Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 234 / Tuesday, December 7, 2010 / Notices 76051 

1With respect to the remaining two pending 

license applications, Jab & Antelope Project (Docket 

No. 40–9079) and Ludeman Project (Docket No. 40– 

9095), as a license has yet to be issued, the July 20, 

2010, submittal will be treated as a revision to the 

information regarding the corporate identity of the 

applicant that is contained in the respective license 

applications. 

subsidiary of the Russian State Atomic 

Energy Corporation JSC ROSATOM 

(Rosatom). Approval of the proposed 

transaction will result in an indirect 

change of control of the licenses from 

Uranium One to Rosatom.1

Notice of the application, and 

opportunity to request a hearing and 

submit comments for Materials License 

SUA–1341 and SUA–1596 was 

published in the Federal Register on 

September 20, 2010 (75 FR 57300) with 

a deadline for submitting a request for 

hearing of October 12, 2010, and a 

deadline for submitting comments of 

October 20, 2010. No requests for 

hearing were received; however, four 

comments were received. Notice of the 

application and opportunity to request a 

hearing for Materials License 49–29384– 

01 was published on the NRC’s public 

webpage on October 1, 2010, with a 

deadline for submitting a request for 

hearing of November 30, 2010. While 

the deadline for requesting a hearing for 

Materials License 49–29384–01 has not 

expired, 10 CFR 2.1316 directs the staff 

to promptly issue approval or denial of 

transfer requests consistent with staff’s 

finding in the Safety Evaluation Report 

(SER). 

By Order dated November 23, 2010, 

NRC approved the indirect transfer of 

control of NRC Materials Licenses SUA– 

1341, SUA–1596, and 49–29384–01. 

The Order was accompanied by a Safety 

Evaluation Report (SER) documenting 

the basis for the NRC staff’s approval 

and a license amendment for each of the 

affected licenses. These actions comply 

with the standards and requirements of 

the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as 

amended, and NRC’s rules and 

regulations. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: In 

accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the 

NRC’s ‘‘Rules of Practice,’’ the details 

with respect to this action, including the 

SER and accompanying documentation, 

and license amendment, are available 

electronically at the NRC’s Electronic 

Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/ 

reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, 

you can access the NRC’s Agencywide 

Document Access and Management 

System (ADAMS), which provides text 

and image files of NRC’s public 

documents. The ADAMS accession 

numbers for the documents related to 

this notice are: 

1 ............................... Applicant’s application, July 20, 2010 ........................................................................................................ ML102090404 

2 ............................... FEDERAL REGISTER Notice, Opportunity for Hearing, September 20, 2010 ............................................... ML102630318 

3 ............................... Applicant Response to Request for Additional Information, October 18, 2010 ......................................... ML102940435 

4 ............................... Request to Amend License No. 49–29384–01, June 23, 2010 ................................................................. ML102100530 

5 ............................... Response to Request for Additional Information ....................................................................................... ML102670746 

6 ............................... NRC Letter approving change of control, November 23, 2010 ................................................................. ML103120152 

7 ............................... NRC Order dated November 23, 2010 ...................................................................................................... ML103120183 

8 ............................... Materials License SUA–1341, Amendment 18, November 23, 2010 ........................................................ ML103120213 

9 ............................... Materials License SUA–1596, Amendment 2, November 23, 2010 .......................................................... ML103120221 

9 ............................... Materials License 49–29384–01, Amendment 01, November 24, 2010 .................................................... ML103120342 

10 ............................. NRC Safety Evaluation Report dated November 22, 2010 ....................................................................... ML103120321 

If you do not have access to ADAMS, 

or if there are problems in accessing the 

documents located in ADAMS, contact 

the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) 

Reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301– 

415–4737, or via e-mail to 

pdr.resource@nrc.gov. 

These documents may also be viewed 

electronically on the public computers 

located at the NRC’s PDR, O–F21, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR 

reproduction contractor will copy 

documents for a fee. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day 

of November 2010. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Keith I. McConnell, 

Deputy Director, Decommissioning and 

Uranium Recovery Licensing Directorate, 

Division of Waste Management and 

Environmental Protection, Office of Federal 

and State Materials and Environmental 

Management Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2010–30638 Filed 12–6–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. 50–282 and 50–306; NRC– 

2010–0324] 

Northern States Power Company— 

Minnesota, Prairie Island Nuclear 

Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2; 

Exemption 

1.0 Background 

Northern States Power Company, a 

Minnesota corporation (NSPM, the 

licensee) is the holder of Facility 

Operating License Nos. DPR–42 and 

DPR–60, which authorize operation of 

the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating 

Plant, Units 1 and 2 (PINGP). The 

licenses provide, among other things, 

that the facility is subject to all rules, 

regulations, and orders of the Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission (NRC, the 

Commission) now or hereafter in effect. 

