[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 7, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38194-38195]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-09910]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-29 and 72-31; NRC-2024-0067]
Yankee Atomic Electric Company; Yankee Atomic Power Station;
Exemption
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice; issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued an
exemption in response to the May 4, 2023, request from Yankee Atomic
Electric Company (YAEC), for the Yankee Nuclear Power Station (YNPS or
Yankee Rowe) located in Rowe, Massachusetts. The exemption permits YAEC
to make withdrawals from a separate account within YAEC's overall
nuclear decommissioning trust (NDT), on an annual basis, for spent
nuclear fuel (SNF) and Greater than Class C
[[Page 38195]]
(GTCC) waste management and non-radiological site restoration without
prior notification to the NRC.
DATE: The exemption was issued on April 11, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0067 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-2024-0067. 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]. 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: Tilda Liu, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555-0001; telephone: 404-997-4730, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By letter dated May 4, 2023 (ADAMS Accession
No. ML23157A101), YAEC submitted a request to the NRC for an exemption
from paragraphs 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 50.75(h)(2) of title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) for the YNPS Independent Spent
Fuel Storage Installation \1\ (ISFSI).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ As discussed in this document, the Yankee Rowe ISFSI sits on
the former site of Yankee Rowe, which YAEC finished decommissioning
in 2007. Although only the Yankee Rowe ISFSI remains on the site,
YAEC's 10 CFR part 50 license, Facility Operating License No. DPR-3,
remains in effect. Because YAEC requested an exemption from the
requirements of 10 CFR part 50, this would be an exemption for
YAEC's 10 CFR part 50 license rather than for YAEC's 10 CFR part 72
general license. Therefore, although YAEC's submission requested an
exemption for the Yankee Rowe ISFSI, the NRC staff will consider it
a request for an exemption for YNPS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
YAEC has established a separate (segregated) account within its
over-arching NDT, entitled ``ISFSI Radiological Decom,'' that
identifies the funds for radiological decommissioning of the ISFSI
apart from the larger balance of funds in the NDT allocated for ongoing
management of SNF and GTCC waste and for non-radiological site
restoration activities. Although 10 CFR 50.82 applies to the segregated
account, it does not apply to the overall NDT.
The exemption from 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 50.75(h)(2) allows
YAEC to make withdrawals from the segregated account, on an annual
basis, for SNF and GTCC waste management and non-radiological site
restoration without prior notification to the NRC. More specifically,
with this exemption, YAEC can annually transfer funds exceeding 110
percent of the inflation-adjusted Decommissioning Cost Estimate,
described in 10 CFR 50.75, from the segregated account to its
overarching NDT and use those funds for SNF and GTCC waste management
and non-radiological site restoration.
Based on the review, the NRC 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, the NRC determined that special
circumstances are present. Therefore, the NRC granted YAEC an exemption
from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10 CFR
50.75(h)(2) to permit YAEC to make withdrawals from the segregated
account, on an annual basis, for SNF and GTCC waste management and non-
radiological site restoration without prior notification to the NRC.
All other relevant requirements shall be met. On April 11, 2024, the
NRC issued an exemption for YAEC (ADAMS Package Accession No.
ML23298A052). The NRC staff also prepared an environmental assessment
and finding of no significant impact regarding the proposed exemption
request, published in the Federal Register on April 9, 2024 (89 FR
24877), and concluded that the proposed exemption would not have a
significant impact on the quality of the human environment.
Dated: May 2, 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. 2024-09910 Filed 5-6-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P