[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 104 (Thursday, May 30, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25079-25083]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-11250]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-293; NRC-2019-0098]
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.; Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Exemption; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a
partial exemption in response to a February 8, 2019, request from
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (the licensee or Entergy). The
issuance of the exemption would grant Entergy a partial exemption from
regulations that require the retention of records for certain systems,
structures, and components associated with the Pilgrim Nuclear Power
Station (Pilgrim) until the termination of the Pilgrim operating
license.
DATES: The exemption was issued on May 21, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0098 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-2019-0098. Address
questions about NRC dockets 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: Scott P. Wall, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2855; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the exemption is attached.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of May 2019.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John G. Lamb,
Senior Project Manager, Special Projects and Process Branch, Division
of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Docket No. 50-293
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station
Exemption
I. Background
The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station (Pilgrim) is a single-unit
facility located in the town of Plymouth, Plymouth County, in the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is situated on the western coast of
Cape Cod Bay, on approximately 1,600 acres of land. The Pilgrim
facility employs a General Electric boiling-water reactor nuclear steam
supply system licensed to generate 2,028 megawatts-thermal. The
boiling-water reactor and supporting facilities are owned and operated
by the Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Entergy, the licensee).
Entergy is the holder of the Pilgrim Renewed Facility Operating License
No. DPR-35. The license provides, among other things, that the facility
is subject to all rules, regulations, and orders of the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) now or hereafter in effect.
By letter dated November 10, 2015 (Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML15328A053), Entergy submitted
a notification to the NRC indicating that it would permanently shut
down Pilgrim no later than June 1, 2019. Once Entergy certifies that it
has permanently defueled the Pilgrim reactor vessel and placed the fuel
in the spent fuel pool (SFP), accordingly, pursuant to Sec.
50.82(a)(2) of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
the Pilgrim renewed facility
[[Page 25080]]
operating license will no longer authorize operation of the reactor or
emplacement or retention of fuel in the reactor vessel. However, the
licensee is still authorized to possess and store irradiated nuclear
fuel. Irradiated fuel is currently being stored onsite in an SFP and in
independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) dry casks. The
irradiated fuel will be stored in the ISFSI until it is shipped off
site. With the reactor emptied of fuel, the reactor, reactor coolant
system, and secondary system will no longer be in operation and will
have no function related to the safe storage and management of
irradiated fuel.
II. Request/Action
By letter dated February 8, 2019 (ADAMS Accession No. ML19044A374),
Entergy submitted a partial exemption request for NRC approval from the
record retention requirements of: (1) 10 CFR part 50, Appendix B,
Criterion XVII, ``Quality Assurance Records,'' which requires certain
records (e.g., results of inspections, tests, and materials analyses)
be maintained consistent with applicable regulatory requirements; (2)
10 CFR 50.59(d)(3), which requires that records of changes in the
facility must be maintained until termination of a license issued
pursuant to 10 CFR part 50; and (3) 10 CFR 50.71(c), which requires
certain records to be retained for the period specified by the
appropriate regulation, license condition, or technical specification,
or until termination of the license if not otherwise specified.
The licensee requested the partial exemptions because it wants to
eliminate: (1) records associated with structures, systems, and
components (SSCs) and activities that were applicable to the nuclear
unit, which are no longer required by the 10 CFR part 50 licensing
basis (i.e., removed from the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report
(UFSAR) and/or technical specifications by appropriate change
mechanisms; and (2) records associated with the storage of spent
nuclear fuel in the SFP once all fuel has been removed from the SFP and
the Pilgrim license no longer allows storage of fuel in the SFP. The
licensee cites record retention partial exemptions granted to Zion
Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2 (ADAMS Accession No. ML111260277),
Millstone Power Station, Unit 1 (ADAMS Accession No. ML070110567),
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (ADAMS Accession No. ML15344A243),
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1, 2, and 3 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML15355A055), and Kewaunee Power Station (ADAMS Accession
No. ML17069A394) as examples of the NRC granting similar requests.
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 partial
exemption request because they will be retained as decommissioning
records, as required by 10 CFR part 50, until the termination of the
Pilgrim license. In addition, the licensee did not request an exemption
associated with any other recordkeeping 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 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. However, the
Commission will not consider granting an exemption unless special
circumstances are present. Special circumstances are described in 10
CFR 50.12(a)(2).
