[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 201 (Wednesday, October 17, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52573-52575]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-22649]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-0271; NRC-2017-0125]
NorthStar Group Services, Inc.; Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power
Station
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 May 25, 2018, request from NorthStar Group
Services, Inc. (NorthStar), on behalf of Entergy Nuclear Vermont
Yankee, LLC (ENVY, to be known as NorthStar Vermont Yankee, LLC or
NorthStar VY following consummation of the license transfer described
below). The exemption would allow NorthStar VY to use up to $20 million
in funds from the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VY) nuclear
decommissioning trust fund (NDT), on a revolving basis, for irradiated
fuel management activities. By Order dated October 11, 2018, the NRC
approved the request for the direct and indirect transfer of VY Renewed
Facility Operating License No. DPR-28. This exemption is being issued
simultaneously with the license transfer Order and will be effective
upon the NRC's issuance of a conforming license amendment reflecting
NorthStar VY and NorthStar NDC as the licensees for VY, following
consummation of the license transfer transaction.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0125 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-2017-0125. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
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 ``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.
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: Jack Parrott, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6634; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station is a single unit General
Electric Mark-1 boiling water reactor (MWt 1,912) that was issued an
operating license on March 21, 1972. The facility is located in Vernon,
Vermont. ENVY and Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (ENOI), are the
current holders of Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-28 for
VY. VY has not operated since December 29, 2014. By letter dated
January 12, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15013A426), in accordance with
sections 50.82(a)(1)(i) and (ii) of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), ENOI certified that VY had permanently ceased
operations on December 29, 2014, and had permanently removed all fuel
from the reactor vessel. Since January 12, 2015, ENVY and ENOI have
been performing minor decommissioning activities while in SAFSTOR.
By letter dated February 9, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No. ML17045A140),
ENOI, on behalf of itself and ENVY, and NorthStar Nuclear
Decommissioning Company, LLC (NorthStar NDC), requested that the NRC
consent to the proposed direct and indirect transfer of control of VY
Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-28, and the Vermont Yankee
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) general license.
The proposed license transfer would involve the indirect transfer of
control of the VY licenses to NorthStar Decommissioning Holdings, LLC,
and its parent companies, NorthStar, LVI Parent Corp. and NorthStar
Group Holdings, LLC. Following the license transfer, the new licensees
would be NorthStar VY and NorthStar NDC.
By letter dated April 6, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No. ML17096A394),
NorthStar provided a revised Post Shutdown Decommissioning Activities
Report (revised PSDAR). The NorthStar revised PSDAR reflected the
immediate and accelerated decommissioning of VY by NorthStar VY and
NorthStar NDC to be completed within a 7-year period after the proposed
transfer is approved. The revised PSDAR also contained the most recent
decommissioning cost estimate pursuant to 10 CFR 50.82, ``Termination
of license.''
The proposed exemption would allow NorthStar VY to use up to $20
million of funds on a revolving basis such that at any one time, up to
$20 million of the NDT could be used for irradiated fuel management. By
Order dated October 11, 2018, the NRC approved the license transfer
request (ADAMS Accession No. ML18242A638). This exemption is being
issued simultaneously with the license transfer Order, and will only
apply to NorthStar VY and NorthStar NDC following consummation of the
license transfer transaction and NRC issuance of the conforming license
amendment reflecting the transfer.
[[Page 52574]]
II. Request/Action
By letter dated May 25, 2018 (ADAMS Accession No. ML18150A315),
NorthStar, on behalf of ENVY (to be known as NorthStar VY after
consummation of the license transfer), pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12,
``Specific Exemptions,'' submitted a request for an exemption to 10 CFR
50.82(a)(8)(i)(A), that would allow Vermont Yankee decommissioning
trust funds to be used for irradiated fuel management. As stated in 10
CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A), decommissioning trust funds may be used by a
licensee if the withdrawals are for expenses for legitimate
decommissioning activities consistent with the definition of
decommissioning in 10 CFR 50.2. This definition addresses radiological
decommissioning and does not include activities associated with
irradiated fuel management. Therefore, NorthStar VY needs an exemption
from 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) to allow the use of funds from the NDT
for irradiated fuel management activities.
NorthStar states that its cash flow analysis in Enclosure 1 of the
application dated May 25, 2018, demonstrates that the NDT contains
adequate funds to cover the estimated costs of radiological
decommissioning and the additional funds for $20 million in irradiated
fuel management activities that are covered by the exemption request.
The adequacy of funds in the NDT to cover the costs of activities
associated with radiological decommissioning and the additional funds
for $20 million in irradiated fuel management activities through
license termination is supported by NorthStar's revised PSDAR.
NorthStar states that application of the 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A)
requirement restricting use of the trust fund is not necessary to
ensure that adequate funds will be available for the radiological
decommissioning of VY. NorthStar also states that a permanent
repository for irradiated nuclear fuel currently does not exist.
