[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 24, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31226-31229]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08769]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 72-1048, 50-390, and 50-391; NRC-2024-0064]


Tennessee Valley Authority; Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 
2; Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Exemption

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued an 
exemption to Tennessee Valley Authority permitting Watts Bar Nuclear 
Plant to load five of the model 37 multi-purpose canisters (MPC) with 
continuous basket shims beginning July 2024 in the HI-STORM Flood/Wind 
MPC Storage System at its Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2 
independent spent fuel storage installation in a storage condition 
where the terms, conditions, and specifications in the Certificate of 
Compliance No. 1032, Amendment No. 0, Revision No. 1 are not met.

DATES: The exemption was issued on April 17, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0064 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-2024-0064. 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

[[Page 31227]]

(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. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John-Chau Nguyen, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555; telephone: 301-415-0262; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the exemption is attached.

    Dated: April 19, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Yoira Diaz-Sanabria,
Chief, Storage and Transportation Licensing Branch, Division of Fuel 
Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguards.

Attachment--Exemption.

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Docket Nos. 72-1048, 50-390, and 50-391

Tennessee Valley Authority; Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Units 1 and 2; 
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation

I. Background

    Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is the holder of Facility 
Operating License Nos. NPF-90 and NPF-96, which authorize operation of 
the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN), Units 1 and 2 in Rhea County, 
Tennessee, pursuant to Part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of Production and 
Utilization Facilities.'' The licenses provide, among other things, 
that the facility is subject to all rules, regulations, and orders of 
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) now or hereafter in 
effect.
    Consistent with 10 CFR part 72, subpart K, ``General License for 
Storage of Spent Fuel at Power Reactor Sites,'' a general license is 
issued for the storage of spent fuel in an Independent Spent Fuel 
Storage Installation (ISFSI) at power reactor sites to persons 
authorized to possess or operate nuclear power reactors under 10 CFR 
part 50. TVA is authorized to operate nuclear power reactors under 10 
CFR part 50 and holds a 10 CFR part 72 general license for storage of 
spent fuel at the WBN ISFSI. Under the terms of the general license, 
TVA stores spent fuel at its WBN ISFSI using the HI-STORM Flood/Wind 
(FW) Multi-Purpose Canister (MPC) Storage System in accordance with 
Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1032, Amendment No. 0, Revision No. 
1.

II. Request/Action

    By a letter dated February 28, 2024 (Agencywide Documents Access 
and Management System [ADAMS] Accession No. ML24059A369), and 
supplemented on March 18, 2024 (ML24078A257), TVA requested an 
exemption 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 that require WBN to comply 
with the terms, conditions, and specifications of the CoC No. 1032, 
Amendment No. 0, Revision No. 1 (ML16112A309). If approved, TVA's 
exemption request would accordingly allow WBN to load MPCs with 
continuous basket shims (CBS) (i.e., MPC-37-CBS), an unapproved, 
variant basket design, in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System, and thus, 
to load the systems in a storage condition where the terms, conditions, 
and specifications in the CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 0, Revision No. 1 
are not met.
    TVA currently uses the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System under CoC No. 
1032, Amendment No. 0, Revision No. 1, for dry storage of spent nuclear 
fuel in MPC-37 at the WBN ISFSI. 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-37, known as 
MPC-37-CBS. Holtec performed a non-mechanistic tip-over analysis with 
favorable results and implemented the CBS variant design under the 
provisions of 10 CFR 72.48, ``Changes, tests, and experiments,'' 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 is not the type of change allowed without a CoC 
amendment. For this reason, the NRC issued three Severity Level IV 
violations to Holtec (ML24016A190).
    TVA's near-term loading campaign for the WBN ISFSI includes plans 
to load five MPC-37-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System beginning 
in July 2024. While Holtec was required to submit a CoC amendment to 
the NRC to seek approval of the CBS variant design, such a process will 
not be completed in time to inform decisions for this near-term loading 
campaign. Therefore, TVA submitted this exemption request in order to 
allow for future loading of five MPC-37-CBS beginning in July 2024 at 
the WBN ISFSI. This exemption is limited to the use of MPC-37-CBS in 
the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System only for the specific near-term 
planned loading of five canisters using the MPC-37-CBS variant basket 
design.

