[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 96 (Thursday, May 16, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42905-42907]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-10778]



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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; 
Exemption

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued an 
exemption to Constellation Energy Generation, LLC., permitting Limerick 
Generating Station (LGS) to maintain three loaded and to load five new 
89 multi-purpose canisters (MPC) with continuous basket shims in the 
HI-STORM Flood/Wind MPC Storage System at its LGS Units 1 and 2 
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation in a storage condition 
where the terms, conditions, and specifications in the Certificate of 
Compliance No. 1032, Amendment No. 1, Revision No. 1 are not met.

DATES: The exemption was issued 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]. 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: 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: The text of the exemption is attached.

    Dated: May 13, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Bernard H. White,
Acting Chief, Storage and Transportation Licensing Branch, Division of 
Fuel Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguards.

Attachment--Exemption

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Docket Nos. 72-65, 50-352, and 50-353

Constellation Energy Generation, LLC.; Limerick Generating Station 
Units 1 and 2; Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation

I. Background

    Constellation Energy Generation, LLC (Constellation) is the holder 
of Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-39 and NPF-85, which 
authorize operation of the Limerick Generating Station (LGS) Units 1 
and 2 in Limerick, Pennsylvania, pursuant to Part 50 of Title 10 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of 
Production and Utilization Facilities.'' The licenses provide, among 
other things, that the facility is subject to all rules, regulations, 
and orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) now or 
hereafter in effect.
    Consistent with 10 CFR part 72, subpart K, ``General License for 
Storage of Spent Fuel at Power Reactor Sites,'' a general license is 
issued for the storage of spent fuel in an Independent Spent Fuel 
Storage Installation (ISFSI) at power reactor sites to persons 
authorized to possess or operate nuclear power reactors under 10 CFR 
part 50. Constellation is authorized to operate nuclear power reactors 
under 10 CFR part 50 and holds a 10 CFR part 72 general license for 
storage of spent fuel at the LGS ISFSI. Under the terms of the general 
license, Constellation stores spent fuel at its LGS ISFSI using the HI-
STORM Flood/Wind (FW) Multi-Purpose Canister (MPC) Storage System in 
accordance with Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1032, Amendment No. 
1, Revision No. 1.

II. Request/Action

    By a letter dated April 5, 2024 (Agencywide Documents Access and 
Management System [ADAMS] Accession No. ML24096A137), Constellation 
requested an exemption 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 that require 
the LGS to comply with the terms, conditions, and specifications of the 
CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 1, Revision No. 1 (ML15152A358). If 
approved, Constellation's exemption request would accordingly allow the 
LGS to maintain three loaded and to load five MPCs with continuous 
basket shims (CBS) (i.e., MPC-89-CBS) in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage 
System, and thus, to maintain and load the systems in a storage 
condition where the terms, conditions, and specifications in the CoC 
No. 1032, Amendment No. 1, Revision No. 1, are not met.
    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 MPC-89 at the LGS ISFSI. 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 performed a non-mechanistic tip-over analysis 
with favorable results and 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 is not the type of change allowed without a CoC 
amendment. For this reason, the NRC issued three Severity Level IV 
violations to Holtec (ML24016A190).
    Prior to the issuance of the violations, Constellation had loaded 
three MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System, which are 
safely in storage at the LGS ISFSI.
    Constellation's near-term loading campaign for the LGS ISFSI 
include plans to load five MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage 
System beginning in August 2024. While Holtec was required to submit a 
CoC

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amendment to the NRC to seek approval of the CBS variant design, such a 
process will not be completed in time to inform decisions for this 
near-term loading campaign. Therefore, Constellation submitted this 
exemption request in order to allow for the continued storage of the 
three already loaded MPC-89-CBS, and future loading of five MPC-89-CBS 
beginning in August 2024 at the LGS ISFSI. This exemption is limited to 
the use of MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System only for 
the three already loaded canisters and specific near-term planned 
loading of five new canisters using the MPC-89-CBS variant basket 
design.

III. Discussion

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, ``Specific exemptions,'' the Commission 
may, upon application by any interested person or upon its own 
initiative, grant such exemptions from the requirements of the 
regulations of 10 CFR part 72 as it determines are authorized by law 
and will not endanger life or property or the common defense and 
security and are otherwise in the public interest.

