[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 226 (Monday, November 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67730-67734]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25948]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-255; NRC-2021-0142]
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., Palisades Nuclear Plant
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Exemption; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a
partial exemption in response to a June 15, 2021, request from Entergy
Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Entergy, the licensee). The issuance of the
exemption would grant Entergy a partial exemption from regulations that
require the retention of records for certain systems, structures, and
components associated with the Palisades Nuclear Plant (PNP) until the
termination of the PNP operating license.
DATES: The exemption was issued on November 23, 2021
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0142 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-2021-0142. Address
questions about Dockets 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
[[Page 67731]]
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott P. Wall, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2855; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the exemption is attached.
Dated: November 23, 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Scott P. Wall,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch III, Division of
Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Docket No. 50-255
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.; Palisades Nuclear Plant Exemption
I. Background
The Palisades Nuclear Plant (PNP) is a pressurized-water reactor
located in Van Buren County, Michigan. Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
(Entergy, the licensee) holds Renewed Facility Operating License No.
DPR-20 for PNP. The license provides that the facility is subject to
all rules, regulations, and orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC, the Commission) now or hereafter in effect.
By letter dated January 4, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No. ML17004A062),
as supplemented by letters dated September 28, 2017, and October 19,
2017 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML17271A233 and ML17292A032), the licensee
submitted notification to the NRC indicating that it would permanently
shut down the PNP no later than May 31, 2022. Once Entergy certifies
that it has permanently defueled the PNP reactor vessel and placed the
fuel in the spent fuel pool (SFP), pursuant to Section 50.82(a)(2) of
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), the PNP renewed
facility operating license will no longer authorize operation of the
reactor or emplacement or retention of fuel in the reactor vessel.
However, the licensee will still be authorized to possess, and store
irradiated nuclear fuel. Irradiated fuel is currently being stored
onsite in the SFP and in independent spent fuel storage installation
(ISFSI) dry casks. The irradiated fuel will be stored in the ISFSI
until it is shipped off-site. When the reactor is defueled, the
reactor, the reactor coolant system, and the secondary system will no
longer be in operation and will have no function related to the safe
storage and management of irradiated fuel.
II. Request/Action
By letter dated June 15, 2021 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21167A108),
Entergy submitted a partial exemption request for NRC approval from the
record retention requirements of: (1) 10 CFR part 50, Appendix B,
Criterion XVII, ``Quality Assurance Records,'' which requires certain
records (e.g., results of inspections, tests, and materials analyses)
be maintained consistent with applicable regulatory requirements; (2)
10 CFR 50.59(d)(3), which requires that records of changes in the
facility must be maintained until termination of a license issued
pursuant to 10 CFR part 50; and (3) 10 CFR 50.71(c), which requires
certain records to be retained for the period specified by the
appropriate regulation, license condition, or technical specification
(TS), or retained until termination of the license if not otherwise
specified.
The licensee requested the partial exemptions because it wants to
eliminate: (1) Records associated with structures, systems, and
components (SSCs) and activities that were applicable to the nuclear
unit, which are no longer required by the 10 CFR part 50 licensing
basis because the SSCs and activities have been removed from the
Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR) or TSs by appropriate
change mechanisms; and (2) records associated with the storage of spent
nuclear fuel in the SFP once all fuel has been removed from the SFP and
the PNP license no longer allows storage of fuel in the SFP. The
licensee cites record retention partial exemptions granted to Zion
Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2 (ADAMS Accession No. ML111260277),
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (ADAMS Accession No. ML15344A243),
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1, 2, and 3 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML15355A055), Kewaunee Power Station (ADAMS Accession No.
ML17069A394), Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station (ADAMS Accession
No. ML18122A306), Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station (ADAMS Accession No.
ML19087A152), and Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3
(ADAMS Accession No. ML20236J852) as examples of the NRC granting
similar requests.
