[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 43 (Friday, March 4, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11603-11605]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04750]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-010, 50-237, 50-249 and 72-37; NRC-2016-0047]
Exelon Generation Company, LLC; Dresden Nuclear Power Station,
Units 1, 2 and 3; 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
issuance of an exemption to Exelon Generation Company, LLC (hereafter,
EGC or the applicant). EGC is the general licensee operating the
Dresden Nuclear Power Station (DNPS) Independent Spent Fuel Storage
Installation (ISFSI) located in Morris, Illinois. Specifically, EGC
seeks authorization to load and store one DNPS Unit 1 thoria rod
canister containing 18 DNPS Unit 1 thoria rods in a Holtec
International, Inc., multi-purpose canister (MPC)-68M. Thoria rods are
not approved for storage in the MPC-68M per Certificate of Compliance
(CoC) No. 1014, Amendment 8, Rev. 1 \1\ Appendix B, ``Approved Contents
and Design Features.'' EGC plans to load and store Holtec HI-STORM 100
spent fuel casks utilizing Amendment 8, Rev. 1 to CoC No. 1014 in the
2016 DNPS spent fuel loading campaign (SFLC).
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\1\ The licensee's application referred to Amendment 8; since
that time, Amendment 8 has been revised. (On February 16, 2016,
Amendment 8, Rev. 1 to CoC 1014 became effective.) This revision
does not impact the exemption request that is the subject of this
environmental assessment because none of the changes in the revision
revised the thoria contents or the physical characteristics of the
storage cask.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2016-0047 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-2016-0047. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; 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 IV of this
document.
[[Page 11604]]
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: Bernard White, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6577, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is considering issuance of an exemption from the spent fuel
storage requirements applicable to EGC to operate an ISFSI at the DNPS
located in Morris, Illinois. As required by Sec. 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, the NRC has determined not to prepare an environmental
impact statement for the exemption, and is issuing a finding of no
significant impact.
Exelon Generation Company holds a general license under 10 CFR part
72 for the storage of spent fuel in the DNPS ISFSI. The applicant is
subject to 10 CFR 72.212, which provides in part that the 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 requested an exemption which would allow storage in
the Holtec HI-STORM MPC-68M of a DNPS Unit 1 thoria rod canister
containing 18 DNPS Unit 1 thoria rods. Specifically, the applicant
requested an exemption from 10 CFR 72.212(b)(3) and the portion of 10
CFR 72.212(b)(11) that requires compliance with the terms, conditions,
and specifications of CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Rev. 1. In
evaluating the request, the NRC is also considering, pursuant to
authority in 72.7, exemption from similar requirements in 10 CFR
72.212(a)(2), 10 CFR 72.212(b)(5)(i); and 10 CFR 72.214, ``List of
approved spent fuel storage casks.'' The NRC staff is performing a
technical review of the exemption request and will prepare a separate
Federal Register notice to document the NRC review of the structural
integrity, criticality control, thermal, shielding, and confinement
design functions for a loaded DNPS Unit 1 thoria rod canister. The NRC
staff's decision whether to issue the exemption to EGC as proposed,
will be based on the results of the NRC staff's review as documented in
this environmental assessment and in the separate Federal Register
Notice.
II. Environmental Assessment
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed action would exempt EGC 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), 10 CFR
72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), a portion of 72.212(b)(11), and 10 CFR
72.214, ``List of approved spent fuel storage casks.'' The proposed
exemption request pertains to the requirements of CoC No. 1014,
Amendment 8, Rev. 1, Appendix B, ``Approved Contents and Design
Features,'' Table 2.1-1, ``Fuel Assembly Limits.'' The addition of a
new multi-purpose canister (MPC)-68M to the approved models included in
CoC No. 1014 was one of the additions included in Amendment 8. Thoria
rods are approved content for the MPC-68F, MPC-68, and MPC-68FF.
However, Appendix B, Table 2.1-1, Section VI, does not include, as
approved content, thoria rods for storage in the MPC-68M. For the DNPS
ISFSI, the exemption would allow ECG to deviate from the requirements
of CoC No. 1014, Amendment 8, Rev. 1 by permitting the storage of
thoria rods in the MPC-68M.
Need for the Proposed Action
The proposed action would relieve the applicant from requirements
of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), the portion of
72.212(b)(11) which states that ``The licensee shall comply with the
terms, conditions, and specifications of the CoC . . .'', and 10 CFR
72.214, ``List of approved spent fuel storage casks.'' The applicant
maintains that loading the thoria rod canister during the 2016 DNPS
SFLC is part of a program to ensure full core discharge capability. If
not loaded during the 2016 DNPS SFLC, EGC states that it would not be
able to load and store the DNPS Unit 1 thoria rod canister until 2018.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
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 staff evaluated the environmental impacts associated with this
exemption. The NRC staff determined that non-radiological environmental
impacts from approval of the exemption would not change from those
evaluated in CoC 1014, Amendment Nos. 1 and 8, because: (1) The
proposed action would not involve any construction activities, land
disturbance, excavation, physical changes to the DNPS facilities, or
changes in land use; (2) operation of the ISFSI does not require usage
of water resources; and (3) the ISFSI does not generate gaseous,
liquid, or solid effluents or wastes during operation. Therefore, there
are no significant non-radiological impacts associated with the
proposed action.
The NRC staff also determined that the radiological doses to
workers and to the public associated with the proposed action are
bounded by previous analyses for CoC 1014, Amendment No. 8, and that
radiological doses would be below the NRC's regulatory limits in 10 CFR
part 20 and Part 72. In prior NRC staff reviews of CoC 1014, Amendment
Nos. 1 and 8, the NRC staff concluded that the Metamic-HT basket in the
MPC-68M has very little effect on the external dose rate; and a single
thoria rod canister, while unbounded in part of the gamma source
spectrum, will not impact cask external dose rates. Additionally, the
NRC staff determined that the proposed action will not increase the
probability or consequences of accidents since the exemption would
authorize loading of a different type of fuel assembly, but use the
same procedures for loading, preparation for storage, and storage as
all other fuel assemblies. 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. Based on these findings, the NRC
concludes that there are no significant environmental impacts
associated with the approval of the exemption.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
An alternative to the proposed exemption request would be for
Holtec, the CoC holder, to submit an amendment request for Certificate
of Compliance No. 1014, which the NRC would need to review for
approval. The NRC review and approval of an amendment request would
result in a delay in the loading and storage of the DNPS Unit 1 thoria
rod canister. EGC plans to load the thoria rod canister during the DNPS
2016 SFLC as part of a program to ensure full core discharge
capability. In order to load the thoria
[[Page 11605]]
rod canister during the spring 2016 SFLC campaign, EGC stated that it
must finalize fuel loading package documentation by December 2015.
Based on the amount of time generally required to review and
approve CoC amendment requests (e.g., 18 months to 27 months), there
would not be adequate time for development of fuel loading packages.
The timing constraints would also extend beyond the scheduled start of
the DNPS SFLC campaign in Spring 2016. According to EGC, delaying the
approval to mid-2016 or beyond would delay EGC's ability to have full-
core offload capability in the DNPS spent fuel pool until spring 2018.
This alternative is not considered further because it does not meet the
purpose and need of the proposed action.
As another alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered
denial of the exemption request (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative).
This alternative would have the same environmental impacts as the
proposed action. In the event that the NRC denied the requested
exemption, EGC would continue to operate under the requirements of the
current Holtec HI-STORM CoC, which has previously been determined to
have no significant impacts. The potential environmental impact of
using the Holtec HI-STORM system was initially analyzed in the
environmental assessment for the final rule (65 FR 25241; May 1, 2000)
to add the Holtec HI-STORM system to the list of approved spent fuel
storage casks in 10 CFR 72.214. The environmental assessment for the
May 1, 2000, final rule concluded that there would be no significant
environmental impact for adding the Holtec HI-STORM 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
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 October 28, 2015. The email response states
that IEMA reviewed the draft environmental assessment and found ``no
basis for denial of this Exemption Request.'' Mr. Klinger 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 DNPS site boundary.
Therefore, no consultation is required under Section 106 of the
National Historic Preservation Act.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The NRC staff has reviewed EGC's exemption request to authorize EGC
to load and store one DNPS Unit 1 thoria rod canister containing 18
DNPS Unit 1 thoria rods in the DNPS ISFSI. Based on its review of the
proposed action, in accordance with the requirements in 10 CFR part 51,
the NRC staff has determined that approval of the exemption from the
requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 10 CFR 72.212(b)(3),
72.212(b)(5)(i), a portion of 10 CFR 72.212(b)(11), and 10 CFR 72.214
to allow EGC to load and store one DNPS Unit 1 thoria rod canister
containing 18 DNPS Unit 1 thoria rods in CoC No. 1014, Amendment 8,
Revision 1, will not significantly affect the quality of the human
environment. For these reasons, NRC has determined that pursuant to 10
CFR 51.31, preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement is not
required for the proposed action, and pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, a
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate.
IV. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
interested persons through one or more of the methods indicated in the
ADDRESSES section.
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ADAMS
Document Accession No.
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Exelon Generation Company (EGC) application dated ML15029A334
January 29, 2015.......................................
EGC supplement dated June 8, 2015....................... ML15159A745
NRC email dated October 21, 2015, to Illinois Emergency ML15323A022
Management Agency (IEMA) forwarding draft environmental
assessment and IEMA response dated October 28, 2015, to
draft environmental assessment.........................
Holtec HI-STORM final rule.............................. ML010670391
NUREG-1748, ``Environmental Review Guidance for ML032450279
Licensing Actions Associated with NMSS Programs''......
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Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day of February, 2016.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Steve Ruffin,
Acting Chief, Spent Fuel Licensing Branch, Division of Spent Fuel
Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2016-04750 Filed 3-3-16; 8:45 am]
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