Many of the Pilgrim reactor facility SSCs are planned to be
abandoned in place pending dismantlement. Abandoned SSCs are no longer
operable or maintained. Following permanent removal of fuel from the
SFP, those SSCs required to support safe storage of spent fuel in the
SFP will also be abandoned. In its February 8, 2019, partial exemption
request, the licensee stated that the basis for eliminating records
associated with reactor facility SSCs and activities is that these SSCs
have been (or will be) removed from service per regulatory change
processes, dismantled or demolished, and no longer have any function
regulated by the NRC.
The licensee recognizes that some records related to the nuclear
unit will continue to be under NRC regulation primarily due to residual
radioactivity. The radiological and other necessary programmatic
controls (such as security, quality assurance, etc.) for the facility
and the implementation of controls for the defueled condition and the
decommissioning activities are and will continue to be appropriately
addressed through the license and current plant documents such as the
UFSAR and technical specifications. Except for future changes made
through the applicable change process defined in the regulations (e.g.,
10 CFR 50.48(f), 10 CFR 50.59, 10 CFR 50.90, 10 CFR 50.54(a), 10 CFR
50.54(p), 10 CFR 50.54(q), etc.), these programmatic elements and their
associated records are unaffected by the requested partial exemption.
Records necessary for SFP SSCs and activities will continue to be
retained through the period that the SFP is needed for safe storage of
irradiated fuel. Analogous to other plant records, once the SFP is
permanently emptied of fuel, there will be no need for retaining SFP
related records.
Entergy's general justification for eliminating records associated
with Pilgrim 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 Pilgrim functions regulated by the NRC.
Entergy's decommissioning plans for Pilgrim is described in the Post
Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR) dated November 16,
2018 (ADAMS Accession No. ML18320A034). The licensee's decommissioning
process involves evaluating SSCs with respect to the current facility
safety analysis; progressively removing them from the licensing basis
where necessary through appropriate change mechanisms (e.g., 10 CFR
50.59 or via NRC-approved technical specification changes, as
applicable); revising the defueled safety analysis report and/or UFSAR
as necessary; and then proceeding with an orderly dismantlement.
Entergy intends to retain the records required by its license as
the facility's decommissioning transitions. However, equipment
abandonment will obviate the regulatory and business needs for
maintenance of most records. As the SSCs are removed from the licensing
basis, Entergy asserts that the need for their records is, on a
practical basis, eliminated. Therefore, Entergy is requesting partial
exemptions from the associated records retention requirements for SSCs
and historical activities that are no longer relevant. Entergy is not
requesting exemptions from any recordkeeping requirements for storage
of spent fuel at an ISFSI under 10 CFR part 50 or the general license
requirements of 10 CFR part 72.
A. Authorized by Law
As stated above, 10 CFR 50.12 allows the NRC to grant exemptions
from 10 CFR part 50 requirements if it makes certain findings. As
described here and
[[Page 25081]]
in the sections below, the NRC has determined that special
circumstances exist to grant the partial exemptions. In addition,
granting the licensee's proposed partial exemptions will not result in
a violation of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, other laws,
or the Commission's regulations. Therefore, the granting of the partial
exemption request from the recordkeeping requirements of 10 CFR
50.71(c); 10 CFR part 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVII; and 10 CFR
50.59(d)(3) is authorized by law.
B. No Undue Risk to Public Health and Safety
As SSCs are prepared for SAFSTOR and eventual decommissioning and
dismantlement, they will be removed from NRC licensing basis documents
through appropriate change mechanisms, such as through the 10 CFR 50.59
process or through a license amendment request approved by the NRC.
These change processes involve either a determination by the licensee
or an approval from the NRC that the affected SSCs no longer serve 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, elimination of records associated with these removed SSCs would
not cause any additional impact to public health and safety.
The granting of the partial exemption request from the
recordkeeping requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(c); 10 CFR part 50, Appendix
B, Criterion XVII; and 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3) for the records described is
administrative in nature and will have no impact on any remaining
decommissioning activities or on radiological effluents. The granting
of the partial exemption request will only advance the schedule for
disposition of the specified records. Because these records contain
information about SSCs associated with reactor operation and contain no
information needed to maintain the facility in a safe condition when
the facility is permanently defueled and the SSCs are dismantled, the
elimination of these records on an advanced timetable will have no
reasonable possibility of presenting any undue risk to the public
health and safety.
C. Consistent With the Common Defense and Security
The elimination of the recordkeeping requirements does not involve
information or activities that could potentially impact the common
defense and security of the United States. Upon dismantlement of the
affected SSCs, the records have no functional purpose relative to
maintaining the safe operation of the SSCs, maintaining conditions that
would affect the ongoing health and safety of workers or the public, or
informing decisions related to nuclear security.
