20438 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 65 / Wednesday, April 4, 2012 / Notices 

the level of detail in which supporting 

data must be submitted for NRC review. 

The review of this information ensures 

that all payments made by NRC for valid 

and reasonable costs are in accordance 

with the contract terms and conditions. 

Submit, by June 4, 2012, comments 

that address the following questions: 

1. Is the proposed collection of 

information necessary for the NRC to 

properly perform its functions? Does the 

information have practical utility? 

2. Is the burden estimate accurate? 

3. Is there a way to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected? 

4. How can the burden of the 

information collection be minimized, 

including the use of automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology? 

The public may examine and have 

copied for a fee publicly available 

documents, including the draft 

supporting statement, at the NRC’s 

Public Document Room, Room O–1F21, 

One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. OMB 

clearance requests are available at the 

NRC’s Web site: http://www.nrc.gov/ 

public-involve/doc-comment/omb/ 

index.html. The document will be 

available on the NRC home page site for 

60 days after the signature date of this 

notice. 

Comments submitted in writing or in 

electronic form will be made available 

for public inspection. Because your 

comments will not be edited to remove 

any identifying or contact information, 

the NRC cautions you against including 

any information in your submission that 

you do not want to be publicly 

disclosed. 

Comments submitted should 

reference Docket No. NRC–2012–0027. 

You may submit your comments by any 

of the following methods: 

Electronic comments: Go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov and search for 

Docket No. NRC–2012–0027. 

Mail comments to NRC Clearance 

Officer, Tremaine Donnell (T–5 F53), 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001. Questions 

about the information collection 

requirements may be directed to the 

NRC Clearance Officer, Tremaine 

Donnell (T–5 F53), U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, Washington, 

DC 20555–0001; telephone: 301–415– 

6258; email: 

INFOCOLLECTS.Resource@NRC.GOV. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day 

of March, 2012. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Tremaine Donnell, 

NRC Clearance Officer, Office of Information 

Services. 

[FR Doc. 2012–8034 Filed 4–3–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. 72–1030, 72–56; 50–338 and 

50–339: NRC–2012–0084] 

Independent Spent Fuel Storage 

Installation, Virginia Electric and 

Power Company: North Anna Power 

Station Units 1 and 2 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Issuance of an environmental 

assessment and finding of no significant 

impact. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jennie Rankin, Project Manager, 

Division of Spent Fuel Storage and 

Transportation, Office of Nuclear 

Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555. Telephone: 

(301) 492–3268; Fax number: (301) 492– 

3342; email: jennivine.rankin@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

(NRC or Commission) is considering 

issuance of a one-time exemption to 

Virginia Electric and Power Company 

(Dominion or licensee) pursuant to 10 

CFR 72.7 from the requirements of 10 

CFR 72.212(b)(3) and the portion of 

72.212(b)(11) which requires 

compliance with the terms, conditions, 

and specifications of the CoC. Dominion 

submitted its exemption request by 

letter dated July 21, 2011, as 

supplemented September 28, 2011. 

Dominion has loaded spent nuclear fuel 

into Transnuclear, Inc. (TN) NUHOMS®

HD Storage System (HD–32PTH) dry 

storage casks, under the Certificate of 

Compliance (CoC or Certificate) No. 

1030, Amendment No. 0. The licensee 

inadvertently reversed the upper and 

lower zones while preparing the dry 

shielded canister (DSC) loading maps. 

This resulted in twelve fuel assemblies 

being loaded into seven DSCs with 

decay heat greater than the levels 

specified in the CoC. Dominion requests 

a one-time exemption to the 10 CFR part 

72 requirements to continue storage of 

the affected DSCs with serial numbers 

DOM–32PTH–004–C, –005–C, –007–C, 

–010–C, –013–C, –019–C and GBC– 

32PTH–011–C in their current condition 

at the Independent Spent Fuel Storage 

Installation (ISFSI) associated with the 

operation of Dominion’s nuclear power 

reactors, North Anna Power Station 

Units 1 and 2, located in Louisa County, 

Virginia. 