Records associated with residual radiological activity and with
programmatic controls necessary to support decommissioning, such as
records associated with security and quality assurance, are not
affected by the partial exemption request; these will be retained as
decommissioning records, as required by 10 CFR part 50, until the
termination of the PNP license. In addition, the licensee did not
request an exemption associated with any other recordkeeping
requirements for the storage of spent fuel at its ISFSI under 10 CFR
part 50 or the general license requirements of 10 CFR part 72. Lastly,
no exemption was requested from the decommissioning records retention
requirements of 10 CFR 50.75 or from any other requirements of 10 CFR
part 50 applicable to decommissioning and dismantlement.
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 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. However, the
Commission will not consider granting an exemption unless special
circumstances, described in 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2), are present.
The licensee plans to leave in place PNP reactor facility SSCs that
are not required for safe storage of SFP and SSCs that are no longer
operable or maintained. These retired SSCs will remain in place until
dismantlement. Following permanent removal of fuel from the SFP, those
SSCs required to support safe storage of spent fuel in the SFP will
also be abandoned. In its June 15, 2021, partial exemption request, the
licensee stated that the basis for eliminating records associated with
reactor facility SSCs and activities is that these SSCs have been or
will be removed from service per regulatory change processes,
dismantled or demolished, and released from any function regulated by
the NRC.
The licensee recognizes that some records related to the nuclear
unit will continue to be under NRC regulation primarily due to residual
radioactivity. The radiological and other necessary programmatic
controls (such as controls for security, quality assurance, etc.) for
the facility and the implementation of controls for the defueled
condition and the decommissioning activities are and
[[Page 67732]]
will continue to be appropriately addressed through the license and
current plant documents such as the UFSAR and TSs. Except for future
changes made through the applicable change processes defined in the
regulations (e.g., 10 CFR 50.48(f), 10 CFR 50.59, 10 CFR 50.90, 10 CFR
50.54(a), 10 CFR 50.54(p), 10 CFR 50.54(q), etc.), these programmatic
elements and their associated records are unaffected by the requested
partial exemption.
Records necessary for SFP SSCs and activities will continue to be
retained until the SFP is no longer needed for safe storage of
irradiated fuel. Analogous to other plant records, once the SFP is
permanently emptied of fuel, there will be no need for retaining SFP
related records.
Entergy's general justification for eliminating records associated
with PNP SSCs that have been or will be dismantled, demolished, or
otherwise removed from service under the NRC license is that these SSCs
will not in the future serve any PNP functions regulated by the NRC.
The decommissioning plans for PNP are described in the Post-Shutdown
Decommissioning Activities Report dated December 23, 2019 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML20358A075) and are contingent on the approval of the
pending license transfer (ADAMS Accession No. ML21011A067). The
proposed decommissioning process involves evaluating SSCs with respect
to the current facility safety analysis; progressively removing them
from the licensing basis where necessary through appropriate change
mechanisms (e.g., without prior NRC approval under 10 CFR 50.59 or via
a license amendment under 10 CFR 50.90, as applicable); revising the
defueled safety analysis report and/or UFSAR as necessary; and then
proceeding with an orderly dismantlement.
Entergy intends to retain the records required by its license as
the facility's decommissioning transitions. However, equipment
abandonment will obviate the regulatory and business needs for
maintenance of most records. As the SSCs are removed from the licensing
basis, Entergy asserts that the need for their records is, on a
practical basis, eliminated. Therefore, Entergy is requesting partial
exemptions from the associated records retention requirements for SSCs
and historical activities that are no longer relevant. Entergy is not
requesting to be exempt from any recordkeeping requirements for storage
of spent fuel at an ISFSI under 10 CFR part 50 or the general license
requirements of 10 CFR part 72.
A. Authorized by Law
As stated above, 10 CFR 50.12 allows the NRC to grant exemptions
from 10 CFR part 50 requirements if it makes certain findings,
including a finding that special circumstances are present. As
described here and in the sections below, the NRC has made the
requisite findings. In addition, granting the licensee's proposed
partial exemptions will not result in a violation of the Atomic Energy
Act of 1954, as amended, other laws, or the Commission's regulations.
Therefore, the granting of the partial exemption from the recordkeeping
requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(c); 10 CFR part 50, Appendix B, Criterion
XVII; and 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3) is authorized by law.
