[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 234 (Wednesday, December 7, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75074-75077]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-26510]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-003, 50-247, and 50-286; NRC-2022-0203]


Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC, Holtec Indian Point 2, 
LLC and Holtec Indian Point 3, LLC; Indian Point Nuclear Generating 
Unit Nos. 1, 2, and 3

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
issuance of an amendment to Provisional Operating License No. DPR-5, 
and Renewed Facility License Nos. DPR-26 and DPR-64, issued to Holtec 
Decommissioning International, LLC, on behalf of Holtec Indian Point 2, 
LLC and Holtec Indian Point 3, LLC, for Indian Point Nuclear Generating 
Unit Nos. 1, 2, and 3, collectively referred to as the Indian Point 
Energy Center. The proposed amendment would remove the Cyber Security 
Plan requirements contained in License Condition 3.d of the Indian 
Point Unit 1 Provisional License, License Condition 2.H of the Indian 
Point Unit 2 Renewed Facility License, and License Condition 2.G of the 
Indian Point Unit 3 Renewed Facility License to reflect the cyber 
security requirements associated with decommissioning power reactors.

DATES: Submit comments by January 6, 2023. Requests for a hearing or 
petition for leave to intervene must be filed by February 6, 2023.

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-2022-0203. 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 FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karl Sturzebecher, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-8534, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0203 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-2022-0203.
     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

[[Page 75075]]

``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 
license amendment request is available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML22140A126.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make 
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[email protected].or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 
8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2022-0203 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 Provisional 
Operating License No. DPR-5, and Renewed Facility License Nos. DPR-26 
and DPR-64 for Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 1, 2, and 3 
located in Westchester County, New York. The license amendment request 
proposes to remove the Cyber Security Plan (CSP) requirements from the 
licenses for the three reactor units at the Indian Point Energy Center 
(IPEC) to reflect the NRC guidance associated with cyber security 
requirements for decommissioning power reactors.
    To support the decommissioning of IPEC, the proposed revisions 
would remove the cyber security requirements from the Indian Point 
Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 1, 2, and 3 license conditions prior to 
the completion of the transfer of spent fuel from the Indian Point Unit 
2 (IP2) and Indian Point Unit 3 (IP3) spent fuel pools (SFPs) to dry 
storage within the onsite independent spent fuel storage installation 
(ISFSI). The licensee's request considers the cooling period for spent 
fuel stored in the SFPs after the IP2 and IP3 reactors permanently shut 
down. Removal of the CSP requirements from the licenses for the three 
reactor units at IPEC would align with the reduced risks for a nuclear 
power facility that has permanently ceased operations and removed all 
fuel from the reactor vessel, and where the spent fuel has had 
sufficient time to cool down such that the spent fuel stored in the 
SFPs cannot reasonably heat-up to clad ignition temperature within 10 
hours.
    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 NRC's 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 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 as follows:

    1. Does the proposed amendment involve a significant increase in 
the probability or consequences of an accident previously evaluated?
    Response: No.
    All power operations at IPEC have ceased and all spent fuel has 
been removed from the IP1, IP2, and IP3 reactor vessels. All fuel 
has been removed from the IP1 SFP, and the IP1 SFP is no longer used 
to store fuel. Spent fuel at IPEC will be stored either in the IP2 
SFP, the IP3 SFP, or ISFSI. Therefore, the spectrum of possible 
transients and accidents at IP1, IP2, and IP3 is significantly 
reduced compared to an operating nuclear power reactor.
    The only design basis accident (DBA) that could potentially 
result in an offsite radiological release at IPEC is a fuel handling 
accident (FHA) involving spent fuel stored in the IP2 SFP or IP3 
SFP. An analysis indicates that after a decay time of 15 months 
following permanent cessation of power operations of each unit, 
there is no longer any possibility of an offsite radiological 
release from a DBA that could exceed the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency's (EPA's) Protection Action Guides (PAGs). With 
this significant reduction in radiological risk based on the IP1, 
IP2, and IP3 reactors being shut down for more than 15 months, the 
consequences of a cyber-attack are also significantly reduced.
    Additionally, per an NRC Memorandum dated December 5, 2016, 
(ADAMS No. ML16172A285) ``Cyber Security Requirements for 
Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants,'' the NRC staff determined 
that 10 CFR 73.54, ``Protection of digital computer and 
communication systems and networks,'' does not apply to reactor 
licensees that have submitted certifications of permanent cessation 
of power operations and permanent removal of fuel under 10 CFR 
50.82(a)(1), and whose certifications have been docketed by the NRC 
as required by 10 CFR 50.82(a)(2). The IP1 reactor has transferred 
all spent fuel to the ISFSI and drained the SFP. The IP2 and IP3 
certifications were submitted and docketed in accordance with 10 CFR 
50.82(a)(1) and 10 CFR 50.82(a)(2), respectively, after all fuel was 
moved to the IP2 SFP and IP3 SFP, respectively.
    The bounding analyses for the IP2 and IP3 SFPs for beyond design 
basis events demonstrate that 15 months after shutdown of IP3 a 
minimum of 10 hours is available before the fuel cladding 
temperature of the hottest fuel assembly in SFP reaches 900[deg]C 
with a complete loss of SFP water inventory. The site-specific 
analysis determined that sufficient time will have passed prior to 
the requested implementation date for these license amendments such 
that the spent fuel stored in the IP2 SFP or IP3 SFP cannot 
reasonably heat-up to clad ignition temperature within 10 hours.
    This proposed change does not alter previously evaluated 
accident analysis assumptions, introduce or alter any initiators, or 
affect the function of facility structures, systems, and components 
(SSCs) relied upon to prevent or mitigate any previously evaluated 
accident or the manner in which these SSCs are operated, maintained, 
modified, tested, or inspected. The proposed change does not involve 
any facility modifications which affect the performance capability 
of any SSCs relied upon to prevent or mitigate the consequences of 
any previously evaluated accidents.
    Therefore, the proposed change does not involve a significant 
increase in the probability or consequences of an accident 
previously evaluated.
    2. Does the proposed amendment create the possibility of a new 
or different kind of accident from any accident previously 
evaluated?
    Response: No.
    This proposed change does not alter accident analysis 
assumptions, introduce or

