[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 129 (Friday, July 5, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55659-55662]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14715]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 72-1041, 50-498, and 50-499; NRC-2024-0104]
South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company; South Texas
Project Electric 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 South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company permitting
South Texas Project Electric Generating Station to shuffle (relocate)
10 already loaded model 37 multi-purpose canisters (MPC) with
continuous basket shims (MPC-37-CBS) in January 2025 and to load two
new MPC-37-CBS in the HI-STORM Flood/Wind MPC Storage System at its
South Texas Project Electric Generating Station, 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. 2, are not met.
DATES: The exemption was issued on June 26, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0104 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-2024-0104. 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: Yen-Ju Chen, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555; telephone: 301-415-1018; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the exemption is attached.
Dated: July 1, 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.
Attachment--Exemption
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Docket Nos. 72-1041, 50-498, and 50-499
South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company
South Texas Project Electric Generating Station Units 1 and 2
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation
I. Background
South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC) is the
holder of Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-76 and NPF-80, which
authorize operation of the South Texas Project Electric Generating
Station (STP), Units 1 and 2 in Bay City, Texas, 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. STPNOC 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 STP ISFSI. Under the terms of the general license,
STPNOC stores spent fuel at its STP 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. 2.
II. Request/Action
By a letter dated May 7, 2024 (Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System [ADAMS] Accession No. ML24128A157), and
[[Page 55660]]
supplemented on March 15, 2024 (ML24136A284), STPNOC 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 STP to comply
with the terms, conditions, and specifications of the CoC No. 1032,
Amendment No. 2 (ML16280A008). If approved, STPNOC's exemption request
would accordingly allow STP to shuffle (relocate) 10 loaded and to load
two Multi-Purpose Canisters (MPC) with continuous basket shims (CBS)
(i.e., MPC-37-CBS), an unapproved, variant basket design, in the HI-
STORM FW MPC Storage System, and thus, to load the systems in a storage
condition where the terms, conditions, and specifications in the CoC
No. 1032, Amendment No. 2, are not met.
STPNOC currently uses the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System under CoC
No. 1032, Amendment No. 2, for dry storage of spent nuclear fuel in the
MPC-37 at the STP 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-37, known as MPC-37-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).
STPNOC has near-term plans to shuffle (relocate) 10 already loaded
MPC-37-CBS on the STP ISFSI pad in January 2025 and load two new MPC-
37-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System in March 2025. While
Holtec was required to submit a CoC 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 shuffling and
loading campaign. Therefore, STPNOC submitted this exemption request in
order to allow for the shuffling of 10 already loaded MPC-37-CBS in
January 2025, and the future loading of two MPC-37-CBS in March 2025 at
the STP ISFSI. This exemption is limited to the use of MPC-37-CBS in
the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System only for shuffling the 10 already
loaded canisters and specific near-term planned loading of two new
canisters using the MPC-37-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 STPNOC to shuffle (relocate) 10 already
loaded and to load two MPC-37-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage
System, in January and March 2025, respectively, at its STP ISFSI in a
storage condition where the terms, conditions, and specifications in
the CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 2, are not met. STPNOC 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 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 STPNOC to shuffle (relocate) 10 already
loaded MPC-37-CBS in January 2025 and to load two MPC-37-CBS in the HI-
STORM FW MPC Storage System in March 2025, at the STP ISFSI in a
storage condition where the terms, conditions, and specifications in
the CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 2, are not met. In support of its
exemption request, STPNOC asserts that issuance of the exemption would
not endanger life or property because a tip-over or handling event is
administratively controlled, and that the containment boundary would be
maintained in such an event. STPNOC 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-37-CBS remains in a subcritical
condition.
STPNOC 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 STP ISFSI. Specifically, STPNOC
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 2, that is used
at the STP site. STPNOC stated the transporter for handling of the HI-
STORM FW MPC Storage System at the STP ISFSI meets the design
requirements described in the CoC No. 1032 technical specifications
5.2.c.
Additionally, STPNOC provided specific information from STP's
72.212 Evaluation Report, Revision 3, indicating the calculated dose
rate is in compliance with 10 CFR 72.104(a), ``Criteria for radioactive
materials in effluents and direct radiation from an ISFSI or MRS.'' The
analysis of a design basis accident scenario also demonstrates
compliance with 72.106, ``Controlled area of an ISFSI or MRS.''
Specifically, STPNOC stated that, as described in section 12.2 of HI-
STORM FW MPC Storage System UFSAR, there are no accidents which could
significantly affect shielding effectiveness of the HI-STORM FW MPC
Storage System. Coupled with the distance of the STP ISFSI to the site
area boundary, STPNOC 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 STPNOC and
concludes that issuance of the exemption would not endanger life or
property because the administrative controls STPNOC has in place at the
[[Page 55661]]
STP 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 comply with the technical specifications and UFSAR for the HI-
STORM FW MPC Storage System CoC No. 1032, Amendment 2, that is used at
the STP site. In addition, the staff confirmed that the information
provided by STPNOC regarding STP'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 STP
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 property or the
common defense and security.
