[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 13, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6244-6247]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02930]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 72-1014, 72-59, and 50-271; NRC-2018-0020]
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.; Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power
Station; Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation
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 request submitted by Entergy Nuclear
Operations, Inc. (ENO) on May 16, 2017, and supplemented on September
7, 2017 and December 7, 2017, for its general license to operate an
independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) at the Vermont
Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VYNPS). This exemption would permit the
VYNPS to use a new regionalized loading pattern, load fuel cooled for
at least 2 years, and establish a per-cell maximum average burnup limit
at 65,000 megawatt days per metric ton of uranium (MWD/MTU) in HI-STORM
100 multi-purpose canister (MPC)-68M using Certificate of Compliance
(CoC) No. 1014, Amendment No. 10.
DATES: February 13, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0020 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 Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0020. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
9127; 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 No. 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: Yen-Ju Chen, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555; telephone: 301-415-1018; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The VYNPS began operation in 1972. The reactor was permanently shut
down on December 29, 2014. The VYNPS has stored spent boiling-water
reactor (BWR) fuel assemblies at its ISFSI in thirteen (13) HI-STORM
100 casks under CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 2. The remaining spent fuel
assemblies were removed from the reactor and transferred to the spent
fuel pool. ENO, which owns the facility, submitted the VYNPS Post-
Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR) (ADAMS Accession No.
ML14357A110) to the NRC on December 19, 2014, and supplemented with a
schedule change in a letter dated on April 12, 2017 (ADAMS Accession
No. ML17104A050). In the PSDAR, as supplemented, ENO stated its
intention to move all of the spent nuclear fuel assemblies into dry
cask storage in late 2018, and put the plant into SAFSTOR \1\ until it
is ready to fully decommission the facility.
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\1\ A method of decommissioning in which a nuclear facility is
placed and maintained in a condition that allows the facility to be
safely stored and subsequently decontaminated (deferred
decontamination) to levels that permit release for unrestricted use.
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Consistent with subpart K of part 72 of title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), a general license is issued for the
storage of spent fuel in an ISFSI at power reactor sites to persons
authorized to possess or operate nuclear power reactors under 10 CFR
part 50. ENO is currently authorized to store spent fuel at the VYNPS
ISFSI under the 10 CFR part 72 general license provisions. ENO plans to
use Holtec HI-STORM 100 storage casks, as approved by the NRC under CoC
No. 1014, Amendment No. 10, at the VYNPS for dry storage of spent
nuclear fuel in MPC-68M canisters.
II. Request/Action
By application dated May 16, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML17142A354), as supplemented on September 7, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML17255A236) and December 7, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No. ML17346A685),
ENO submitted a request for an exemption from those provisions of 10
CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), and
72.214 that require compliance with the terms, conditions, and
specifications of CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 10 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML16172A294), for the VYNPS to use a new regionalized loading pattern,
load fuel cooled for at least 2 years, and establish a per-cell maximum
average burnup limit at 65,000 MWD/MTU in Holtec HI-STORM 100 MPC-68M
canister.
III. Discussion
Pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, the Commission may, upon application by
any interested person or upon its own initiative, grant such exemptions
from the requirements of the regulations of 10 CFR part 72 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 staff prepared a safety evaluation report (SER) (ADAMS
Accession No. ML17298A135) to document the evaluation of the proposed
actions (i.e., using a new regionalized loading pattern, loading fuel
cooled for at least 2 years, and establishing a per-cell maximum
average burnup limit at 65,000 MWD/MTU in MPC-68M), to assure continued
protection of public health and safety, common defense and security,
and the environment. As summarized below, the NRC's safety review
concludes that the requested exemption does not affect the ability of
the cask system to meet the requirements of 10 CFR part 72.
A. The Exemption Is Authorized by Law
This exemption would permit the VYNPS to use a new regionalized
loading pattern, load fuel cooled for at least 2 years, and establish a
per-cell maximum average burnup limit at 65,000 MWD/MTU in MPC-68M
using CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 10.
Section 72.7 allows the Commission to grant exemptions from the
requirements of 10 CFR part 72 if the exemption is authorized by law
and will not endanger life or property nor the common defense and
security. Issuance of this exemption is consistent with the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and not otherwise inconsistent with
NRC's regulations or other applicable laws. Therefore, issuance of the
exemption is authorized by law.
