[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 57 (Tuesday, March 24, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16677-16680]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-06111]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-133; NRC-2020-0081]
Pacific Gas and Electric Company; Humboldt Bay Power Plant, Unit
3
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 January 13, 2020, request from Pacific Gas
and Electric Company (PG&E or the licensee). The exemption permits PG&E
to reduce the minimum coverage limit for onsite property damage
insurance from $63.16 million to $50 million for Humboldt Bay Power
Plant, Unit 3.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0081 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-2020-0081. 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 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 (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: John B. Hickman, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3017, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the exemption is attached.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th day of March 2020.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Bruce A. Watson,
Chief, Reactor Decommissioning Branch, Division of Decommissioning,
Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety
and Safeguards.
Attachment--Exemption
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Docket No. 50-133, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Humboldt Bay Power
Plant Unit No. 3, Exemption
I. Background
The Humboldt Bay Power Plant, Unit 3 (HBPP 3) facility is a
decommissioning power reactor located in Humboldt County, California.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is the holder of HBPP 3
Facility Operating License No. DPR-7. On July 2, 1976, HBPP 3 was shut
down for annual refueling and to conduct seismic modifications. In
1983, updated economic analyses indicated that restarting HBPP 3
probably would not be cost-effective, and on June 27, 1983, PG&E
announced its intention to decommission the unit. In 1984, PG&E
submitted the HBPP 3 SAFSTOR [Safe Storage] Decommissioning Plan in
support of the application to amend the HBPP 3 operating license to a
possession-only license. On July 16, 1985, the NRC issued Amendment No.
19 to the HBPP Unit 3 Operating License (Agencywide Documents Access
and Management System (ADAMS) Legacy No. 507260040) to change the
status to possess-but-not-operate, and the plant was placed into a
SAFSTOR status. On December 11, 2008, PG&E completed the transfer of
spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from the HBPP 3 spent fuel pool (SFP) into the
Humboldt Bay Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (HB ISFSI).
All Greater-Than-Class-C (GTCC) waste was transferred to the HB ISFSI
in 2013. PG&E began decontamination and dismantlement of HBPP 3 in June
2009, and currently plans to terminate the 10 CFR part 50 license in
2021.
II. Request/Action
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, ``Specific exemptions,'' PG&E has
requested an exemption from 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) by letter dated January
13, 2020 (ADAMS Accession No. ML20013G734). The
[[Page 16678]]
exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) would permit PG&E
to reduce its onsite property damage insurance from $63.16 million to
$50 million.
The regulation in 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) requires each licensee to have
and maintain onsite property damage insurance to stabilize and
decontaminate the reactor and reactor site in the event of an accident.
The onsite insurance coverage must be either $1.06 billion or whatever
amount of insurance is generally available from private sources
(whichever is less). The HBPP 3 site currently maintains $63.16 million
in onsite insurance coverage in accordance with a previous exemption
approved by the NRC on August 22, 1989 (54 FR 35738).
The licensee stated that the HBPP 3 reactor has been removed and
all SNF and GTCC waste is stored in the onsite ISFSI. In addition,
plant structures associated with reactor operations have been removed
from the site. This results in a significant reduction in the potential
for and severity of onsite property damage because, with the HBPP 3
reactor removed, there are no events that would require the
stabilization of reactor conditions after an accident. Similarly, the
risk of an accident that would result in significant onsite
contamination at the HBPP 3 site is also much lower than the risk of
such an event at an operating reactor. Therefore, PG&E requested an
exemption from 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) that would permit a reduction in its
onsite property damage insurance from $63.16 million to $50 million,
commensurate with the reduced risk of an accident at the decommissioned
HBPP 3 reactor.
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 (1) 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; and
(2) any of the special circumstances listed in 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2) are
present.
The financial protection limits of 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) were
established after the Three Mile Island accident out of concern that
licensees may be unable to financially cover onsite cleanup costs in
the event of a major nuclear accident. The specified coverage
requirement was developed based on an analysis of an accident at a
nuclear reactor operating at power, resulting in a large fission
product release and requiring significant resource expenditures to
stabilize the reactor conditions and ultimately decontaminate and clean
up the site.
The NRC developed these cost estimates from the spectrum of
postulated accidents for an operating nuclear reactor and the
consequences of any associated release of radioactive material from the
reactor. Although the risk of an accident at an operating reactor is
very low, the consequences can be large. In an operating plant, the
high temperature and pressure of the reactor coolant system, as well as
the inventory of relatively short-lived radionuclides, contribute to
both the risk and consequences of an accident. With the decommissioning
of the reactor at HBPP 3, and the movement of all the irradiated fuel
assemblies into storage at the onsite ISFSI, such accidents are no
longer possible. The reactor, reactor coolant system, and supporting
systems have already been dismantled and removed from the site as part
of the decommissioning process. Therefore, these systems and components
no longer serve any function related to the storage of irradiated fuel.
As such, postulated accidents involving failure or malfunction of the
reactor, reactor coolant system, or supporting systems are no longer
applicable at HBPP 3.
