[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 125 (Friday, June 28, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54082-54085]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14344]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-456 and 50-457; NRC-2024-0112]
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC; Braidwood Station, Units 1
and 2; License Amendment Request
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Opportunity to comment, request a hearing, and petition for
leave to intervene.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
issuance of an amendment to Renewed Facility Operating License Nos.
NPF-72 and NPF-77, issued to Constellation Energy Generation, LLC, for
the operation of Braidwood Station, Units 1 and 2 (Docket Nos. 50-456
and 50-457, respectively). The proposed amendment would change
Technical Specification (TS) Surveillance Requirement (SR) 3.7.9.2 to
allow an Ultimate Heat Sink (UHS) temperature of less than or equal to
102.8 [deg]F until September 30, 2024. The change is requested to
support operation during the summer months of 2024.
DATES: Submit comments by July 29, 2024. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is
able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before
this date. Requests for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene
must be filed by August 27, 2024.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods;
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal rulemaking website.
Federal rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0112. 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.
Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop:
TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joel S. Wiebe, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-6606; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0112 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain
publicly available information related to this action by any of the
following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0112.
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 license amendment request is
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML24156A245.
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.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please
include Docket ID NRC-2024-0112 in your comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at
https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions
into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove such information before making the comment submissions available
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.
II. Introduction
The NRC is considering issuance of an amendment to Renewed Facility
Operating License Nos. NPF-72 and
[[Page 54083]]
NPF-77, issued to Constellation Energy Generation, LLC, for the
operation of Braidwood Station, Units 1 and 2 (Docket Nos. 50-456 and
50-457, respectively), located in Will County, IL. The proposed
amendment would change TS SR 3.7.9.2 to allow a UHS temperature of less
than or equal to 102.8 [deg]F until September 30, 2024.
Historical meteorological and atmospheric conditions have resulted
in the UHS temperature approaching the TS limit. These conditions
include elevated air temperatures, high humidity, and low wind speed.
Specifically, the summer of 2020 brought hot weather and drought
conditions to the northern Illinois area resulting in sustained
elevated UHS temperatures. In anticipation of these conditions
occurring during the summer months of 2024, this license amendment
request would change the UHS temperature TS limit until September 30,
2024.
Before issuance of the proposed license amendment, the NRC will
need to make the findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as
amended (the Act), and NRC's regulations.
The NRC has made a proposed determination that the license
amendment request involves no significant hazards consideration. Under
the NRC's regulations in section 50.92 of title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Issuance of amendment,'' this means
that operation of the facility in accordance with the proposed
amendment would not (1) involve a significant increase in the
probability or consequences of an accident previously evaluated; or (2)
create the possibility of a new or different kind of accident from any
accident previously evaluated; or (3) involve a significant reduction
in a margin of safety. As required by 10 CFR 50.91(a), the licensee has
provided its analysis of the issue of no significant hazards
consideration, which is presented as follows:
1. Does the proposed amendment involve a significant increase in
the probability or consequences of an accident previously evaluated?
Response: No.
The likelihood of a malfunction of any systems, structures, or
components (SSCs) supported by the UHS is not significantly increased
by increasing the allowable UHS temperature from less than or equal to
102 [deg]F to less than or equal to 102.8 [deg]F. The UHS provides a
heat sink for process and operating heat from safety related components
during a transient or accident, as well as during normal operation. The
proposed change does not make any physical changes to any plant SSCs,
nor does it alter any of the assumptions or conditions upon which the
UHS is designed. The UHS is not an initiator of any analyzed accident.
All equipment supported by the UHS has been evaluated to demonstrate
that their performance and operation remains as described in the
Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR) with no increase in
probability of failure or malfunction.
The SSCs credited to mitigate the consequences of postulated design
basis accidents remain capable of performing their design basis
function. The change in maximum UHS temperature has been evaluated
using the UFSAR described methods to demonstrate that the UHS remains
capable of removing normal operating and post-accident heat. The change
in UHS temperature and resulting containment response following a
postulated design basis accident has been demonstrated to not be
impacted. Additionally, all the UHS supported equipment, credited in
the accident analysis to mitigate an accident, has been shown to
continue to perform their design function as described in the UFSAR.