The facility consists of two 

pressurized-water reactors located in 

Goodhue County in Minnesota. 

2.0 Request/Action 

Pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of 

Federal Regulations (10 CFR), § 50.12, 

‘‘Specific exemptions,’’ NSPM has, by 

letter dated November 24, 2009, as 

supplemented by letter dated May 26, 

2010 (Agencywide Documents Access 

and Management System Accession 

Nos. ML093280883 and ML101480083, 

respectively), requested an exemption 

from 10 CFR 50.46, ‘‘Acceptance criteria 

for emergency core cooling systems for 

light-water nuclear power reactors,’’ and 

appendix K to 10 CFR part 50, ‘‘ECCS 

Evaluation Models,’’ (appendix K). The 

regulations in 10 CFR 50.46 contain 

acceptance criteria for the emergency 

core cooling system (ECCS) for reactors 

fueled with zircaloy or ZIRLOTM

cladding. In addition, appendix K to 10 

CFR part 50 requires that the Baker-Just 

equation be used to predict the rates of 

energy release, hydrogen concentration, 

and cladding oxidation from the metal/ 

water reaction. The Baker-Just equation 

assumed the use of a zirconium alloy 

different than Optimized ZIRLOTM. The 

exemption request relates solely to the 

specific types of cladding material 

specified in these regulations. As 

written, the regulations presume the use 

of zircaloy or ZIRLOTM fuel rod 

cladding. Thus, an exemption from the 

requirements of 10 CFR 50.46 and 

Appendix K is needed to support the 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES
76052 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 234 / Tuesday, December 7, 2010 / Notices 

use of different fuel rod cladding 

material. Therefore, the licensee 

requested an exemption that would 

allow the use of Optimized ZIRLOTM

fuel rod cladding at PINGP. The NRC 

staff will prepare a separate safety 

evaluation, fully addressing NSPM’s 

application for a related license 

amendment. 

3.0 Discussion 

Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the 

Commission may, upon application by 

any interested person or upon its own 

initiative, grant exemptions from the 

requirements of 10 CFR part 50 when (1) 

the exemptions are authorized by law, 

will not present an undue risk to public 

health or safety, and are consistent with 

the common defense and security; and 

(2) when special circumstances are 

present. Under 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2), 

special circumstances include, among 

other things, when application of the 

specific regulation in the particular 

circumstance would not serve, or is not 

necessary to achieve, the underlying 

purpose of the rule. 

Authorized by Law 

This exemption would allow the use 

of Optimized ZIRLOTM fuel rod 

cladding material at PINGP. As stated 

above, 10 CFR 50.12 allows the NRC to 

grant exemptions from the requirements 

of 10 CFR part 50. The NRC staff has 

determined that granting of the 

licensee’s proposed exemption will not 

result in a violation of the Atomic 

Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or the 

Commission’s regulations. Therefore, 

the exemption is authorized by law. 

No Undue Risk to Public Health and 

Safety 

The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 

50.46 is to establish acceptance criteria 

for ECCS performance. Westinghouse 

topical reports WCAP–12610–P–A and 

CENPD–404–P–A, Addendum 1–A, 

‘‘Optimized ZIRLOTM,’’ dated July 2006, 

contain the justification to use 

Optimized ZIRLOTM fuel rod cladding 

material in addition to Zircaloy-4 and 

ZIRLOTM (these topical reports are nonpublicly available because they contain 

proprietary information). The NRC staff 

approved the use of these topical 

reports, subject to the conditions stated 

in the staff’s safety evaluations for each. 

