[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 249 (Friday, December 27, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79017-79018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-31086]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-295 and 50-304; NRC-2011-0145]


Zion Solutions, LLC; Zion Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2; 
Exemption From Certain Physical Security Requirements 1.0 Background

    Zion Nuclear Power Station (ZNPS) Units 1 and 2 were permanently 
shut down in February 1998, for economic reasons. On February 13, 1998, 
ComEd, the licensee at that time, submitted a letter certifying the 
permanent cessation of operations at ZNPS, Units 1 and 2. On March 9, 
1998, ComEd submitted a letter certifying the permanent removal of fuel 
from the reactor vessels at ZNPS. Pursuant to Title 10, Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) 50.82(a)(2), upon docketing of the certification 
for permanent cessation of operations and permanent removal of fuel 
from the reactor vessels, the 10 CFR part 50 license no longer 
authorizes operation of the reactor or emplacement or retention of fuel 
into the reactor vessel. Subsequently ZNPS was placed in SAFSTOR. 
SAFSTOR is an NRC approved method of decommissioning a nuclear facility 
where the nuclear facility is placed and maintained in such condition 
that the nuclear facility can be safely stored and subsequently 
decontaminated to safe levels. All irradiated fuel is currently stored 
in the spent fuel pool at ZNPS. In September 2010, ownership of the 
permanently shut down facility and responsibility for its 
decommissioning was transferred to ZionSolutions (ZS), a subsidiary of 
EnergySolutions. ZS was established solely for the purpose of acquiring 
and decommissioning the ZNPS for release for unrestricted use, while 
transferring the spent nuclear fuel and Greater-Than-Class C (GTCC) 
radioactive waste to the ZNPS Independent Spent Fuel Storage 
Installation (ISFSI). As part of the process ZS revised the ZNPS 
Physical Security Plan (PSP) for the protection of the nuclear material 
while in transit to, and while stored in, the ISFSI.
    On December 2, 2010, ZNPS submitted a letter to the NRC (Document 
contains sensitive security related information and is not publically 
available) regarding compliance with the new physical security 
requirements in 10 CFR 73.55. The December 2, 2010, letter included 
exemption requests for portions of 10 CFR 73.55 which ZNPS believed no 
longer applied to their facility due to their permanently shut-down and 
defueled condition. On November 10, 2011, the NRC issued a letter to 
ZNPS (Agencywide Documents Access Management System (ADAMS) Accession 
Number ML112010331) providing the Commission's determination regarding 
the exemptions which ZNPS requested. During the technical review of the 
ZNPS exemption request, staff completed a Safety Evaluation Report 
(SER) (Document contains sensitive security related information and is 
not publically available). The staff concluded that exemptions from the 
following provisions should be granted: 10 CFR 73.55(c)(5); 10 CFR 
73.55(h)(3)(ii); 10 CFR 73.55(i)(4)(i); 10 CFR 73.55(i)(4)(ii)(G); 10 
CFR 73.55(k)(5)(ii); 10 CFR 73.55(k)(5)(iii); 10 CFR 73.55(n)(i); 10 
CFR 73.55(n)(ii); 10 CFR 73.55(n)(iii); 10 CFR 73.55(p)(1)(i); and 10 
CFR 73.55(p)(ii).

2.0 Request/Action

    Section 50.54(p)(1) of 10 CFR states, ``The licensee shall prepare 
and maintain safeguards contingency plan procedures in accordance with 
Appendix C of part 73 of this chapter for affecting the actions and 
decisions contained in the Responsibility Matrix of the safeguards 
contingency plan.''
    Part 73 of 10 CFR, ``Physical Protection of Plant and Materials,'' 
provides, ``This part prescribes requirements for the establishment and 
maintenance of a physical protection system which will have 
capabilities for the protection of special nuclear material at fixed 
sites and in transit and of plants in which special nuclear material is 
used.'' In section 73.55, entitled ``Requirements for physical 
protection of licensed activities in nuclear power reactors against 
radiological sabotage,'' paragraph (b)(1) states, ``The licensee shall 
establish and maintain a physical protection program, to include a 
security organization, which will have as its objective to provide high 
assurance that activities involving special nuclear material are not 
inimical to the common defense and security and do not constitute an 
unreasonable risk to the public health and safety.''
    By application dated June 18, 2012 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML12179A498), as supplemented by letters dated June 5, 2013 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML13157A308) and October 4, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML13283A004), ZS submitted a proposed revision to the ZNPS PSP which 
included a transfer plan that described the ZNPS plan for moving spent 
fuel currently in wet spent fuel storage to dry cask storage at the 
ZNPS ISFSI Facility. ZS also submitted the proposed ZNPS ISFSI PSP. 
Associated with the submittal of the revised and new PSPs, ZS submitted 
exemption requests from 10 CFR 73.55(c)(5); 10 CFR 73.55(h)(3)(ii); 10 
CFR 73.55(i)(4)(i); 10 CFR 73.55(i)(4)(ii)(G); 10 CFR 73.55(k)(5)(ii); 
and 10 CFR 73.55(k)(5)(iii) for the ZNPS facility and ISFSI.

