[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 10, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13762-13766]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05001]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-201; NRC-2020-0086]


New York State Energy Research and Development Authority; 
Irradiated Nuclear Fuel Processing Plant; Western New York State 
Nuclear Service Center

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: License amendment request; opportunity to comment, request a 
hearing, and petition for leave to intervene.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
issuance of an amendment to Facility Provisional Operating License No. 
CSF-1 for provisional operation of the Irradiated Nuclear Fuel 
Processing Plant located at the Western New York Nuclear Service Center 
(WNYNSC), in Cattaraugus and Erie Counties, New York. The proposed 
amendment would amend the Radiation Protection Plan for the ``retained 
premises of the licensed area'' for modernization. In addition, the New 
York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the 
licensee, requested that the license be amended to clarify NYSERDA's 
health and safety and other responsibilities under the license. NYSERDA 
defines the ``retained premises of the licensed area'' as the area 
consisting of the WNYNSC, not including the U.S. Department of Energy 
(DOE) West Valley Demonstration

[[Page 13763]]

Project (WVDP) premises and the State Licensed Disposal Area (SDA).

DATES: Submit comments by April 9, 2021. Requests for a hearing or 
petition for leave to intervene must be filed by May 10, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods; 
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal Rulemaking Website:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2020-0086. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section of this document.
     Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 
TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marlayna V. Doell, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3178, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0086 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain 
publicly available information related to this action by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2020-0086.
     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 ``Resubmittal of Request for 
License Amendment: Retained Premises Radiation Protection 
Requirements,'' is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML20076C310. 
The supplemental information from the licensee is available in ADAMS 
under Accession No. ML20311A200. A public version of the CSF-1 
Provisional Operating License and associated Technical Specifications 
is available in ADAMS under Package Accession No. ML21042A945.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal Rulemaking Website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2020-0086, in your comment submission.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at 
https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions 
into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.

II. Introduction

    The NRC is considering issuance of an amendment to NYSERDA's 
Facility Provisional Operating License No. CSF-1 for provisional 
operation of the Irradiated Nuclear Fuel Processing Plant, located at 
the WNYNSC in Cattaraugus and Erie Counties, New York. Although 
portions of the site are actively being decommissioned by DOE under the 
West Valley Demonstration Project Act, 42 U.S.C. 2021a note, Public Law 
96-868, 94 Stat. 1347 (1980) (WVDPA), NYSERDA retains responsibility 
for portions of the site known as the ``retained premises.''
    The proposed amendment would amend the Radiation Protection Plan 
for the ``retained premises of the licensed area'' for modernization 
and would clarify NYSERDA's health and safety and other 
responsibilities under the license.
    Before issuance of the proposed license amendment, the NRC will 
need to make the findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as 
amended (the Act), and the applicable NRC regulations.
    The NRC has made a proposed determination that the license 
amendment request involves no significant hazards consideration. Under 
the NRC's regulations in Sec.  50.92 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR), this means that provisional operation of the 
facility in accordance with the proposed amendment would 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. As 
required by 10 CFR 50.91(a), the licensee has provided its analysis of 
the issue of no significant hazards consideration, which is presented 
below:

    1. Does the proposed change involve a significant increase in 
the probability or consequences of an accident previously evaluated?
    Response: No.
    The changes proposed in this license amendment involve the 
addition of license conditions to provide additional clarity on 
NYSERDA's authorities and responsibilities for health and safety of 
the facility under the license and replace existing radiation 
protection requirements in the license pertaining to the non-SDA, 
non-WVDP portions of the WNYNSC (the Retained Premises) where Part 
50-Licensed radioactive materials are or may be present. There are 
no proposed changes to structures, systems, and components (SSCs) of 
the plant. There are no changes to any of the previously evaluated 
accidents in the final safety analysis report (FSAR). There are no 
changes to operating procedures or administrative controls that are 
credited as having the function of preventing or mitigating any 
accidents. Furthermore, there are no accidents previously evaluated 
involving the Retained Premises. In view of the foregoing and 
because the proposed license amendment would simply impose an 
upgraded and up-to-date radiation protection plan that is in 
compliance with the current 10 CFR part 20 and replace and supersede 
the outdated radiation protection requirements developed at the time 
of licensing the irradiated fuel processing facility, the proposed 
amendment will not involve a significant increase in the probability 
or consequences of an accident previously evaluated.
    2. Does the proposed change create the possibility of a new or 
different kind of accident from any accident previously evaluated?
    Response: No.
    The changes proposed in this license amendment involve the 
addition of license conditions to provide additional clarity on

