[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 123 (Wednesday, June 26, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30247-30250]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-13527]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-219; NRC-2018-0237]
Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC; Oyster Creek Nuclear
Generating Station
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 November 30, 2018, request from Holtec
Decommissioning International, LLC (HDI). The exemptions permit HDI to
use the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station (Oyster Creek)
Decommissioning Trust Fund (DTF) for irradiated fuel management and
site restoration activities based on the Oyster Creek Decommissioning
Cost Estimate (DCE). The exemptions also permit HDI to make withdrawals
from the DTF for irradiated fuel management and site restoration
activities without prior notification of the NRC. By Order dated June
20, 2019, the NRC approved the request for the direct transfer of the
Oyster Creek Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-16 and the
Oyster Creek Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI)
general license from Exelon Generating Company, LLC (Exelon) to HDI and
Oyster Creek Environmental Protection, LLC (OCEP). These exemptions are
being issued simultaneously with the license transfer Order and will be
effective upon the NRC's issuance of a conforming license amendment
reflecting HDI and OCEP as the licensees for Oyster Creek, following
consummation of the license transfer transaction.
DATES: The approval of the exemption takes effect on June 26, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0237 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-2018-0237. Address
questions about NRC 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: Amy M. Snyder, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6822; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
By letter dated February 14, 2018 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML18045A084), Exelon, the owner of Oyster Creek, submitted to the NRC a
certification in accordance with section 50.82(a)(1)(i) of title 10 of
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), stating its determination to
permanently cease operations at Oyster Creek no later than October 31,
2018. By letter dated September 25, 2018 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML18268A258), Exelon submitted to the NRC a certification in accordance
with 10 CFR 50.82(a)(1)(ii), stating that Oyster Creek permanently
ceased power operations on September 17, 2018, and that, as of
September 25, 2018, all fuel had been permanently removed from the
Oyster Creek reactor vessel. By letter dated December 30, 2014 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML14365A067), Exelon submitted the Oyster Creek
Irradiated Fuel Management Plan (IFMP) pursuant to 10 CFR 50.54(bb) and
Preliminary Decommissioning Cost Estimate (DCE). The DCE was updated by
letter dated March 30, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No. ML16090A067). By
letter dated May 21, 2018 (ADAMS Accession No. ML18141A775), Exelon
submitted a Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (2018
PSDAR) and site-specific DCE for Oyster Creek.
On August 31, 2018, Exelon, Oyster Creek Environmental Protection,
LLC (OCEP) and Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC (HDI)
submitted a License Transfer Application (LTA) requesting NRC approval
to transfer the Oyster Creek Renewed Facility Operating License No.
DPR-16 and the general license for the Oyster Creek independent spent
fuel storage installation (ISFSI). Following the license transfer, the
new licensees would be OCEP and HDI, with OCEP as the licensed owner
and HDI as the licensed operator. In accordance with 10 CFR
50.82(a)(7), by letter dated September 28, 2018 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML18275A116), HDI submitted a
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``Notification of Revised Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities
Report and Revised Site-Specific Decommissioning Cost Estimate for
Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station,'' (revised PSDAR) to notify
the NRC of changes to accelerate the schedule for the prompt
decommissioning (i.e., DECON) of Oyster Creek and unrestricted release
of all portions of the site (excluding the ISFSI) within eight (8)
years after license transfer.
II. Request/Action
By letter dated November 30, 2018 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML18334A215), HDI submitted a request for exemptions from 10 CFR
50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv). HDI submitted a revised
site-specific DCE by letter dated September 28, 2018, as part of the
revised PSDAR. A similar exemption request from Exelon was approved by
the NRC for Oyster Creek by letter dated October 19, 2018 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML18227A025).
The requirements of 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) restrict withdrawals
from Decommissioning Trust Funds (DTF) to expenses for legitimate
decommissioning activities consistent with the definition of
decommission in 10 CFR 50.2. The definition of ``decommission'' in 10
CFR 50.2 is: To remove a facility or site safely from service and
reduce residual radioactivity to a level that permits (1) Release of
the property for unrestricted use and termination of the license; or
(2) Release of the property under restricted conditions and termination
of the license.
This definition does not include activities associated with
irradiated fuel management and site restoration activities. Similarly,
the requirements of 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv) restrict the use of
decommissioning trust fund disbursements (other than for ordinary and
incidental expenses) to decommissioning expenses until final
decommissioning has been completed. Therefore, partial exemptions from
10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv) are needed to allow
HDI to use funds from Oyster Creek DTF for irradiated fuel management
and site restoration activities in accordance with HDI's site-specific
DCE.
