[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 84 (Tuesday, April 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34282-34284]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-09231]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 72-53, 50-254, and 50-265; NRC-2024-0074]
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC; Quad Cities Nuclear Power
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 Constellation Energy
Generation, LLC (Constellation) that would permit the Quad Cities
Nuclear Power Station (QCNPS) to load four new 68M multi-purpose
canisters (MPC) with continuous basket shims (CBS) beginning June 2024
in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System at its QCNPS 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. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1, are not
met.
DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on
April 30, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0074 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-2024-0074. 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: Yen-Ju Chen, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555; telephone: 301-415-1018; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is reviewing an exemption request from Constellation, dated
March 15, 2024. Constellation 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 Constellation to comply with the
terms, conditions, and specifications of the CoC No. 1014, Amendment
No. 8, Revision No. 1. If approved, the exemption would allow
Constellation to load four MPC-68M-CBS beginning June 2024 in the HI-
STORM 100 Cask System at the QCNPS ISFSI in a storage condition where
the terms, conditions, and specifications in the CoC No. 1014,
Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1, are not met.
II. Environmental Assessment
Background
QCNPS is located 32 kilometers (20 miles) northeast of the Quad
Cities Metropolitan Area of Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, and Rock
Island, Moline and East Moline, Illinois. The site is on the east bank
of Pool 14 of the Mississippi River, between Lock and Dams 13 and 14
and approximately 810 kilometers (506 miles) upstream from its
confluence with the Ohio River. Both Units 1 and 2 began operating in
1973. Constellation has been storing spent fuel in an ISFSI at QCNPS
under a general license as authorized by 10 CFR part 72, subpart K,
``General License for Storage of Spent Fuel at Power Reactor Sites.''
Constellation currently uses the HI-STORM 100 Cask System under CoC No.
1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1, for dry storage of spent nuclear
fuel in a specific MPC (i.e., MPC-68M) at the QCNPS 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-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System for the near-term
planned loading of the systems. The exemption would allow Constellation
to load four MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System at the QCNPS
ISFSI beginning June 2024, despite the MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100
Cask System not being in compliance with the terms, conditions, and
specifications in the CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1.
The HI-STORM 100 Cask 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 100 Cask System, developed a variant of
the design with continuous basket shims (CBS) for the MPC-68M, known as
MPC-68M-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.
Constellation plans to load four MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask
System beginning in June 2024. This exemption considers the near-term
planned loading of the four canisters with the CBS variant basket
design.
Need for the Proposed Action
Constellation requested this exemption in order to allow QCNPS to
load four MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System at the QCNPS
[[Page 34283]]
ISFSI for the future loading campaign scheduled to begin in June 2024.
Approval of the exemption request would allow Constellation to
effectively manage the spent fuel pool margin and capacity to enable
refueling and offloading fuel from the reactor. It would also allow
Constellation to effectively manage the availability of the specialized
workforce and equipment needed to support competing fuel loading and
operational activities at QCNPS and other Constellation sites.
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.
1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1. The exemption would allow four
MPC-68M-CBS to be loaded in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System in the near-
term loading campaign and maintained in storage at the QCNPS 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 100 Cask System, CoC No. 1014,
Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1 (80 FR 49887), 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 100 Cask
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 Constellation at the QCNPS site as they
relate to CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1, for the HI-
STORM 100 Cask System are limited to the use of the CBS variant basket
design only for the near-term planned loading of four canisters
utilizing the CBS variant basket design. The staff has determined that
this change in the basket will 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. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No.
1. If the exemption is granted, there will 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 (denial of the exemption request) would require
Constellation to delay the near-term planned future loading of four
MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System. Not allowing the planned
future loading campaign could affect Constellation's ability to manage
pool capacity, reactor fuel offloading, and refueling. It could also
pose challenges to spent fuel heat removal and impact the availability
of the specialized workforce and equipment needed to support competing
fuel loading and operational activities at QCNPS and other
Constellation sites. The NRC has determined that the no-action
alternative would result in undue potential human health and safety
impacts that could be avoided by proceeding with the proposed
exemption, especially given that the staff has concluded in the NRC's
Safety Determination Memorandum, issued with respect to the enforcement
action against Holtec regarding these violations, that fuel can be
stored safely in the MPC-68M-CBS canisters.
Agencies Consulted
The NRC provided the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and
Office of Homeland Security (IL-IEMA-OHS) a copy of this draft EA for
review by an email dated April 15, 2024. On April 23, 2024, the IL-
IEMA-OHS 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, in this case limited to the
specific future loading of four canisters with the CBS variant basket
design beginning June 2024, would not significantly impact the quality
of the human environment. 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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ADAMS accession No. or
Document description Federal Register
notice
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Constellation's request for exemption, dated ML24075A001.
March 15, 2024.
Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, Amendment 8, ML16041A233 (Package).
Revision 1, dated February 10, 2016.
Holtec International, Inc.--Notice of Violation; ML24016A190.
The U.S. 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 55 FR 29181.
storage in NRC-approved casks, dated July 18,
1990.
EA for part 72 amendment to allow spent fuel ML051230231.
storage in NRC-approved casks, dated March 8,
1989.
Final rule for List of Approved Spent Fuel 80 FR 49887.
Storage Casks: Holtec International HI-STORM
100 Cask System CoC No. 1014, Amendment 8,
Revision 1, dated August 18, 2015.
Safety Determination of a Potential Structural ML24018A085.
Failure of 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 IL-IEMA-OHS requesting review of EA/ ML24114A170.
FONSI for Quad Cities Exemption, dated April
15, 2024.
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IL-IEMA-OHS email response, regarding review of ML24114A171.
EA/FONSI for Quad Cities Exemption,'' dated
April 23, 2024.
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Dated: April 24, 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.
[FR Doc. 2024-09231 Filed 4-29-24; 8:45 am]
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