[[Page 75076]]

alter any initiators, or affect the function of facility SSCs relied 
upon to prevent or mitigate any previously evaluated accident, or 
the manner in which these SSCs are operated, maintained, modified, 
tested, or inspected. The proposed change does not involve any 
facility modifications which affect the performance capability of 
any SSCs relied upon to mitigate the consequences of previously 
evaluated accidents and does not create the possibility of a new or 
different kind of accident from any accident previously evaluated.
    Therefore, the proposed change does not create the possibility 
of a new or different kind of accident from any previously 
evaluated.
    3. Does the proposed amendment involve a significant reduction 
in a margin of safety?
    Response: No.
    Plant safety margins are established through limiting conditions 
for operation and design features specified in the IP1, IP2, and IP3 
Permanently Defueled Technical Specifications that were approved for 
IP1 on April 14, 2021, IP2 on April 28, 2020, and IP3 on April 22, 
2021, and amended on May 28, 2021. The proposed change does not 
involve any changes to the initial conditions that establish safety 
margins and does not involve modifications to any SSCs which are 
relied upon to provide a margin of safety. Because there is no 
change to established safety margins as a result of this proposed 
change, no significant reduction in a margin of safety is involved.
    Therefore, the proposed change does not involve a significant 
reduction in a margin of safety.

    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 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 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 
derating or shutdown of the facility. 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 
person (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 10 CFR 
2.309. If a petition is filed, the presiding officer will rule on the 
petition and, if appropriate, a notice of a hearing will be issued.
    Petitions must be filed no later than 60 days from the date of 
publication of this notice in accordance with the filing instructions 
in the ``Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)'' section of this document. 
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).
    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, which 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 
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 designated agency thereof, may submit a petition to the 
Commission to participate as a party under 10 CFR 2.309(h) no later 
than 60 days from the date of publication of this notice. 
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).
    For information about filing a petition and about participation by 
a person not a party under 10 CFR 2.315, see ADAMS Accession No. 
ML20340A053 (https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionNumber=ML20340A053) and on the NRC's public website 
at https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/adjudicatory/hearing.html#participate.

IV. Electronic Submissions and E-Filing

    All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings including 
documents filed by an interested State, local governmental body, 
Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or designated agency thereof that 
requests to participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302. 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, 
unless an exemption permitting an alternative filing method, as further 
discussed, is granted. Detailed guidance on electronic submissions is 
located in the ``Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC'' 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML13031A056) and on the NRC's public website at 
https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
    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 proceeding if the 
Secretary has not already established an electronic docket.

[[Page 75077]]

    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. After a digital ID certificate is 
obtained and a docket created, the participant must submit adjudicatory 
documents in Portable Document Format. Guidance on 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. ET on the due date. Upon receipt of a 
transmission, the E-Filing system timestamps the document and sends the 
submitter an email confirming receipt of the document. The E-Filing 
system also distributes an email 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 to 
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 9:00 
a.m. and 6:00 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Participants who believe that they have 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 in accordance with 10 CFR 
2.302(b)-(d). Participants filing adjudicatory documents in this manner 
are responsible for serving their documents on all other participants. 
Participants granted an exemption under 10 CFR 2.302(g)(2) must still 
meet the electronic formatting requirement in 10 CFR 2.302(g)(1), 
unless the participant also seeks and is granted an exemption from 10 
CFR 2.302(g)(1).
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the 
NRC's electronic hearing docket, which is publicly available at https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the 
presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued digital ID 
certificate as previously described, 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 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. 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 
should not include copyrighted materials in their submission.
    For further details with respect to this action, see the 
application for license amendment dated May 20, 2022 (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML22140A126).
    Attorney for Licensee: Erin Connolly, Corporate Counsel--Legal, 
Holtec International, Krishna P. Singh Technology Campus, 1 Holtec 
Blvd., Camden, NJ 08104.
    NRC Branch Chief: Shaun M. Anderson.

    Dated: December 1, 2022.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jack D. Parrott,
Acting Chief, Reactor Decommissioning Branch, Division of 
Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and Waste Programs, Office of 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2022-26510 Filed 12-6-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P