[[Page 13764]]

NYSERDA's authorities and responsibilities for health and safety of 
the facility under the license and replace existing radiation 
protection requirements in the license pertaining to the Retained 
Premises where Part 50-Licensed radioactive materials are or may be 
present. The proposed changes do not change the design function, or 
operation of any SSC described in the FSAR. The proposed changes do 
not create the possibility of a new or different kind of accident 
due to credible new failure mechanisms, malfunctions, or accident 
initiators not considered in the design and licensing bases. 
Furthermore, there are no accidents previously evaluated involving 
the Retained Premises portion of the WNYNSC. Thus, the proposed 
changes do not create the possibility of a new or different kind of 
accident from any accident previously evaluated.
    3. Does the proposed change involve a significant reduction in a 
margin of safety?
    Response: No.
    The changes proposed in this license amendment involve the 
addition of license conditions to provide additional clarity on 
NYSERDA's authorities and responsibilities for health and safety of 
the facility under the license and replace existing radiation 
protection requirements in the license pertaining to the Retained 
Premises where Part 50-Licensed radioactive materials are or may be 
present. There are no safety margins that are used to demonstrate 
compliance with regulatory and licensing requirements described in 
the FSAR that apply to activities planned to be performed in the 
Retained Premises and the proposed license amendment would simply 
impose an upgraded and up-to-date radiation protection plan for the 
Retained Premises that is in compliance with the current 10 CFR part 
20 and replace and supersede the outdated radiation protection 
requirements developed at the time of licensing the irradiated fuel 
processing facility. Thus, no safety margins are affected by the 
proposed changes and there is no significant reduction in any margin 
of safety previously identified in the license.

    The NRC staff has reviewed the licensee's analysis and, based on 
this review, it appears that the three standards of 10 CFR 50.92(c) are 
satisfied. Therefore, the NRC staff proposes to determine that the 
license amendment request involves a no significant hazards 
consideration.
    The NRC is seeking public comments on this proposed determination 
that the license amendment request involves no significant hazards 
consideration. Any comments received within 30 days after the date of 
publication of this notice will be considered in making any final 
determination.
    Normally, the Commission will not issue the proposed license 
amendment until the expiration of 60 days after the date of publication 
of this notice. The Commission may issue the license amendment before 
expiration of the 60-day notice period if the Commission concludes the 
amendment involves no significant hazards consideration. In addition, 
the Commission may issue the amendment prior to the expiration of the 
30-day comment period if circumstances change during the 30-day comment 
period such that failure to act in a timely way would result, for 
example, in prevention of decommissioning of the facility under the 
WVDPA. If the Commission takes action prior to the expiration of either 
the comment period or the notice period, it will publish in the Federal 
Register a notice of issuance. If the Commission makes a final no 
significant hazards consideration determination, any hearing will take 
place after issuance. The Commission expects that the need to take this 
action will occur very infrequently.