C. The Exemption Is Otherwise in the Public Interest
The proposed exemption would allow STPNOC to shuffle (relocate) 10
already loaded MPC-37-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System on the
ISFSI pad at the STP ISFSI in January 2025, and load two MPC-37-CBS in
the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System in March 2025 at the STP ISFSI, even
though the CBS variant basket design is not part of the approved CoC
No. 1032, Amendment No. 2. According to STPNOC, the exemption is in the
public interest because being able to load the two MPC-37-CBS will
ensure adequate full core offload margin that is necessary for
completing refueling outages, implementing enterprise projects, and
sustaining safe and efficient operation of the nuclear facilities.
STPNOC stated that the full core offload margin was adversely impacted
when STP could not load the two MPC-37-CBS canisters in its 2022
campaign. Further delay in the loading campaign would further impact
the full core offload margin, and STPNOC would lose its ability to
refuel the operating reactor. In addition, each fuel bundle contributes
to the decay heat removal demand on the spent fuel pool cooling system,
and removing the spent fuel bundles from the pool would allow for
dispersion of the remaining heat load and reduce the consequence of a
design basis accident associated with a loss of spent fuel pool cooling
event. A crowded pool would also increase the likelihood of a fuel
handling accident based on the additional fuel moves required to manage
spent fuel pool loading with extra assemblies in the pool. STPNOC
further stated that the shuffling (relocating) of the 10 already loaded
MPC-37-CBS is necessary to optimize available space on the STP ISFSI
pad for cask transporter maneuverability and minimize long-term damage
to the STP ISFSI pad from cask transporter use, and thus ensures long-
term safe storage of fuel-loaded spent fuel storage canisters. The
shuffling also provides additional shielding to plant structures (such
as warehouses and fabrication shops which are to the south of the STP
ISFSI pad) by moving the spent fuel storage canisters with higher
calculated dose rates (i.e., those loaded in MPC-37-CBS) further north
from the plant structures and also by placing the canisters with lower
dose rate between the plant structures and MPC-37-CBS canisters.
STPNOC has considered procuring empty MPC-37 canisters from other
utilities; however, STP's fuel assemblies are longer than fuel
assemblies of other utilities that load the MPC-37 model. Therefore,
procuring MPC-37 canisters from other utilities is not an option.
STPNOC has also considered procuring new MPC-37 canisters from the
vendor and confirmed the approximate delivery would be in April 2025,
which is after the planned March 2025 loading campaign. The loading
campaigns are scheduled, budgeted, and planned several years in advance
based on planned refueling outages, new fuel receipts, and other
enterprise-level projects while considering the availability of
specialty resources (equipment, vendors) to complete a campaign. Any
delay to the March 2025 loading campaign would have cascading impacts
to future new fuel receipts, refueling outages, and other enterprise
projects. STPNOC asserted that delaying loading the two canisters
beyond 2025 would result in loading these two canisters during the next
scheduled loading campaign in 2028. Then, the number of canisters to be
loaded would increase even more based on the new criticality analysis
for the spent fuel pools to accommodate the planned storage of accident
tolerant fuel.
For the reasons described by STPNOC in the exemption request, as
supplemented, 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, STPNOC would have to keep the loaded MPC-37-CBS at the current
location on the STP ISFSI pad, and would have to keep spent fuel in the
spent fuel pool since it is not permitted to be loaded into MPC-37-CBS.
This would impact STPNOC's ability to manage the full core offload
margin in STP's spent fuel pool, resulting in undesirable cascading
impacts to new fuel receipts, refueling outages, other enterprise
projects, and potentially safe reactor operation. Denying the exemption
request could also challenge the cask transporter maneuverability on
the STP ISFSI pad, and thus increase the use of a cask transporter on
the STP ISFSI pad, which could increase the long-term damage to the STP
ISFSI pad and result in likely longer personnel radiation exposure from
increased cask transporter use.
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 June 26, 2024 (89 FR 53452).
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 STPNOC 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 shuffling of 10 MPC-37-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System
in January 2025 and the future loading in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage
System of two MPC-37-CBS in March 2025.
[[Page 55662]]
This exemption is effective upon issuance.
Dated: June 26, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
/RA/
Christian Jacobs,
Acting Chief, Storage and Transportation Licensing Branch, Division
of Fuel Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety, and
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024-14715 Filed 7-3-24; 8:45 am]
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