[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 90 (Wednesday, May 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38921-38923]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-10044]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 72-65, 50-352, and 50-353; NRC-2024-0083]
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC.; Limerick Generating
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 Limerick
Generating Station (LGS) to maintain three loaded and to load five new
89 multi-purpose canisters (MPC) with continuous basket shims (CBS) in
the HI-STORM Flood/Wind (FW) MPC Storage System at its LGS 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. 1, Revision No.
1, are not met.
DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on
May 8, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0083 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-2024-0083. 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. 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 Constellation, dated
April 5, 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. 1032, Amendment
No. 1, Revision No. 1. If approved, the exemption would allow
Constellation to maintain three loaded and to load five new MPC-89-CBS
in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System at the LGS ISFSI in a storage
condition where the terms, conditions, and specifications in the CoC
No. 1032, Amendment No. 1, Revision No. 1, are not met.
II. Environmental Assessment
Background
The LGS is located in Limerick Township of Montgomery County,
Pennsylvania, 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) southeast of the Borough of
Pottstown. Unit 1 began operating in 1986 and Unit 2 began operating in
1990. Constellation has been storing spent fuel in an ISFSI at the LGS
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 FW MPC Storage System under
CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 1, Revision No. 1, for dry storage of spent
nuclear fuel in a specific MPC (i.e., MPC-89) at the LGS 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 three
already loaded systems and the near-term planned loading of five new
canisters. The exemption would allow Constellation to maintain loaded
and to load five new MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System
at the LGS 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 the CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 1, Revision No. 1.
The HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System CoC provides the requirements,
[[Page 38922]]
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, ``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 was not the type of change allowed without a CoC amendment. For
this reason, the NRC issued three Severity Level IV violations to
Holtec. Prior to the issuance of the violations, Constellation had
already loaded three MPC-89-CBS in a HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System,
which are safely in storage on the LGS ISFSI pad. Additionally,
Constellation plans to load five new MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC
Storage System beginning in August 2024. This exemption considers the
storage of the already loaded systems and the near-term planned loading
of the five canisters with the CBS variant basket design.
Need for the Proposed Action
Constellation requested this exemption because Constellation is
currently out of compliance with NRC requirements, resulting from the
previous loading of spent fuel into a storage system with the CBS
variant basket design. This exemption would allow three already loaded
MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System to remain in storage
at the LGS ISFSI. The applicant also requested the exemption in order
to allow the LGS to load five new MPC-89-CBS in HI-STORM FW MPC Storage
System at the LGS ISFSI for the future loading campaign beginning in
August 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 the LGS 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.
1032, Amendment No. 1, Revision No. 1. The exemption would allow three
loaded MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System to remain
loaded at the LGS ISFSI. The exemption also would allow a near-term
loading of five new MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System
and allow the MPC-89-CBS to be maintained in storage at the LGS 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, 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. 1, Revision No. 1, 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 Constellation at the LGS site as they
relate to CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 1, Revision No. 1, for the HI-
STORM FW MPC Storage System are limited to the use of the CBS variant
basket design only for the already loaded three canisters and near-term
planned loading of five 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. 1032, Amendment No. 1, 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 unload spent fuel from the MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM
FW MPC Storage System to bring it in compliance with the CoC terms,
conditions, and specifications in the CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 1,
Revision No. 1. Unloading the cask would subject station personnel to
additional radiation exposure, generate additional contaminated waste,
increase the risk of a possible fuel handling accident, and increase
the risk of a possible heavy load handling accident. Furthermore, the
removed spent fuel would need to be placed in the spent fuel pool,
where it would remain until it could be loaded into an approved storage
cask. Delay in the loading of this spent fuel into other casks could
affect Constellation's ability to effectively manage the spent fuel
pool capacity and reactor fuel offloading. Not allowing the planned
future loading campaign could also 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 the LGS
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 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-89-CBS canisters.
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 29, 2024. On May 1, 2024, PDEP provided its concurrence by email.
[[Page 38923]]
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 past
and specific future loadings of baskets with the CBS variant design,
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 ML24096A137.
April 5, 2024.
NRC issuance of Certificate of Compliance No. ML15152A358 (Package).
1032, Amendment No. 1, Revision No. 1, dated
May 29, 2015.
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, July 18, 1990.
EA for part 72 amendment to allow spent fuel ML051230231.
storage in NRC-approved casks, dated March 8,
1989.
List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: HI- 80 FR 14291.
STORM 100 Cask System CoC No. 1032, Amendment
No. 1, Revision 1, dated March 19, 2015.
NRC Safety Determination of a Potential ML24018A085.
Structural 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 PDEP requesting review of EA/FONSI ML24122C670.
for LGS Exemption, dated April 29, 2024.
Email response from PDEP regarding EA/FONSI for ML24122C674.
LGS Exemption, dated May 1, 2024.
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Dated: May 3, 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. 2024-10044 Filed 5-7-24; 8:45 am]
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