B. No Undue Risk to Public Health and Safety
As SSCs are prepared for safe storage operation activities and
eventual decommissioning and dismantlement, they will be removed from
NRC licensing basis documents through appropriate change mechanisms,
such as without prior NRC approval through the 10 CFR 50.59 screening
process or through a license amendment request approved by the NRC.
These change processes involve either a licensee determination or an
NRC determination that the affected SSCs no longer serve any safety
purpose regulated by the NRC. Therefore, the removal of the SSCs would
not present an undue risk to the public health and safety. In turn,
elimination of records associated with these removed SSCs would not
adversely affect public health and safety.
The granting of a partial exemption from the recordkeeping
requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(c); 10 CFR part 50, Appendix B, Criterion
XVII; and 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3) for the records described is
administrative in nature and will have no impact on any remaining
decommissioning activities or on radiological effluents. The granting
of the partial exemption request will only advance the schedule for
disposition of the specified records. Because these records contain
information about SSCs associated with reactor operation and contain no
information needed to maintain the facility in a safe condition when
the facility is permanently defueled and the SSCs are dismantled, the
elimination of these records on an advanced timetable will have no
reasonable possibility of presenting any undue risk to public health
and safety.
C. Consistent With the Common Defense and Security
The elimination of the recordkeeping requirements does not involve
information or activities that could potentially impact the common
defense and security of the United States. Upon dismantlement of the
affected SSCs, the records would have no functional purpose relative to
maintaining the safe operation of the SSCs, maintaining conditions that
would affect the ongoing health and safety of workers or the public, or
informing decisions related to nuclear security.
Rather, the partial exemptions requested are administrative in
nature in that they would only advance the current schedule for
disposition of the specified records. Therefore, the partial exemption
from the recordkeeping requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(c); 10 CFR part 50,
Appendix B, Criterion XVII; and 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3) for the types of
records described is consistent with the common defense and security.
D. Special Circumstances
Paragraph 50.12(a)(2) of 10 CFR states, in part:
The Commission will not consider granting an exemption unless
special circumstances are present. Special circumstances are present
whenever-- . . . (ii) 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; or (iii)
Compliance would result in undue hardship or other costs that are
significantly in excess of those contemplated when the regulation was
adopted . . . .
Criterion XVII of Appendix B to 10 CFR part 50, states, in part:
``Sufficient records shall be maintained to furnish evidence of
activities affecting quality.''
Paragraph 50.59(d)(3) states, in part: ``The records of changes in
the facility must be maintained until the termination of an operating
license issued under this part . . . .''
Paragraph 50.71(c) of 10 CFR states, in part:
Records that are required by the regulations in this part or part
52 of this chapter, by license condition, or by technical
specifications must be retained for the period specified by the
appropriate regulation, license condition, or technical specification.
If a retention period is not otherwise specified, these records must be
retained until the Commission terminates the facility license . . . .
In the Statement of Considerations for the final rulemaking,
``Retention Periods
[[Page 67733]]
for Records'' (53 FR 19240; May 27, 1988), in response to public
comments received during the rulemaking process, the NRC stated that
records must be retained ``for NRC to ensure compliance with the safety
and health aspects of the nuclear environment and for the NRC to
accomplish its mission to protect the public health and safety.'' The
Commission also explained that requiring licensees to maintain adequate
records assists the NRC ``in judging compliance and noncompliance, to
act on possible noncompliance, and to examine facts as necessary
following any incident.''
These regulations apply to licensees in decommissioning. During the
decommissioning process, safety-related SSCs are retired or disabled
and subsequently removed from NRC licensing basis documents by
appropriate means. Appropriate removal of an SSC from the licensing
basis requires either a licensee or NRC determination that the SSC no
longer has the potential to cause an accident, event, or other problem
which would adversely impact public health and safety.
The records identified for removal in this partial exemption
request are associated with SSCs that had been important to safety
during power operation or operation of the SFP, but are no longer
capable of causing an event, incident, or condition that would
adversely impact public health and safety, as evidenced by their
appropriate removal from the licensing basis documents. Therefore,
because the SSCs no longer have the potential to cause an event,
incident, or condition that would adversely impact public health and
safety, the records associated with these SSCs would not reasonably be
necessary to assist the NRC in determining compliance and
noncompliance, taking action on possible noncompliance, and examining
facts following an incident. Therefore, their retention would not serve
the underlying purpose of the rule.
