[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 202 (Friday, October 22, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58699-58701]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-23088]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-293; NRC-2021-0191]
Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC; Pilgrim Nuclear Power
Station; Exemption From Certain Low-Level Waste Shipment Tracking
Requirements
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 dated August 30, 2021, as
supplemented on September 23, 2021, from Holtec Decommissioning
International, LLC (HDI), for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station
(Pilgrim), from the requirement to investigate, trace, and report to
the NRC any low-level radioactive waste shipment or part of a shipment
for which acknowledgement of receipt is not received by HDI within 20
days after transfer from Pilgrim. HDI requested that this time period
be extended from 20 to 45 days. HDI requested this change to avoid the
administrative burden of investigating, tracing, and reporting on
shipments that continue to be under requisite controls.
DATES: The exemption was issued on October 18, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0191 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-2021-0191. 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.
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.
Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies
of public documents, is currently closed. You may submit your request
to the PDR via email at [email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or
301-415-4737, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (ET), Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.
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: The text of the exemption is attached.
Dated: October 19, 2021.
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. 50-293
Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC
Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station
Exemption from Certain Low-Level Waste Shipment Tracking Requirements
I. Background
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission)
license for Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station (Pilgrim) is Renewed Facility
Operating License No. DPR-35. The current licensed decommissioning
operator under this license is Holtec Decommissioning International,
LLC (HDI). The Pilgrim license is subject to the rules, regulations,
and orders of the NRC.
Pilgrim is located on the western shore of Cape Cod Bay in the Town
of Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. The nearest large cities
are Boston, Massachusetts, approximately 38 miles to the northwest and
Providence, Rhode Island, approximately 44 miles to the west. The
Pilgrim facility occupies approximately 140 acres.
Operation of Pilgrim permanently ceased on May 31, 2019 and all
fuel was permanently removed from the Pilgrim reactor vessel on June 9,
2019. HDI is currently decommissioning the Pilgrim facility. Inherent
to the
[[Page 58700]]
decommissioning process, large volumes of low-level radioactive waste
are generated. This low-level radioactive waste requires processing and
disposal or disposal without processing, as appropriate. To this end,
HDI will transport, by truck or by mixed mode shipments like a
combination of truck and rail, low-level radioactive waste from Pilgrim
to locations such as the waste disposal facility operated by Waste
Control Specialists (WCS) in Andrews, Texas. The estimated license
termination date for Pilgrim, except for the independent spent fuel
storage installation (ISFSI), is 2027. The site restoration activities
will be completed by 2027. HDI projects that all decommissioning
activities will be completed by early September 2063, approximately 9
months after the removal of the last spent fuel from the Pilgrim ISFSI,
which is estimated to occur by the end of December 2062.
II. Request/Action
By letter dated August 30, 2021 (Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML21242A267), as supplemented
on September 23, 2021 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21266A277), HDI requested
an exemption from certain requirements of title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 20, ``Standards for Protection
Against Radiation,'' appendix G, ``Requirements for Transfers of Low-
Level Radioactive Waste Intended for Disposal at Licensed Land Disposal
Facilities and Manifests,'' Section III.E for shipments of low-level
radioactive waste from Pilgrim. As indicated by HDI in its request,
this regulation requires HDI to investigate, trace, and report to the
NRC any low-level radioactive waste shipment or part of a shipment for
which acknowledgement of receipt is not received by HDI within 20 days
after transfer. HDI requested that this time period be extended from 20
days to 45 days for ``mixed mode shipments from [Pilgrim], including
combination of truck/rail shipments.''
III. Discussion
The NRC's regulations at 10 CFR 20.2301, ``Applications for
exemptions,'' allow the Commission to grant exemptions from the
requirements of the regulations in 10 CFR part 20 if it determines the
exemption is authorized by law and would not result in undue hazard to
life or property.
A. The Exemption Is Authorized by Law
The requested exemption from 10 CFR part 20, appendix G, section
III.E would extend the receipt acknowledgment period from 20 days to 45
days before HDI would have to investigate, trace, and report on the
status of a low-level radioactive waste shipment being transported from
Pilgrim to a licensed low-level radioactive waste processing or land
disposal facility. As stated above, 10 CFR 20.2301 allows the NRC to
grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 20 when, in part,
the exemptions are authorized by law. The NRC determined that the
requested exemption is permissible under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954,
as amended, and other regulatory requirements. Therefore, the NRC finds
that the requested exemption is authorized by law.
B. The Exemption Would Not Result in Undue Hazard to Life or Property
As stated in Enclosure 1 to SECY-18-0055, ``Proposed Rule:
Regulatory Improvements for Production and Utilization Facilities
Transitioning to Decommissioning'' (ADAMS Package Accession No.
ML18012A019), the underlying purpose of 10 CFR part 20, appendix G,
section III.E is to require licensees to investigate, trace, and report
on low-level radioactive waste shipments that have not reached their
destination, as scheduled, for unknown reasons.
In its exemption request, HDI stated that in May and June 2021, it
had shipped numerous freight containers of low-level radioactive waste
that were transloaded onto railcars for transport to the WCS disposal
facility in Andrews, Texas. The total time from release of these
shipments to verification of receipt varied from 22 to 56 days. HDI
investigated these shipments and submitted reports on them to the NRC
Region I Administrator (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML21165A399, ML21187A200,
and ML21203A313).
