[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 3, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 418-422]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28909]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-255; NRC-2023-0193]
Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC and Holtec Palisades,
LLC; Palisades Nuclear Plant; Exemption
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued an
exemption in response to a request from Holtec Decommissioning
International, LLC (HDI), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Holtec
International, that would allow HDI and Holtec Palisades, LLC, to
reduce the minimum coverage limit for onsite property damage insurance
from $1.06 billion to $50 million for the Palisades Nuclear Plant.
DATES: The exemption was issued on December 21, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0193 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-2023-0193. 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
[[Page 419]]
``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, at 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: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. 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: Tanya E. Hood, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-1387; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the exemption is attached.
Dated: December 28, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Tanya E. Hood,
Project Manager, 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. 50-255
Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC, and Holtec Palisades, LLC;
Palisades Nuclear Plant, Exemption
I. Background
By letter dated October 19, 2017 (Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System Accession No. ML17292A032), Entergy Nuclear
Operations, Inc. (ENOI) certified to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC, or Commission) that it planned to permanently cease
power operations at the Palisades Nuclear Plant (Palisades) no later
than May 31, 2022. On May 20, 2022, ENOI permanently ceased power
operations at Palisades, and by letter dated June 13, 2022
(ML22164A067), ENOI certified to the NRC that the fuel was permanently
removed from the Palisades reactor vessel and placed in the spent fuel
pool (SFP) on June 10, 2022. Accordingly, pursuant to paragraphs
50.82(a)(2) of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
the 10 CFR part 50 renewed facility operating license for Palisades no
longer authorizes operation of the reactor or emplacement or retention
of fuel in the reactor vessel. The facility is still authorized to
possess, and store irradiated (i.e., spent) nuclear fuel. Palisades
spent fuel is currently stored in the SFP and in dry cask storage at
the independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI).
II. Request/Action
By letter dated October 26, 2022 (ML22299A062), Holtec
Decommissioning International, LLC (HDI), one of the licensees of
Palisades and an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Holtec
International (Holtec), requested an exemption on behalf of Holtec
Palisades, LLC, the other Palisades licensee, from 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1)
concerning onsite liability insurance. HDI and Holtec Palisades, LLC,
are hereafter collectively referred to as the licensee. The exemption
from 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) would permit the licensee to reduce the
required level of onsite property damage insurance from $1.06 billion
to $50 million for Palisades.
The regulation at 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) requires licensees to have and
maintain onsite property damage insurance to stabilize and
decontaminate the reactor and reactor site in the event of an accident.
The onsite insurance coverage must be either $1.06 billion or whatever
amount of insurance is generally available from private sources
(whichever is less).
The licensee states that the risk of an incident at a permanently
shutdown and defueled reactor is much less than the risk from an
operating power reactor. In addition, since reactor operation is no
longer authorized at Palisades, there are no events that would require
the stabilization of reactor conditions after an accident. Similarly,
the risk of an accident that would result in significant onsite
contamination at Palisades is also much lower than the risk of such an
event at operating reactors. Therefore, the licensee requested an
exemption from 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) to reduce its onsite property damage
insurance from $1.06 billion to $50 million, commensurate with the
reduced risk of an incident at the permanently shutdown and defueled
Palisades site.
III. Discussion
Under 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 (1) 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; and (2) any of the
special circumstances listed in 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2) are present.
The financial protection limits of 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) were
established after the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 2
accident out of concern that licensees may be unable to financially
cover onsite cleanup costs in the event of a major nuclear accident.
The specified $1.06 billion coverage amount requirement was developed
based on an analysis of an accident at a nuclear reactor operating at
power, resulting in a large fission product release and requiring
significant resource expenditures to stabilize the reactor and
ultimately decontaminate and cleanup the site.
These cost estimates were developed based on the spectrum of
postulated accidents for an operating nuclear reactor. Those costs were
derived from the consequences of a release of radioactive material from
the reactor. Although the risk of an accident at an operating reactor
is very low, the consequences onsite and offsite can be significant. In
an operating plant, the high temperature and pressure of the reactor
coolant system (RCS) and the inventory of relatively short-lived
radionuclides contribute to both the risk and consequences of an
accident. With the permanent cessation of reactor operations at
Palisades and the permanent removal of the fuel from the reactor
vessel, such accidents are no longer possible. As a result, the reactor
vessel, RCS, and supporting systems no longer operate and have no
function related to the storage of the irradiated fuel. Therefore,
postulated accidents involving failure or malfunction of the reactor,
RCS, or supporting systems are no longer applicable.
