[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 203 (Monday, October 21, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84206-84207]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-24191]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-327, 50-328, and 72-34; NRC-2024-0174]
Tennessee Valley Authority; Sequoyah Nuclear Plant Independent
Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Exemption
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice; issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued an
exemption to Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), for the Sequoyah Nuclear
Plant (SQN) Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI), in
accordance with NRC regulations. Specifically, the exemption permits
SQN's ISFSI to deviate from conditions of the NRC Certificate of
Compliance (CoC) No. 1032, which was issued to Holtec International
(Holtec or the CoC holder) amendment No. 3, appendix B, section 3.3,
``Codes and Standards.''
DATES: The exemption was issued on September 18, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0174 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-2024-0174. 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]. For the convenience of the reader,
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
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: Tilda Liu, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555-0001; telephone: 404-997-4730; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Discussion
The NRC issued an exemption to TVA for the SQN ISFSI. By letter
dated August 4, 2022, as supplemented by letters dated December 19,
2022, April 27, 2023, and January 3, 2024, TVA submitted to the NRC an
exemption request for the SQN ISFSI, in accordance with section 72.7 of
title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Specific
exemptions,'' from the requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2),
72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), 72.214, 72.154(b), and
72.174. Specifically, the exemption request permits SQN ISFSI to
deviate from conditions of the NRC CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 3,
appendix B, section 3.3, ``Codes and Standards.''
The requirements contained in 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3),
[[Page 84207]]
72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), 72.214, 72.154(b), and 72.174 are
applicable to CoC No. 1032, which was issued to Holtec. The condition
of CoC No.1032, appendix B, technical specifications, section 3.3,
``Codes and Standards,'' specifies American Society of Mechanical
Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel (B&PV) Code, 2007 Edition,
as the governing B&PV Code for Holtec's HI-STORM Flood/Wind (FW) Multi-
Purpose Canister (MPC) Storage System, the dry cask spent fuel storage
system in use at SQN ISFSI. The ASME B&PV Code requires that 100
percent of the weld seam joining shell-to-shell of the MPC be inspected
by radiography test (RT) where RT is a form of non-destructive
examination.
The licensee loaded spent fuel in the HI-STORM FW dry cask storage
system MPC Type 37 (MPC-37), Serial No. 234, for storage in the ISFSI
at SQN under CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 3, and its general license.
During a review of manufacturer's documents, the CoC holder identified
that MPC-37 Serial No. 234 at SQN ISFSI has a longitudinal shell-to-
shell weld for which no digital RT is available following a weld
repair, which is inconsistent with the governing ASME B&PV code for
this CoC system. When TVA was notified of this issue, MPC-37 Serial No.
234 was already put in use, and TVA registered it by letter dated
February 24, 2022, entitled ``Sequoyah Nuclear Plant Registration of
Spent Fuel Storage Cask Pursuant to 10 CFR 72.212(b)(2).'' TVA then
submitted this exemption request to the NRC to allow continued storage
of spent fuel in MPC-37 Serial No. 234 for the service life of the
canister at SQN, despite the non-compliance with the ASME B&PV code.
Based on the NRC staff's review of TVA's analysis supporting the
exemption request, the NRC staff 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 granted the licensee an exemption
from the requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 10 CFR 72.212(b)(3), 10
CFR 72.212(b)(5)(i), 10 CFR 72.212(b)(11), 10 CFR 72.214, 10 CFR
72.154(b), and 10 CFR 72.174 with regard to: (1) meeting the
requirement to repeat volumetric examination as required for the
original weld on an approximately 7.5-inch portion of the repaired weld
in conformance with section III, subsection NB, of the ASME B&PV Code,
2007 Edition, and (2) maintaining and having available documentary
evidence of the test for the service life of the canister. The
exemption allowed TVA to continue using MPC-37 Serial No. 234 to store
spent fuel for the service life of the canister at SQN. All other
relevant requirements of the CoC shall continue to be met. This
exemption, including the supporting evaluation for issuance of it, can
be found in the table as follows.
II. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as
indicated.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Document description ADAMS Accession No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Issuance of Certificate of Compliance No. 1032, ML17214A040.
Amendment No. 3 for the HI-STORM Flood/Wind
Multipurpose Canister Storage, dated August 9,
2017.
Sequoyah Nuclear Plant--Registration of Spent ML22059B061.
Fuel Storage Cask Pursuant to 10 CFR
72.212(b)(2), dated February 24, 2022.
Sequoyah Nuclear Plant--Request for Exemption ML22216A078.
from Various 10 CFR part 72 Regulations
Resulting from Non-Destruction-Examination
Compliance, dated August 4, 2022.
Sequoyah Nuclear Plant--Response to Request for ML22353A066.
Supplemental Information (D-RSI) Request for
Exemption from Non-Destruction-Examination
Compliance, dated December 19, 2022.
Sequoyah Nuclear Plant--Response to Follow-up ML23117A116.
Questions to TVA's Response to NRC's Request
for Supplemental Information (RSI) Related to
August 4, 2022, Sequoyah ISFSI Exemption
Request, dated April 27, 2023.
Sequoyah Nuclear Plant--Response to NRC's ML24004A040.
November 8, 2023, Request for Additional
Information--Related to Sequoyah Nuclear Plant
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation,
dated January 3, 2024.
Issuance of Exemption Related to Non-Destructive ML24185A172 (Package).
Examination Compliance Regarding Sequoyah
Nuclear Plant Independent Spent Fuel Storage
Installation, dated September 18, 2024.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dated: October 15, 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.
[FR Doc. 2024-24191 Filed 10-18-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P