In support of its exemption request, HDI identified the NRC staff
statement in Enclosure 1 to SECY-18-0055 that ``operating experience
indicates that, while the 20-day receipt notification window is
adequate for waste shipments by truck, other modes of shipment such as
rail, barge, or mixed-mode shipments, such as combinations of truck and
rail, barge and rail, and barge and truck shipments, may take more than
20 days to reach their destination due to delays in the route that are
outside the shipper's control (e.g., rail cars in switchyards waiting
to be included in a complete train to the disposal facility).'' On this
basis, the NRC staff proposed to amend 10 CFR part 20, appendix G,
section III.E to extend the receipt notification window to 45 days. HDI
also stated that its exemption request is similar to those previously
submitted to and approved by the NRC for San Onofre Nuclear Generating
Station, Fort Calhoun Station, and Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station
(ADAMS Accession Nos. ML20287A358, ML20162A155, and ML20017A069,
respectively).
HDI further stated that although it takes actions during the
preparation of shipments to predict and mitigate undesirable
conditions, encountered delays can often extend the shipping duration
beyond the 20-day requirement. According to HDI, exceeding the 20-day
requirement results in the administrative burden of investigating and
reporting, even though the shipments continue to be under requisite
controls.
HDI explained that because there is not direct rail access at
Pilgrim, the disposal of Pilgrim low-level radioactive waste utilizes
road shipments to intermodal transfer terminals for transfer of
containers onto rail as the primary transport method. According to HDI,
these truck to rail shipments may sit on the rail spur at a remote
railyard (e.g., waiting for a train to depart or allow for railcar
repair), which may add to shipping delays. In addition, HDI believes
that administrative processes at the disposal facility and
communication of receipt times could add several additional days to
shipping delays. Therefore, HDI concludes that receipt notifications
for low-level radioactive waste shipments from Pilgrim to a waste
disposal facility can often take longer than 20 days. This delay,
though, is not indicative of loss, but a consequence of the complexity
involved in shipping.
The NRC staff notes that the shipments are compliant with the
Department of Transportation and NRC requirements for low-level
radioactive waste packaging, placarding, and radiation levels for
health and safety purposes during transit, including during switchyard
staging. Therefore, there are no potential health or safety concerns
associated with these shipments sitting in a switchyard for an extended
period of time or taking more than 20 days overall.
Based on the history of low-level radioactive waste shipments from
Pilgrim and the lack of potential health or safety concerns associated
with these shipments sitting in a switchyard for an extended period of
time or taking more than 20 days overall, the need to investigate,
trace, and report on these shipments that take longer than 20 days but
not longer than 45 days is inappropriate. The NRC staff believes that
the application of 45 days as an
[[Page 58701]]
upper bound is appropriate for the same reasons as presented in
Enclosure 1 to SECY-18-0055.
Additionally, as indicated in the exemption request, for truck and
rail shipments from Pilgrim, HDI will use a tracking system that allows
daily monitoring of a shipment's progress to its destination and
Pilgrim shipping procedures prescribe the expectations for tracking and
communications during transit. The NRC staff notes that this will allow
for monitoring the progress of shipments on a daily basis, if needed,
in lieu of the 20-day requirement, and will initiate an investigation
as provided for by 10 CFR part 20, appendix G, section III.E after 45
days. Because of this oversight and the ability to monitor low-level
radioactive waste shipments throughout the entire journey from Pilgrim
to a disposal or processing facility, the staff concludes that it is
unlikely that a shipment could be lost, misdirected, or diverted
without the knowledge of the carrier or HDI and that, therefore, there
is no potential health or safety concern presented by the requested
exemption. Furthermore, by extending the time for receipt
acknowledgment to 45 days before requiring investigations, tracing, and
reporting, a reasonable upper limit on shipment duration is maintained
in the event that a breakdown of normal tracking systems were to occur.
Based on the above, the NRC staff finds that the requested
exemption would not result in undue hazard to life or property.
C. Environmental Considerations
With respect to compliance with section 102(2) of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), the NRC staff has
determined that the proposed action, the approval of the HDI exemption
request, is within the scope of the categorical exclusion at 10 CFR
51.22(c)(25). The proposed granting of the exemption from certain
requirements of the NRC's regulations at 10 CFR part 20, appendix G,
section III.E, would: (i) Present no significant hazards consideration;
(ii) not result in a significant change in the types or significant
increase in the amounts of any effluents that may be released offsite;
(iii) not result in a significant increase in individual or cumulative
public or occupational radiation exposure; (iv) have no significant
construction impact; and (v) not result in a significant increase in
the potential for or consequences from radiological accidents.
Additionally, the requirements from which the exemption is sought
involve reporting requirements under 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(vi)(B) and
inspection or surveillance requirements under 10 CFR
51.22(c)(25)(vi)(C). Given the applicability of a relevant categorical
exclusion, no further analysis is required under NEPA.
IV. Conclusions
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
20.2301, the exemption is authorized by law and will not result in
undue hazard to life or property. Therefore, effective immediately, the
Commission hereby grants HDI an exemption from 10 CFR part 20, appendix
G, section III.E, to extend the receipt of notification period from 20
days to 45 days after transfer for rail or mixed-mode shipments of low-
level radioactive waste from Pilgrim to a licensed land disposal or
processing facility.
Dated: October 18, 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
/RA/
Patricia K. Holahan,
Director, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Waste
Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2021-23088 Filed 10-21-21; 8:45 am]
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