During reactor decommissioning, the largest radiological risks are
associated with the storage of spent fuel onsite. In the exemption
request dated October 26, 2022, the licensee discussed both design-
basis and beyond design-basis events involving irradiated fuel stored
in the SFP. The licensee determined that there are no possible design-
basis events at Palisades that could result in an offsite radiological
release exceeding the limits established by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's (EPA) early phase Protective Action Guides (PAGs)
of 1 roentgen equivalent man (rem) at the exclusion area boundary, as a
way to demonstrate that any possible radiological releases would be
minimal and would not require precautionary protective actions (e.g.,
sheltering in place or evacuation).
[[Page 420]]
The NRC staff evaluated the radiological consequences associated
with various decommissioning activities and the design-basis accidents
(DBAs) at Palisades in consideration of a permanently shutdown and
defueled condition. The possible DBA scenarios at Palisades have
greatly reduced radiological consequences. Based on its review, the NRC
staff concluded that no reasonably conceivable DBA exists that could
cause an offsite release greater than the EPA PAGs.
The only incident that has the potential to lead to a significant
radiological release at a decommissioning reactor is a zirconium fire.
The zirconium fire scenario is a postulated, but highly unlikely,
beyond DBA scenario that involves loss of water inventory from the SFP
resulting in a significant heatup of the spent fuel and culminating in
substantial zirconium cladding oxidation and fuel damage. The
probability of a zirconium fire scenario is related to the decay heat
of the irradiated fuel stored in the SFP. Therefore, the risks from a
zirconium fire scenario continue to decrease as a function of the time
since Palisades has been permanently shutdown.
The Commission has previously authorized a lesser amount of onsite
financial protection based on this analysis of the zirconium fire risk.
In SECY-96-256, ``Changes to Financial Protection Requirements for
Permanently Shutdown Nuclear Power Reactors, 10 CFR 50.54(w) and 10 CFR
140.11,'' dated December 17, 1996 (ML15062A483), the NRC staff
recommended changes to the power reactor financial protection
regulations that would allow licensees to lower onsite insurance levels
to $50 million upon demonstration that the fuel stored in the SFP can
be air-cooled. In its Staff Requirements Memorandum to SECY-96-256,
dated January 28, 1997 (ML15062A454), the Commission supported the NRC
staff's recommendation that, among other things, would allow
permanently shutdown power reactor licensees to reduce commercial
onsite property damage insurance coverage to $50 million when the
licensee was able to demonstrate the technical criterion that the spent
fuel could be air-cooled if the SFP was drained of water.
The NRC staff has used this technical criterion to grant similar
exemptions to other decommissioning reactors (e.g., Pilgrim Nuclear
Power Station, published in the Federal Register on January 14, 2020
(85 FR 2153); Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1, published in
the Federal Register on March 26, 2021 (86 FR 16241); and Duane Arnold
Energy Center, published in the Federal Register on May 18, 2021 (86 FR
26946)). These prior exemptions were based on these licensees
demonstrating that the SFP could be air-cooled, consistent with the
technical criterion discussed above.
In its October 26, 2022 request, the licensee compared Palisades
fuel storage parameters with those used in NRC generic evaluations of
fuel cooling included in NUREG/CR-6451, ``A Safety and Regulatory
Assessment of Generic BWR [Boiling-Water Reactor] and PWR [Pressurized-
Water Reactor] Permanently Shutdown Nuclear Power Plants,'' dated
August 1997 (ML082260098). The analysis described in NUREG/CR-6451
determined that natural air circulation would adequately cool fuel that
has decayed for 17 months after operation in a typical PWR. The
licensee compared the post-shutdown fuel storage conditions with those
assumed for the analysis presented in NUREG/CR-6451.