Rather, the partial exemptions requested are administrative in
nature and would only advance the current schedule for disposition of
the specified records. Therefore, the partial exemption request from
the recordkeeping requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(c); 10 CFR part 50,
Appendix B, Criterion XVII; and 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3) for the types of
records described is consistent with the common defense and security.
D. Special Circumstances
Paragraph 50.12(a)(2) states, in part: ``The Commission will not
consider granting an exemption unless special circumstances are
present. Special circumstances 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; [and] (iii) Compliance would result
in undue hardship or other costs that are significantly in excess of
those contemplated when the regulation was adopted . . . .''
Criterion XVII of 10 CFR part 50, Appendix B, states in part:
``Sufficient records shall be maintained to furnish evidence of
activities affecting quality.''
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 issued under this part . . . .''
Paragraph 50.71(c), states in part: ``Records that are required by
the regulations in this part or Part 52 of this chapter, by license
condition, or by technical specifications must be retained for the
period specified by the appropriate regulation, license condition, or
technical specification. If a retention period is not otherwise
specified, these records must be retained until the Commission
terminates the facility license . . . .''
In the Statement of Considerations for the final rulemaking,
``Retention Periods for Records'' (53 FR 19240; May 27, 1988), in
response to public comments received during the rulemaking process, the
NRC stated that records must be retained ``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.'' In the Statement of Considerations, the Commission also
explained that requiring licensees to maintain adequate records assists
the NRC ``in judging compliance and noncompliance, to act on possible
noncompliance, and to examine facts as necessary following any
incident.''
These regulations apply to licensees in decommissioning. During the
decommissioning process, safety-related SSCs are retired or disabled
and subsequently removed from NRC licensing basis documents by
appropriate change mechanisms. Appropriate removal of an SSC from the
licensing basis requires either a determination by the licensee or an
approval from the NRC that the SSC no longer has the potential to cause
an accident, event, or other problem which would adversely impact
public health and safety.
The records subject to removal under this partial exemption request
are associated with SSCs that had been important to safety during power
operation or operation of the SFP, but are no longer 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
action on possible noncompliance, and examining facts following an
incident. Therefore, their retention would not serve the underlying
purpose of the rule.
In addition, once removed from the licensing basis documents (e.g.,
UFSAR or technical specification), 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. As such,
retention of records associated with SSCs that are or will no longer
part of the facility serves no safety or regulatory purpose, nor does
it serve the underlying purpose of the rule of maintaining compliance
with the safety and health aspects of the nuclear environment in order
to accomplish the NRC's mission. Accordingly, special circumstances are
present which the NRC may consider, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii),
to grant the requested partial exemptions.
Records which continue to serve the underlying purpose of the rule,
that is, to maintain compliance and to protect public health and safety
in support of the NRC's mission, will continue to be
[[Page 25082]]
retained pursuant to the regulations in 10 CFR part 50 and 10 CFR part
72. Retained records that are not subject to the proposed partial
exemption include those associated with programmatic controls, such as
those pertaining to residual radioactivity, security, and quality
assurance, as well as records associated with the ISFSI and spent fuel
assemblies.
The retention of records required by 10 CFR 50.71(c); 10 CFR part
50, Appendix B, Criterion XVII; and 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3) 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 rule results in a considerable cost to the
licensee. Retention of the volume of records associated with the SSCs
during the operational phase is appropriate to serve the underlying
purpose of determining compliance and noncompliance, taking action on
possible noncompliance, and examining facts following an incident, as
discussed.
However, the cost effect of retaining operational phase records
beyond the operations phase until the termination of the license was
not fully considered or understood when the records retention rule was
put in place. For example, existing records storage facilities are
eliminated as decommissioning progresses. Retaining records associated
with SSCs and activities that no longer serve a safety or regulatory
purpose would therefore result in an unnecessary financial and
administrative burden. As such, compliance with the rule would result
in an undue cost in excess of that contemplated when the rule was
adopted. Accordingly, special circumstances are present which the NRC
may consider, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(iii), to grant the partial
exemption request.
E. Environmental Considerations
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b) and (c)(25), the granting of an
exemption from the requirements of any regulation in Chapter I of 10
CFR meets the eligibility criteria for categorical exclusion provided
that: (1) There is no significant hazards consideration; (2) there is
no significant change in the types or significant increase in the
amounts of any effluents that may be released offsite; (3) there is no
significant increase in individual or cumulative public or occupational
radiation exposure; (4) there is no significant construction impact;
(5) there is no significant increase in the potential for or
consequences from radiological accidents; and (6) the requirements from
which an exemption is sought are among those identified in 10 CFR
51.22(c)(25)(vi).