II. Environmental Assessment (EA) 

Identification of Proposed Action: The 

CoC is the NRC approved design for 

each dry storage cask system. The 

proposed action would grant Dominion 

a one-time exemption from the 

requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(b)(3) and 

from the portion of 72.212(b)(11) that 

states the licensee shall comply with the 

terms, conditions, and specifications of 

the CoC, to the extent necessary to 

enable Dominion to continue storage of 

the seven DSCs in their current 

condition at the ISFSI associated with 

North Anna Power Station Units 1 and 

2. These regulations specifically require 

storage of spent nuclear fuel under a 

general license in dry storage casks 

approved under the provisions of 10 

CFR part 72, and compliance with the 

terms and conditions set forth in the 

CoC for each dry spent fuel storage cask 

used by an ISFSI general licensee. 

The TN NUHOMS® HD dry cask 

storage system CoC provides 

requirements, conditions and operating 

limits in Attachment A, Technical 

Specifications (TS). The TS restrict the 

decay heat in lower Zone ‘‘1a’’ locations 

to ≤ 1.05 kW and the upper Zone ‘‘1b’’ 

locations to ≤ 0.8 kW. The applicant 

inadvertently reversed the upper and 

lower zones while preparing the DSC 

loading maps. This resulted in twelve 

fuel assemblies being loaded into seven 

DSCs (serial numbers DOM–32PTH– 

004–C, –005–C, –007–C, –010–C, –013– 

C, –019–C and GBC–32PTH–011–C) 

with decay heat greater than specified in 

the CoC. The maximum decay heat of 

the misloaded fuel assemblies at the 

time of loading was 0.859 kW, which 

exceeded the Zone ‘‘1b’’ limit 

mentioned above by 59 watts. Currently, 

the twelve affected fuel assemblies have 

been in storage for a minimum of 1.3 

years and have decayed to meet the 

required decay heat limits of the CoC. 

The proposed action would grant 

Dominion a one-time exemption from 

the requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(b)(3) 

and the portion of 72.212(b)(11) which 

requires compliance with the terms, 

conditions, and specifications of a CoC, 

in order to allow continued storage of 

the seven affected DSCs in their current 

condition. This exemption approval is 

only valid for DSCs with serial numbers 

DOM–32PTH–004–C, –005–C, –007–C, 

–010–C, –013–C, –019–C and GBC– 

32PTH–011–C, at the North Anna Power 

Station ISFSI. 


emcdonald on DSK29S0YB1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 65 / Wednesday, April 4, 2012 / Notices 20439 

Need for the Proposed Action: 

Dominion requested this exemption in 

order to continue storage of seven asloaded DSCs containing twelve fuel 

assemblies which exceeded the CoC 

decay heat limits at the time of loading. 

Dominion, with the assistance of TN, 

has provided an evaluation and thermal 

analysis which shows that the affected 

DSCs remain bounded by the system’s 

design basis limits and that the 

continued storage of the fuel in the asloaded configuration is safe. 

Dominion has considered an 

alternative to the proposed action, 

which would correct the condition by 

reloading the affected DSCs to be in 

compliance with CoC No. 1030. This 

would involve retrieving each of the 

DSCs from their Horizontal Storage 

Modules (HSM), unloading the spent 

fuel assemblies from the DSC, 

performing inspections of various DSC 

components, reloading the spent fuel 

assemblies into the used DSC or a new 

DSC (if there was damage noted on the 

used DSC) in accordance with CoC No. 

1030, performing the DSC closing 

procedures, and transferring the DSC 

back to the ISFSI for re-insertion into 

the HSM. 

Dominion estimates this alternative 

action of loading and unloading 

operations would increase personnel 

exposures by 250 mRem per affected 

DSC. In addition, Dominion states the 

alternative to the proposed action would 

generate radioactive contaminated 

material and waste during loading and 

unloading operations and disposal of 

the used DSCs if the DSCs were 

damaged during the unloading process. 