Therefore, NorthStar states it is faced with circumstances that were
not explicitly contemplated by the existing regulations, because it
will not be possible to fully decommission VY and terminate the license
without first arranging for interim storage of spent nuclear fuel at an
on-site ISFSI. For these reasons, NorthStar states that an exemption is
needed to avoid unnecessary and undue costs to cover irradiated fuel
management expenses from other sources.
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, (1) when the exemptions 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;
and (2) when any of the special circumstances listed in 10 CFR
50.12(a)(2) are present. These special circumstances include, among
other things, the following:
(a) 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; or
(b) Compliance would result in undue hardship or other costs that
are significantly in excess of those contemplated when the regulation
was adopted, or that are significantly in excess of those incurred by
others similarly situated.
A. The Exemption Is Authorized by Law
The proposed exemption from 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) would allow
NorthStar VY to use $20 million on a revolving basis from the NDT for
irradiated fuel management, consistent with the revised PSDAR. As
stated above, 10 CFR 50.12 allows the NRC to grant exemptions from the
requirements of 10 CFR part 50 when the exemptions are authorized by
law. The proposed exemption would not result in a violation of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or the Commission's regulations.
Therefore, the exemption is authorized by law.
B. The Exemption Presents No Undue Risk to Public Health and Safety
The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) is to provide
reasonable assurance that adequate funds will be available for
radiological decommissioning of power reactors. Based on the staff's
review of the applicant's site-specific cost estimate and the staff's
independent cash flow analysis, provided as Attachment 1 to the NRC
staff's Safety Evaluation of the associated License Transfer Request
(ADAMS Accession No. ML18242A639), the NRC staff finds that use of $20
million from the NDT, on a revolving basis, for irradiated fuel
management activities will not adversely impact NorthStar VY and
NorthStar NDC's ability to terminate the VY license (i.e., complete
radiological decommissioning) as planned, consistent with the schedule
and costs contained in the revised PSDAR.
There are no new accident precursors created by using the
decommissioning trust fund in the proposed manner. Thus, the
probability of postulated accidents is not increased. Also, the
consequences of postulated accidents are not increased. The exemption
does not involve any significant changes to the types or amounts of
effluents that may be released offsite as a result of site activities
associated with radiological decommissioning and irradiated fuel
management, only the potential funding sources for those activities
would be impacted by the exemption. Similarly, there is no significant
increase in occupational or public radiation exposure. This exemption
does not diminish the effectiveness of other regulations that ensure
available funding for decommissioning, including 10 CFR 50.82(a)(6)
which prohibits licensees from performing any decommissioning
activities that could foreclose release of the site for possible
unrestricted use, result in significant environmental impacts not
previously reviewed, or result in there no longer being reasonable
assurance that adequate funds will be available for decommissioning.
Therefore, the exemption will not present an undue risk to the public
health and safety.
C. The Exemption Is Consistent With the Common Defense and Security
The requested exemption would allow NorthStar VY to use funds from
the NDT for irradiated fuel management. Irradiated fuel management
under 10 CFR 50.54(bb) is an integral part of the planned VY
decommissioning and final license termination process and will not
adversely affect NorthStar VY and NorthStar NDC's ability to physically
secure the site or protect special nuclear material. This change to
enable the use of a portion of the funds from the NDT for activities
other than decommissioning activities has no relation to security
issues. Therefore, the common defense and security is not impacted by
the requested exemption.
D. Special Circumstances
According to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2), the NRC will not consider granting
an exemption to its regulations unless special circumstances are
present. Special circumstances, in accordance with 10 CFR
50.12(a)(2)(ii), are present whenever application of the regulation in
the particular circumstances is not necessary to achieve the underlying
purpose of the regulation.
The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) is to provide
reasonable assurance that adequate funds will be available for
radiological
[[Page 52575]]
decommissioning of power reactors. Strict application of the rule would
prohibit withdrawal of funds from the NDT for activities associated
with irradiated fuel management until final radiological
decommissioning at VY has been completed. Based on the NRC staff's
review of NorthStar's submittals, the staff has determined that the
revised PSDAR demonstrates reasonable assurance exists that funds
within the NDT, when combined with a $140 million support agreement
(ADAMS Accession No. ML18009A459), $30 million escrow account (ADAMS
Accession No. ML18143B484), and anticipated future United States
Department of Energy (DOE) reimbursements (ADAMS Accession No.
ML17339A896), are in excess of the amount needed to cover the estimated
costs of radiological decommissioning and irradiated fuel management.
