[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 52 (Wednesday, March 19, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12803-12805]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-04555]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 72-1036, 50-220, and 50-410; NRC-2025-0037]
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC; Nine Mile Point Nuclear
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 Nine Mile
Point Generating Station (NMP) to maintain nine loaded and to load six
new 89 multi-purpose canisters (MPC) with continuous basket shims in
the HI-STORM Flood/Wind MPC Storage System at its NMP 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. 3, Revision No. 0 are not met.
DATES: The exemption was issued on March 12, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2025-0037 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-2025-0037. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Bridget Curran;
telephone: 301-415-1003; 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: John-Chau Nguyen, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555; telephone: 301-415-0262; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the exemption is attached.
Dated: March 14, 2025.
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. 72-1036, 50-220, and 50-410
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC; Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station,
Units 1 and 2
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation
I. Background
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC (Constellation) is the
holder of Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-63 and NPF-69,
which authorize operation of the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station
(NMP) in the town of Scriba, New York, 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. Constellation 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 NMP ISFSI. Under the terms
of the general license, Constellation stores spent fuel at its NMP
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. 3, Revision No. 0.
II. Request/Action
By a letter dated January 30, 2025 (Agencywide Documents Access
and Management System [ADAMS] Accession No. ML25031A016), as
supplemented on February 6, 2025 (ML25042A159), Constellation
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 NMP to comply with the terms, conditions, and specifications
of the CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 3, Revision No. 0 (ML17214A041).
If approved, Constellation's exemption request would accordingly
allow NMP to maintain nine loaded and to load six MPCs with
continuous basket shims (CBS) (i.e., MPC-89-CBS) 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. 3, Revision No. 0 are not met.
Constellation currently uses the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System
under CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 3, Revision No. 0, for dry storage
of spent nuclear fuel in the MPC-89 at the NMP 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-89, known as MPC-89-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). Holtec subsequently submitted Amendment 7
to the HI-STORM FW CoC to address the issues; however, NMP was not
able to take advantage of the final NRC approved methodology in
Amendment 7 for performing the non-mechanistic tip-over analysis
because NMP's site specific
[[Page 12804]]
parameters were not bounded by that analysis. On February 6, 2025,
Constellation submitted supplemental information, which documents a
non-mechanistic tip-over analysis of the HI-STORM FW containing the
MPC-89-CBS incorporating the NMP site-specific ISFSI pad parameters.
The staff reviewed the results of the analysis which document that
the MPC confinement boundary is not breached as a result of this
site-specific tip-over event. Based on this review, staff concludes
that although the structural integrity of the fuel basket is
inconclusive, the MPC confinement boundary is maintained and allows
the fuel to remain in a dry storage condition with no moderator
present. As a result, the fuel will remain subcritical and there are
no significant safety consequences. This conclusion is consistent
with the staff's assessment in the Safety Determination Memorandum.
Therefore, employment of the Safety Determination Memorandum as a
basis for this exemption request is found to be acceptable.
Prior to the issuance of the violations, Constellation had
loaded nine MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System, which
are in storage at the NMP ISFSI. Constellation's near-term loading
campaign for the NMP ISFSI include plans to load six MPC-89-CBS in
the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System beginning in May 2025.
Constellation submitted this exemption request in order to allow for
the continued storage of the nine already loaded MPC-89-CBS, and
future loading of six MPC-89-CBS beginning in May 24, 2025, at the
NMP ISFSI. This exemption is limited to the use of MPC-89-CBS in the
HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System only for the nine already loaded
canisters and specific near-term planned loading of six new
canisters using the MPC-89-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 Constellation to maintain nine loaded
and to load six MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System at
its NMP ISFSI in a storage condition where the terms, conditions,
and specifications in the CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 3, Revision
No. 0, are not met. Constellation 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 Constellation to maintain nine loaded
and to load six MPC-89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System at
the NMP ISFSI in a storage condition where the terms, conditions,
and specifications in the CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 3, Revision
No. 0, are not met. In support of its exemption request,
Constellation 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.