In addition, once removed from the licensing basis documents (e.g.,
UFSAR or TS), SSCs are no longer governed by the NRC's regulations, and
therefore, are not subject to compliance with the safety and health
requirements that apply to the nuclear environment. As such, retention
of records associated with SSCs that are or will no longer be part of
the facility serves no safety or regulatory purpose, nor does it serve
the underlying purpose of the rule of maintaining compliance with the
safety and health aspects of the nuclear environment and for the NRC to
accomplish its mission. Accordingly, special circumstances are present
which the NRC may consider, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii), to
grant the requested partial exemption.
Records which continue to serve the underlying purpose of the
rule--that is, to maintain compliance and to protect public health and
safety in support of the NRC's mission--will continue to be retained
pursuant to the regulations in 10 CFR part 50 and 10 CFR part 72.
Retained records that are not subject to the proposed partial exemption
include those associated with programmatic controls, such as those
pertaining to residual radioactivity, security, and quality assurance,
as well as records associated with the ISFSI and spent fuel assemblies.
The special circumstance of an unintended, significant undue burden
also justifies the consideration of this exemption. The retention of
records required by 10 CFR 50.71(c); 10 CFR part 50, Appendix B,
Criterion XVII; and 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3) provides assurance that records
associated with SSCs will be captured, indexed, and stored in an
environmentally suitable and retrievable condition. Given the volume of
records associated with the SSCs, compliance with the records retention
rule results in a considerable cost to the licensee. Retention of the
volume of records associated with the SSCs during the operational phase
is appropriate to serve the underlying purpose of determining
compliance and noncompliance, taking action on possible noncompliance,
and examining facts following an incident, as discussed.
However, the cost effect of retaining operational phase records
beyond the operations phase until the termination of the license was
not fully considered or understood when the records retention rule was
put in place. For example, existing records storage facilities are
eliminated as decommissioning progresses. Retaining the capability to
store or maintain records associated with SSCs and activities that no
longer serve a safety or regulatory purpose could therefore result in
an unnecessary financial and administrative burden. As such, compliance
with the rule would result in an undue cost in excess of that
contemplated when the rule was adopted. Accordingly, special
circumstances are present which the NRC may consider, pursuant to 10
CFR 50.12(a)(2)(iii), to grant the partial exemption request.
E. Environmental Considerations
In 10 CFR 51.22, the Commission determined that certain NRC actions
are eligible for categorical exclusion from the requirement to prepare
an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement
because each action category does not individually or cumulative have a
significant effect on the human environment. Pursuant to 10 CFR
51.22(b) and (c)(25), the granting of an exemption from the
requirements of any regulation in Chapter I of 10 CFR meets the
eligibility criteria for categorical exclusion provided that: (1) There
is no significant hazards consideration; (2) there is no significant
change in the types or significant increase in the amounts of any
effluents that may be released offsite; (3) there is no significant
increase in individual or cumulative public or occupational radiation
exposure; (4) there is no significant construction impact; (5) there is
no significant increase in the potential for or consequences from
radiological accidents; and (6) the requirements from which an
exemption is sought involve, as stated in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(vi)(A),
recordkeeping requirements. Under 10 CFR 50.92(c), there is no
significant hazards consideration if the action does not (1) involve a
significant increase in the probability or consequences of an accident
previously evaluated, (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 grant of the partial exemptions requested is administrative in
nature in that it would remove requirements to retain and maintain
certain records until license termination. The grant of partial
exemptions has no effect on SSCs and no effect on the capability of any
plant SSC to perform its design function. The partial exemptions would
not increase the likelihood of the malfunction of any plant SSC. The
probability of occurrence of previously evaluated accidents is not
increased, since most previously analyzed accidents will no longer be
able to occur and the probability and consequences of the remaining
fuel handling accident are unaffected by the partial exemption request.