The licensee estimates the alternative to 

the proposed action would cost an 

estimated $300,000 for unloading and 

reloading operations of each affected 

DSC and also necessitate additional fuel 

handling operations. If the DSC was 

damaged during unloading, the licensee 

estimates an additional $1,000,000 for 

purchase of a new DSC and $200,000 for 

disposal of the used DSC. 

The proposed action is necessary to 

document the acceptability and safety 

basis for storage of the DSCs in the asloaded configuration, thus precluding 

the need to unload the seven DSCs. 

Environmental Impacts of the 

Proposed Action: The NRC staff has 

determined that the proposed action 

would not endanger life or property. 

The potential impact of using the 

NUHOMS® HD dry cask storage system 

was initially presented in the 

Environmental Assessment (EA) for the 

rulemaking to add the TN NUHOMS®

HD Horizontal Modular Storage System 

for Irradiated Nuclear Fuel to the list of 

approved spent fuel storage casks in 10 

CFR 72.214 (71 FR 25740, dated May 2, 

2006 (Direct Final Rule), and 71 FR 

71463, dated December 11, 2006 (Final 

Rule)). 

The licensee submitted TN 

Calculation No. 10494–174, which 

performed bounding thermal analysis 

using ANSYS finite element software to 

evaluate the misloading events. The 

licensee concluded the maximum fuel 

cladding temperature for the as loaded 

DSCs remained below the fuel cladding 

temperature limit used in the Updated 

Safety Analysis Report dated October 2, 

2009. The NRC staff performed an 

independent safety evaluation of the 

proposed exemption and determined 

that loading of the spent nuclear fuel 

with higher than allowable decay heat 

loads did not exceed the structural and 

shielding design basis and that the fuel 

cladding temperatures are below the 

temperature limit at the time of loading. 

The fuel assemblies have since decayed 

to meet the CoC limits. There are no 

changes being made in the types or 

amounts of any radiological effluents 

that may be released offsite, and there 

is no significant increase in 

occupational or public radiation 

exposure as a result of the proposed 

activities. Therefore, there are no 

significant radiological environmental 

impacts associated with the proposed 

action. The proposed action only affects 

the requirements associated with the 

fuel assemblies already loaded into the 

casks and does not affect nonradiological plant effluents, or any other 

aspects of the environment. Therefore, 

there are no significant non-radiological 

impacts associated with the proposed 

action. 

Accordingly, the Commission 

concludes that there are no significant 

environmental impacts associated with 

the proposed action. 

Alternative to the Proposed Action: 

Because there is no significant 

environmental impact associated with 

the proposed action, alternatives with 

equal or greater environmental impact 

were not evaluated. As an alternative to 

the proposed action, the NRC staff 

considered denial of the proposed 

action which would involve reloading 

the affected DSCs as described 

previously. Denial of the exemption 

would result in an increase in 

radiological exposure to workers, a 

small potential for radioactive releases 

to the environment due to radioactive 

material handling, additional 

opportunities for accidents, and 

increased cost to the licensee. Therefore, 

the NRC staff has determined that 

approving the proposed action has a 

lesser environmental impact than 

denying the proposed action. 

Agencies and Persons Consulted: The 

environmental assessment associated 

with this exemption request was sent to 

Ms. Ellie Irons of the Virginia 

Department of Environmental Quality in 

the Office of Environmental Impact 

Review, by letter dated November 14, 

2011 (ML113180477). The state 

response was received by a letter dated 

December 14, 2011 (ML120030312). The 

letter states that the proposed action is 

unlikely to have significant effects on 

ambient air quality, historic resources, 

surface waters, and wetlands. The letter 

also states that it is unlikely to adversely 

affect species of plants or insects listed 

by state agencies as rare, threatened, or 

endangered. Furthermore, the Virginia 

Department of Health considered the 

alternative to the proposed action of 

reloading the casks presents several 

risks, namely additional radiation 

exposure to workers and potential 

accidents that may lead to dispersal of 

radiation to the environment. Thus, the 

Virginia Department of Health states 

that it supports the exemption without 

reservation. The NRC staff has 

determined that a consultation under 

Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act 

is not required because the proposed 

action will not affect listed species or a 

critical habitat. The NRC staff has also 

determined that the proposed action is 

not a type of activity having the 

potential to cause effects on historic 

properties. Therefore, no consultation is 

required under Section 106 of the 

National Historic Preservation Act. 

