[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 200 (Thursday, October 16, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62211-62213]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-24640]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-295, 50-304 and 72-1037; NRC-2014-0199]


Zion Solutions, LLC; Zion Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2; 
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact; 
issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
issuing an exemption to the spent fuel storage requirements applicable 
to Zion Solutions, LLC. (hereafter, ZS or the applicant), general 
license to operate an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation 
(ISFSI) at the Zion Nuclear Power Station (ZNPS). ZS seeks approval to 
load MAGNASTOR storage casks (Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 72-
1031) in a different manner than permitted by any amendment to the 
MAGNASTOR CoC, but which the NRC has previously reviewed as a proposed 
amendment to that CoC. The applicant is currently loading storage casks 
and maintains that relief from requirements provides flexibility in 
operations, minimizes equipment runtime and repair, and minimizes 
personnel dose.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0199 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0199. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection 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]. For 
the convenience of the reader, the ADAMS accession numbers are provided 
in a table in the ``Availability of Documents'' section of this 
document.
     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: Pamela Longmire, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-287-0829, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering issuing 
an exemption to the spent fuel storage requirements applicable to ZS to 
operate an ISFSI at the ZNPS located in Zion Illinois. Therefore, as 
required by section 51.30 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR), the NRC performed an environmental assessment. 
Based on the results of the environmental assessment that follows, the 
NRC has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for 
the exemption, and is issuing a finding of no significant impact.
    Zion Solutions, LLC. is a general licensee under 10 CFR Part 72 for 
the storage of spent fuel in its ISFSI. The applicant is subject to 10 
CFR 72.212, which provides in part that [t]he general license is 
limited to storage of spent fuel in casks approved under the provisions 
of 10 CFR Part 72. The general licensee must ensure that each cask used 
conforms to the terms, conditions, and specifications of a CoC, or an 
amended CoC, listed in Section 72.214.
    The applicant seeks approval to load casks in a different manner 
than permitted by its current CoC, but which the NRC has previously 
reviewed as a proposed amendment to that CoC, but not issued as a final 
rule. NAC, the cask vendor, by application dated June 18, 2013, 
submitted an amendment request, as supplemented September 6, 2013, and 
September 19, 2013, to change limiting condition operation (LCO) 3.1.1. 
The NRC technical review of the NAC CoC amendment request is documented 
in the safety evaluation report. The NRC staff in the safety evaluation 
report concludes that the revised time limits of helium backfill and 
transportable storage canister (TSC) transfer time of technical 
specification (TS) LCO 3.1.1 are in compliance with 10 CFR Part 72. The 
evaluation of the thermal design provides reasonable assurance that the 
resulting values

[[Page 62212]]

proposed will allow safe storage of the spent fuel. The applicant's 
exemption request for modified transfer time when a canister's thermal 
output is less than or equal to twenty (20) kilowatts, <=20 kW, relies, 
as the basis for approval, on the NAC CoC amendment request review 
performed by the NRC staff.

II. Environmental Assessment

Description of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action would exemption ZS from specific portions of 
the requirements of 10 CFR 72.212 ``Conditions of general license 
issued under Sec.  72.210,'' specifically 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 
72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11) and 10 CFR 72.214 ``List 
of approved spent fuel storage casks,'' for the ZNPS ISFSI. The 
proposed exemption request pertains to the requirements of technical 
specification LCO 3.1.1, TSC, Section 1, first table, regarding allowed 
transfer time from loading of a TSC inside the MAGNASTOR transfer cask 
(MTC) to placement into the vertical concrete cask (VCC) following the 
completion of helium backfill. The proposed exemption is to modify the 
allowable transfer time from eight (8) hours to six hundred (600) 
hours. The transfer time is for the movement of a TSC, with heat load 
<=20 kW, from the decontamination pit to the VCC.
    The proposed exemption is in accordance with the ZS application 
dated June 25, 2014,