Therefore, the partial exemptions do not involve a significant increase
in the probability or consequences of an accident previously evaluated.
The grant of partial exemptions does not involve a physical
alteration of the plant. No new or different type of equipment will be
installed and there are no physical modifications to existing equipment
associated with the partial exemption request. Similarly, the partial
exemptions do not authorize any
[[Page 67734]]
physicals changes in any SSCs involved in the mitigation of any
accidents. Thus, no new initiators or precursors of a new or different
kind of accident are created. Furthermore, the partial exemptions do
not create the possibility of a new accident as a result of new failure
modes associated with any equipment or personnel failures. No changes
are being made to parameters within which the plant is normally
operated, or in the setpoints which initiate protective or mitigative
actions, and no new failure modes are being introduced. Therefore, the
partial exemptions do not create the possibility of a new or different
kind of accident from any accident previously evaluated.
The grant of the partial exemptions would not authorize alteration
of the design basis or any safety limits for the plant. The exemptions
would not impact station operation or any plant SSC that is relied upon
for accident mitigation. Therefore, the partial exemptions do not
involve a significant reduction in a margin of safety.
For these reasons, the NRC has determined that approval of the
partial exemptions requested involves no significant hazards
consideration because granting a partial exemption from the
recordkeeping requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(c); 10 CFR part 50, Appendix
B, Criterion XVII; and 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3) at the decommissioning PNP
does not (1) involve a significant increase in the probability or
consequences of an accident previously evaluated, (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. Likewise, 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 because the
exemptions grant relief from recordkeeping requirements for retired
SSCs and activities that are no longer needed after the permanent
defueling of the reactor or the after placement of irradiated nuclear
fuel in dry storage.
The exempted regulations are not associated with construction, so
there is no significant construction impact. The exempted regulations
do not concern the source term (i.e., potential amount of radiation
involved in an accident) or accident mitigation; therefore, there is no
significant increase in the potential for, or consequences from,
radiological accidents. Allowing partial exemptions from the record
retention requirements for which the exemption is sought involves
recordkeeping requirements.
Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b) and 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(i)-
(vi)(A), no environmental impact statement or environmental assessment
need be prepared in connection with the approval of the partial
exemption requests.
IV. Conclusions
The NRC has determined that the granting of a partial exemption
from the recordkeeping (i.e., record retention and maintenance)
requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(c); 10 CFR part 50, Appendix B, Criterion
XVII; and 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3), which will allow the licensee to
discontinue records that are no longer required to support the licensed
activities after permanent cessation of operations or after placement
of irradiated fuel in dry storage, will not present an undue risk to
the public health and safety. The destruction of the identified records
will not impact remaining decommissioning activities; plant operations,
configuration, and/or radiological effluents; operational and/or
installed SSCs that are quality-related or important to safety; or
nuclear security. The NRC staff determined that the destruction of the
identified records is administrative in nature and does not involve
information or activities that could potentially impact the common
defense and security of the United States.
The purpose for the recordkeeping regulations is to assist the NRC
in carrying out its mission to protect the public health and safety by
ensuring that the licensing and design basis of the facility is
understood, documented, preserved and retrievable in such a way that
will aid the NRC in determining compliance and noncompliance, taking
action on possible noncompliance, and examining facts following an
incident. Since the PNP SSCs that were safety-related or important to
safety have been or will be removed from the licensing basis and
removed from the plant, the NRC staff finds that the records identified
in the exemption request will no longer be required to achieve the
underlying purpose of the records retention rule.
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
50.12, the partial 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 Entergy a partial
exemption from the recordkeeping requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(c); 10
CFR part 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVII; and 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3) for PNP
only to the extent necessary to allow the licensee to advance the
schedule to remove records associated with SSCs that have been or will
be removed from NRC licensing basis documents by appropriate change
mechanisms (e.g., 10 CFR 50.59 or via NRC-approved license amendment
request, as applicable).
The exemptions are effective upon submittal of the licensee's
certification of permanent fuel removal, under 10 CFR 50.82(a)(1).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day of November 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
/RA/
Bo M. Pham,
Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing.
[FR Doc. 2021-25948 Filed 11-26-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P