A. The Exemption Is Authorized by Law

    This exemption would allow Constellation to maintain three loaded 
and to load five MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System at 
its 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. Constellation is requesting an exemption from the 
provisions in 10 CFR part 72 that require the licensee to comply with 
the terms, conditions, and specifications of the CoC for the approved 
cask model it uses. Section 72.7 allows the NRC to grant exemptions 
from the requirements of 10 CFR part 72. This authority to grant 
exemptions is consistent with the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as 
amended, and is not otherwise inconsistent with the NRC's regulations 
or other applicable laws. Additionally, no other law prohibits the 
activities that would be authorized by the exemption. Therefore, the 
NRC concludes that there is no statutory prohibition on the issuance of 
the requested exemption, and the NRC is authorized to grant the 
exemption by law.

B. The Exemption Will Not Endanger Life or Property or the Common 
Defense and Security

    This exemption would allow Constellation to maintain three loaded 
and to load five 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. In support of its exemption request, Constellation asserts 
that issuance of the exemption would not endanger life or property 
because the administrative controls the applicant has in place prevent 
a tip-over or handling event, and that the containment boundary would 
be maintained in such an event. Constellation relies, in part, on the 
approach in the NRC's Safety Determination Memorandum (ML24018A085). 
The NRC issued this Safety Determination Memorandum to address whether, 
with respect to the enforcement action against Holtec regarding this 
violation, there was any need to take an immediate action for the cask 
systems that were already loaded with non-compliant basket designs. The 
Safety Determination Memorandum documents a risk-informed approach 
concluding that, during the design basis event of a non-mechanistic 
tip-over, the fuel in the basket in the MPC-89-CBS remains in a 
subcritical condition.
    Constellation also provided site-specific technical information, 
including information explaining why the use of the approach in the 
NRC's Safety Determination Memorandum is appropriate for determining 
the safe use of the CBS variant baskets at the LGS ISFSI. Specifically, 
Constellation described that the analysis of the tip-over design basis 
event that is relied upon in the NRC's Safety Determination Memorandum, 
which demonstrates that the MPC confinement barrier is maintained, is 
documented in the updated final safety analysis report (UFSAR) for the 
HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System CoC No. 1032, Amendment 1, Revision No. 
1, that is used at the LGS site. Constellation also described its 
administrative controls for handling of the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage 
System at the LGS ISFSI to prevent a tip-over or handling event. Those 
controls include using single-failure-proof handling systems as defined 
in Section 5.1.6 of NUREG-0612, ``Control of Heavy Loads at Nuclear 
Power Plants''. The LGS's UFSAR Section 9.1.5.4 indicates that the 
single failure proof design of the reactor enclosure crane conforms to 
NUREG-0554, ``Single-Failure-Proof Cranes for Nuclear Power Plants''. 
Constellation referenced their ``Rigging and Lifting Program'', 
``Control of Heavy Loads Program'' and ``Limerick Generating Station 
Rigging and Handling Heavy Loads'' to further demonstrate that the LGS 
has applicable operational procedures in place to safely load, process, 
transfer and move the MPCs in accordance with the Technical 
Specifications in Appendix A of the CoC and the HI-STORM FW UFSAR.
    Additionally, Constellation provided specific information from the 
LGS's 72.212 Evaluation Report, Revision 3, indicating that during the 
design basis event of a non-mechanistic tip-over, the LGS's ISFSI would 
meet the requirements in 10 CFR 72.104, ``Criteria for radioactive 
materials in effluents and direct radiation from an ISFSI or MRS,'' and 
72.106, ``Controlled area of an ISFSI or MRS.'' Specifically, 
Constellation described that, in the highly unlikely event of a tip-
over, any potential fuel damage from a non-mechanistic tip-over event 
would be localized, the confinement barrier would be maintained, and 
the shielding material would remain intact. Coupled with the distance 
of the LGS ISFSI to the site area boundary, Constellation concluded 
that compliance with 72.104 and 72.106 is not impacted by approving 
this exemption request.
    The NRC staff reviewed the information provided by Constellation 
and concludes that issuance of the exemption would not endanger life or 
property because the administrative controls Constellation has in place 
at the LGS ISFSI sufficiently minimize the possibility of a tip-over or 
handling event, and that the containment boundary would be maintained 
in such an event. The staff confirmed that these administrative 
controls are documented in the technical specifications and UFSAR for 
the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System CoC No. 1032, Amendment 1, Revision 
No. 1, that is used at the LGS site. In addition, the staff confirmed 
that the information provided by Constellation regarding the LGS's 
72.212 Evaluation Report, Revision 3, demonstrates that the 
consequences of normal and accident conditions would be within the 
regulatory limits of the 10 CFR 72.104 and 10 CFR 72.106. The staff 
also determined that the requested exemption is not related to any 
aspect of the physical security or defense of the LGS ISFSI; therefore, 
granting the exemption would not result in any potential impacts to 
common defense and security.
    For these reasons, the NRC staff has determined that under the 
requested exemption, the storage system will continue to meet the 
safety requirements of 10 CFR part 72 and the offsite dose limits of 10 
CFR part 20 and, therefore, will not endanger life or

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property or the common defense and security.