III. Opportunity To Request a Hearing and Petition for Leave To 
Intervene

    Within 60 days after the date of publication of this notice, any 
persons (petitioner) whose interest may be affected by this action may 
file a request for a hearing and petition for leave to intervene 
(petition) with respect to the action. Petitions shall be filed in 
accordance with the Commission's ``Agency Rules of Practice and 
Procedure'' in 10 CFR part 2. Interested persons should consult a 
current copy of 10 CFR 2.309. The NRC's regulations are accessible 
electronically from the NRC Library on the NRC's website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/. If a petition is filed, 
the Commission or a presiding officer will rule on the petition and, if 
appropriate, a notice of a hearing will be issued.
    As required by 10 CFR 2.309(d) the petition should specifically 
explain the reasons why intervention should be permitted with 
particular reference to the following general requirements for 
standing: (1) The name, address, and telephone number of the 
petitioner; (2) the nature of the petitioner's right to be made a party 
to the proceeding; (3) the nature and extent of the petitioner's 
property, financial, or other interest in the proceeding; and (4) the 
possible effect of any decision or order which may be entered in the 
proceeding on the petitioner's interest.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(f), the petition must also set 
forth the specific contentions which the petitioner seeks to have 
litigated in the proceeding. Each contention must consist of a specific 
statement of the issue of law or fact to be raised or controverted. In 
addition, the petitioner must provide a brief explanation of the bases 
for the contention and a concise statement of the alleged facts or 
expert opinion which support the contention and on which the petitioner 
intends to rely in proving the contention at the hearing. The 
petitioner must also provide references to the specific sources and 
documents on which the petitioner intends to rely to support its 
position on the issue. The petition must include sufficient information 
to show that a genuine dispute exists with the applicant or licensee on 
a material issue of law or fact. Contentions must be limited to matters 
within the scope of the proceeding. The contention must be one which, 
if proven, would entitle the petitioner to relief. A petitioner who 
fails to satisfy the requirements at 10 CFR 2.309(f) with respect to at 
least one contention will not be permitted to participate as a party.
    Those permitted to intervene become parties to the proceeding, 
subject to any limitations in the order granting leave to intervene. 
Parties have the opportunity to participate fully in the conduct of the 
hearing with respect to resolution of that party's admitted 
contentions, including the opportunity to present evidence, consistent 
with the NRC's regulations, policies, and procedures.
    Petitions must be filed no later than 60 days from the date of 
publication of this notice. Petitions and motions for leave to file new 
or amended contentions that are filed after the deadline will not be 
entertained absent a determination by the presiding officer that the 
filing demonstrates good cause by satisfying the three factors in 10 
CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i) through (iii). The petition must be filed in 
accordance with the filing instructions in the ``Electronic Submissions 
(E-Filing)'' section of this document.
    If a hearing is requested, and the Commission has not made a final 
determination on the issue of no significant hazards consideration, the 
Commission will make a final determination on the issue of no 
significant hazards consideration. The final determination will serve 
to establish when the hearing is held. If the final determination is 
that the amendment request involves no significant hazards 
consideration, the Commission may issue the amendment and make it 
immediately effective, notwithstanding the request for a hearing. Any 
hearing would take place after issuance of the amendment. If the final 
determination is that the amendment request involves a significant 
hazards consideration, then any hearing held would take place before 
the issuance of the amendment unless the Commission finds an imminent 
danger to the health or safety

[[Page 13765]]

of the public, in which case it will issue an appropriate order or rule 
under 10 CFR part 2.
    A State, local governmental body, Federally-recognized Indian 
Tribe, or agency thereof, may submit a petition to the Commission to 
participate as a party under 10 CFR 2.309(h)(1). The petition should 
state the nature and extent of the petitioner's interest in the 
proceeding. The petition should be submitted to the Commission no later 
than 60 days from the date of publication of this notice. The petition 
must be filed in accordance with the filing instructions in the 
``Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)'' section of this document, and 
should meet the requirements for petitions set forth in this section, 
except that under 10 CFR 2.309(h)(2) a State, local governmental body, 
or Federally-recognized Indian Tribe, or agency thereof does not need 
to address the standing requirements in 10 CFR 2.309(d) if the facility 
is located within its boundaries. Alternatively, a State, local 
governmental body, Federally-recognized Indian Tribe, or agency thereof 
may participate as a non-party under 10 CFR 2.315(c).
    If a hearing is granted, any person who is not a party to the 
proceeding and is not affiliated with or represented by a party may, at 
the discretion of the presiding officer, be permitted to make a limited 
appearance pursuant to the provisions of 10 CFR 2.315(a). A person 
making a limited appearance may make an oral or written statement of 
his or her position on the issues but may not otherwise participate in 
the proceeding. A limited appearance may be made at any session of the 
hearing or at any prehearing conference, subject to the limits and 
conditions as may be imposed by the presiding officer. Details 
regarding the opportunity to make a limited appearance will be provided 
by the presiding officer if such sessions are scheduled.