Therefore, the proposed change does not involve a significant
increase in the probability or consequences of an accident previously
evaluated.
2. Does the proposed amendment create the possibility of a new or
different kind of accident from any accident previously evaluated?
Response: No.
The proposed change does not create the possibility of a new or
different kind of accident from any accident previously evaluated. The
proposed change does not introduce any new modes of plant operation,
change the design function of any SSC, or change the mode of operation
of any SSC. There are no new equipment failure modes or malfunctions
created as affected SSCs continue to operate in the same manner as
previously evaluated and have been evaluated to perform as designed at
the increased UHS temperature and as assumed in the accident analysis.
Additionally, accident initiators remain as described in the UFSAR and
no new accident initiators are postulated as a result of the increase
in UHS temperature.
Therefore, the proposed change does not create the possibility of a
new or different kind of accident from any previously evaluated.
3. Does the proposed amendment involve a significant reduction in a
margin of safety?
Response: No.
The proposed change continues to ensure that the maximum
temperature of the cooling water supplied to the plant SSCs during a
UHS design basis event remains within the evaluated equipment limits
and capabilities assumed in the accident analysis. The proposed change
does not result in any changes to plant equipment function, including
setpoints and actuations. All equipment will function as designed in
the plant safety analysis without any physical modifications. The
proposed change does not alter a limiting condition for operation,
limiting safety system setting, or safety limit specified in the
Technical Specifications.
The proposed change does not adversely impact the UHS inventory
required to be available for the UFSAR described design basis accident
involving the worst case 30-day period including losses for evaporation
and seepage to support safe shutdown and cooldown of both Braidwood
Station units. Additionally, the structural integrity of the UHS is not
impacted and remains acceptable following the change, thereby ensuring
that the assumptions for both UHS temperature and inventory remain
valid.
Therefore, since there is no adverse impact of this proposed change
on the Braidwood Station safety analysis, there is no reduction in the
margin of safety of the plant.
The NRC staff has reviewed the licensee's analysis and, based on
this review, it appears that the three standards of 10 CFR 50.92(c) are
satisfied. Therefore, the NRC staff proposes to determine that the
license amendment request involves no significant hazards
consideration.
The NRC is seeking public comments on this proposed determination
that the license amendment request involves no significant hazards
consideration. Any comments received within 30 days after the date of
publication of this notice will be considered in making any final
determination.
Normally, the Commission will not issue the amendment until the
expiration of 60 days after the date of publication of this notice. The
Commission may issue the license amendment before expiration of the 60-
day notice period if the Commission concludes the amendment involves no
significant hazards consideration. In addition, the Commission may
issue the amendment prior to the expiration of the 30-day comment
period if circumstances change during the 30-day comment period such
that failure to act in a timely way would result, for example, in
derating or shutdown of the facility. If the Commission takes action
prior to the expiration of either the comment period or the notice
period, it
[[Page 54084]]
will publish in the Federal Register a notice of issuance. If the
Commission makes a final no significant hazards consideration
determination, any hearing will take place after issuance. The
Commission expects that the need to take this action will occur very
infrequently.
III. Opportunity To Request a Hearing and Petition for Leave To
Intervene
Within 60 days after the date of publication of this notice, any
person (petitioner) whose interest may be affected by this action may
file a request for a hearing and petition for leave to intervene
(petition) with respect to the action. Petitions shall be filed in
accordance with the Commission's ``Agency Rules of Practice and
Procedure'' in 10 CFR part 2. Interested persons should consult 10 CFR
2.309. If a petition is filed, the presiding officer will rule on the
petition and, if appropriate, a notice of a hearing will be issued.
Petitions must be filed no later than 60 days from the date of
publication of this notice in accordance with the filing instructions
in the ``Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)'' section of this document.
Petitions and motions for leave to file new or amended contentions that
are filed after the deadline will not be entertained absent a
determination by the presiding officer that the filing demonstrates
good cause by satisfying the three factors in 10 CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i)
through (iii).
If a hearing is requested and the Commission has not made a final
determination on the issue of no significant hazards consideration, the
Commission will make a final determination on the issue of no
significant hazards consideration, which will serve to establish when
the hearing is held. If the final determination is that the amendment
request involves no significant hazards consideration, the Commission
may issue the amendment and make it immediately effective,
notwithstanding the request for a hearing. Any hearing would take place
after issuance of the amendment. If the final determination is that the
amendment request involves a significant hazards consideration, then
any hearing held would take place before the issuance of the amendment
unless the Commission finds an imminent danger to the health or safety
of the public, in which case it will issue an appropriate order or rule
under 10 CFR part 2.