In SECY-00-0145, ``Integrated Rulemaking Plan for Nuclear Power
Plant Decommissioning,'' dated June 28, 2000, and SECY-01-0100,
``Policy Issues Related to Safeguards, Insurance, and Emergency
Preparedness Regulations at Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants
Storing Fuel in Spent Fuel Pools,'' dated June 4, 2001 (ML003721626 and
ML011450420, respectively), the NRC staff discussed additional
information concerning SFP zirconium fire risks at decommissioning
reactors and associated implications for onsite property damage
insurance. Providing an analysis of when the spent fuel stored in the
SFP is capable of air-cooling is one measure that can be used to
demonstrate that the probability of a zirconium fire is exceedingly
low. However, the NRC staff has more recently used an additional
analysis that bounds an incomplete drain down of the SFP water, or some
other catastrophic event (such as a complete drainage of the SFP with
rearrangement of spent fuel rack geometry and/or the addition of rubble
to the SFP). The analysis postulates that decay heat transfer from the
spent fuel via conduction, convection, or radiation would be impeded.
This analysis is often referred to as an adiabatic heatup.
In its exemption dated October 26, 2022, the licensee stated, and
the NRC staff confirmed, that the bounding analyses for the Palisades
SFP for beyond design basis events demonstrate that 12 months after
shutdown of Palisades a minimum of 10 hours is available before the
fuel cladding temperature of the hottest fuel assembly in the SFP
reaches 900 [deg]C with a complete loss of SFP water inventory. This
analysis, ``Holtec Spent Fuel Pool Calculations,'' dated July 8, 2022,
[non-public] was submitted as Attachment 1 by the licensee in support
of the letter dated July 11, 2022 (ML22192A134), in which the licensee
requested exemptions from specific portions of 10 CFR 50.47 and
appendix E to 10 CFR part 50 for the Palisades license.
As stated in NUREG-1738, ``Technical Study of Spent Fuel Pool
Accident Risk at Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants,'' dated February
2001 (ML010430066), 900 [deg]C is an acceptable temperature to use for
assessing the onset of fission product release, where the SFP is
drained and air cooling is not possible; at least 10 hours would be
available from the time spent fuel cooling is lost until the hottest
fuel assembly reaches a temperature of 900 [deg]C. The 10-hour
criterion, conservatively, does not consider the time to uncover the
fuel and assumes instantaneous loss of cooling to the fuel. The 10-hour
time period is also not intended to represent the time that it would
take to repair all key safety systems or to repair a large SFP breach.
The 10-hour criterion is a conservative period of time in which pre-
planned mitigation measures to provide makeup water or spray to the SFP
can be reliably implemented before the onset of a zirconium cladding
ignition. In addition, in the unlikely event that a release is
projected to occur, 10 hours would provide sufficient time for offsite
agencies, if deemed warranted, to take appropriate action to protect
the health and safety of the public.
In the NRC staff's evaluation contained in SECY-23-0043, ``Request
by Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC for Exemptions from
Certain Emergency Planning Requirements for Palisades Nuclear Plant,''
dated May 15, 2023 (ML23054A179), the NRC staff assessed the licensee's
accident analyses associated with the radiological risks from a
zirconium fire at a permanently shutdown and defueled Palisades after
12 months of fuel decay. For the highly unlikely beyond design-basis
accident scenario where the SFP coolant inventory is lost in such a
manner that all methods of heat removal from the spent fuel are no
longer available, the NRC staff found that there will be a minimum of
10 hours from the initiation of the accident until the cladding reaches
a temperature where offsite radiological release might occur. The NRC
staff finds that 10 hours is sufficient time to support deployment of
mitigation equipment, consistent with
[[Page 421]]
plant conditions, to prevent the zirconium cladding from reaching a
point of rapid oxidation. As a result, the likelihood that such a
scenario would progress to a zirconium fire is deemed not credible.
However, the NRC staff has postulated that there is still a
potential for other radiological incidents at a decommissioning reactor
that could result in significant onsite contamination besides a
zirconium fire. In SECY-96-256, the NRC staff cited the rupture of a
large, contaminated liquid storage tank (~450,000 gallons) causing soil
contamination and potential groundwater contamination as the costliest
postulated event to decontaminate and remediate (other than an SFP
zirconium fire). The postulated large liquid radiological waste storage
tank rupture event was determined to have a bounding onsite cleanup
cost of approximately $50 million. Therefore, the NRC staff determined
that the licensee's proposal to reduce onsite insurance to a level of
$50 million would be consistent with the bounding cleanup and
decontamination cost, as discussed in SECY-96-256, to account for the
postulated rupture of a large liquid radiological waste tank at the
Palisades site, should such an event occur.
