formation or processing of nuclear material, and ``utilization 
facility'' as ``any nuclear reactor other than one designed or used 
primarily for the formation of plutonium or U-233.''
    As an ISFSI is neither ``capable of the production of special 
nuclear material'' nor ``capable of making use of special nuclear 
material,'' it is neither a production facility nor a utilization 
facility under the AEA. Furthermore, an ISFSI is not designed or used 
for the formation or processing of nuclear material and is not a 
nuclear reactor. Accordingly, an ISFSI is neither a production facility 
nor a utilization facility under 10 CFR part 50. As such, the Section 
103d. prohibition on FOCD entities does not apply to an ISFSI, 
regardless of whether it is licensed under 10 CFR part 50 or 10 CFR 
part 72, and therefore does not preclude the NRC from granting the 
Yankee Companies an exemption from the FOCD requirements of 10 CFR 
50.38.

3.2 The Exemption Presents no Undue Risk to Public Health and Safety

    The staff finds the requirements of 10 CFR 50.38 are intended to 
prevent the FOCD of production and utilization facilities. The Yankee 
facilities are neither production nor utilization facilities as defined 
in the AEA. Additionally, since FOCD restrictions are financial 
ownership restrictions and are neither technical nor operational 
requirements, granting the exemption has no bearing on the risk to 
public health and safety.

3.3 The Exemption is Consistent With the Common Defense and Security

    The Yankees are restricted by their licenses to storing SNF in 
ISFSIs approved under 10 CFR 72.214. The underlying purpose of the 10 
CFR 50.38 FOCD prohibition is to prevent foreign ownership, control or 
domination of production and utilization facilities as defined by the 
AEA. The Yankee facilities are neither production nor utilization 
facilities as defined in the AEA. In addition, there are no FOCD 
restrictions placed on similarly situated 10 CFR part 72 ISFSIs with 
specific licenses to store SNF. Such licensees have similar security 
and common defense concerns, and similar considerations apply. The 
staff finds, therefore, that granting the exemption is consistent with 
the common defense and security.

3.4 Special Circumstances Evaluation

    The Commission cannot grant an exemption unless special 
circumstances apply per 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2), and application of the 
regulation would not serve the underlying purpose of the rule or is not 
necessary to achieve the

[[Page 58573]]

underlying purpose of the rule per 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii).
    The Yankees are restricted to by their licenses to store SNF in 
ISFSIs approved by 10 CFR 72.214. The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 
50.38 is to implement the FOCD restrictions of Sections 103d. and 104d. 
of the AEA and to prevent foreign ownership, control or domination of 
production and utilization facilities as defined by the AEA. The Yankee 
Companies are not production or utilization facilities as defined in 
the AEA. The NRC staff determined that there are no 10 CFR 50.38 FOCD 
restrictions placed on 10 CFR part 72 ISFSIs with specific licenses 
that are similarly situated to the Yankee facilities and similar 
considerations apply. The NRC staff finds, therefore, that applying the 
10 CFR 50.38 FOCD requirement clearly does not serve the underlying 
purpose of the rule, and granting the exemption is consistent with the 
special circumstances as defined in 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii).

3.5 Environmental Evaluation

    The staff has determined that this action meets the eligibility 
criteria for categorical exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 
51.22(c)(25)(vi)(I), ``Other requirements of an administrative, 
managerial, or organizational nature.'' Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 
51.22(b), no environmental impact statement or environmental assessment 
need be prepared in connection with this action, and granting the 
exemption, therefore, does not present an undue risk to the public 
health and safety.

4 Conclusions

    The staff finds granting the licensee's exemption request from 10 
CFR 50.38 FOCD requirements acceptable for the reasons provided in the 
letter from Mark Lombard to Wayne Norton dated July 15, 2013 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML13086A010).

5 Additional Information

    Documents related to this action, including the application for 
renewal, supporting documentation, and the staff's safety evaluation 
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 the NRC's ADAMS, which provides text and image files of NRC's 
public documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are 
problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC 
Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737 or by email to [email protected]. These documents may also be 
viewed electronically on the public computers located at the 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 13th day of September, 2013.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
John M. Goshen,
Project Manager, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation, 
Office of Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguard.
[FR Doc. 2013-23243 Filed 9-23-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P