IV. Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)

    All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including a 
request for hearing and petition for leave to intervene (petition), any 
motion or other document filed in the proceeding prior to the 
submission of a request for hearing or petition to intervene, and 
documents filed by interested governmental entities that request to 
participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in accordance with the 
NRC's E-Filing rule (72 FR 49139; August 28, 2007, as amended at 77 FR 
46562; August 3, 2012). The E-Filing process requires participants to 
submit and serve all adjudicatory documents over the internet, or in 
some cases to mail copies on electronic storage media. Detailed 
guidance on making electronic submissions may be found in the Guidance 
for Electronic Submissions to the NRC and on the NRC website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. Participants may not submit 
paper copies of their filings unless they seek an exemption in 
accordance with the procedures described below.
    To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10 
days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should contact the 
Office of the Secretary by email at [email protected], or by 
telephone at 301-415-1677, to (1) request a digital identification (ID) 
certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or 
representative) to digitally sign submissions and access the E-Filing 
system for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise 
the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a petition or 
other adjudicatory document (even in instances in which the 
participant, or its counsel or representative, already holds an NRC-
issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this information, the 
Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the hearing in this 
proceeding if the Secretary has not already established an electronic 
docket.
    Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is 
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/getting-started.html. Once a participant has obtained a 
digital ID certificate and a docket has been created, the participant 
can then submit adjudicatory documents. Submissions must be in Portable 
Document Format (PDF). Additional guidance on PDF submissions is 
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A filing is considered complete at the 
time the document is submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To be 
timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing system 
no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. Upon receipt of 
a transmission, the E-Filing system time-stamps the document and sends 
the submitter an email notice confirming receipt of the document. The 
E-Filing system also distributes an email notice that provides access 
to the document to the NRC's Office of the General Counsel and any 
others who have advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to 
participate in the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the 
document on those participants separately. Therefore, applicants and 
other participants (or their counsel or representative) must apply for 
and receive a digital ID certificate before adjudicatory documents are 
filed so that they can obtain access to the documents via the E-Filing 
system.
    A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC's Electronic 
Filing Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's 
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by 
email to [email protected], or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-
7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m. 
and 6 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, excluding government 
holidays.
    Participants who believe that they have a good cause for not 
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, in 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing 
stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and 
requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper 
format. Such filings must be submitted by: (1) First class mail 
addressed to the Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: 
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or 
expedited delivery service to the Office of the Secretary, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, Attention: Rulemaking and 
Adjudications Staff. Participants filing adjudicatory documents in this 
manner are responsible for serving the document on all other 
participants. Filing is considered complete by first-class mail as of 
the time of deposit in the mail, or by courier, express mail, or 
expedited delivery service upon depositing the document with the 
provider of the service. A presiding officer, having granted an 
exemption request from using E-Filing, may require a participant or 
party to use E-Filing if the presiding officer subsequently determines 
that the reason for granting the exemption from use of E-Filing no 
longer exists.
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the 
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at 
https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the 
Commission or the presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued 
digital ID certificate as described above, click ``cancel'' when the 
link requests certificates and you will be automatically directed to 
the NRC's electronic hearing dockets where you will be able to access 
any publicly

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available documents in a particular hearing docket. Participants are 
requested not to include personal privacy information, such as social 
security numbers, home addresses, or personal phone numbers in their 
filings, unless an NRC regulation or other law requires submission of 
such information. For example, in some instances, individuals provide 
home addresses in order to demonstrate proximity to a facility or site. 
With respect to copyrighted works, except for limited excerpts that 
serve the purpose of the adjudicatory filings and would constitute a 
Fair Use application, participants are requested not to include 
copyrighted materials in their submission.
    For further details with respect to this action, see the 
application for license amendment dated February 6, 2020, as 
supplemented on March 11, 2020, and October 28, 2020 (ADAMS Accession 
Nos. ML20042D497, ML20076C310, and ML20311A200, respectively).
    Attorney for licensee: Ms. Janice Dean, Deputy Counsel, New York 
State Energy Research and Development Authority, 9030B Route 219, West 
Valley, NY 14171-9500.
    NRC Branch Chief: Bruce A. Watson, CHP.

    Dated: March 5, 2021.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Bruce A. Watson,
Chief, Reactor Decommissioning Branch, Decommissioning, Uranium 
Recovery and Waste Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2021-05001 Filed 3-9-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P