[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 23, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33170-33172]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10974]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-352 and 50-353; NRC-2022-0061]


Constellation Energy Generation, LLC; Limerick Generating 
Station, Units 1 and 2

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: License amendment; partial issuance and denial, opportunity to 
demand a hearing.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued 
amendments to Constellation Energy Generation, LLC (Constellation, the 
licensee) for Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-39 and NPF-85 
for operation of the Limerick Generating Station, Units 1 and 2 
(Limerick), located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. These 
amendments revise a license condition in each license to allow the use 
of an alternative seismic approach to categorizing structures, systems, 
and components in the licensee's application of NRC regulations. The 
NRC has also denied Constellation's request for amendments to Renewed 
Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-39 and NPF-85 for operation of 
Limerick to allow proposed alternative defense-in-depth and pressure 
boundary component processes for categorizing structures, systems, and 
components in the licensee's application of NRC regulations.

DATES: A demand for an adjudicatory hearing with respect to the denial 
must be filed by June 12, 2023. Under paragraph 2.307(a) of title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), the applicant may request an 
extension of this time limit if it can show good cause.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0061 when contacting the

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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-2022-0061. 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.
     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 
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Audrey Klett, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-0489, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Partial License Amendment Issuance Discussion

    The NRC has issued Constellation Energy Generation, LLC 
(Constellation, the licensee) amendments to Renewed Facility Operating 
License Nos. NPF-39 and NPF-85 for operation of the Limerick Generating 
Station, Units 1 and 2, located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. A 
publicly available version of the NRC staff's Safety Evaluation is 
available in ADAMS under Package Accession No. ML23090A163. Documents 
related to these amendments are listed in the Safety Evaluation 
enclosed with the amendment. The amendments were effective as of the 
date of their issuance, to be implemented within 60 days.
    The amendments revise a license condition in each license to allow 
the use of an alternative seismic approach to categorizing structures, 
systems, and components in the licensee's application of 10 CFR 50.69.
    The application for the amendments complies, in part, with the 
standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended 
(the Act), and the Commission's rules and regulations. The Commission 
has made appropriate findings, as required by the Act and the 
Commission's rules and regulations in 10 CFR chapter I, which are set 
forth in the license amendment.
    A Notice of Consideration of Issuance of Amendment and Proposed No 
Significant Hazards Consideration Determination and Opportunity for 
Hearing in connection with this action was published in the Federal 
Register on August 10, 2021 (86 FR 43686), as amended by notices dated 
February 22, 2022 (87 FR 9647), and March 18, 2022 (87 FR 15458). No 
request for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene was filed 
following each notice.
    The Commission has determined that these amendments satisfy the 
criteria for categorical exclusion in accordance with 10 CFR 51.22. 
Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact 
statement or environmental assessment need be prepared for this 
amendment.

II. Partial Denial of License Amendment Discussion

    The NRC has partially denied a request by Constellation Energy 
Generation, LLC dated March 11, 2021, as supplemented by letters dated 
May 5, 2021, December 15, 2021, February 14, 2022, and June 30, 2022 
(ADAMS Accession Nos. ML21070A412, ML21125A215, ML21349B364, 
ML22045A480, and ML22182A400, respectively), to amend Renewed Facility 
Operating License Nos. NPF-39 and NPF-85 for operation of the Limerick 
Generating Station, Units 1 and 2. Specifically, the licensee requested 
to use proposed alternative defense-in-depth and pressure boundary 
component processes for categorizing structures, systems, and 
components in the licensee's application of 10 CFR 50.69.
    As previously stated, a Notice of Consideration of Issuance of 
Amendment and Proposed No Significant Hazards Consideration 
Determination and Opportunity for Hearing in connection with this 
action was published in the Federal Register on August 10, 2021 (86 FR 
43686), as amended by notices dated February 22, 2022 (87 FR 9647), and 
March 18, 2022 (87 FR 15458). No request for a hearing or petition for 
leave to intervene was filed following each notice.
    The NRC staff has advised the licensee that these aspects of the 
proposed amendments are denied because the proposed defense-in-depth 
and pressure boundary categorization processes do not meet 10 CFR 
50.69. The NRC staff's Safety Evaluation (ADAMS Package Accession No. 
ML23094A179) explains the nature of any deficiencies and the reason for 
the denial.
    The licensee was notified of the Commission's denial of the 
proposed change by a letter dated May 17, 2023 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML23089A124).

III. Opportunity To Demand a Hearing

    Under 10 CFR 2.103(b)(2), within 20 days after the date of 
publication of this notice, the applicant may demand an adjudicatory 
hearing with respect to the denial previously described. Under 10 CFR 
2.307(a), the applicant may request an extension of this time limit if 
the applicant can show good cause.
    A demand for a hearing must be filed in accordance with 10 CFR part 
2, ``Agency rules of practice and procedure,'' which is accessible 
electronically on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr. Generally, a demand for a hearing 
should explain why the applicant believes that the NRC denied its 
application in error and why the applicant believes that the 
application does, in fact, satisfy the requirements.

IV. Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)

    A demand for a hearing must also be filed in accordance with the 
NRC's E-Filing rule at 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

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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 demand for a 
hearing (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.
    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 time-stamps 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 a.m. 
and 6 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 amendments dated March 11, 2021, as supplemented by 
letters dated May 5, 2021, December 15, 2021, February 14, 2022, and 
June 30, 2022 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML21070A412, ML21125A215, 
ML21349B364, ML22045A480, and ML22182A400, respectively).

    Dated: May 17, 2023.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Audrey L. Klett,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch I, Division of Operating 
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2023-10974 Filed 5-22-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P