The NRC staff has determined that the licensee's proposed reduction
in onsite property damage insurance coverage to a level of $50 million
is consistent with SECY-96-256 and subsequent insurance considerations
resulting from additional zirconium fire risks as discussed in SECY-00-
0145 and SECY-01-0100, as well as NUREG/CR-6451 and NUREG-1738. In
addition, the NRC staff notes that similar exemptions have been granted
to other permanently shutdown and defueled power reactors, upon
demonstration that the criterion of the zirconium fire risks from the
irradiated fuel stored in the SFP is of negligible concern.
A. The Exemption Is Authorized by Law
The requested exemption from 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) would allow the
licensee to reduce the minimum coverage limit for onsite property
damage insurance. As stated above, 10 CFR 50.12 allows the NRC to grant
exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 50 when the exemptions
are authorized by law.
As explained above, the NRC staff has determined that the
licensee's proposed reduction in onsite property damage insurance
coverage to a level of $50 million is consistent with SECY-96-256.
Moreover, the NRC staff concluded that 12 months after the permanent
cessation of power operations, sufficient irradiated fuel decay time
will have elapsed at Palisades to decrease the probability of an onsite
and offsite radiological release from a postulated zirconium fire
accident to negligible levels. In addition, the licensee's proposal to
reduce onsite insurance to a level of $50 million is consistent with
the maximum estimated cleanup costs for the recovery from the rupture
of a large liquid radiological waste storage tank.
The NRC staff has determined that granting the licensee's proposed
exemption will not result in a violation of the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended, or the Commission's regulations. Therefore, based on
its review of the licensee's exemption request as discussed above, and
consistent with SECY-96-256, the NRC staff concludes that the exemption
is authorized by law.
B. The Exemption Presents No Undue Risk to the Public Health and Safety
The onsite property damage insurance requirements of 10 CFR
50.54(w)(1) were established to provide financial assurance that
following a significant nuclear incident, onsite conditions could be
stabilized and the site decontaminated. The requirements of 10 CFR
50.54(w)(1) and the existing level of onsite insurance coverage for
Palisades are predicated on the assumption that the reactor is
operating. However, Palisades was permanently shut down on May 20,
2022, and defueled on June 10, 2022. The permanently shutdown and
defueled status of the facility results in a significant reduction in
the number and severity of potential accidents and, correspondingly, a
significant reduction in the potential for and severity of onsite
property damage. The proposed reduction in the amount of onsite
insurance coverage does not impact the probability or consequences of
potential accidents. The proposed level of insurance coverage is
commensurate with the reduced consequences of potential nuclear
accidents at Palisades. Therefore, the NRC staff concludes that
granting the requested exemption will not present an undue risk to the
health and safety of the public.
C. The Exemption Is Consistent With the Common Defense and Security
The proposed exemption would not eliminate any requirements
associated with physical protection of the site and would not adversely
affect the licensee's ability to physically secure the site or protect
special nuclear material. Physical security measures at Palisades are
not affected by the requested exemption. Therefore, the proposed
exemption is consistent with the common defense and security.
D. Special Circumstances
Special circumstances, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii),
are present whenever application of the regulation in the particular
circumstances is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the
regulation. The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) is to provide
reasonable assurance that adequate funds will be available to stabilize
reactor conditions and cover onsite cleanup costs associated with site
decontamination following an accident that results in the release of a
significant amount of radiological material. Since Palisades
permanently shut down on May 20, 2022, and defueled on June 10, 2022,
it is no longer possible for the radiological consequences of DBAs or
other credible events at Palisades to exceed the limits of the EPA PAGs
at the exclusion area boundary.