The requirements of 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv) further provide that,
except for decommissioning withdrawals being made under 10 CFR
50.82(a)(8) or for payments of ordinary administrative costs and other
incidental expenses of the Trust, no disbursement may be made from the
Trust until written notice of the intention to make a disbursement has
been given to the NRC at least 30 working days in advance of the
intended disbursement. Therefore, an exemption from 10 CFR
50.75(h)(1)(iv) is also needed to allow HDI to use funds from the
Oyster Creek DTF for irradiated fuel management and site restoration
activities at Oyster Creek without prior NRC notification, similar to
withdrawals for decommissioning activities made in accordance with 10
CFR 50.82(a)(8).
As part of its November 30, 2018, exemption request, HDI provided
Table 1, ``Annual DECON Decommissioning Fund Cash Flow for Oyster Creek
Nuclear Generating Station,'' that shows the annual DTF cash flow for
Oyster Creek, while in DECON (immediate dismantling). Table 1 contains
the projected withdrawals from the DTF needed to cover the estimated
costs of radiological decommissioning, irradiated fuel management, and
site restoration activities as projected on the day of the application.
Subsequent to HDI's exemption request, Exelon provided the DTF balance
as of December 31, 2018, for Oyster Creek in Attachment 21 to its April
1, 2019, annual report on the status of decommissioning funding for
Oyster Creek (ADAMS Accession No. ML19091A140). The NRC staff (staff)
considered each of these submittals in its review of the exemption
request.
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:
(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; and
(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 Exemptions Are Authorized by Law
The proposed exemptions from 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10 CFR
50.75(h)(1)(iv) would allow HDI to use the Oyster Creek DTF for
irradiated fuel management and site restoration activities without
prior notice to the NRC, in the same manner that withdrawals are made
under 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8) for decommissioning activities. As stated in
this notice, 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 staff has determined that granting the licensee's proposed
exemptions will not result in a violation of the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended, or the Commission's regulations. Therefore, the
exemptions are authorized by law.
B. The Exemptions Present No Undue Risk to the Public Health and Safety
The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10 CFR
50.75(h)(1)(iv) is to provide reasonable assurance that adequate funds
will be available for the radiological decommissioning of power
reactors and license termination. Based on staff's review of HDI's
revised site-specific DCE and the the staff's independent cash flow
analysis provided as Attachment 1 to the NRC staff's Safety Evaluation
for the associated LTA (ADAMS Accession No. ML19095A457), the NRC staff
finds that the use of the Oyster Creek DTF for irradiated fuel
management and site restoration activities at Oyster Creek will not
adversely impact HDI's ability to terminate the Oyster Creek license
(i.e., complete radiological decommissioning) as planned, consistent
with the schedule and costs contained in the revised PSDAR.
Furthermore, an exemption from 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv) to allow the
licensee to make withdrawals from the DTF for irradiated fuel
management and site restoration activities without prior written
notification to the NRC will not affect the sufficiency of funds in the
DTF to accomplish radiological decommissioning because such withdrawals
are still constrained by the provisions of 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(B)-(C)
and are reviewable under the annual reporting requirements of 10 CFR
50.82(a)(8)(v)-(vii).
According to the application, no new accident precursors are
created by using the DTF in the proposed manner. Thus, the probability
of postulated accidents is not increased. Also, based on this notice,
the consequences of postulated accidents are not increased. No changes
are being made in the types or amounts of effluents that may be
released offsite. There is no significant increase in occupational or
public radiation exposure. This exemption does not
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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 requested
exemptions will not present an undue risk to the public health and
safety.
C. The Exemptions Are Consistent With the Common Defense and Security
The requested exemptions would allow HDI to use funds from the
Oyster Creek DTF for irradiated fuel management and site restoration
activities at Oyster Creek. Irradiated fuel management under 10 CFR
50.54(bb) is an integral part of the planned HDI decommissioning and
license termination process and will not adversely affect HDI's ability
to physically secure the site or protect special nuclear material.
These exemptions to enable the use of the Oyster Creek DTF for
irradiated fuel management and site restoration activities has no
relation to security issues. Therefore, the common defense and security
is not impacted by the requested exemptions.
