[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 4 (Tuesday, January 7, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1198-1201]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00116]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 72-70, 50-373, and 50-374; NRC-2024-0205]
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC; LaSalle County 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 Constellation Energy Generation, LLC, permitting LaSalle
County Station (LSCS) to maintain four loaded and to load four new 68M
multi-purpose canister with continuous basket shims in HI-STORM 100
Cask System at its LSCS 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. 1014, Amendment No.
8, Revision No. 1, are not met.
DATES: The exemption was issued on December 20, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0205 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-2024-0205. 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: Martin Ortiz Gonzalez, Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3637; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the exemption is attached.
Dated: January 2, 2025.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Yen-Ju Chen,
Acting Chief, Storage and Transportation Licensing Branch, Division of
Fuel Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguards.
Attachment--Exemption
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Docket Nos. 72-70, 50-373, and 50-374
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC; LaSalle County Station Units 1
and 2; Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation
I. Background
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC (CEG), is the holder of
Renewed Facility Operating Licenses Nos. NPF-11 and NPF-18, which
authorize operation of the LaSalle County Station, (LSCS) Units 1 and 2
in Marseilles, Illinois, 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,''
[[Page 1199]]
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. CEG 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 LSCS ISFSI. Under the terms of
the general license, CEG stores spent fuel at its LSCS ISFSI using the
HI-STORM 100 Cask System in accordance with Certificate of Compliance
(CoC) No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1.
II. Request/Action
By a letter dated September 19, 2024 (Agencywide Documents Access
and Management System [ADAMS] Accession No. ML24263A206), CEG 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
LSCS to comply with the terms, conditions, and specifications of the
CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1 (ML16041A233). If
approved, CEG's exemption request would accordingly allow LSCS to
maintain four loaded and to load, in the future loading campaign
beginning in June 2025, four Multi-Purpose Canisters (MPCs) with an
unapproved, variant basket design with continuous basket shims (CBS)
(i.e., MPC-68M-CBS) in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System, and thus, to
maintain and load the systems in a storage condition where the terms,
conditions, and specifications in the CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8,
Revision No. 1, are not met.
CEG currently uses the HI-STORM 100 Cask System under CoC No. 1014,
Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1, for dry storage of spent nuclear fuel
in MPC-68M at the LSCS ISFSI. Holtec International (Holtec), the
designer and manufacturer of the HI-STORM 100 Cask System, developed a
variant of the design with CBS for the MPC-68M, known as MPC-68M-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).
Prior to the issuance of the violation, CEG had loaded four MPC-
68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System, which are safely in storage at
the LSCS ISFSI. CEG's future loading campaign for the LSCS ISFSI
includes loading four MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System
beginning in June 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
future loading campaign. Therefore, CEG submitted this exemption
request in order to allow for the continued storage of the four already
loaded MPC-68-CBS, and future loading of four MPC-68M-CBS, beginning in
June 2025, at the LSCS ISFSI. This exemption is limited to the use of
MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System only for the four already
loaded canisters and the specific planned loading of four new canisters
beginning in June 2025.
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 CEG to maintain four loaded and to load
four MPC-68M-CBS in the future loading campaign beginning in June 2025,
in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System at its LSCS ISFSI in a storage
condition where the terms, conditions, and specifications in the CoC
No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1, are not met. CEG 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 CEG to maintain four loaded and to load
four MPC-68M-CBS in the future loading campaign beginning in June 2025,
in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System at the LSCS ISFSI in a storage
condition where the terms, conditions, and specifications in the CoC
No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1, are not met. In support of
its exemption request, CEG asserts that issuance of the exemption would
not endanger life or property because the administrative controls the
applicant has in place prevent a tip-over or handling event, and that
the containment boundary would be maintained in such an event. CEG
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-68M-CBS remains in a subcritical condition.
CEG 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 LSCS ISFSI. Specifically, CEG 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 100 Cask
System CoC No. 1014, Amendment 8, Revision No. 1, that is used at the
LSCS site. CEG also described its administrative controls for handling
of the HI-STORM 100 Cask System at the LSCS ISFSI to prevent a tip-over
or handling event. Those controls include operational procedures that
demonstrate the system is handled with a single failure proof device in
accordance with NUREG-0554 (ML110450636), ``Single-Failure-Proof Cranes
for Nuclear Power Plants, NUREG-0612, ``Control of Heavy Loads
[[Page 1200]]
at Nuclear Power Plants'' (ML070250180), and ANSI N14.6, ``for
Radioactive Materials--Special Lifting Devices for Shipping Containers
Weighing 10 000 Pounds (4500 kg) or More,'' and employing redundant
drop protection features which comply with CoC No. 1014, Amendment 8,
Revision No. 1, Appendix A.
