[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 168 (Thursday, August 29, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45552-45554]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18616]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 72-1031, 72-44, 50-528, 50-529, and 50-530; NRC-2019-0161]


Arizona Public Service Company, Palo Verde Nuclear Generating 
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 Arizona Public Service 
Company on July 5, 2019, for its general license to operate an 
independent spent fuel storage installation at the Palo Verde Nuclear 
Generating Station. This exemption would permit the Arizona Public 
Service Company to load spent fuel with a larger pellet diameter than 
is authorized in the MAGNASTOR[supreg] storage cask system in 
Certificate of Compliance No. 1031, Amendment No. 7.

DATES: The exemption was issued on August 23, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0161 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 https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0161. Address 
questions about NRC docket IDs 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 https://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 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: Bernard White, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6577; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station began operation in 1986 and 
has been storing pressurized-water reactor spent fuel in its 
independent spent fuel storage installation since March 2003 utilizing 
Certificate of Compliance No. 1015 for the NAC-UMS storage system. For 
the loading campaign commencing in August 2019, Arizona Public Service 
Company is transitioning to the MAGNASTOR[supreg] storage system, 
Certificate of Compliance No. 1031, Amendment No. 7 (ADAMS Package 
Accession No. ML17013A466). The majority of the spent fuel assemblies 
to be loaded in the upcoming loading campaign have pellets with a 
maximum diameter of 0.3255 inches (0.8268 centimeters). While the NAC-
UMS system was approved for this pellet diameter in Amendment No. 2 to 
CoC No. 1015 (ADAMS Package Accession No. ML020250546), the 
MAGNASTOR[supreg] storage system is approved for the nominal pellet 
diameter of 0.325 inches (0.8255 centimeters), thereby precluding some 
of the spent fuel at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station from 
being loaded in the upcoming loading campaign.

II. Request/Action

    By application dated July 5, 2019 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML19186A449), Arizona Public Service Company submitted a request for an 
exemption from those provisions of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (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 Certificate of Compliance No. 1031, 
Amendment No. 7, for the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station to load 
spent fuel with a maximum pellet diameter of 0.3255 inches (0.8268 
centimeters), utilizing Amendment No. 7 for the NAC

[[Page 45553]]

International MAGNASTOR[supreg] storage system.

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 (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML19213A033) to document the safety evaluation of the proposed 
action (i.e., exemption to authorize loading spent fuel with a maximum 
pellet diameter of 0.3255 inches (0.8268 centimeters)), to assure that 
the exemption is authorized by law, will protect life or property or 
the common defense and security and are otherwise in the public 
interest. As summarized in this document, the NRC's safety review 
concludes that the requested exemption meets the requirements for 
issuance in 10 CFR 72.7.

A. The Exemption is Authorized by Law

    This exemption would permit the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating 
Station to load spent fuel with a larger pellet diameter than 
authorized in Certificate of Compliance No. 1031, Amendment No. 7.
    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. Will Not Endanger Life or Property or the Common Defense and 
Security

    As discussed in the safety evaluation report and summarized in the 
following sections, the NRC staff has found that Arizona Public Service 
Company's proposed action is acceptable and will not endanger life or 
property or the common defense and security.
Safety Review of the Requested Exemption
    The staff reviewed the exemption request for Palo Verde Nuclear 
Generating Station and concludes, as discussed in this document, that 
the proposed exemption from certain requirements of 10 CFR part 72 will 
not cause the MAGNASTOR[supreg] storage cask to encounter conditions 
beyond those for which it has been evaluated and demonstrated to meet 
the applicable safety requirements in 10 CFR part 72. As explained in 
this document, the staff's evaluation includes only the criticality 
safety area of review, since it is the only technical area revised by 
this exemption.
    The licensee submitted an exemption request to deviate from the 
maximum pellet diameter for Combustion Engineering 16x16 fuel, stored 
in the NAC MAGNASTOR[supreg] dry storage system. The licensee stated 
that NAC International evaluated a pellet diameter of 0.3255 inches 
(0.8268 centimeters) in the MAGNASTOR[supreg] final safety analysis 
report (ADAMS Accession No. ML091030364), to determine the effect of an 
upper manufacturing tolerance of 0.0005 inches (0.0013 centimeters) 
applied to the nominal value of 0.3250 inches (0.8255 centimeters). In 
that final safety analysis report, NAC International determined that 
the system k-effective with this larger diameter pellet is 
statistically the same as the system k-effective with the nominal 
pellet diameter. Therefore, Arizona Public Service Company stated that 
its proposed exemption has no effect on the criticality safety of the 
MAGNASTOR[supreg] storage system.
    The staff reviewed the final safety analysis report and agrees that 
the proposed change to the pellet diameter will not result in changes 
to system k-effective that are statistically significant. The staff 
also agrees that the results of the NAC International criticality 
analysis, and with the licensee's conclusion that this proposed 
exemption does not affect the ability of the MAGNASTOR[supreg] system 
to meet the criticality safety requirements of 10 CFR part 72.
    Based on these evaluations, the staff has concluded that granting 
this exemption will be consistent with the requirements of 10 CFR part 
72 and will not endanger life or property.
    Review of Common Defense and Security: Modification of the pellet 
diameter does not affect the independent spent fuel storage 
installation security plans. Accordingly, the Palo Verde Nuclear 
Generating Station independent spent fuel storage installation will 
continue to be physically protected under Arizona Public Service 
Company's independent spent fuel storage installation Physical Security 
Plan to the same level of 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 cause Arizona Public 
Service Company to postpone loading of spent fuel that contains the 
larger pellet diameter until it is approved in an amendment for CoC No. 
1031 or alternative loading arrangements are implemented.
    The licensee stated that the proposed exemption is in the public 
interest because it would allow Arizona Public Service Company to load 
spent fuel on schedule, maintain full-core offload capability and would 
not affect power plant operations or refueling outages for the three 
units at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station.

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 
August 23, 2019 (84 FR 44339).

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 Arizona Public 
Service Company 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

[[Page 45554]]

with terms, conditions, and specifications of the Certificate of 
Compliance No. 1031, Amendment No. 7, for the Palo Verde Nuclear 
Generating Station to load spent fuel with a maximum pellet diameter of 
0.3255 inches (0.8268 centimeters) in the MAGNASTOR[supreg] storage 
system using Certificate of Compliance No. 1031, Amendment No. 7.
    The exemption is effective upon issuance.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day of August, 2019.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John B. McKirgan,
Chief, Spent Fuel Licensing Branch, Division of Spent Fuel Management, 
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2019-18616 Filed 8-28-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P