During reactor decommissioning, the principal radiological risks
are associated with the storage of spent fuel onsite, as well as the
inventory of radioactive liquids, activated reactor components, and
contaminated materials. In its January 13, 2020, exemption request,
PG&E noted that all SNF and GTCC waste is stored at the HB ISFSI. Plant
structures have been removed, and the site, including the remaining
buildings, has been remediated for radioactive material. The licensee
determined that the minimal radioactive material remaining at the site
that resulted from HBPP 3's operation is insufficient for any potential
event to result in exceeding dose limits or otherwise involving a
significant adverse effect on public health and safety.
Specifically, there are no credible events at HBPP 3 that could
result in a radiological release exceeding the limits established by
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) early-phase
Protective Action Guidelines (PAGs) of one roentgen equivalent man at
the exclusion area boundary, which demonstrates that any possible
radiological releases would be minimal and would not require
precautionary protective actions (e.g., sheltering in place or
evacuation). The staff evaluated the radiological consequences
associated with credible accident events at HBPP 3, in consideration of
the permanently shutdown and decommissioned status of the facility. The
possible accident scenarios at HBPP 3 have greatly reduced radiological
consequences. Based on its review, the staff concluded that no
reasonably conceivable radiological release event exists that could
cause an offsite release greater than the EPA PAGs.
In addition, given that all of the irradiated fuel assemblies at
HBPP 3 have already been moved into storage at the onsite ISFSI, the
fuel is no longer thermal-hydraulically capable of sustaining a
zirconium fire and can be air-cooled in all credible accident scenarios
and fuel configurations. Since NRC approval of the previous exemption
in 1989, which permitted HBPP 3 to reduce its onsite insurance coverage
to $63.16 million, the NRC staff has authorized a lesser amount of
onsite property damage insurance coverage based on an analysis of the
zirconium fire risk. In SECY-96-256, ``Changes to Financial Protection
Requirements for Permanently Shutdown Nuclear Power Reactors, 10 CFR
50.54(w)(1) and 10 CFR 140.11,'' dated December 17, 1996 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML15062A483), the NRC staff recommended changes to the
power reactor insurance regulations that would allow licensees to lower
onsite insurance levels to $50 million upon demonstration that the fuel
stored in the spent fuel pool can be air-cooled.
In its Staff Requirements Memorandum to SECY-96-256, dated January
28, 1997 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15062A454), the Commission supported
the staff's recommendation that, among other things, would allow
permanently shutdown power reactor licensees to reduce commercial
onsite property damage insurance coverage to $50 million when the
licensee was able to demonstrate the technical criterion that the spent
fuel could be air-cooled if the spent fuel pool was drained of water.
The staff has used this technical criterion to grant similar exemptions
to other decommissioning reactors (e.g., Fort Calhoun Station,
published in the Federal Register on April 6, 2018 (83 FR 14898); and
La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor, published in the Federal Register on
August 1, 2018 (83 FR 37532)). These prior exemptions were based on the
licensees demonstrating that the spent fuel could be air-cooled,
consistent with the technical criterion discussed above. Based on this
criterion, the NRC staff determined $50 million to be an adequate level
of onsite property damage insurance coverage for the HBPP 3 site, given
that the spent fuel is
[[Page 16679]]
no longer susceptible to a zirconium fire.
In addition, the staff has postulated that there is still a
potential for other radiological incidents at a decommissioning reactor
that could result in significant onsite contamination besides a
zirconium fire. In SECY-96-256, the NRC staff cited the rupture of a
large contaminated liquid storage tank, causing soil contamination and
potential groundwater contamination, as the most costly postulated
event to decontaminate and remediate (other than a zirconium fire). The
postulated large liquid radiological waste storage tank rupture event
was determined to have a bounding onsite cleanup cost of approximately
$50 million. However, decommissioning activities at HBPP 3 have
progressed to such an extent that there are no longer any large
radiological waste storage tanks onsite. The staff concludes that there
are no radioactive material sources that could be released from the
HBPP 3 site that would challenge the assumptions made in SECY-96-256
regarding the rupture of a large contaminated liquid storage tank.
Therefore, the staff determined that the licensee's proposal to reduce
onsite insurance to a level of $50 million would be consistent with the
bounding cleanup and decontamination cost, as discussed in SECY-96-256.
A. The Exemption Is Authorized by Law
The regulation in 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) requires each licensee to have
and maintain onsite property damage insurance of either $1.06 billion
or whatever amount of insurance is generally available from private
sources, whichever is less. In accordance with 10 CFR 50.12, the
Commission may grant exemptions from the regulations in 10 CFR part 50,
as the Commission determines are authorized by law.
In 1989, the Commission granted HBPP 3 an exemption from 10 CFR
50.54(w)(1), permitting the reduction of onsite insurance coverage from
$100 million to $63.16 million. As explained above, the NRC staff has
determined that the licensee's proposed reduction in onsite property
damage insurance coverage to a level of $50 million is consistent with
SECY-96-256 because there is no credible risk of a zirconium fire with
all irradiated fuel stored in the onsite ISFSI, where it is air-cooled
in all accident scenarios.
