[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 182 (Thursday, September 19, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 76750-76751]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-20936]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 50

[Docket No. PRM-50-125; NRC-2024-0135]


Returning a Decommissioning Plant to Operating Status

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of docketing and request for 
comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a 
petition for rulemaking from Alan Blind and Roger Rapoport, dated July 
1, 2024, requesting that the NRC revise its regulations to include a 
Commission-approved process for returning a decommissioning plant to 
operational status. The petition was docketed by the NRC on July 23, 
2024, and has been assigned Docket No. PRM-50-125. The NRC is examining 
the issues raised in PRM-50-125 to determine whether they should be 
considered in rulemaking. The NRC is requesting public comment on this 
petition at this time.

DATES: Submit comments by December 3, 2024. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC 
is able to assure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date.

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-2024-0135. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Helen Chang; telephone: 301-415-3228; 
email: [email protected]. For technical questions contact the 
individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do 
not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact 
us at 301-415-1677.
     Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission at 301-415-1101.
     Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff.
     Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. eastern time, Federal 
workdays; telephone: 301-415-1677.
    You can read a plain language description of this petition for 
rulemaking at https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NRC-2024-0135. 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: Soly Soto Lugo, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-
7528, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0135 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-2024-0135.
     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, 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 NRC Public Document Room (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, 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-2024-0135 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. The Petitioner and Petition

    The petition for rulemaking (PRM) was filed by Alan Blind and Roger 
Rapoport. Subsequently, the petitioner submitted additional signatures 
of community members near the Palisades Nuclear Plant (Palisades) in 
support of the petition. The PRM requests that the NRC revise its 
regulations at 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and 
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,'' to include a Commission-approved 
process for returning a decommissioning plant to operational status. 
The NRC understands the petition, based on the context and references 
within, to mean plants currently in the decommissioning process rather 
than fully decommissioned plants and to be requesting a revision of the 
part 50 regulations rather than part 52 regulations. The petition may 
be found in ADAMS at Accession No. ML24205A122.

III. Discussion of the Petition

    The petition states that the NRC staff lack a specific NRC 
Commission-approved and codified process for licensing, inspecting, and 
approving the return to service of a power reactor that has entered 
decommissioning. The petitioner requests that the NRC conduct 
rulemaking to include a codified process for returning a 
decommissioning plant to operational status. The petitioner points to 
the ongoing Palisades proceedings as examples for where new, codified 
processes are needed.
    The petition states that the NRC received a proposal for a 
regulatory path to the reauthorization of power operations at the 
Palisades plant using the current regulatory framework. The petition 
also states that the proposed framework is based on a denial of PRM-50-
117, ``Criteria to Return Retired Nuclear Power Reactors to 
Operations'' (86 FR 24362), which the petitioner

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states is taken out of context by Holtec/Palisades. The petitioner 
contends that returning a plant that has entered the decommissioning 
process to an operational status does not meet the applicability 
requirements of 10 CFR 50.12, ``Specific exemptions;'' 50.59, 
``Changes, tests and experiments'' and 50.90, ``Application for 
amendment of license, construction permit, or early site permit.'' The 
petitioner also states that a generic rulemaking to establish a 
Commission-approved process for returning a decommissioning plant to 
operational status is necessary as Palisades is the first plant seeking 
NRC approval to transition from a decommissioning status back to 
operations.
    The petitioner did not provide proposed regulatory language but 
rather proposed elements that should be included in the rulemaking. 
These elements include decommissioning status and configuration 
verification, aging management, quality assurance during restart and 
operations, equipment maintenance, personnel qualifications, license 
expirations, hearing process, appropriate licensing basis, startup 
testing, and NRC catchup review, as well as completion of past, open 
commitments.
    In addition, the petitioner requests that the NRC revise its 
regulations to require the NRC to review all materials associated with 
license transfers to new entities for the purpose of completion of 
decommissioning. The petitioner also requests that the NRC revise its 
regulations to require that entities previously approved primarily for 
decommissioning activities submit a new license transfer application in 
accordance with 10 CFR 50.80, ``Transfer of licenses,'' before that 
entity can be qualified to engage in activities associated with power 
operations. The petitioner contends that this requirement would ensure 
that the NRC assesses the qualifications of the requesting entity based 
on evidence of its operational capabilities and not evidence of its 
decommissioning qualifications.
    Only public comments responsive to PRM-50-125 regarding the request 
that the NRC revise its regulations to include a Commission-approved 
process for returning a decommissioning plant to an operational status 
will be considered. Note that this is a separate process from the 
ongoing NRC consideration of requested actions related to the potential 
restart of the Palisades Nuclear Plant, which has separate Docket IDs, 
and can be found at NRC-2024-0128 and NRC-2024-0130.

IV. Conclusion

    The NRC has determined that the petition meets the sufficiency 
requirements for docketing a PRM under 10 CFR 2.803, ``Petition for 
rulemaking-NRC action.'' The NRC will examine the issues raised in PRM-
50-125 and any comments received in response to this comment request to 
determine whether these issues should be considered in rulemaking. 
While the petition is being evaluated, the NRC staff will continue to 
follow existing regulations for its regulatory activities.
    The public can monitor further action on the rulemaking that will 
address this petition by searching Docket ID NRC-2024-0135 on the 
Federal rulemaking website, https://www.regulations.gov. The site 
allows members of the public to receive alerts when changes or 
additions occur in a docket folder. To subscribe: (1) navigate to the 
docket folder (NRC-2024-0135); (2) click the ``Subscribe'' link; and 
(3) enter an email address and click on the ``Subscribe'' link. The NRC 
also tracks the status of all NRC rules and PRMs on its website at 
https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/rulemaking/rules-petitions.html.

    Dated: September 10, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Carrie Safford,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2024-20936 Filed 9-18-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P