The NRC staff's conclusion is reflected in the independent cash flow
analysis, provided as Attachment 1 to the NRC staff's Safety Evaluation
of the License Transfer Request (ADAMS Accession No. ML18242A639),
which considers the most conservative opening NDT balance in 2019 ($488
million), as indicated in NorthStar's letter dated June 28, 2018 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML18183A220). The staff's cash flow analysis projects
that the NDT may contain approximately $197 million at the end of
license termination activities in 2053 (using a 2.0% real rate of
return as indicated in the regulations) when the spent fuel is removed
from the site and the ISFSI is decommissioned.
The NorthStar PSDAR reflected NorthStar VY and NorthStar NDC's
intention to use the NDT for irradiated fuel management. In its
application dated May 25, 2018, NorthStar states that use of NDT for
irradiated fuel management costs will not exceed $20 million at any
given time, and proposes that this ``not to exceed'' limitation be
applied on a revolving basis. NorthStar further states that if it
returns funds to the NDT through its anticipated DOE reimbursements,
this would reduce the amount deemed withdrawn under the cumulative $20
million limitation.
Based on its review, the staff has determined that reasonable
assurance exists that adequate funds will be available in the NDT to
complete radiological decommissioning, license termination, and the
irradiated fuel management activities within the scope of this
exemption request.
Therefore, since the underlying purposes of the rule would be
achieved while allowing NorthStar VY to use the NDT to fund the
irradiated fuel management activities within the scope of the
exemption, the special circumstances of 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii) are
present, provided that the amounts withdrawn are limited to a total of
$20 million at any given time.
Special circumstances, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(iii)
are also present whenever compliance would result in undue hardship or
other costs that are significantly in excess of those contemplated when
the regulation was adopted, or that are significantly in excess of
those incurred by others similarly situated.
The NRC has stated that funding for irradiated fuel management may
be commingled in the decommissioning trust provided the licensee is
able to identify and account for the radiological decommissioning funds
separately from the funds set aside for irradiated fuel management (see
NRC Regulatory Issue Summary 2001-07, Rev 1, ``10 CFR 50.75 Reporting
and Recordkeeping for Decommissioning Planning,'' dated January 8,
2009, and Regulatory Guide 1.184, Rev 1, ``Decommissioning of Nuclear
Power Reactors''). As such, the NRC did not intend to prevent the use
of these funds solely because they are commingled in the
decommissioning trust, and to do so would create an unnecessary
financial burden without any corresponding safety benefit. Consistent
with this guidance, the NRC does not preclude use of funds from the NDT
in excess of those needed for radiological decommissioning for other
purposes, such as irradiated fuel management.
The adequacy of the NDT to cover both the cost of activities
associated with decommissioning and the irradiated fuel management
activities within the scope of this request is supported by the staff's
cash flow analysis.
If NorthStar VY cannot use funds from the NDT for irradiated fuel
management activities, it would be forced to provide additional funding
that would not be recoverable from the NDT until the VY operating
license is terminated. To prevent access to the excess funds in the
decommissioning trust would impose an unnecessary and undue burden in
excess of that contemplated when the regulation was adopted without any
corresponding safety benefit.
Therefore, compliance with the rule would result in an undue
hardship or other costs that are significantly in excess of those
contemplated when the regulation was adopted, or that are significantly
in excess of those contemplated when the regulation was adopted, or
that are significantly in excess of those incurred by others similarly
situated. Accordingly, the special circumstances required by 10 CFR
50.12(a)(2)(iii) are present.
E. Environmental Considerations
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.31(a), the Commission has determined
that the granting of this exemption will not have a significant effect
on the quality of the human environment (see Environmental Assessment
and Finding of No Significant Impact published on October 10, 2018 (83
FR 50966).
IV. Conclusions
The NRC staff finds that the proposed exemption would confirm the
availability for use of the NDT funds for irradiated fuel management
activities in accordance with the revised PSDAR. The NRC staff also
finds that there is reasonable assurance that adequate funds are
available in the NDT to complete all activities associated with
radiological decommissioning, license termination, and irradiated fuel
management activities within the scope of this exemption request.
Additionally, there is no decrease in safety associated with the NDT
being used to fund activities associated with irradiated fuel
management, limited to a total of $20 million at any given time.
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
50.12(a), the exemption is authorized by law, will not present an undue
risk to the public health and safety, and is consistent with the common
defense and security. Also, special circumstances are present.
Therefore, the Commission hereby grants NorthStar VY and NorthStar NDC
an exemption from 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) to allow the use of up to
$20 million of funds from the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station
nuclear decommissioning trust fund for purposes of managing irradiated
fuel on a revolving basis.
This exemption is effective upon the NRC's issuance of a conforming
license amendment reflecting NorthStar VY and NorthStar NDC as the
licensees for VY, following NRC approval of the license transfer
application and consummation of the transaction.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day of October 2018.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John R. Tappert,
Director, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Waste
Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2018-22649 Filed 10-16-18; 8:45 am]
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