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) and 10 CFR
50.75(h)(1)(iv), which restrict withdrawals from DTFs to expenses for
radiological decommissioning activities, is to provide reasonable
assurance that adequate funds will be available for radiological
decommissioning of power reactors and license termination. Strict
application of these requirements would prohibit the withdrawal of
funds from the Oyster Creek DTF for activities other than radiological
decommissioning activities at Oyster Creek, such as for irradiated fuel
management and site restoration activities, until final radiological
decommissioning at Oyster Creek has been completed.
The Exelon April 1, 2019, annual report on the status of
decommissioning funding for Oyster Creek reports a DTF balance of
approximately $959.8 million as of December 31, 2018. After expected
radiological decommissioning and irradiated fuel management costs to be
paid by Exelon, the trust fund balance will be approximately $848.6
million. The cash flow analysis in Table 1 of the November 30, 2018,
application is based on a beginning DTF balance of $848 million as of
January 1, 2019. HDI stated that the beginning DTF balance reflects the
fund value post-closure of the asset sale and that the value includes
deduction for estimated Exelon pre-closure costs. Furthermore, the
application states that the 2019 HDI costs include estimated pre-
closure and post-closure costs. In the NRC staff's analysis provided in
Attachment 1 of its Safety Evaluation for the LTA (ADAMS Accession No.
ML19095A457), the staff used the lesser opening DTF balance of $848
million as a conservative estimate that reflects less money available
to cover radiological decommissioning, irradiated fuel management, and
site restoration costs. The HDI analysis in the September 28, 2018
revised PSDAR, projects the total radiological decommissioning cost of
Oyster Creek to be approximately $618 million in 2018 dollars. The
revised PSDAR estimated decommissioning costs are consistent with the
estimated costs for radiological decommissioning, including ISFSI
decommissioning costs, provided by HDI in the November 30, 2018,
request for exemptions. The November 30, 2018, exemption request
estimates the costs associated with irradiated fuel management at
Oyster Creek to be $225 million in 2018 dollars and estimates the costs
associated with site restoration to be $41 million in 2018 dollars.
These estimates are also consistent with the projected costs provided
in the September 28, 2018, revised PSDAR.
The staff performed an independent cash flow analysis of the DTF
over the proposed 17-year period leading up to license termination
(assuming an annual real rate of return of 2 percent, as allowed by 10
CFR 50.75(e)(1)(ii)), which includes all phases of the decommissioning
project,\1\ and determined the projected earnings of the DTF. The staff
confirmed that the current funds in the DTF and projected earnings
provide reasonable assurance of adequate funding to complete all NRC
required radiological decommissioning activities, and also to fund
irradiated fuel management and site restoration activities. Therefore,
the staff finds that HDI has provided reasonable assurance that
adequate funds will be available for the radiological decommissioning
of Oyster Creek, even with the disbursement of funds from the DTF for
irradiated fuel management and site restoration activities.
Accordingly, the staff concludes that application of the requirements
of 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv), that funds from
the DTF only be used for radiological decommissioning activities and
not for irradiated fuel management and site restoration activities, is
not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule; thus,
special circumstances are present supporting approval of the exemption
request.
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\1\ The 17-year period covers the 8-year decommissioning period
as well as the period for irradiated fuel management and ISFSI
decommissioning prior to license termination.
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In its submittal, HDI also requested an exemption from the
requirements of 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv) concerning prior written
notification to the NRC of withdrawals from the DTF to fund activities
other than radiological decommissioning. The underlying purpose of
notifying the NRC prior to withdrawal of funds from the DTF is to
provide opportunity for NRC intervention, when deemed necessary, if the
withdrawals are for expenses other than those authorized by 10 CFR
50.75(h)(1)(iv) and 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8) that could result in there being
insufficient funds in the DTF to accomplish radiological
decommissioning.