In these topical reports, Westinghouse 

evaluated the structural and material 

properties of Optimized ZIRLOTM and 

determined that the use of Optimized 

ZIRLOTM as cladding would have either 

no significant impact or would produce 

a reduction in corrosion or oxidation 

and a corresponding reduction in 

hydrogen pickup. Westinghouse also 

evaluated the impact of Optimized 

ZIRLOTM fuel cladding on the loss-ofcoolant accident (LOCA) and non-LOCA 

accident analyses. The evaluations 

determined that the LOCA analyses for 

fuel with Optimized ZIRLOTM cladding 

complied with 10 CFR 50.46, and that 

there was a negligible difference in the 

non-LOCA analyses between fuel clad 

with standard ZIRLOTM and fuel clad 

with Optimized ZIRLOTM. 

The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 

Part 50, Appendix K, Section I.A.5, 

‘‘Metal-Water Reaction Rate,’’ is to 

ensure that cladding oxidation and 

hydrogen generation are appropriately 

limited during a LOCA and 

conservatively accounted for in the 

ECCS evaluation model. Appendix K of 

10 CFR part 50 requires that the BakerJust equation be used in the ECCS 

evaluation model to determine the rate 

of energy release, cladding oxidation, 

and hydrogen generation. Westinghouse 

has shown in WCAP–12610–P–A that 

the Baker-Just model is conservative in 

all post-LOCA scenarios with respect to 

the use of the Optimized ZIRLOTM

advanced alloy as a fuel cladding 

material. 

The NRC-approved topical reports 

have demonstrated that predicted 

chemical, thermal, and mechanical 

characteristics of the Optimized 

ZIRLOTM alloy cladding are bounding 

for those approved for ZIRLOTM under 

anticipated operational occurrences and 

postulated accidents. Reload cores are 

required to be operated in accordance 

with the operating limits specified in 

the technical specifications and the core 

operating limits report. 

Based on the above, no new accident 

precursors are created by using 

Optimized ZIRLOTM; thus, the 

probability of postulated accidents is 

not increased. Also, based on the above, 

the consequences of postulated 

accidents are not increased. Therefore, 

there is no undue risk to public health 

and safety due to using Optimized 

ZIRLOTM. 

Consistent With Common Defense and 

Security 

The proposed exemption would allow 

the use of Optimized ZIRLOTM fuel rod 

cladding material at PINGP. This change 

to the plant configuration has no 

relation to security issues. Therefore, 

the common defense and security is not 

impacted by this exemption. 

Special Circumstances 

Special circumstances, in accordance 

with 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii), are present 

whenever application of the regulation 

in the particular circumstances is not 

necessary to achieve the underlying 

purpose of the rule. The underlying 

purpose of 10 CFR 50.46 and Appendix 

K to 10 CFR part 50 is to establish 

acceptance criteria for ECCS 

performance. The wording of the 

regulations in 10 CFR 50.46 and 

Appendix K is not directly applicable to 

Optimized ZIRLOTM, even though the 

evaluations above show that the intent 

of the regulation is met. Therefore, since 

the underlying purposes of 10 CFR 

50.46 and Appendix K are achieved 

through the use of Optimized ZIRLOTM

fuel rod cladding material, the special 

circumstances required by 10 CFR 

50.12(a)(2)(ii) for the granting of an 

exemption from 10 CFR 50.46 and 

Appendix K exist. 

4.0 Conclusion 

Accordingly, the Commission has 

determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 

50.12, the exemption is authorized by 

law, will not present an undue risk to 

the public health and safety, and is 

consistent with the common defense 

and security. Also, special 

circumstances are present. Therefore, 

the Commission hereby grants NSPM an 

exemption from the requirements of 10 

CFR 50.46 and Appendix K to 10 CFR 

part 50, to allow the use of Optimized 

ZIRLOTM fuel rod cladding material, for 

the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating 

Plant, Units 1 and 2. 

Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the 

Commission has determined that the 

granting of this exemption will not have 

a significant effect on the quality of the 

human environment as published in the 

Federal Register on October 14, 2010 

(75 FR 63213). 

This exemption is effective upon 

issuance. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd 

day of November, 2010. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Joseph G. Giitter, 

Director, Division of Operating Reactor 

Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation. 

[FR Doc. 2010–30653 Filed 12–6–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. 50–348 and 50–364; NRC– 

2009–0375] 

Southern Nuclear Operating Company, 

Inc. Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant, 

Units 1 and 2; Exemption 

1.0 Background 

Southern Nuclear Operating 

Company, Inc. (SNC, the licensee), is 

the holder of Renewed Facility 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES