[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 194 (Tuesday, October 10, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47029-47032]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-21762]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-285; NRC-2017-0202]
Omaha Public Power District; Fort Calhoun Station, Unit No. 1
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Exemption; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing
exemptions in response to a May 4, 2017, request, as supplemented by
letter dated June 5, 2017, from Omaha Public Power District (OPPD or
the licensee). The licensee requested that Fort Calhoun Station (FCS),
Unit No. 1, be granted a permanent partial exemption from regulations
that require retention of records for certain systems, structures, and
components (SSCs) until the termination of the operating license.
DATES: The exemption was issued on October 4, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0202 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-2017-0202. 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]. The
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it is available
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this
document.
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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: James Kim, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, telephone: 301-415-4125; email: [email protected]; U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The FCS is a single unit Combustion Engineering pressurized-water
reactor located in Fort Calhoun, Nebraska. The FCS was granted Renewed
Facility Operating License No. DPR-40 under part 54 of title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), on November 4, 2003. The
operating license for FCS is held by OPPD.
On November 13, 2016, OPPD submitted the certifications, pursuant
to 10 CFR 50.82(a)(1), of permanent cessation of operations and
permanent removal of fuel from the reactor (ADAMS Accession No.
ML16319A254). Decommissioning activities will be carried out by OPPD,
and are described in the Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities
Report submitted to the NRC on March 30, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML17089A759). The SSCs that supported the generation of electric power
are being prepared to enter the SAFSTOR phase. SAFSTOR, often
considered ``delayed DECON,'' involves initially removing all fuel and
radioactive wastes and liquids, maintaining the facility in a condition
that allows the decay of radioactivity to reduce radiation levels at
the facility, and then decontaminating and dismantling the facility.
Completion of fuel transfer from the spent fuel pool (SFP) to an
independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) is scheduled for
2023. Preparation for dismantlement and license termination are
scheduled to begin in 2059.
II. Request/Action
By letter dated May 4, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No. ML17125A073), as
supplemented by letter dated June 5, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML17186A327), OPPD filed a request for NRC approval of a permanent
exemption from the following recordkeeping requirements: 10 CFR part
50, appendix B, Criterion XVII; 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3); and 10 CFR
50.71(c). The request was made pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, ``Specific
exemptions.''
The licensee is requesting NRC approval of an exemption from 10 CFR
part 50, appendix B, Criterion XVII, which requires certain records be
retained consistent with regulatory requirements for a duration
established by the licensee; 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3), which requires records
to be maintained ``until the termination of an operating license''; and
10 CFR 50.71(c) where records required by license condition or
technical specifications (TSs) are to be retained until termination of
the license.
The licensee is proposing to eliminate: (1) The records when the
licensing basis requirements previously applicable to the nuclear power
unit and associated structures, and components (SSCs) are no longer
effective (e.g., removed from the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR),
as updated, and/or TSs by appropriate change mechanisms); and (2) the
records for SSCs associated with safe storage of the fuel in the SFP,
when spent nuclear fuel has been completely transferred from the SFP to
dry storage, and the SFP is ready for demolition and the associated
licensing bases are no longer effective.
The licensee cites precedents for records retention exemptions
granted to Zion Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2 (ADAMS Accession
No. ML111260277); Millstone Power Station, Unit 1 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML070110567); Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating Station (ADAMS Accession
No. ML043310155); Haddam Neck Plant (ADAMS Accession No. ML052160088);
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (ADAMS Accession No. ML15344A243);
and San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1, 2, and 3 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML15355A055).
Records associated with residual radiological activity and with
programmatic controls necessary to support decommissioning, such as
security and quality assurance, are not affected by the exemption
request because they will be retained as decommissioning records until
the termination of the FCS license. Also, the licensee did not request
an exemption associated with any other record keeping requirements for
the storage of spent fuel at its ISFSI under 10 CFR part 50 or the
general license requirements of 10 CFR part 72. No exemption was
requested from the decommissioning records retention requirements of 10
CFR 50.75, or any other requirements of 10 CFR part 50 applicable to
decommissioning and dismantlement.
III. Discussion
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the Commission may, upon application by
any interested person or upon its own initiative, grant exemptions from
the requirements of 10 CFR part 50 when (1) the exemptions are
authorized by law, will not present an undue risk to public health or
safety, and are consistent with the common defense and security, and
(2) when special circumstances are present.
The FCS permanently ceased power operations on October 24, 2016,
and subsequently removed the spent fuel from the reactor to the SFP.
The nuclear reactor and SSCs associated with the nuclear steam supply
system and balance of plant that had supported power generation have
been drained as necessary and retired in place. The licensee's general
justification for eliminating records associated with FCS SSCs that
have been or will be removed from service under the NRC license,
dismantled, or demolished, is that these SSCs will not, in the future,
serve any FCS functions regulated by the NRC. Subsequently, these SSCs
can be removed from NRC licensing basis documents, such as TSs or the
FSAR, as updated, by appropriate change mechanisms (e.g., 10 CFR 50.59
or via NRC-approved TS changes, as applicable).
While OPPD intends to retain the records required by FCS license,
as the project transitions from current plant conditions to fully
dismantled with the fuel in dry storage, the regulatory and business
needs for maintenance of most of the records will be obviated. As the
SSCs are removed from the licensing basis and the need for the
associated records is, on a practical basis, eliminated, the licensee
proposes that they be exempted from the records retention requirements
for SSCs and historical activities that are no longer relevant, thereby
eliminating the associated regulatory and economic burdens of creating
alternative storage locations, relocating records, and retaining
irrelevant records.
The SSCs supporting the continued operation of the SFP must remain
operable at FCS and will be configured for operational efficiency until
the fuel is removed to permanent dry storage. The records associated
with the SFP SSCs must be retained through the SFP's functional life.
Similar to other plant records, when the SFP is emptied of fuel,
drained, and prepared for demolition, there will be no safety-
significant function or other regulatory need for retaining SFP SSCs
related records. The SSCs that support the SFP will be removed from
licensing basis documents by appropriate change mechanisms.
In addition, the FCS site will continue to be under NRC regulation
until license termination, primarily due to residual
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radioactivity. The operational, radiological, and other necessary
programmatic controls (such as security and quality assurance) for the
facility, as well as the implementation of controls for the defueled
condition and decommissioning activities, will continue to be
appropriately addressed through the 10 CFR part 50 licenses and current
decommissioning plan documents such as the FSAR, as updated, and plant
TSs.
The Exemption Is Authorized by Law
Paragraph 50.71(d)(2) allows for the granting of specific
exemptions to the retention of records required by regulations.
Paragraph 50.71(d)(2) states, in part, ``. . . the retention period
specified in the regulations in this part for such records shall apply
unless the Commission, pursuant to Sec. 50.12 of this part, has
granted a specific exemption from the record retention requirements
specified in the regulations in this part.''
Based on 10 CFR 50.71(d)(2), if the requirements of 10 CFR 50.12
are satisfied, an exemption from the recordkeeping requirements in 10
CFR part 50, appendix B, Criterion XVII; 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3); and 10 CFR
50.71(c), as requested by the licensee, is authorized by law.
Specific Exemption Presents No Undue Risk to Public Health and Safety
As SSCs are prepared for SAFSTOR and eventual decommission and
dismantlement, they may be removed from NRC licensing basis documents
through appropriate change mechanisms, such as through the process
stipulated by 10 CFR 50.59 or through a license amendment request
approved by the NRC. These change processes involve either a
determination by the licensee or an approval by the NRC that the
affected SSC no longer serves any safety purpose regulated by the NRC.
Therefore, the removal of the SSC would not present an undue risk to
the public health and safety. In turn, removal of the records
associated with the affected SSC would not cause any additional impact
to public health and safety.
The exemptions from the requested requirements of 10 CFR part 50,
appendix B, Criterion XVII; 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3); and 10 CFR 50.71(c) are
administrative in nature and will have no impact on future
decommissioning activities or radiological effluents. The partial
exemptions will only advance the schedule for the removal of the
records. Because the content of the records pertains to SSCs that have
already been removed from licensing basis documents, elimination of the
records on an advanced timetable will have no reasonable potential to
present any undue risk to the public health and safety.
The Exemption Is Consistent With the Common Defense and Security
The elimination of records associated with SSCs, which have already
been removed from the NRC's licensing basis documents, is
administrative in nature, and does not involve information or involve
activities that could potentially impact the common defense or
security. After the SSCs are removed from the NRC's licensing basis
documents by appropriate change mechanisms, they are determined to no
longer serve the purpose of safe operation or maintain conditions that
would affect the ongoing health and safety of workers or the public.
Therefore, removal of the associated records will also present no
potential for impacting the safe operation of the plant or the defense
or security of the workers or the public.
The exemptions requested are administrative in nature and will
merely advance the current schedule for removal of the specified
records. Therefore, the partial exemptions from the recordkeeping
requirements of 10 CFR part 50, appendix B, Criterion XVII; 10 CFR
50.59(d)(3); and 10 CFR 50.71(c), and for the types of records as
specified above, are consistent with the common defense and security.
Special Circumstances
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the Commission will consider granting an
exemption if special circumstances are present. Paragraph 50.12(a)(2)
states, in part, ``special circumstance are present whenever-- . . .
(ii) Application of the regulation in the particular circumstances
would not serve the underlying purpose of the rule or is not necessary
to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule.''
Appendix B of 10 CFR part 50, Criterion XVII, states, in part,
``sufficient records shall be maintained to furnish evidence of
activities affecting quality. . . . Records shall be identifiable and
retrievable.''
Paragraph 50.59(d)(3) states, in part, ``The records of changes in
the facility must be maintained until the termination of an operating
license under this part . . . .''
Paragraph 50.71(c), states, in part, ``Records that are required by
the regulations in this part or 10 CFR part 52 of this chapter, by
license condition, or by TSs must be retained for the period specified
by the appropriate regulation, license condition, or TS. If a retention
period is not otherwise specified, these records must be retained until
the Commission terminates the facility license . . . .''
In the statements of consideration for the final rulemaking,
``Retention Periods for Records,'' effective July 26, 1988 (53 FR
19240; May 27, 1988), as a response to public comments during the
rulemaking process, the NRC states that records must be retained ``. .
. so they will be available for examination by the Commission in any
analysis following an accident, incident, or other problem involving
public health and safety . . . [and] for NRC to ensure compliance with
the safety and health aspects of the nuclear environment and for the
NRC to accomplish its mission to protect the public health and
safety.''
The statements of consideration express that the underlying purpose
of the recordkeeping rule is to ensure that, in the event of an
accident, incident, or condition that could impact public health and
safety, the NRC has access to information in the records that would
assist in the recovery from the event and prevent similar events or
conditions, which would impact health and safety. These regulations do
not consider the nature of the decommissioning process, in which
safety-related SSCs are retired or disabled, and subsequently removed
from the NRC's licensing basis documents by appropriate change
mechanisms prior to the termination of the license.
Appropriate removal of an SSC from the licensing basis requires
either a determination by the licensee or an approval by the NRC of
whether the SSC has the potential to cause an accident, event, or other
problem, which would adversely impact the public health and safety. It
follows that at a nuclear power generation plant in the decommissioning
stage, SSCs that have been retired from service and removed from
licensing basis documents have already been determined, through that
evaluation, to no longer have an adverse impact on public health and
safety.
The records subject to removal under this exemption are associated
with SSCs that are important to safety during power operation and
operation of the SFP, but after permanent cessation of operations are
not capable of causing an event, incident, or condition that would
adversely impact public health and safety, as evidenced by their
appropriate removal from the licensing basis documents. If the SSCs no
longer have the potential to cause these scenarios, then it is
reasonable to conclude that the records associated with these SSCs
would not reasonably be necessary to assist the NRC in determining
compliance and noncompliance, taking
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action on possible noncompliance, and examining facts following an
incident. Therefore, their retention would not serve the underlying
purpose of the rule. Once removed from licensing basis documents, SSCs
are no longer governed by the NRC's regulations, and therefore, are not
subject to compliance with the safety and health aspects of the nuclear
environment. Therefore, retention of these records does not serve the
underlying purpose of the rule of maintaining compliance with the
safety and health aspects of the nuclear environment or to accomplish
the NRC's mission.
Records, which continue to serve the underlying purpose of the
rule, that is, to maintain compliance and to protect public health and
safety, will continue to be retained under regulations in 10 CFR part
50 and 10 CFR part 72. These retained records not subject to the
exemption include those associated with programmatic controls, such as
those pertaining to residual radioactivity, security, quality
assurance, etc., and records associated with the ISFSI and spent fuel
assemblies.
Paragraph 50.12(a)(2) states, in part, ``Special circumstance are
present whenever--. . . (iii) Compliance would result in undue hardship
or other costs that are significantly in excess of those contemplated
when the regulation was adopted . . . .''
The retention of records required by 10 CFR part 50, appendix B,
Criterion XVII, 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3), and 10 CFR 50.71(c) provides
assurance that records associated with SSCs will be captured, indexed,
and stored in an environmentally suitable and retrievable condition.
Given the volume of records associated with the SSCs, compliance with
the records retention rules results in a considerable cost to the
licensee. Retention of the volume of records associated with these SSCs
during the operations phase is appropriate to serve the underlying
purpose of providing information to the Commission for examination in
the case of an event, incident, or other problem involving the public
health and safety, as discussed above. However, the cost effect of
retaining operations phase records beyond the operations phase until
the termination of the license was not fully considered or understood.
Therefore, compliance with the rule would result in an undue cost in
excess of that contemplated when the rule was adopted.
The granted exemptions apply to records that are associated with
SSCs that had supported the operations phase of electricity generation
and wet storage of spent fuel assemblies, and that have been, or will
be, retired in place, prepared for dismantlement, and removed from
licensing basis documents. Records that continue to apply to retired
SSCs during the SAFSTOR and decommissioning phase, such as records
associated with programmatic controls pertaining to residual
radioactivity, security, quality assurance, etc., and records
associated with the ISFSI and spent fuel assemblies, will continue to
be maintained in an environmentally suitable and retrievable condition.
Environmental Considerations
Under 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25), granting of an exemption from the
requirements of any regulation in 10 CFR Chapter I is a categorical
exclusion provided that (i) there is no significant hazards
consideration; (ii) there is no significant change in the types or
significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may be
released offsite; (iii) there is no significant increase in individual
or cumulative public or occupational radiation exposure; (iv) there is
no significant construction impact; (v) there is no significant
increase in the potential for or consequences from radiological
accidents; and (vi) the requirements from which an exemption is sought
are among those identified in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(vi).
The Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation, has determined that approval of the
exemption request involves no significant hazards consideration because
allowing the licensee exemption from the recordkeeping requirements of
10 CFR part 50, appendix B, Criterion XVII; 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3); and 10
CFR 50.71(c), at the permanently shutdown and defueled FCS does not (1)
involve a significant increase in the probability or consequences of an
accident previously evaluated; or (2) create the possibility of a new
or different kind of accident from any accident previously evaluated;
or (3) involve a significant reduction in a margin of safety.
Accordingly, there is no significant change in the types or significant
increase in the amounts of any effluents that may be released offsite,
and no significant increase in individual or cumulative public or
occupational radiation exposure. The exempted regulation is not
associated with construction, so there is no significant construction
impact. The exempted regulation does not concern the source term (i.e.,
potential amount of radiation in an accident), nor mitigation.
Therefore, there is no significant increase in the potential for, or
consequences from radiological accidents.
Allowing the licensee partial exemption from record retention
requirements from which the exemption is sought involve recordkeeping
requirements, reporting requirements of an administrative, managerial,
or organizational nature.
Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b) and 51.22(c)(25), no
environmental impact statement or environmental assessment need be
prepared in connection with the approval of this exemption request.
IV. Conclusions
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
50.12, part 50, appendix B, Criterion XVII; 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3); and 10
CFR 50.71(c) 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. Also, special circumstances are present.
Therefore, the Commission hereby grants OPPD's partial exemptions from
10 CFR part 50, appendix B, Criterion XVII; 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3); and 10
CFR 50.71(c) to advance the schedule to remove records associated with
SSCs that have been removed from the NRC's licensing basis documents by
appropriate change mechanisms.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of October 2017.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Anne T. Boland,
Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2017-21762 Filed 10-6-17; 8:45 am]
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