Need for the Proposed Action

    The proposed action would relieve the applicant from requirements 
of 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), and 10 
CFR 72.214 and requests to use a LCO submitted by the cask vendor, NAC, 
as ``Amendment No. 4'' to NAC MAGNASTOR, CoC No. 1031. CoC No. 1031, 
Amendment No. 4 increases the transfer time for a canister with a heat 
load <=20 kW from 8 hours, as required by LCO 3.1.1 under Amendment No. 
3, to 600 hours. The applicant maintains that extending the period for 
the operator to complete the transfer provides the operator the 
opportunity to conclude the activity, provides flexibility in 
operations, minimizes equipment runtime and repair, and minimizes 
personnel dose.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC staff has determined that issuance of the proposed 
exemption will have no significant environmental impact.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    As an alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered 
denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative). 
This alternative would have the same environmental impacts as the 
proposed action. In the event the NRC were to deny the requested 
exemption, ZS would continue to operate under the requirements of the 
current MAGNASTOR[supreg] CoC, which has previously been determined to 
have no significant impacts. The potential environmental impact of 
using the MAGNASTOR[supreg] system was initially analyzed in the 
environmental assessment for the final rule to add the 
MAGNASTOR[supreg] system to the list of approved spent fuel storage 
casks in 10 CFR 72.214 (73 FR 70587; November 21, 2008). The 
environmental assessment for the November 21, 2008, final rule 
concluded that there would be no significant environmental impact for 
adding the MAGNASTOR[supreg] system, and therefore, the NRC issued a 
finding of no significant impact.

Alternative Use of Resources

    This action does not impact any resource implications discussed in 
previous environmental reviews.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    In accordance with its stated policy, on August 21, 2014, the staff 
consulted with Mr. Joseph Klinger, Assistant Director of the Illinois 
Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) by email, regarding the 
environmental impact of the proposed action. The state's response was 
received by email dated August 28, 2014. The email response states that 
IEMA reviewed the draft environmental assessment and had no comments. 
The state official concurred with the environmental assessment and 
finding of no significant impact.
    The NRC staff has determined that a consultation under Section 7 of 
the Endangered Species Act is not required because the proposed action 
will not affect listed species or critical habitat. The NRC staff has 
also determined that the proposed action is not a type of activity that 
has the potential to impact historic properties because the proposed 
action would occur within the established ZNPS site boundary. 
Therefore, no consultation is required under Section 106 of the 
National Historic Preservation Act.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    In the preparation of this Environmental Assessment, the staff used 
guidance in NUREG-1748, ``Environmental Review Guidance for Licensing 
Actions Associated with NMSS Programs.''
    The proposed action will not increase the probability or 
consequences of accidents. No changes are being made in the types or 
quantities of effluents that may be released offsite, and there is no 
significant increase in occupational or public radiation exposure. 
Therefore, there are no significant radiological environmental impacts 
associated with the proposed action. The proposed action does not 
affect non-radiological effluents and has no other environmental 
impacts. Thus, there are no significant non-radiological impacts 
associated with the proposed action. Therefore, the proposed action 
will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human 
environment. Based on these findings, the NRC concludes that there are 
no significant environmental impacts associated with the approval of 
the requested exemption.
    On the basis of the environmental assessment, the NRC concludes 
that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the 
quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined 
not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed 
action.

IV. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as 
indicated.

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              Document                        ADAMS Accession No.
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NAC application dated June 18, 2013.  ML13171A031.
NAC supplement dated September 6,     ML13261A278.
 2013.
NAC supplement dated September 19,    ML13268A049.
 2013.
NRC safety evaluation report........  ML14010A495.
ZS exemption request................  ML14182A474.

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NRC e-mail dated August 21, 2014, to  ML14246A464.
 Illinois Emergency Management
 Agency forwarding draft
 environmental assessment and
 Illinois Emergency Management
 Agency response dated August 28,
 2014, to draft environmental
 assessment.
NUREG-1748, ``Environmental Review    ML032450279.
 Guidance for Licensing Actions
 Associated with NMSS Programs''.
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    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day of October, 2014.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michele Sampson,
Chief, Licensing Branch, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and 
Transportation, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2014-24640 Filed 10-15-14; 8:45 am]
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