B. The Exemption Presents No Undue Risk to Public Health and Safety and
Will Not Endanger Life or Property or the Common Defense and Security
Approval of this exemption request will allow VYNPS to use a new
regionalized loading pattern, load fuel cooled for at least 2 years,
and establish a per-cell maximum average burnup limit at 65,000 MWD/MTU
in MPC-68M using CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 10. As discussed in the
SER and summarized in the following sections, the NRC staff has found
that ENO's proposed action is acceptable and will not endanger life or
property or the common defense and security.
Review of the Requested Exemption
ENO requested this exemption to maintain its decommissioning
schedule through its optimized loading campaigns. The exemption will
allow VYNPS to use a more optimized regionalized loading pattern for
MPC-68M, so that VYNPS could store hotter fuel from its final operating
cycle, as well as store damaged fuel or fuel debris in a DFC, with
cooler fuel in the same cask. The exemption will also allow VYNPS to
load fuel that has been cooled for at least 2 years into the MPC-68M.
In addition, the exemption will allow VYNPS to establish a per-cell
maximum average burnup limit at 65,000 MWD/MTU in MPC-68M rather than
using an equation to calculate the maximum burnup.
The NRC staff reviewed the requested exemption and determined that
it does not change the fundamental design, components, or safety
features of the storage system. The NRC staff evaluated the applicable
potential safety impacts of granting the exemption to assess the
potential for any danger to life or property or the common defense and
security. Specifically, the NRC staff reviewed the applicant's
structural, thermal, shielding, radiation protection, and material
evaluations for the proposed exemption.
Structural Review for the Requested Exemption: The NRC staff
evaluated the exemption request to ensure that the cask system will
maintain confinement, subcriticality, radiation shielding, and
retrievability or recovery of the fuel, as applicable, under all
credible loads for normal and off-normal conditions accidents, and
natural phenomenon events. Since the maximum projected MPC-68M heat
load for fuels to be loaded at VYNPS will be 24.5 kW, well below the
maximum heat load limit of 36.9 kW for MPC-68M approved in CoC No.
1014, Amendment No. 10, the proposed exemption is bounded by
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NRC's previous evaluation and would not alter the structural integrity
of the dry storage system.
Thermal Review for the Requested Exemption: The NRC staff evaluated
the exemption request to ensure that the cask and fuel material
temperatures of the dry storage system will remain within the allowable
values or criteria for normal, off-normal, and accident conditions. The
staff verified that the calculated fuel cladding temperatures and other
cask component temperatures are below the allowable design temperature
limits for normal, off-normal, and accident conditions of storage at
VYNPS ISFSI. The staff also confirmed that the heat removal capability
of the MPC-68M, using the new regionalized loading pattern and actual
total aggregated cask heat load of 36.9 kW, loaded with all undamaged
fuel assemblies or loaded with damaged fuel and/or fuel debris at VYNPS
ISFSI remains acceptable and continues to meet the requirements of 10
CFR 72.122(h)(1) and 72.236(f).
Shielding Review for the Requested Exemption: The NRC staff
evaluated the exemption request to ensure that the design of the HI-
STORM 100 cask system continues to provide adequate protection against
direct radiation to the onsite operating workers and members of the
public, and that the ISFSI continues to satisfy the regulatory
requirements during normal operating, off-normal, and design-basis
accident conditions. The staff determined the new regionalized loading
pattern is bounded by the design basis loading pattern previously
approved by the NRC and will allow the MPC-68M to maintain the dose
rates below the applicable regulatory limits in 10 CFR 72.104 and
72.106. In addition, the staff found that the use of the maximum
average burnup limit of 65,000 MWD/MTU is acceptable as it provides
sufficient conservatism in comparison with the actual site-specific
maximum.
Radiation Protection Review for the Requested Exemption: The NRC
staff evaluated the exemption request to determine whether the design
features and operations meet the regulatory requirements. The staff
evaluated the source terms and the calculated dose rates for normal,
off-normal, and accident conditions, and found that the dose rates and
annual dose are in compliance with the dose limits specified in 10 CFR
72.104 and 72.106.
Material Review for the Requested Exemption: The NRC staff
evaluated the exemption request to ensure adequate material performance
of components important to safety of the spent fuel storage system
under normal, off-normal, and accident conditions. The staff found that
the material properties of structures, systems, and components
important to safety will be maintained during normal, off-normal, and
accident conditions so that the spent nuclear fuel can be safely stored
for the minimum required years and maintenance can be conducted as
required.
