[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 78 (Monday, April 22, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29369-29371]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08468]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 72-0028, 50-387, and 50-388; NRC-2024-0068]


Susquehanna Nuclear, LLC; Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, 
Units 1 and 2; Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; 
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an 
environmental assessment (EA) and a finding of no significant impact 
(FONSI) for an exemption request submitted by Susquehanna Nuclear, LLC 
(Susquehanna) that would permit Susquehanna Steam Electric Station 
(SSES) to load six new 89 multi-purpose canisters (MPC) with continuous 
basket shims (CBS) in the HI-STORM Flood/Wind (FW) MPC Storage System 
at its SSES Units 1 and 2 independent spent fuel storage installation 
(ISFSI) in a storage condition where the terms, conditions, and 
specifications in the Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1032, 
Amendment No. 5, are not met.

DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on 
April 22, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0068 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-2024-0068. 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, at 301-415-4737, 
or by email to [email protected]. For the convenience of the reader, 
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are 
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
     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: Christian Jacobs, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S.

[[Page 29370]]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555; telephone: 301-
415-6825; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is reviewing an exemption request from Susquehanna, dated 
March 19, 2024, and supplemented on March 21, 2024. Susquehanna is 
requesting an exemption, pursuant to section 72.7 of title 10 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), in paragraphs 72.212(a)(2), 
72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), and 72.214 that require 
Susquehanna to comply with the terms, conditions, and specifications of 
the CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 5. If approved, the exemption would 
allow Susquehanna to load six new MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC 
Storage System at the SSES ISFSI in a storage condition where the 
terms, conditions, and specifications in the CoC No. 1032, Amendment 
No. 5, are not met.

II. Environmental Assessment

Background

    SSES is located in Salem Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, 
just west of the Susquehanna River. The largest community within 10 
miles (16 km) of the site is the borough of Berwick, which is 
approximately 5 miles (8 km) southwest of SSES, in Luzerne County, 
Pennsylvania. The nearest major metropolitan areas are Wilkes-Barre, 
Pennsylvania, approximately 20 mi (32 km) to the northeast, and 
Allentown, Pennsylvania, approximately 50 mi (80 km) to the southeast. 
Unit 1 began operating in 1981 and Unit 2 began operating in 1982. 
Susquehanna has been storing spent fuel in an ISFSI at SSES under a 
general license as authorized by 10 CFR part 72, subpart K, ``General 
License for Storage of Spent Fuel at Power Reactor Sites.'' Susquehanna 
currently uses the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System under CoC No. 1032, 
Amendment No. 5, for dry storage of spent nuclear fuel at the SSES 
ISFSI.

Description of the Proposed Action

    The CoC is the NRC approved design for each dry cask storage 
system. The proposed action would exempt the applicant from the 
requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 
72.212(b)(11), and 72.214 only as these requirements pertain to the use 
of the MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System for the near-
term planned loading of the canisters. The exemption would allow SSES 
to load six new MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System at the 
SSES ISFSI, despite the MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage 
System not being in compliance with the terms, conditions, and 
specifications in CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 5.
    The HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System CoC provides the requirements, 
conditions, and operating limits necessary for use of the system to 
store spent fuel. Holtec International (Holtec), the designer and 
manufacturer of the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System, developed a variant 
of the design with CBS for the MPC-89, known as MPC-89-CBS. Holtec 
originally implemented the CBS variant design under the provisions of 
10 CFR 72.48, which allows licensees to make changes to cask designs 
without a CoC amendment under certain conditions (listed in 10 CFR 
72.48(c)). After evaluating the specific changes to the cask designs, 
the NRC determined that Holtec erred when it implemented the CBS 
variant design under 10 CFR 72.48, as this was not the type of change 
allowed without a CoC amendment. For this reason, the NRC issued three 
Severity Level IV violations to Holtec. Susquehanna plans to load six 
new MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System beginning in 
August 2024. This exemption considers the near-term planned loading of 
the six canisters with the CBS variant basket design.

