[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 139 (Friday, July 19, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58773-58775]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-15940]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-390, 50-391, and 72-1048; NRC-2024-0118]
Tennessee Valley Authority; Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and
2; Exemption
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued an
exemption in response to a request dated September 28, 2023, as
supplemented by letter dated March 14, 2024, from Tennessee Valley
Authority related to the use of a locked door or gate with a monitored
alarm at the access control point to radioactive waste that contains
category 1 or category 2 quantities of radioactive material at the
Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, site.
DATES: The exemption was issued on July 15, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0118 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-2024-0118. 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: Kimberly Green, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-1627; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the exemption is attached.
Dated: July 16, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Kimberly Green,
Senior Project Manager, Licensing Plant Branch II-2, Division of
Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
Attachment--Exemption.
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-390, 50-391, and 72-1048; NRC-2024-0118]
Tennessee Valley Authority; Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2;
Exemption
I. Background
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is the holder of Facility
Operating License Nos. NPF-90 and NPF-96, and General License No. 72-
1048, for operation of the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, and
an independent spent fuel storage installation (Watts Bar site),
respectively, located in Rhea County, Tennessee. The operating licenses
are subject to all applicable provisions of the Atomic Energy Act, and
to the rules, regulations, and orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC or Commission) now or hereafter in effect.
II. Request/Action
By letter dated September 28, 2023 (Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML23271A063), as supplemented
on March 14, 2024 (ML24074A457), TVA requested an exemption from the
requirement in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
part 37, paragraph 37.11(c)(2) to use a locked door or gate at the
access control point to where radioactive waste
[[Page 58774]]
that contains category 1 or category 2 quantities of radioactive
material is stored.
The provisions of 10 CFR part 37 establish physical security
requirements to prevent the theft or diversion of risk-significant
radioactive materials (i.e., category 1 and category 2 quantities of
radioactive material). As stated in NUREG-2155, Rev. 2,
``Implementation Guidance for 10 CFR part 37, `Physical Protection of
Category 1 and Category 2 Quantities of Radioactive Material'''
(ML22083A141), 10 CFR 37.11 exempts radioactive wastes that contain
category 2 quantities or greater of radioactive material from the
security requirements in subparts B, C, and D of 10 CFR part 37.
Instead, the radioactive waste is subject to the requirements in 10 CFR
37.11(c)(1) through (c)(4). The regulation at 10 CFR 37.11(c)(2)
requires that the licensee secure the radioactive waste by a locked
door or gate with monitored alarm at the access control point.
The Watts Bar site includes old steam generator storage facilities
(OSGSFs) that are used to store the contaminated old steam generators
(OSGs). The OSGs exceed the threshold for a category 2 quantity of
radioactivity, as defined in 10 CFR 37.5, but do not contain discrete
radioactive sources, ion-exchange resins, or activated materials that
weigh less than 2,000 kilograms (4,409 pounds), as described in 10 CFR
37.11(c). As such, the licensee is required by 10 CFR 37.11(c)(2) to
have a monitored alarm at the access control point to the OSGSFs where
the OSGs are stored.
TVA describes the OSGSFs as robust structures that are closed with
10 stacked precast concrete panels weighing approximately 17,237
kilograms (38,000 pounds) each. The OSGSFs are located outside the
Watts Bar protected area, but within the exclusion area and site
boundary. Removal of the concrete panels is the only access point of
sufficient size to remove an OSG and requires heavy lifting and rigging
equipment that cannot be staged or utilized quickly. Removal of the
concrete panels is an evolution that is easily observable over an
extended period of time.
TVA has requested a permanent exemption from the requirement in 10
CFR 37.11(c)(2) to address a regulatory noncompliance that has resulted
in the issuance of minor violations at the Watts Bar site.
III. Discussion
Pursuant to 10 CFR 37.11(a), the Commission may, upon application
of any interested person or upon its own initiative, grant such
exemptions from the requirements of the regulations in 10 CFR part 37
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
The exemption would exempt the licensee from the requirement to
have a monitored alarm at the access control point to the OSGSFs where
the OSGs are stored. As stated previously, 10 CFR 37.11(a) allows the
NRC to grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 37. The
NRC staff has determined that granting of the exemption is permissible
under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and other regulatory
requirements. Therefore, the exemption is authorized by law.