C. The Exemption Is Otherwise in the Public Interest

    The proposed exemption would allow the three already loaded MPC-89-
CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System to remain in storage at the 
LGS ISFSI and allow Constellation to load five MPC-89-CBS in the HI-
STORM FW MPC Storage System beginning in August 2024 at the LGS ISFSI, 
even though the CBS variant basket design is not part of the approved 
CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 1, Revision No. 1. According to 
Constellation, the exemption is in the public interest because 
unloading fuel from already loaded canisters and not being able to load 
fuel into dry storage in future loading campaigns would impact 
Constellation's ability to offload fuel from the LGS reactor units, 
consequently impacting continued safe reactor operation. The reflooding 
of the MPCs, removal of fuel assemblies, and replacement into a 
different MPC would result in additional doses and handling operations 
with no added safety benefit. In addition, future loading campaigns 
would need to be delayed until older design canisters can be fabricated 
and delivered to the site.
    Constellation stated that to unload already loaded MPC-89-CBS or 
delay the future loading campaigns would impact the ability to 
effectively manage the margin to full core discharge capacity in the 
LGS Units 1 and 2 spent fuel pools. The low spent fuel pool capacity 
would make it difficult to refuel and present potential risks to fuel 
handling operations during pre- and post-outage. In addition, a crowded 
spent fuel pool would challenge the decay heat removal demand of the 
pool and increase the likelihood of a loss of fuel pool cooling event 
and a fuel handling accident. Furthermore, the LGS planned the cask 
loading campaigns years in advance based on availability of the 
specialized workforce and equipment that is shared throughout the 
Constellation fleet. These specialty resources support competing 
priorities including refueling outages, loading campaigns, fuel pool 
cleanouts, fuel inspections, fuel handing equipment upgrade and 
maintenance, fuel sipping, new fuel receipt, and crane maintenance and 
upgrades. Any delays would have a cascading impact on other scheduled 
specialized activities.
    For the reasons described by Constellation in the exemption 
request, the NRC agrees that it is in the public interest to grant the 
exemption. If the exemption is not granted, in order to comply with the 
CoC, Constellation would have to unload MPC-89-CBS from the HI-STORM FW 
MPC Storage System at the LGS ISFSI and reload into the older design 
MPC-89 to restore compliance with terms, conditions, and specifications 
of the CoC. This would subject onsite personnel to additional radiation 
exposure, 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 until it can be loaded into another storage cask or 
remain in the spent fuel pool if it is not permitted to be loaded into 
casks for future loading campaigns. As described by Constellation, this 
scenario would affect Constellation's ability to effectively manage the 
spent pool capacity and reactor fuel offloading at the LGS. In 
addition, the rescheduling of the specialized resources for the future 
loading campaigns would impact the operations of the LGS and other 
Constellation sites.
    Therefore, the staff concludes that approving the exemption is in 
the public interest.
Environmental Consideration
    The NRC staff also considered whether there would be any 
significant environmental impacts associated with the exemption. For 
this proposed action, the NRC staff performed an environmental 
assessment pursuant to 10 CFR 51.30. The environmental assessment 
concluded that the proposed action would not significantly impact the 
quality of the human environment. The NRC staff concluded that the 
proposed action would not result in any changes in the types or amounts 
of any radiological or non-radiological effluents that may be released 
offsite, and there would be no significant increase in occupational or 
public radiation exposure because of the proposed action. The 
environmental assessment and the finding of no significant impact was 
published on May 8, 2024 (89 FR 38921).

IV. Conclusion

    Based on these considerations, the NRC has determined that, 
pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, the exemption is authorized by law, will not 
endanger life or property or the common defense and security, and is 
otherwise in the public interest. Therefore, the NRC grants 
Constellation an exemption from the requirements of Sec. Sec.  
72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), and 72.214 
with respect to the ongoing storage of three MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM 
FW MPC Storage System and a future loading in the HI-STORM FW MPC 
Storage System of five new MPC-89-CBS beginning in August 2024.
    This exemption is effective upon issuance.

    Dated: May 8, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
/RA/

Yoira Diaz-Sanabria,

Chief, Storage and Transportation Licensing Branch, Division of Fuel 
Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguards.

[FR Doc. 2024-10778 Filed 5-15-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P