3.0 Discussion

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5, ``Specific exemptions,'' the Commission 
may grant exemptions from the regulations in this part either at the 
request of a licensee or on its own initiative as it determines are 
authorized by law and will not endanger life or property or the common 
defense and security, and are otherwise in the public interest.
    The NRC evaluated the proposed exemptions and documented the review 
in a Safety Evaluation which contains safeguards information and has 
been withheld from public disclosure pursuant to 10 CFR 2.390(d)(1).
    The NRC determined that the ZNPS ISFSI PSP is adequate, and 
consistent

[[Page 79018]]

with the reduced radiological risk and protective strategy for a 
decommissioning facility or a stand-alone ISFSI. As discussed in the 
SER, and consistent with the Commission's authority 10 CFR 73.5, the 
Commission is issuing exemptions from the following requirements:10 CFR 
73.55(c)(5); 10 CFR 73.55(h)(3)(ii); 10 CFR(i)(2); 10 CFR 
73.55(i)(4)(i); 10 CFR 73.55(i)(4)(ii)(G); 10 CFR 73.55(k)(5)(ii); 10 
CFR 73.55(k)(5)(iii); 10 CFR 73.55(n)(i); 10 CFR 73.55(n)(ii); 10 CFR 
73.55(n)(iii); 10 CFR 73.55(p)(1)(i); and 10 CFR 73.55(p)(ii).
    In Enclosure 1 to ZNPS letter of October 4, 2013, ZNPS requested 
that NRC affirm that specific exemptions previously granted to ZNPS for 
the defueled reactor as also applicable for the ZNPS ISFSI PSP. 
Specifically, the licensee requested affirmation of the exemptions to 
the following requirements for the ISFSI PSP: 10 CFR 73.55(b)(3)(i); 10 
CFR 73.55(b)(4); 10 CFR 73.55(b)(6); 10 CFR 73.55(b)(9); 10 CFR 
73.55(c)(4); 10 CFR 73.55(d)(3)(i); 10 CFR 73.55(e)-(e)(1)(i); 10 CFR 
73.55(e)(7)(i)-(ii); 10 CFR 73.55(e)(9)(1)-(vi); 10 CFR 
73.55(e)(10)(ii); 10 CFR 73.55(f)(1)-(4); 10 CFR 73.55(h)(2); 10 CFR 
73.55(i); 10 CFR 73.55(i)(2); and 10 CFR 73.55(k)(1).
    The ZNPS ISFSI PSP is, however, a stand-alone security plan that 
has been evaluated against the requirements of 10 CFR part 73. No 
application of a previous exemption is necessary.
    Based on the evaluation in the associated safety evaluation, which 
considered the permanently shut-down and defueled conditions at the 
ZNPS, and the new ZNPS ISFSI facility where the fuel will be located 
within the protected area of the dry storage facility, the NRC has 
concluded that: (1) there is reasonable assurance that the health and 
safety of the public will not be endangered by granting said 
exemptions; (2) such activities will be conducted in compliance with 
the Commission's regulations and orders; and (3) the approval of these 
exemptions will not be inimical to the common defense and security or 
the health and safety of the public and are otherwise in the public 
interest. These conclusions are discussed in greater detail in the 
staff's SER.

4.0 Conclusion

    Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 
73.5, an exemption is authorized by law, will not endanger life or 
property or the common defense and security, and is otherwise in the 
public interest based on permanently shut down and defueled conditions 
at the ZNPS. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants ZionSolutions an 
exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR part 73 as delineated above.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25), the Commission has determined the 
granting of these exemptions is categorically excluded and pursuant to 
10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact statement or environmental 
assessment need be prepared. The exemption involves safeguard plans, as 
described in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(vi)(F). Approval of this exemption 
request involves no significant hazards consideration; no significant 
change in the types or significant increase in the amounts of any 
effluents that may be released offsite; no significant increase in 
individual or cumulative public or occupational radiation exposure; no 
significant construction impact; and no significant increase in the 
potential for or consequences from radiological accidents.
    These exemptions are effective upon issuance.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day of December 2013.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Aby Mohseni,
Deputy Director, Environmental Protection and Performance Assessment 
Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, 
Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management 
Programs.
[FR Doc. 2013-31086 Filed 12-26-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P