By granting the exemptions to 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv) and 10 CFR
50.82(a)(8)(i)(A), the staff considers that withdrawals consistent with
the licensee's submittal dated November 30, 2018, are authorized. As
stated previously, the staff has determined that there are sufficient
funds in the DTF to complete radiological decommissioning activities as
well as to conduct irradiated fuel management and site restoration
activities consistent with the revised PSDAR, DCE, IFMP, and the
November 30, 2018, exemption request. Pursuant to the requirements in
10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(v) and (vii), licensees are required to monitor and
annually report to the NRC the status of the DTF and the licensee's
funding for managing irradiated fuel. These reports provide the staff
with awareness of, and the ability to take action on, any actual or
potential funding deficiencies. Additionally, 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(vi)
requires that the annual financial assurance status report must include
additional financial assurance to cover the estimated cost of
completion if the sum of the balance of any remaining
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decommissioning funds, plus earnings on such funds calculated at not
greater than a 2-percent real rate of return, together with the amount
provided by other financial assurance methods being relied upon, does
not cover the estimated cost to complete the decommissioning. The
requested exemptions would not allow the withdrawal of funds from the
DTF for any other purpose that is not currently authorized in the
regulations without prior notification to the NRC. Therefore, the
granting of this exemption to 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv) to allow the
licensee to make withdrawals from the DTF to cover authorized expenses
for irradiated fuel management and site restoration activities without
prior written notification to the NRC will still meet the underlying
purpose of the regulation.
Special circumstances, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(iii),
are 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 licensee states that the DTF
contains funds in excess of the estimated costs of radiological
decommissioning and that these excess funds are needed for irradiated
fuel management and site restoration activities. The NRC does not
preclude the use of funds from the decommissioning trust in excess of
those needed for radiological decommissioning for other purposes, such
as irradiated fuel management or site restoration.
The NRC has stated that funding for irradiated fuel management and
site restoration activities may be commingled in the DTF, provided that
the licensee is able to identify and account for the radiological
decommissioning funds separately from the funds set aside for
irradiated fuel management and site restoration activities (see NRC
Regulatory Issue Summary 2001-07, Rev. 1, ``10 CFR 50.75 Reporting and
Recordkeeping for Decommissioning Planning,'' dated January 8, 2009
(ADAMS Accession No. ML083440158), and Regulatory Guide 1.184, Rev. 1,
``Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Reactors,'' dated October 2013
(ADAMS Accession No. ML13144A840). To prevent access to those excess
funds in the DTF because irradiated fuel management and site
restoration activities are not associated with radiological
decommissioning would create an unnecessary financial burden without
any corresponding safety benefit.
The adequacy of the DTF to cover the cost of activities associated
with irradiated fuel management and site restoration, in addition to
radiological decommissioning, is supported by the site-specific
decommissioning cost estimate. If the licensee cannot use its DTF for
irradiated fuel management and site restoration activities, it would
need to obtain additional funding that would not be recoverable from
the DTF, or the licensee would have to modify its decommissioning
approach and methods. The staff concludes that either outcome would
impose an unnecessary and undue burden significantly in excess of that
contemplated when 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv)
were adopted.
Since the underlying purposes of 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10
CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv) would be achieved by allowing HDI to use a portion
of the Oyster Creek DTF for irradiated fuel management and site
restoration activities without prior NRC notification, and since
compliance with the regulations would result in an undue hardship or
other costs that are significantly in excess of those contemplated when
the regulations were adopted, the special circumstances required by 10
CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii) and 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(iii) exist and support the
approval of the requested exemptions.
E. Environmental Considerations
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.31(a), the Commission has determined
that the granting of the exemptions will not have a significant effect
on the quality of the human environment (see Environmental Assessment
and Finding of No Significant Impact published in the Federal Register
on June 18, 2019 (84 FR 28357)).
IV. Conclusions
In consideration of this notice, the staff finds that the proposed
exemptions confirm the adequacy of funding in the Oyster Creek DTF,
considering growth, to complete radiological decommissioning of the
site and to terminate the license and also to cover estimated
irradiated fuel management and site restoration activities. 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, irradiated fuel
management activities, and site restoration within the scope of this
exemption request.
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
50.12(a), 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. Also, special circumstances are present.
Therefore, the Commission hereby grants HDI exemptions from the
requirements of 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv) to
allow use of a portion of the funds from the Oyster Creek DTF for
irradiated fuel management and site restoration activities in
accordance with the Oyster Creek revised PSDAR and DCE, dated September
28, 2018. Additionally, the Commission hereby grants HDI an exemption
from the requirement of 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv) to allow such
withdrawals without prior NRC notification.
These exemptions are effective upon the NRC's issuance of a
conforming license amendment reflecting HDI and OCEP as the licensees
for Oyster Creek, following NRC approval of the license transfer
application and consummation of the transaction.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of June, 2019.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John W. Lubinski,
Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2019-13527 Filed 6-25-19; 8:45 am]
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