A State, local governmental body, Federally recognized Indian
Tribe, or designated agency thereof, may submit a petition to the
Commission to participate as a party under 10 CFR 2.309(h) no later
than 60 days from the date of publication of this notice.
Alternatively, a State, local governmental body, Federally recognized
Indian Tribe, or designated agency thereof may participate as a non-
party under 10 CFR 2.315(c).
For information about filing a petition and about participation by
a person not a party under 10 CFR 2.315, see ADAMS Accession No.
ML20340A053. (https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionNumber=ML20340A053) and on the NRC's public website
at https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/adjudicatory/hearing.html#participate.
IV. Electronic Submissions and E-Filing
All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including
documents filed by an interested State, local governmental body,
Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or designated agency thereof that
requests to participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302. The E-Filing process requires
participants to submit and serve all adjudicatory documents over the
internet, or in some cases, to mail copies on electronic storage media,
unless an exemption permitting an alternative filing method, as further
discussed, is granted. Detailed guidance on electronic submissions is
located in the ``Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC''
(ADAMS Accession No. ML13031A056) and on the NRC's public website at
https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10
days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should contact the
Office of the Secretary by email at [email protected], or by
telephone at 301-415-1677, to (1) request a digital identification (ID)
certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign submissions and access the E-Filing
system for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise
the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a petition or
other adjudicatory document (even in instances in which the
participant, or its counsel or representative, already holds an NRC-
issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this information, the
Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the proceeding if the
Secretary has not already established an electronic docket.
Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/getting-started.html. After a digital ID certificate is
obtained and a docket created, the participant must submit adjudicatory
documents in Portable Document Format. Guidance on submissions is
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A filing is considered complete at the
time the document is submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To be
timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing system
no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on the due date. Upon receipt of a
transmission, the E-Filing system time-stamps the document and sends
the submitter an email confirming receipt of the document. The E-Filing
system also distributes an email that provides access to the document
to the NRC's Office of the General Counsel and any others who have
advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to participate in
the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the document on those
participants separately. Therefore, applicants and other participants
(or their counsel or representative) must apply for and receive a
digital ID certificate before adjudicatory documents are filed to
obtain access to the documents via the E-Filing system.
A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC's Electronic
Filing Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by
email to [email protected], or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-
7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m.
and 6 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Participants who believe that they have good cause for not
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, in
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing
stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and
requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper
format. Such filings must be submitted in accordance with 10 CFR
2.302(b)-(d). Participants filing adjudicatory documents in this manner
are responsible for serving their documents on all other participants.
Participants granted an exemption under 10 CFR 2.302(g)(2) must still
meet the electronic formatting requirement in 10 CFR 2.302(g)(1),
unless the participant also seeks and is granted an exemption from 10
CFR 2.302(g)(1).
Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the
NRC's electronic hearing docket, which is
[[Page 54085]]
publicly available at https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded
pursuant to an order of the presiding officer. If you do not have an
NRC-issued digital ID certificate as previously described, click
``cancel'' when the link requests certificates and you will be
automatically directed to the NRC's electronic hearing docket where you
will be able to access any publicly available documents in a particular
hearing docket. Participants are requested not to include personal
privacy information such as social security numbers, home addresses, or
personal phone numbers in their filings unless an NRC regulation or
other law requires submission of such information. With respect to
copyrighted works, except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose
of the adjudicatory filings and would constitute a Fair Use
application, participants should not include copyrighted materials in
their submission.
For further details with respect to this action, see the
application for license amendment dated June 4, 2024 (ADAMS Accession
No. ML24156A245).
Attorney for licensee: Jason Zorn, Associate General Counsel,
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC, 4300 Linfield Road, Warrenville,
IL, 60555.
NRC Branch Chief: Jeff Whited.
Dated: June 25, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Joel S. Wiebe,
Senior Project Manager, Licensing Projects Branch III, Division of
Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2024-14344 Filed 6-27-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P