Additionally, CEG provided specific information from LSCS's 72.212
Evaluation Report, Revision 9, indicating that during the design basis
event of a non-mechanistic tip-over, LSCS's ISFSI would meet the
requirements in 10 CFR 72.104, ``Criteria for radioactive materials in
effluents and direct radiation from an ISFSI or MRS,'' and 10 CFR
72.106, ``Controlled area of an ISFSI or MRS.'' Specifically, CEG
described that, in the highly unlikely event of a tip-over, any
potential fuel damage from a non-mechanistic tip-over event would be
localized, the confinement barrier would be maintained, and the
shielding material would remain intact. Coupled with the distance of
the LSCS ISFSI to the site area boundary, CEG 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 CEG and
concludes that issuance of the exemption would not endanger life or
property because the administrative controls that CEG has in place at
the LSCS 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 are documented in the technical specifications and UFSAR for
the HI-STORM 100 Cask System CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision
No. 1, that is used at the LSCS site. In addition, the staff confirmed
that the information provided by CEG regarding LSCS's 72.212 Evaluation
Report, Revision 9, 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 LSCS 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 the four already loaded MPC-68M-
CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System to remain in storage at the LSCS
ISFSI, and allow CEG to load four MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask
System in the future loading campaign beginning in June 2025, at the
LSCS ISFSI, even though the CBS variant basket design is not part of
the approved CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 8, Revision No. 1. According
to CEG, the exemption is in the public interest because being unable to
load fuel into dry storage in the future loading campaign would impact
CEG's ability to offload fuel from the LSCS reactor units, consequently
impacting continued safe reactor operation.
CEG stated that further delaying the future loading campaign would
impact its ability to effectively manage the margin to full core
discharge capability in the LSCS Units 1 and 2 spent fuel pools. The
low spent fuel pool capacity would make it difficult to refuel and
present potential risks to fuel handling operations. In addition, a
crowded spent fuel pool would challenge the decay heat removal demand
of the pool and increase the likelihood of a loss of fuel pool cooling
event and a fuel handling accident. Furthermore, CEG loading campaigns
are scheduled based on availability of the specialized work force and
equipment that is shared throughout the CEG fleet. These specialty
resources support multiple competing priorities, including refueling
outages, loading campaigns, fuel pool cleanouts, fuel inspections, fuel
handling equipment upgrades and maintenance, fuel sipping, new fuel
receipt, and crane maintenance and upgrades. Therefore, the available
windows to complete cask loading campaigns are limited, and any delays
would have a cascading impact on other scheduled specialized
activities. CEG also considered requesting that Holtec provide eight
(8) fully compliant canisters for the June 2025 campaign; however, CEG
expects that Holtec will not be able to meet this request based on
current manufacturing schedules. Additionally, CEG considered delaying
the start of the 2025 campaign until Amendment 19 of the HISTORM 100
CoC is approved. This delay would result in the LSCS ISFSI campaign
needing to pull specialty resources which would otherwise be required
to support other CEG refueling and ISFSI campaigns.
For the reasons described by CEG in the exemption request, 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, CEG would
have to unload MPC-68M-CBS from the HI-STORM 100 Cask System at the
LSCS ISFSI and reload into the older design MPC-68M to restore
compliance with the terms, conditions, and specifications of the CoC.
This would subject onsite personnel to additional radiation exposures
and increase the risk of a possible fuel handling accident.
Furthermore, the removed spent fuel would need to be placed in the
spent fuel pool until it can be loaded into another storage cask or
remain in the spent fuel pool if it is not permitted to be loaded into
CBS casks for the future loadings. As described by CEG, this scenario
would affect CEG's ability to effectively manage the margin to full
core discharge capacity and present a potential reactivity management
risk to fuel handling operations during pre- and post-refueling outages
at LSCS. In addition, the rescheduling of the specialized resources for
the future loading campaign would impact the operations of LSCS.
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 December 20, 2024 (89 FR 104234).
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 CEG an
exemption from the
[[Page 1201]]
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 ongoing storage of four
MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System and a future loading in the
HI-STORM 100 Cask System of four new MPC-68M-CBS beginning in June
2025.
This exemption is effective upon issuance.
Dated: December 20, 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. 2025-00116 Filed 1-6-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P