III. Discussion

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, ``Specific exemptions,'' the Commission 
may, upon application by any interested person or upon its own 
initiative, grant such exemptions from the requirements of the 
regulations of 10 CFR part 72 as it determines are authorized by law 
and will not endanger life or property or the common defense and 
security and are otherwise in the public interest.

A. The Exemption Is Authorized by Law

    This exemption would allow TVA to load five MPC-37-CBS in the HI-
STORM FW MPC Storage System, beginning July 2024, at its WBN ISFSI in a 
storage condition where the terms, conditions, and specifications in 
the CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 0, Revision No. 1, are not met. WBN is 
requesting an exemption from the provisions in 10 CFR part 72 that 
require the licensee to comply with the terms, conditions, and 
specifications of the CoC for the approved cask model it uses. Section 
72.7 allows the NRC to grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR 
part 72. This authority to grant exemptions is consistent with the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and is not otherwise 
inconsistent with NRC's regulations or other applicable laws. 
Additionally, no other law prohibits the activities that would be 
authorized by the exemption. Therefore, the NRC concludes that there is 
no statutory prohibition on the issuance of the requested exemption, 
and the NRC is authorized to grant the exemption by law.

[[Page 31228]]

B. The Exemption Will Not Endanger Life or Property or the Common 
Defense and Security

    This exemption would allow TVA to load five MPC-37-CBS in the HI-
STORM FW MPC Storage System, beginning July 2024, at the WBN ISFSI in a 
storage condition where the terms, conditions, and specifications in 
the CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 0, Revision No. 1, are not met. In 
support of its exemption request, TVA asserts that issuance of the 
exemption would not endanger life or property because a tip-over or 
handling event is administratively controlled, and that the containment 
boundary would be maintained in such an event. TVA relies, in part, on 
the approach in the NRC's Safety Determination Memorandum 
(ML24018A085). The NRC issued this Safety Determination Memorandum to 
address whether, with respect to the enforcement action against Holtec 
regarding this violation, there was any need to take an immediate 
action for the cask systems that were already loaded with non-compliant 
basket designs. The Safety Determination Memorandum documents a risk-
informed approach concluding that, during the design basis event of a 
non-mechanistic tip-over, the fuel in the basket in the MPC-37-CBS 
remains in a subcritical condition.
    TVA also provided site-specific technical information, as 
supplemented, including information explaining why the use of the 
approach in the NRC's Safety Determination Memorandum is appropriate 
for determining the safe use of the CBS variant baskets at the WBN 
ISFSI. Specifically, TVA described that the analysis of the tip-over 
design basis event that is relied upon in the NRC's Safety 
Determination Memorandum, which demonstrates that the MPC confinement 
barrier is maintained, is documented in the updated final safety 
analysis report (UFSAR) for the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System CoC No. 
1032, Amendment 0, Revision No. 1 that is used at the WBN site. TVA 
stated the transporter for handling of the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage 
System at the WBN ISFSI has redundant drop protection features and was 
designed, fabricated, and tested in accordance with the applicable 
codes described in the CoC No. 1032.
    Additionally, TVA provided specific information from WBN's 72.212 
Evaluation Report, Revision 5, indicating the calculated total values 
for annual dose to any real individual who is located beyond the 
controlled area are shown to be well below the limits required by 10 
CFR 72.104(a), ``Criteria for radioactive materials in effluents and 
direct radiation from an ISFSI or MRS.'' The analysis of a design basis 
accident scenario also demonstrates compliance with 72.106, 
``Controlled area of an ISFSI or MRS.'' Specifically, TVA described 
that, in the highly unlikely event of a tip-over, any potential fuel 
damage from a non-mechanistic tip-over event would be localized, the 
confinement barrier would be maintained, and the shielding material 
would remain intact. Coupled with the distance of the WBN ISFSI to the 
site area boundary, TVA concluded that compliance with 72.104 and 
72.106 is not impacted by approving this exemption request.
    The NRC staff reviewed the information provided by TVA and 
concludes that issuance of the exemption would not endanger life or 
property because the administrative controls TVA has in place at the 
WBN ISFSI sufficiently minimize the possibility of a tip-over or 
handling event, and that the containment boundary would be maintained 
in such an event. The staff confirmed that these administrative 
controls comply with the technical specifications and UFSAR for the HI-
STORM FW MPC Storage System CoC No. 1032, Amendment 0, Revision No. 1 
that is used at the WBN site. In addition, the staff confirmed that the 
information provided by TVA regarding WBN's 72.212 Evaluation Report, 
Revision 5, demonstrates that the consequences of normal and accident 
conditions would be within the regulatory limits of the 10 CFR 72.104 
and 10 CFR 72.106. The staff also determined that the requested 
exemption is not related to any aspect of the physical security or 
defense of the WBN ISFSI; therefore, granting the exemption would not 
result in any potential impacts to common defense and security.
    For these reasons, the NRC staff has determined that under the 
requested exemption, the storage system will continue to meet the 
safety requirements of 10 CFR part 72 and the offsite dose limits of 10 
CFR part 20 and, therefore, will not endanger life or property or the 
common defense and security.