Constellation 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-89-CBS remains in a
subcritical condition.
Constellation 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 NMP ISFSI.
Specifically, Constellation 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 final safety
analysis report (FSAR) for the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System CoC
No. 1032, Amendment 3, Revision No. 0, that is used at the NMP site.
Constellation also described its administrative controls for
handling of the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System at the NMP ISFSI to
prevent a tip-over or handling event. Those controls include using
single-failure-proof handling systems as defined in NUREG-0612.
Constellation referenced their ``Rigging and Lifting Program'' and
``Control of Heavy Loads Program'' to further demonstrate that NMP
has applicable operational procedures in place to safely load,
process, transfer and move the MPCs in accordance with Appendix A of
the CoC and the HI-STORM FW FSAR.
Additionally, Constellation provided specific information from
NMP's 72.212 Evaluation Report, Revision 1, indicating that during
the design basis event of a non-mechanistic tip-over, NMP'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 72.106, ``Controlled area of an ISFSI or MRS.''
Specifically, Constellation 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 NMP ISFSI to the site area
boundary, Constellation 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 Constellation
and concludes that issuance of the exemption would not endanger life
or property because the administrative controls Constellation has in
place at the NMP 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 FSAR for the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System CoC
No. 1032, Amendment 3, Revision No. 0, that is used at the NMP site.
In addition, the staff confirmed that the information provided by
Constellation regarding NMP's 72.212 Evaluation Report, Revision 1,
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 NMP 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 nine already loaded MPC-
89-CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System to remain in storage at
the NMP ISFSI and allow Constellation to load six MPC-89-CBS in the
HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System beginning in May 2025, at the NMP
ISFSI, even though the CBS variant basket design is not part of the
approved CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 3, Revision No. 0. According to
Constellation, the exemption is in the public interest because
unloading fuel from already loaded canisters and not being able to
load fuel into dry storage in future loading campaigns would impact
Constellation's ability to offload fuel from the NMP reactor units,
consequently impacting continued safe reactor operation. The
reflooding of the MPCs, removal of fuel assemblies, and replacement
into a different MPC would result in additional doses and handling
operations with no added safety
[[Page 12805]]
benefit. In addition, future loading campaigns would need to be
delayed until older design canisters can be fabricated and delivered
to the site.
Constellation stated that to unload already loaded MPC-89-CBS or
delay the future loading campaigns would impact the ability to
effectively manage the margin to full core discharge capacity in the
NMP 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 during pre- and post-outage. 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, NMP
planned the cask loading campaigns years in advance based on
availability of the specialized workforce and equipment that is
shared throughout the Constellation fleet. These specialty resources
support competing priorities including refueling outages, loading
campaigns, fuel pool cleanouts, fuel inspections, fuel handing
equipment upgrade and maintenance, fuel sipping, new fuel receipt,
and crane maintenance and upgrades. Any delays would have a
cascading impact on other scheduled specialized activities.
For the reasons described by Constellation 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, Constellation would have to unload MPC-89-CBS from the
HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System at the NMP ISFSI and reload into the
older design MPC-89 to restore compliance with terms, conditions,
and specifications of the CoC. This would subject onsite personnel
to additional radiation exposure, increase the risk of a possible
fuel handling accident, and increase the risk of a possible heavy
load 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 casks for future loading campaigns. As
described by Constellation, this scenario would affect
Constellation's ability to effectively manage the spent pool
capacity and reactor fuel offloading at NMP. In addition, the
rescheduling of the specialized resources for the future loading
campaigns would impact the operations of NMP and other Constellation
sites.
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 March 11, 2025 (90 FR 11756).
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
Constellation 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 ongoing storage of nine MPC-89-CBS in the
HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System and a future loading in the HI-STORM
FW MPC Storage System of six new MPC-89-CBS beginning in May 2025.
This exemption is effective upon issuance.
Dated: March 12, 2025.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
/RA/
Tom Boyce,
Acting Chief, Storage and Transportation Licensing Branch, Division
of Fuel Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety, and
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2025-04555 Filed 3-18-25; 8:45 am]
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