Review of Common Defense and Security: The NRC staff also
considered potential impacts of granting the exemption on the common
defense and security. The requested exemption for the VYNPS ISFSI does
not relate to security or the common defense, and therefore, granting
the exemption would not result in any potential impacts to common
defense and security.
Based on its review, the NRC staff has determined that under the
requested exemption, the storage system will continue to meet the
safety requirements of 10 CFR part 72 and the offsite dose limits of 10
CFR part 20 and, therefore, will not endanger life or property. The NRC
staff also found that the exemption would not endanger common defense
and security.
D. Otherwise in the Public Interest
In determining whether the exemption is in the public interest, the
staff considered the no-action alternative of denying the exemption
request. Denial of the exemption request would require ENO to load and
store spent fuel in accordance with the current conditions of Amendment
No. 10 of CoC No. 1014, which uses the regionalized loading pattern
shown in CoC Appendix B, Figure 2.1-4; requires fuel to be cooled for
at least 3 years; and use the equation in Appendix B, Section 2.4.3, to
calculate maximum allowable fuel assembly average burnup based on fuel
decay heat, enrichment, and cooling time.
ENO's proposed exemption would allow VYNPS to use a new
regionalized loading pattern, load fuel that has been cooled for at
least 2 years in MPC-68M, and use a per-cell maximum average burnup
limit at 65,000 MWD/MTU. With this exemption, VYNPS stated that it
would be able to use a more optimized loading pattern for MPC-68M, so
that VYNPS could store hotter fuel from its final operating cycle, as
well as for storing damaged fuel or fuel debris in a DFC, with cooler
fuel in the same cask.
ENO also noted that by loading higher-burned, shorter-cooled
assemblies into the inner regions of the cask and low-burned, longer-
cooled assemblies on the periphery of the cask, the longer-cooled
assemblies on the periphery of the cask acts as shielding and blocks
the radiation from the shorter-cooled fuel assemblies stored in the
inner region of the cask, and thus reduces dose rates to the onsite
workers and at the site boundary. This exemption request will also
allow VYNPS to maintain continuous loading campaign without
interruption to wait for the fuel to meet the heat loading requirement.
ENO noted that this could avoid potential higher personal exposure and
human errors due to loss of experienced workers.
ENO indicated that by using this exemption, VYNPS would be able to
complete the transfer of irradiated fuel to the ISFSI within a shorter
time period. It would permit the spent fuel pool related structures,
systems, and components to be removed from service earlier, and allow
for staffing reductions to a level commensurate with dry fuel storage
only operations. The staff determined if the transfer of irradiated
fuel to the ISFSI is completed in a shorter time, that there would be a
savings to the Decommissioning Trust Fund. The staff also determined,
based on Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC. Master Decommissioning
Trust Agreement for Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station, Exhibit D
(ADAMS Accession No. ML15111A086), that savings to the Decommission
Trust Fund could financially benefit the electric consumers.
The staff has reviewed the information provided by ENO and
concluded that granting the requested exemption continues to provide
adequate protection of public health and safety and is otherwise in the
public interest.
E. Environmental Considerations
The NRC staff also considered whether there would be any
significant environmental impacts associated with the exemption. For
this proposed action, the NRC staff performed an environmental
assessment pursuant to 10 CFR 51.30. The environmental assessment
concluded that the proposed action would not significantly impact the
quality of the human environment. The NRC staff concluded that the
proposed action would not result in any changes in the types or amounts
of any radiological or non-radiological effluents that may be released
offsite, and there is no significant increase in occupational or public
radiation exposure because of the proposed action. The Environmental
Assessment and the Finding of No Significant Impact was published on
January 23, 2018 (83 FR 3192).
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IV. Conclusion
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
72.7, this exemption is authorized by law, will not endanger life or
property or the common defense and security, and is otherwise in the
public interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants ENO an
exemption from those provisions of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 10 CFR
72.212(b)(3), 10 CFR 72.212(b)(5)(i), 10 CFR 72.214, and the portion of
10 CFR 72.212(b)(11) that require compliance with terms, conditions,
and specifications of the CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 10, for the VYNPS
to use a new regionalized loading pattern, load fuel cooled for at
least 2 years, and establish a per-cell maximum average burnup limit at
65,000 MWD/MTU in MPC-68M using CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 10.
The exemption is effective upon issuance.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of February 2018.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Acting Chief, Spent Fuel Licensing Branch, Division of Spent Fuel
Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2018-02930 Filed 2-12-18; 8:45 am]
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