[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]


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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.

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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).
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    \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.
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    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]
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