B. The Exemption Will Not Endanger Life or Property or the Common
Defense and Security
The purpose of 10 CFR part 37 is to provide reasonable assurance of
the security of category 1 or category 2 quantities of radioactive
material by protecting these materials from theft or diversion. As
required by 10 CFR 37.11, each licensee that possesses radioactive
waste that contains category 1 or category 2 quantity of radioactive
material shall implement the following requirements to secure the
radioactive waste: (1) use continuous physical barriers that allow
access to the radioactive waste only through established access control
points; (2) use a locked door or gate with monitored alarm at the
access control point; (3) assess and respond to each actual or
attempted unauthorized access to determine whether an actual or
attempted theft, sabotage, or diversion occurred; and (4) immediately
notify the local law enforcement agency (LLEA) and request an armed
response from the LLEA upon determination that there was an actual or
attempted theft, sabotage, or diversion of the radioactive waste that
contains category 1 or category 2 quantities of radioactive material.
After issuance of the final part 37 rule, the NRC issued
Enforcement Guidance Memorandum (EGM) 2014-001, ``Interim Guidance for
Dispositioning 10 CFR part 37 Violations with Respect to Large
Components or Robust Structures Containing Category 1 or Category 2
Quantities of Material at Power Reactor Facilities Licensed Under 10
CFR parts 50 and 52'' (ML14056A151), on March 13, 2014, to provide
guidance to NRC staff for dispositioning violations associated with 10
CFR part 37 with respect to large components containing category 1 and
category 2 quantities of radioactive material stored in robust
structures at power reactor facilities licensed under 10 CFR parts 50
and 52. The EGM acknowledges that due to their size and weight, these
large components are not easily moved without cranes, rigging, and
heavy equipment. In addition, these large components are not easily
concealed during loading or when they are in motion, and the amount of
time required to steal or divert these large components is such that it
is reasonable to expect that the licensee would detect these
activities.
TVA has a written 10 CFR part 37 security plan for Watts Bar that
identifies the OSGs as large components and the OSGSFs as robust
structures containing category 1 or category 2 quantities of
radioactive material. The plan also identifies the security measures
that are adequate to detect, assess, and respond to actual or attempted
theft or diversion of stored materials from the OSGSFs. TVA provided a
written analysis that considers the time needed to accomplish these
activities given the proximity and mobility of the equipment available
for the large components and robust structures supporting the 10 CFR
part 37 security plan. TVA also provided a written analysis documenting
that the measures for the protection of large components or robust
structures containing category 1 or category 2 quantities of material
do not decrease the effectiveness of the 10 CFR part 73 security plan.
Because TVA has a security plan that contains measures to control
access to the radioactive waste, assess and respond to unauthorized
access, and notify and request an armed response by the LLEA, the NRC
finds that the exemption will not endanger life or property or the
common defense and security.
C. The Exemption Is in the Public Interest
TVA stated that the exemption would preclude the expenditure of
resources that provide no additional security and protection for the
OSGs. Granting of the exemption would also allow TVA to address a
regulatory noncompliance and avoid future violations.
As noted previously, the OSGs are large components that are stored
in robust structures that would require the use of heavy lifting and
rigging equipment that cannot be staged or utilized quickly. Requiring
the use of a
[[Page 58775]]
locked door or gate with monitored alarm at the access control point is
supplanted by the licensee's security plan which utilizes other means
to detect unauthorized access, while the exemption would reduce the
regulatory burden on the licensee and the NRC staff. Therefore, the NRC
staff concludes that the exemption is in the public interest.
IV. Environmental Considerations
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.21, 51.32, and 51.35, an environmental
assessment and finding of no significant impact regarding this
exemption request was published in the Federal Register on June 27,
2024 (89 FR 53665). Based upon the environmental assessment, the
Commission has determined that issuance of this exemption will not have
a significant effect on the quality of the human environment.
V. Conclusions
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
37.11(a), the exemption is authorized by law, will not endanger life or
property or the common defense and security, and is in the public
interest.
Dated: July 15, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
/RA/
Bo Pham,
Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2024-15940 Filed 7-18-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P