The partial exemption request is administrative in nature. The
partial exemption request has no effect on SSCs and no effect on the
capability of any plant SSC to perform its design function. The partial
exemption request would not increase the likelihood of the malfunction
of any plant SSC. The probability of occurrence of previously evaluated
accidents is not increased, since most previously analyzed accidents
will no longer be able to occur and the probability and consequences of
the remaining fuel handling accident are unaffected by the partial
exemption request. Therefore, the partial exemption request does not
involve a significant increase in the probability or consequences of an
accident previously evaluated.
The partial exemption request does not involve a physical
alteration of the plant. No new or different type of equipment will be
installed and there are no physical modifications to existing equipment
associated with the partial exemption request. Similarly, the partial
exemption request will not physically change any SSCs involved in the
mitigation of any accidents. Thus, no new initiators or precursors of a
new or different kind of accident are created. Furthermore, the partial
exemption request does not create the possibility of a new accident as
a result of new failure modes associated with any equipment or
personnel failures. No changes are being made to parameters within
which the plant is normally operated, or in the setpoints which
initiate protective or mitigative actions, and no new failure modes are
being introduced. Therefore, the partial exemption request does not
create the possibility of a new or different kind of accident from any
accident previously evaluated.
The partial exemption request does not alter the design basis or
any safety limits for the plant. The partial exemption request does not
impact station operation or any plant SSC that is relied upon for
accident mitigation. Therefore, the partial exemption request does not
involve a significant reduction in a margin of safety.
For these reasons, the NRC has determined that approval of the
partial exemption request involves no significant hazards consideration
because granting the licensee's partial exemption request from the
recordkeeping requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(c); 10 CFR part 50, Appendix
B, Criterion XVII; and 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3) at the decommissioning
Pilgrim does not: (1) Involve a significant increase in the probability
or consequences of an accident previously evaluated; (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 (10 CFR 50.92(c)). Likewise, 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 regulations are not associated with construction, so
there is no significant construction impact. The exempted regulations
do not concern the source term (i.e., potential amount of radiation
involved an accident) or accident mitigation; therefore, there is no
significant increase in the potential for, or consequences from,
radiological accidents. Allowing the licensee partial exemption from
the record retention requirements for which the exemption is sought
involves recordkeeping requirements, as well as reporting requirements
of an administrative, managerial, or organizational nature.
Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b) and 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25), no
environmental impact statement or environmental assessment need be
prepared in connection with the approval of this partial exemption
request.
IV. Conclusions
The NRC has determined that the granting of the partial exemption
request from the recordkeeping requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(c); 10 CFR
part 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVII; and 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3) will not
present an undue risk to the public health and safety. The destruction
of the identified records will not impact remaining decommissioning
activities; plant operations, configuration, and/or radiological
effluents; operational and/or installed SSCs that are quality-related
or important to safety; or nuclear security. The NRC staff determined
that the destruction of the identified records is administrative in
nature and does not involve information or activities that could
potentially impact the common defense and security of the United
States.
The purpose for the recordkeeping regulations is to assist the NRC
in carrying out its mission to protect the public health and safety by
ensuring that the licensing and design basis of the facility is
understood, documented, preserved and retrievable in such a way that
will aid the NRC in determining
[[Page 25083]]
compliance and noncompliance, taking action on possible noncompliance,
and examining facts following an incident. Since the Pilgrim SSCs that
were safety-related or important to safety have been or will be removed
from the licensing basis and removed from the plant, the NRC has
determined that the records identified in the partial exemption request
will no longer be required to achieve the underlying purpose of the
records retention rule.
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
50.12, the partial 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. Also, special circumstances are
present. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants Entergy a partial
exemption from the recordkeeping requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(c); 10
CFR part 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVII; and 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3) for
Pilgrim only to the extent necessary to allow the licensee to advance
the schedule to remove records associated with SSCs that have been or
will be removed from NRC licensing basis documents by appropriate
change mechanisms (e.g., 10 CFR 50.59 or via NRC-approved license
amendment request, as applicable).
This partial exemption is effective upon submittal of the
licensee's certification of permanent fuel removal, under Sec.
50.82(a)(1).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of May 2019.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Craig G. Erlanger,
Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing
[FR Doc. 2019-11250 Filed 5-29-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P