Need for the Proposed Action

    Susquehanna requested this exemption to allow SSES to load six new 
MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System at the SSES ISFSI for 
the future loading campaign scheduled to begin in August 2024.
    Approval of the exemption request would allow Susquehanna to 
effectively manage the margin for full core reserve in the SSES spent 
fuel pool to enable refueling and offloading fuel from the reactor. It 
would also allow Susquehanna to manage logistical considerations, such 
as personnel and specific equipment resources, needed to support 
refueling outages at SSES and across the industry.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    This EA evaluates the potential environmental impacts of granting 
an exemption from the terms, conditions, and specifications in CoC No. 
1032, Amendment No. 5. The exemption would allow six new MPC-89-CBS to 
be loaded in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System in a near-term loading 
campaign beginning in August 2024 and maintained in storage at the SSES 
ISFSI.
    The potential environmental impacts of storing spent nuclear fuel 
in NRC-approved storage systems have been documented in previous 
assessments. On July 18, 1990 (55 FR 29181), the NRC amended 10 CFR 
part 72 to provide for the storage of spent fuel under a general 
license in cask designs approved by the NRC. The EA for the 1990 final 
rule analyzed the potential environmental impacts of using NRC-approved 
storage casks. The EA for the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System, CoC No. 
1032, Amendment No. 5, (85 FR 28479), published in 2015, tiers off of 
the EA issued for the July 18, 1990, final rule. ``Tiering'' off 
earlier EAs is a standard process encouraged by the regulations 
implementing the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) that 
entails the use of impact analyses of previous EAs to bound the impacts 
of a proposed action where appropriate. The Holtec HI-STORM FW MPC 
Storage System is designed to mitigate the effects of design basis 
accidents that could occur during storage. Considering the specific 
design requirements for the accident conditions, the design of the cask 
would prevent loss of containment, shielding, and criticality control. 
If there is no loss of containment, shielding, or criticality control, 
the environmental impacts would not be significant.
    The exemptions requested by Susquehanna at the SSES site as they 
relate to CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 5, for the HI-STORM FW MPC 
Storage System are limited to the use of the CBS variant basket design 
only for the near-term planned loading of six new canisters utilizing 
the CBS variant basket design. The staff has determined that this 
change in the basket would not result in either radiological or non-
radiological environmental impacts that significantly differ from the 
environmental impacts evaluated in the environmental assessment 
supporting the issuance of CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 5. If the 
exemption is granted, there would be no significant change in the types 
or amounts of any effluents released, no significant increase in 
individual or cumulative public or occupational radiation exposure, and 
no significant increase in the potential for or consequences from 
radiological accidents. Accordingly, the Commission concludes that 
there would be no significant environmental impacts associated with the 
proposed action.

Alternative to the Proposed Action

    The staff considered the no-action alternative. The no-action 
alternative

[[Page 29371]]

(denial of the exemption request) would require Susquehanna to keep the 
spent fuel in the spent fuel pool until older design canisters can be 
fabricated and delivered to site. Not allowing the planned future 
loading campaign could affect Susquehanna's ability to manage pool 
capacity, reactor fuel offloading, and refueling. It could also impact 
Susquehanna's availability to manage personnel resources and coordinate 
refueling outages at SSES and across the industry. The NRC has 
determined that these potential impacts of the no-action alternative 
could be avoided by proceeding with the proposed exemption, especially 
given that the staff has concluded in NRC's Safety Determination 
Memorandum, issued with respect to the enforcement action against 
Holtec regarding these violations, that fuel can be stored safety in 
the MPC-89-CBS.

Agencies Consulted

    The NRC provided the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental 
Protection (PDEP) a copy of this draft EA for review by an email dated 
April 10, 2024. On April 12, 2024, the PDEP provided its concurrence by 
email.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The environmental impacts of the proposed action have been reviewed 
in accordance with the requirements in 10 CFR part 51, which implement 
NEPA. Based upon the foregoing environmental assessment, the NRC finds 
that the proposed action of granting the exemption from the regulations 
in 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11) 
and 72.214, which require the licensee to comply with the terms, 
conditions, and specifications of the CoC, would not significantly 
impact the quality of the human environment. The exemption in this case 
would be limited to specific future loading of six canisters with the 
CBS variant design beginning in August 2024. Accordingly, the NRC has 
determined that a FONSI is appropriate, and an environmental impact 
statement is not warranted.

IV. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through ADAMS, as indicated.

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                    Document description                        ADAMS accession No. or Federal Register notice
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Susquehanna's request for exemption, dated March 19, 2024..  ML24079A070
Supplement to request for exemption, dated March 21, 2024..  ML24081A335
Certificate of Compliance No. 1032, Amendment 5, dated June  ML20163A701 (Package).
 25, 2020.
Holtec International, Inc.--Notice of Violation; The U.S.    ML24016A190
 Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspection Report No.
 07201014/2022-201, EA-23-044, dated January 30, 2024.
10 CFR part 72 amendment to allow spent fuel storage in NRC- 55 FR 29181
 approved casks, dated July 18, 1990.
EA for part 72 amendment to allow spent fuel storage in NRC- ML051230231
 approved casks, dated March 8, 1989.
Final rule for List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks:    85 FR 28479
 Holtec International HI-STORM Flood/Wind Multipurpose
 Canister Storage System CoC No. 1032, Amendment 5, dated
 May 13, 2020.
Safety Determination of a Potential Structural Failure of    ML24018A085
 the Fuel Basket During Accident Conditions for the HI-
 STORM 100 and HI-STORM Flood/Wind Dry Cask Storage
 Systems, dated January 31, 2024.
NRC email to PDEP requesting review of EA/FONSI for SSES     ML24106A066
 Exemption, dated April 10, 2024.
Email from PDEP regarding review of EA/FONSI for SSES        ML24106A067
 Exemption, dated April 12, 2024.
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    Dated: April 16, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Bernard H. White,
Acting Chief, Storage and Transportation Licensing Branch, Division of 
Fuel Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024-08468 Filed 4-19-24; 8:45 am]
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