III. Finding of No Significant Impact 

The environmental impacts of the 

proposed action have been reviewed in 

accordance with the requirements set 

forth in 10 CFR Part 51. Based upon the 

foregoing Environmental Assessment, 

the Commission finds that the proposed 

action of granting the one-time 

exemption from the requirements of 10 

CFR 72.212(b)(3) and the portion of 

72.212(b)(11) which requires 

compliance with the terms, conditions, 

and specifications of the CoC in order to 

allow Dominion to store spent fuel 

assemblies in DSCs with serial numbers 

DOM–32PTH–004–C, –005–C, –007–C, 

–010–C, –013–C, –019–C and GBC– 

32PTH–011–C in the as-loaded 

configuration at the ISFSI associated 

with North Anna Power Station Units 1 

and 2, will not significantly impact the 

quality of the human environment. 

Accordingly, the Commission has 

determined that an environmental 

impact statement for the proposed 

exemption is not warranted and that a 

finding of no significant impact is 

appropriate. 


emcdonald on DSK29S0YB1PROD with NOTICES
20440 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 65 / Wednesday, April 4, 2012 / Notices 

IV. Further Information 

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of 

NRC’s ‘‘Rules of Practice,’’ final NRC 

records and documents regarding this 

proposed action are publicly available 

in the records component of NRC’s 

Agencywide Documents Access and 

Management System (ADAMS). The 

request for exemption dated July 21, 

2011 (ML11208C453), as supplemented 

September 28, 2011 (ML11286A143), 

was docketed under 10 CFR 50, Docket 

Nos. 50–338 and 50–339, and under 10 

CFR 72, Docket No. 72–56. These 

documents may be inspected at NRC’s 

Public Electronic Reading Room at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ 

adams.html. These documents may also 

be viewed electronically on the public 

computers located at the NRC’s Public 

Document Room (PDR), O1F21, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR 

reproduction contractor will copy 

documents for a fee. Persons who do not 

have access to ADAMS, or who 

encounter problems in accessing the 

documents located in ADAMS, should 

contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by 

telephone at 1–800–397–4209, or (301) 

415–4737, or by email to pdr@nrc.gov. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day 

of March, 2012. 

Jennie Rankin, 

Project Manager, Licensing Branch, Division 

of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation, 

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 

Safeguards. 

[FR Doc. 2012–8114 Filed 4–3–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. 72–1030, 72–55, 50–280 and 

50–281; NRC–2012–0085] 

Independent Spent Fuel Storage 

Installation, Virginia Electric and 

Power Company, Surry Power Station 

Units 1 and 2 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Issuance of an environmental 

assessment and finding of no significant 

impact. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jennie Rankin, Project Manager, 

Division of Spent Fuel Storage and 

Transportation, Office of Nuclear 

Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555. Telephone: 

(301) 492–3268; Fax number: (301) 492– 

3342; email: jennivine.rankin@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

(NRC or Commission) is considering 

issuance of a one-time exemption to 

Virginia Electric and Power Company 

(Dominion or licensee) pursuant to 10 

CFR 72.7 from the requirements of 10 

CFR 72.212(b)(3) and the portion of 

72.212(b)(11) which requires 

compliance with the terms, conditions, 

and specifications of the CoC. Dominion 

submitted its exemption request by 

letter dated July 21, 2011, as 

supplemented September 28, 2011. 

Dominion has loaded spent nuclear fuel 

into Transnuclear, Inc. (TN) NUHOMS®

HD Storage System (HD–32PTH) dry 

storage casks, under the Certificate of 

Compliance (CoC or Certificate) No. 

1030, Amendment No. 0. The licensee 

inadvertently reversed the upper and 

lower zones while preparing the dry 

shielded canister (DSC) loading maps. 