C. The Exemption Is Otherwise in the Public Interest

    The proposed exemption would allow WBN to load five MPC-37-CBS in 
the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System beginning in July 2024, at the WBN 
ISFSI, even though the CBS variant basket design is not part of the 
approved CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 0, Revision No. 1. According to 
TVA, the exemption is in the public interest because not being able to 
load fuel into dry storage in the future loading campaign would impact 
TVA's ability to offload fuel from the WBN reactor units, consequently 
impacting continued safe reactor operation.
    TVA stated that to delay the future loading would impact the 
ability to effectively manage the margin to full core discharge reserve 
in the WBN Unit 1 and Unit 2 spent fuel pools. WBN's upcoming loading 
campaign was originally scheduled to begin on January 29, 2024, but was 
postponed until July 2024 . Any further delay would lead to 
insufficient space in the spent fuel pool for core offload and the 
shutdown of WBN Unit 2, which in turn would potentially impact the 
energy supply in the area. According to TVA, the planned July 2024 
loading campaign is the latest, and only opportunity for cask loading 
to avoid loss of full core reserve in 2025.
    For the reasons described by TVA in the exemption request, the NRC 
agrees that it is in the public interest to grant the exemption. If the 
exemption is not granted, in order to comply with the CoC, WBN would 
have to keep spent fuel in the spent fuel pool if it is not permitted 
to be loaded into casks for future loading. This would impact the 
ability to manage the margin for full core reserve in the WBN spent 
fuel pool. Increased inventory in the spent fuel pool would likely 
require additional fuel moves, which could in turn increase dose to 
workers and the risk of accidents during fuel handling operations. 
Moreover, once the spent fuel pool capacity is reached, the ability to 
refuel the operating reactor is limited, thus affecting continued 
reactor operations. As described by TVA, this scenario would possibly 
result in the shutdown of one unit, which could potentially impact the 
energy supply in the area.
    Therefore, the staff concludes that approving the exemption is in 
the public interest.
Environmental Consideration
    The NRC staff also considered whether there would be any 
significant environmental impacts associated with the exemption. For 
this proposed action, the NRC staff performed an environmental 
assessment pursuant to 10 CFR 51.30. The environmental assessment 
concluded that the proposed action would not significantly impact the 
quality of the human environment. The NRC staff concluded that the 
proposed action would not result in any changes in the types or amounts 
of any radiological or non-radiological effluents that may be released 
offsite,

[[Page 31229]]

and there would be no significant increase in occupational or public 
radiation exposure because of the proposed action. The environmental 
assessment and the finding of no significant impact was published on 
April 17, 2024 (89 FR 27465).

IV. Conclusion

    Based on these considerations, the NRC has determined that, 
pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, the exemption is authorized by law, will not 
endanger life or property or the common defense and security, and is 
otherwise in the public interest. Therefore, the NRC grants TVA an 
exemption from the requirements of Sec. Sec.  72.212(a)(2), 
72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), and 72.214 with respect 
to the future loading in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System of five 
MPC-37-CBS beginning in July 2024.
    This exemption is effective upon issuance.

    Dated: April 17, 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. 2024-08769 Filed 4-23-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P