[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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