This resulted in five fuel assemblies 

being loaded into four DSCs with decay 

heat greater than the levels specified in 

the CoC. Dominion requests a one-time 

exemption to the 10 CFR Part 72 

requirements to continue storage of the 

affected DSCs with serial numbers 

DOM–32PTH–001–C, –002–C, –003–C, 

and –009–C in their current condition at 

the Independent Spent Fuel Storage 

Installation (ISFSI) associated with the 

operation of Dominion’s nuclear power 

reactors, Surry Power Station Units 1 

and 2, located in Surry County, Virginia. 

II. Environmental Assessment (EA) 

Identification of Proposed Action: The 

CoC is the NRC approved design for 

each dry storage cask system. The 

proposed action would grant Dominion 

a one-time exemption from the 

requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(b)(3) and 

from the portion of 72.212(b)(11) that 

states the licensee shall comply with the 

terms, conditions, and specifications of 

the CoC, to the extent necessary to 

enable Dominion to continue storage of 

the four DSCs in their current condition 

at the ISFSI associated with Surry 

Power Station Units 1 and 2. These 

regulations specifically require storage 

of spent nuclear fuel under a general 

license in dry storage casks approved 

under the provisions of 10 CFR part 72, 

and compliance with the terms and 

conditions set forth in the CoC for each 

dry spent fuel storage cask used by an 

ISFSI general licensee. 

The TN NUHOMS® HD dry cask 

storage system CoC provides 

requirements, conditions and operating 

limits in Attachment A, Technical 

Specifications (TS). The TS restrict the 

decay heat in lower Zone ‘‘1a’’ locations 

to ≤ 1.05 kW and the upper Zone ‘‘1b’’ 

locations to ≤ 0.8 kW. The applicant 

inadvertently reversed the upper and 

lower zones while preparing the DSC 

loading maps. This resulted in five fuel 

assemblies being loaded into four DSCs 

(serial numbers DOM–32PTH–001–C, 

–002–C, –003–C, and –009–C) with 

decay heat greater than specified in the 

CoC. The maximum decay heat of the 

misloaded fuel assemblies at the time of 

loading was 0.806 kW, which exceeded 

the Zone ‘‘1b’’ limit mentioned above by 

six watts. Currently, the five affected 

fuel assemblies have been in storage for 

a minimum of 2.5 years and have 

decayed to meet the required decay heat 

limits of the CoC. 

The proposed action would grant 

Dominion a one-time exemption from 

the requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(b)(3) 

and the portion of 72.212(b)(11) which 

requires compliance with the terms, 

conditions, and specifications of a CoC, 

in order to allow continued storage of 

the four affected DSCs in their current 

condition. This exemption approval is 

only valid for DSCs with serial numbers 

DOM–32PTH–001–C, –002–C, –003–C, 

and –009–C, at the Surry Power Station 

ISFSI. 

Need for the Proposed Action: 

Dominion requested this exemption in 

order to continue storage of four asloaded DSCs containing five fuel 

assemblies which exceeded the CoC 

decay heat limits at the time of loading. 

Dominion, with the assistance of TN, 

has provided an evaluation and thermal 

analysis which shows that the affected 

DSCs remain bounded by the system’s 

design basis limits and that the 

continued storage of the fuel in the asloaded configuration is safe. 

Dominion has considered an 

alternative to the proposed action, 

which would correct the condition by 

reloading the affected DSCs to be in 

compliance with CoC No. 1030. This 

would involve retrieving each of the 

DSCs from their Horizontal Storage 

Modules (HSM), unloading the spent 

fuel assemblies from the DSC, 

performing inspections of various DSC 

components, reloading the spent fuel 

assemblies into the used DSC or a new 

DSC (if there was damage noted on the 

used DSC) in accordance with CoC No. 

1030, performing the DSC closing 

procedures, and transferring the DSC 

back to the ISFSI for re-insertion into 

the HSM. 

Dominion estimates this alternative 

action of loading and unloading 

operations would increase personnel 

exposures by 250 mRem per affected 

DSC. In addition, Dominion states the 

alternative to the proposed action would 

generate radioactive contaminated 


emcdonald on DSK29S0YB1PROD with NOTICES