[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 3, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23075-23076]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07010]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-238; NRC-2024-0060]
United States Maritime Administration; Nuclear Ship Savannah;
License Termination Plan
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Public meeting and request for comment.
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SUMMARY: On October 23, 2023, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) received from the United States Maritime Administration (MARAD,
the licensee) a license amendment request to include a License
Termination Plan (LTP) for the Nuclear Ship Savannah (NS Savannah). The
LTP provides details about the known radiological information for the
ship, the planned demolition and decommissioning tasks to be completed,
and the final radiological surveys and data that must be obtained for
termination of the NRC's license for NS Savannah. The NRC is requesting
public comments on NS Savannah's LTP and will hold a public meeting to
discuss the LTP.
DATES: The public meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, from
6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., eastern time (ET), onboard the NS Savannah,
online, or by phone. The NS Savannah is located at Pier 13 Canton
Marine Terminal, 4601 Newgate Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21124. The public
meeting is also available through an online webinar. See Section III
``Request for Comment and Public Meeting'' of this document for
additional information. Submit comments by June 3, 2024. Comments
received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do
so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments
received on or before this date.
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-2024-0060. 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 additional direction on obtaining information and submitting
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
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:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0060 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-2024-0060.
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, 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. 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-2024-0060 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. Discussion
The United States Maritime Administration (MARAD, the licensee) is
the holder of Facility Operating License, NS-1. The license provides,
among other things, that the Nuclear Ship Savannah (NS Savannah) is
subject to all rules, regulations, and orders of the NRC now or
hereafter in effect. The NS Savannah is a pressurized water reactor
ship located in Baltimore, MD.
The NS Savannah has been shutdown since November 8, 1970, and was
[[Page 23076]]
defueled on December 3, 1971. The licensee started the decommissioning
process in 1971 in accordance with section 50.82 of title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Termination of license.'' In
1973, the U.S Atomic Energy Commission (NRC's predecessor agency)
issued an amendment placing the reactor in a SAFSTOR condition. SAFSTOR
is a method of decommissioning in which a nuclear facility is placed
and maintained in a condition that allows the facility to be safely
stored and subsequently decontaminated (deferred decontamination) to
levels that permit release for unrestricted use. In 1976, the
Possession-only license was issued as required by the 10 CFR 50.82 rule
that was completely revised in 1996 (61 FR 39278, July 29, 1996).
The licensee submitted its Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities
Report (PSDAR), Revision 0, on December 11, 2006 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML063470625) and withdrew Revision 0 by letter dated January 26, 2007
(ADAMS Accession No. ML18120A039), prior to the NRC scheduling a PSDAR
public meeting. By letter dated December 11, 2008 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML083590349), the licensee submitted an updated PSDAR, Revision 1, to
reflect that the there is no intent to immediately dismantle the ship
itself following license termination. The scope of dismantlement
described in the PSDAR is based on several fundamental assumptions, (1)
the ship itself is not dismantled as part of DECON; (2) existing
accesses are utilized to support dismantlement of systems and
components; and (3) major structures will not be dismantled. These
assumptions are based, in part, on National Historic Preservation Act
requirements and satisfactory final status surveys (FSS). The licensee
anticipates requesting license termination to be effective in December
2025, provided all prerequisite actions are complete at that time.
Based on this, and the fact that the ship is a registered National
Historic Landmark, the licensee intends to pursue the DECON industrial
work in a fashion that minimizes any physical affect to adjacent ship
structure. DECON is a method of decommissioning in which structures,
systems, and components that contain radioactive contamination are
actively removed from the site and safely disposed of at a commercially
operated low-level waste disposal facility or decontaminated to a level
that permits the site to be released for unrestricted use. DECON may
occur shortly after cessation of operations, or after a period of
SAFSTOR. Unlike a land-based nuclear plant, the NS Savannah is
waterborne, mobile and of unique historic significance, thus its
decommissioning presents a number of unusual factors for consideration.
By application dated October 23, 2023 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML23298A041), the licensee submitted their LTP to the NRC. Paragraph
50.82(a)(9) specifies that an application for license termination must
be accompanied or preceded by an LTP, which is subject to NRC review
and approval. The LTP addresses site characterization to ensure that
the scope of FSS of the site cover all areas where contamination
existed, remains, or has the potential to exist or remain,
identification of remaining dismantlement activities, plans for site
remediation, a description of the FSS plans to confirm that NS Savannah
will meet the release criteria in 10 CFR part 20, subpart E,
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination,'' dose-modeling
scenarios that ensure compliance with the radiological criteria for
license termination, an estimate of the remaining site-specific
decommissioning costs and an updated assessment of the environmental
effects of decommissioning NS Savannah. Once approved, the LTP would
become a supplement to the NS Savannah Defueled Safety Analysis Report.
According to 10 CFR 50.82(a)(9)(iii), after the licensee submits an
LTP the NRC must hold a public meeting near the site. The purpose of
the meeting is for the NRC staff to discuss the NRC's review of the LTP
and to request public comments on the LTP. In addition, in accordance
with 10 CFR 50.82(a)(9)(iii) and 20.1405, upon the receipt of an LTP
from a licensee, NRC must publish a notice in the Federal Register and
solicit comments from affected parties. Please see the related notice
regarding the LTP proposed no significant hazards consideration
determination and opportunity to request a hearing and petition to
intervene (89 FR 22199, March 29, 2024).
III. Request for Comment and Public Meeting
The NRC is requesting public comments on the NS Savannah LTP. The
NRC will conduct a public meeting to discuss the LTP and receive
comments on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., ET
onboard the NS Savannah, online, or by phone. The NS Savannah is
located at Pier 13 Canton Marine Terminal, 4601 Newgate Avenue,
Baltimore, MD 21124. Please contact Tanya E. Hood no later than May 6,
2024, if accommodations or special equipment are needed for you to
attend or to provide comments, so that the NRC staff can determine
whether the request can be accommodated.
Special services. The NS Savannah is not compliant with the
Americans with Disabilities Act. The ship has some capability to
accommodate persons with impaired mobility. For additional information
regarding the meeting, see the NRC's Public Meeting Schedule website at
https://meetings.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg. The agenda will be posted no later
than 10 days prior to the meeting.
Dated: March 29, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Shaun M. Anderson,
Chief, Reactor Decommissioning Branch, Division of Decommissioning,
Uranium Recovery, and Waste Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety
and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024-07010 Filed 4-2-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P