The NRC staff has determined that granting of the licensee's
proposed exemption will not result in a violation of the Atomic Energy
Act of 1954, as amended, or other laws. Therefore, based on its review
of PG&E's exemption request, as discussed above, and consistent with
SECY-96-256, the NRC staff concludes that the exemption is authorized
by law.
B. The Exemption Presents No Undue Risk to Public Health and Safety
The onsite property damage insurance requirements of 10 CFR
50.54(w)(1) were established to provide financial assurance that
following a significant nuclear accident, onsite reactor conditions
could be stabilized and the site decontaminated. The existing level of
onsite insurance coverage for HBPP 3 is predicated on the assumption
that the reactor is permanently shutdown and defueled and the site is
being actively decommissioned with significant residual activity
remaining. However, the fully decommissioned status of the facility has
resulted in a significant reduction in the number and severity of
potential accidents, and correspondingly, a significant reduction in
the potential for and severity of onsite property damage. The proposed
reduction in the amount of onsite insurance coverage does not impact
the probability or consequences of potential accidents. The proposed
level of insurance coverage is commensurate with the reduced
consequences of credible nuclear accidents at HBPP 3. Therefore, the
NRC staff concludes that granting the requested exemption will not
present an undue risk to the health and safety of the public.
C. The Exemption Is Consistent With the Common Defense and Security
The proposed exemption would not eliminate any requirements
associated with physical protection of the site and would not adversely
affect PG&E's ability to physically secure the site or protect special
nuclear material. Physical security measures at HBPP 3 are not affected
by the requested exemption. Therefore, the proposed exemption is
consistent with the common defense and security.
D. Special Circumstances
Under 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii), special circumstances are present if
the 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. The underlying purpose of
10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) is to provide reasonable assurance that adequate
funds will be available to stabilize reactor conditions and cover
onsite cleanup costs associated with site decontamination, following an
accident that results in the release of a significant amount of
radiological material.
Because HBPP 3 is permanently shutdown and defueled, with all
irradiated fuel assemblies stored in the onsite ISFSI, and
decommissioning complete, it is no longer possible for the radiological
consequences of design-basis accidents or other credible events at HBPP
3 to exceed the limits of the EPA PAGs at the exclusion area boundary.
Therefore, the staff concludes that the application of the current
requirements in 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1), as exempted, for PG&E to maintain
$63.16 million in onsite insurance coverage is not necessary to achieve
the underlying purpose of the rule for the permanently shutdown and
defueled HBPP 3 facility.
Under 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(iii), special circumstances 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 NRC staff concludes that if the licensee was required to
continue to maintain an onsite insurance level of $63.16 million, the
associated insurance premiums would be in excess of those necessary and
commensurate with the radiological contamination risks posed by the
site. In addition, such insurance levels would be significantly in
excess of other decommissioning reactor facilities that have been
granted similar exemptions by the NRC.
As such, the NRC staff finds that compliance with the existing
requirement would result in an undue hardship or other costs that are
significantly in excess of those contemplated when the regulation was
adopted and are significantly in excess of those incurred by others
similarly situated. Therefore, the special circumstances required by 10
CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii) and 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(iii) exist for the HBPP 3
facility.
E. Environmental Considerations
The NRC approval of an exemption to insurance or indemnity
requirements belongs to a category of actions that the Commission, by
rule or regulation, has declared to be a categorical exclusion, after
first finding that the category of actions does not individually or
cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment.
Specifically, the exemption is categorically excluded from further
analysis under 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25).
Under 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25), granting of an exemption from the
requirements of any regulation of chapter I to 10 CFR
[[Page 16680]]
is a categorical exclusion provided that (i) there is no significant
hazards consideration; (ii) there is no significant change in the types
or significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may be
released offsite; (iii) there is no significant increase in individual
or cumulative public or occupational radiation exposure; (iv) there is
no significant construction impact; (v) there is no significant
increase in the potential for or consequences from radiological
accidents; and (vi) the requirements from which an exemption is sought
involve: Surety, insurance, or indemnity requirements.
The Director, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and
Waste Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, has
determined that approval of the exemption request involves no
significant hazards consideration because reducing the licensee's
onsite property damage insurance for HBPP 3 does not (1) involve a
significant increase in the probability or consequences of an accident
previously evaluated; or (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. The exempted
financial protection regulation is unrelated to the operation of HBPP
3. Accordingly, 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 regulation is not associated with construction, so
there is no significant construction impact. The exempted regulation
does not concern the source term (i.e., potential amount of radiation
in an accident), nor mitigation. Therefore, there is no significant
increase in the potential for, or consequences of, a radiological
accident. In addition, there would be no significant impacts to biota,
water resources, historic properties, cultural resources, or
socioeconomic conditions in the region. The requirement for onsite
property damage insurance involves surety, insurance, and indemnity
matters. 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
exemption request.
IV. Conclusions
Accordingly, the NRC 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 PG&E an exemption from the
requirements of 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) to permit the licensee to reduce its
onsite property damage insurance coverage at the HBPP 3 facility to a
level of $50 million. The exemption is effective March 18, 2020.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th day of March 2020.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Patricia Holahan,
Director, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and Waste
Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2020-06111 Filed 3-23-20; 8:45 am]
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