The licensee has evaluated the consequences of highly unlikely,
beyond-design-basis conditions involving a loss of inventory from the
SFP. The analyses show that 12 months after the permanent cessation of
power operations on May 20, 2022, the likelihood of such an event
leading to a large radiological release is negligible. The NRC staff's
evaluation of the licensee's analyses confirms this conclusion.
The NRC staff also finds that the licensee's proposed $50 million
level of onsite insurance is consistent with the bounding cleanup and
decontamination cost as discussed in SECY-96-256 to account for the
hypothetical rupture of a large liquid radiological waste tank at the
Palisades site should such an event occur. Therefore, the NRC staff
concludes that the application of the current requirements in 10 CFR
50.54(w)(1) to maintain $1.06 billion in onsite insurance coverage is
not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule for the
permanently shutdown and defueled Palisades reactor.
Under 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(iii), special circumstances are present
whenever compliance would result in undue hardship or other costs that
are significantly in excess of those contemplated when the regulation
was adopted, or that are significantly in excess of those incurred by
others similarly situated.
The NRC staff concludes that if the licensee was required to
continue to maintain an onsite insurance level of
[[Page 422]]
$1.06 billion, the associated insurance premiums would be in excess of
those necessary and commensurate with the radiological contamination
risks posed by the site. In addition, such insurance levels would be
significantly in excess of other decommissioning reactor facilities
that have been granted similar exemptions by the NRC.
The NRC staff finds that compliance with the existing rule would
result in an undue hardship or other costs that are significantly in
excess of those contemplated when the regulation was adopted and are
significantly in excess of those incurred by others similarly situated.
Therefore, the special circumstances required by 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii)
and 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(iii) exist.
E. Environmental Considerations
The NRC's approval of an exemption from insurance or indemnity
requirements belongs to a category of actions that the Commission, by
rule or regulation, has declared to be a categorical exclusion after
first finding that the category of actions does not individually or
cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment.
Specifically, the exemption is categorically excluded from the
requirement to prepare an environmental assessment or environmental
impact statement in accordance with 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25).
Under 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25), granting of an exemption from the
requirements of any regulation of Chapter I to 10 CFR is a categorical
exclusion provided that: (i) there is no significant hazards
consideration; (ii) there is no significant change in the types or
significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may be
released offsite; (iii) there is no significant increase in individual
or cumulative public or occupational radiation exposure; (iv) there is
no significant construction impact; (v) there is no significant
increase in the potential for or consequences from radiological
accidents; and (vi) the requirements from which an exemption is sought
involve surety, insurance, or indemnity requirements.
As the Director of the Division of Decommissioning, Uranium
Recovery, and Waste Programs in the NRC's Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards, I have determined that approval of the exemption
request involves no significant hazards consideration, as defined in 10
CFR 50.92, because reducing the licensee's onsite property damage
insurance for Palisades 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 exempted financial protection
regulation is unrelated to the operation of Palisades or site
activities. Accordingly, 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. The exempted
regulation is not associated with construction so there is no
significant construction impact. The exempted regulation does not
concern the source term (i.e., potential amount of radiation in an
accident) nor any activities conducted at the site. Therefore, there is
no significant increase in the potential for, or consequences of, a
radiological accident. In addition, there would be no significant
impacts to biota, water resources, historic properties, cultural
resources, or socioeconomic conditions in the region resulting from
issuance of the requested exemption. The requirement for onsite
property damage insurance involves surety, insurance, and indemnity
matters only.
Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b) and 51.22(c)(25), no
environmental impact statement or environmental assessment need be
prepared in connection with the approval of this exemption request.
IV. Conclusions
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
50.12(a), the exemption is authorized by law, will not present an undue
risk to the public health and safety, and is consistent with the common
defense and security. Also, special circumstances are present as set
forth in 10 CFR 50.12.
Therefore, the Commission hereby grants Holtec Palisades and HDI an
exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) for Palisades.
Palisades permanently ceased power operations on May 20, 2022. The
exemption permits Palisades to lower the minimum required onsite
insurance to $50 million 12 months after permanent cessation of power
operations, which was May 20, 2023. Because this period had already
elapsed, the exemption is effective upon issuance.
Dated this 21st day of December, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jane Marshall,
Director, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium, Recovery, and Waste
Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2023-28909 Filed 1-2-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P