Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 79 / Tuesday, April 24, 2012 / Notices 24539 

accordance with the NRC E-filing rule, 

which the NRC promulgated in August 

2007 (72 FR 49,139). 

Issued at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th 

day of April 2012. 

E. Roy Hawkens, 

Chief Administrative Judge, Atomic Safety 

and Licensing Board Panel. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9801 Filed 4–23–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos.: 50–280, 50–281, 72–55, 72– 

1030; NRC–2012–0085] 

Virginia Electric and Power Company; 

Surry Power Station Units 1 and 2; 

Independent Spent Fuel Storage 

Installation; Exemption 

1.0 Background 

Virginia Electric and Power Company 

(Dominion or licensee) is the holder of 

Facility Operating License Nos. DRP–32 

and DRP–37, which authorize operation 

of the Surry Power Station Units 1 and 

2 in Surry County, Virginia, pursuant to 

Title 10 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (10 CFR), part 50. 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 

or the Commission) now or hereafter in 

effect. 

Pursuant to 10 CFR part 72, Subpart 

K, 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. 

Dominion is authorized to operate a 

nuclear power reactor under 10 CFR 

part 50, and holds a 10 CFR part 72 

general license for storage of spent fuel 

at the Surry Power Station ISFSI. Under 

the terms of its general license, 

Dominion loaded spent fuel using the 

Transnuclear, Inc, (TN) NUHOMS® HD 

Storage System (HD–32PTH) dry cask 

storage system (Certificate of 

Compliance (CoC) No. 1030, 

Amendment No. 0) at the Surry Power 

Station ISFSI. 

2.0 Request/Action 

The TN NUHOMS® HD dry cask 

storage system is designed for zone 

loading based on decay heat. CoC No. 

1030 specifies requirements, conditions, 

and operating limits of the dry shielded 

canisters (DSCs) in Appendix A of the 

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 

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 limits 

specified in the CoC. The four DSCs are 

designated with serial numbers DOM– 

32PTH–001–C, –002–C, –003–C, and 

–009–C. 

In a letter dated July 21, 2011, as 

supplemented September 28, 2011 

(Agencywide Documents Access and 

Management System (ADAMS) 

Accession Nos. ML11208B629 and 

ML11286A115, respectively), Dominion 

requested a one-time exemption from 

the following requirements to allow 

storage of the four DSCs, with serial 

numbers DOM–32PTH–001–C, –002–C, 

–003–C, and –009–C, in their current, 

as-loaded, condition at the Surry Power 

Station ISFSI: 

• 10 CFR 72.212(b)(3), which states 

the general licensee must ‘‘[e]nsure that 

each cask used by the general licensee 

conforms to the terms, conditions, and 

specifications of a CoC or an amended 

CoC listed in § 72.214.’’ 

• The portion of 10 CFR 

72.212(b)(11), which states that ‘‘[t]he 

licensee shall comply with the terms, 

conditions, and specifications of the 

CoC * * *’’ 

3.0 Discussion 

Pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, the 

Commission may, upon application by 

any interested person or upon its own 

initiative, grant 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. 

Authorized by Law 

This exemption would allow the 

licensee to continue to store four DSCs 

(loaded with spent nuclear fuel 

assemblies having decay heat exceeding 

the limits required by CoC No. 1030, 

Amendment No. 0, at the time of 

loading) in their as-loaded configuration 

at the Surry Power Station ISFSI. The 

provisions in 10 CFR part 72 from 

which Dominion is requesting an 

exemption, require the licensee to 

comply with the terms, conditions, and 

specifications of the CoC for the 

approved cask model that it uses. 

The Commission issued 10 CFR 72.7 

under the authority granted to it under 

Section 133 of the Nuclear Waste Policy 

Act of 1982, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 

10153. Section 72.7 allows the NRC to 

grant exemptions from the requirements 

of 10 CFR part 72. Granting the 

licensee’s proposed exemption provides 

adequate protection to public health and 

safety, and the environment. As 

explained below, the proposed 

exemption will not endanger life or 

property, or the common defense and 

security, and is otherwise in the public 

interest. Therefore, the exemption is 

authorized by law. 

Will Not Endanger Life or Property or 

the Common Defense and Security 

The provisions in 10 CFR 72.212(a) 

specifically state that the general 

licensee is limited to spent fuel that the 

general licensee is authorized to possess 

at the site under the specific license for 

the site. Sections 72.212(b)(3) and 

72.212(b)(11) require the general 

licensee to store spent fuel in cask 

models approved under the provisions 

of 10 CFR part 72 (which are listed in 

10 CFR 72.214) and require general 

licensees to comply with the terms and 

conditions of the CoC for the approved 

cask model that is used. The requested 

exemption would allow the licensee to 

continue to store four DSCs (loaded 

with spent nuclear fuel assemblies 

having decay heat exceeding the limits 

required by CoC No. 1030, Amendment 

No. 0 at the time of loading) in their asloaded configuration at the Surry Power 

Station ISFSI. 

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 licensee submitted TN 

Calculation No. 10494–174, which 

performed a bounding thermal analysis 

using ANSYS finite element software to 

evaluate the misloading events. The 

ANSYS analysis consists of a halfsymmetric, three-dimensional model of 

a 32PTH DSC with a number of 

conservative assumptions. First, the 

modeled fuel assembly loading pattern 

is based on the configuration that 

resulted in the maximum fuel cladding 

temperature presented in the UFSAR 

analysis dated October 2, 2009, with the 

exception that the two fuel assemblies 

in Zone 1b were set to 860 W. The 

licensee states this configuration bounds 

the design zone limits as listed in TS, 

Section 2.1, which are based on each 

Zone 1b fuel assemblies being 800 W. It 

also bounds the as-loaded 

configurations, where one or both fuel 

assemblies in Zone 1b exceeded a decay 

heat of 800 W, up to a value of 806 W. 

The remaining DSC fuel assembly decay 

heats were within the design basis. 

Therefore, since the as-loaded 

configuration had a total DSC decay 

heat of 33.31 kW, the licensee states the 

model conservatively assumes a total 

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24540 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 79 / Tuesday, April 24, 2012 / Notices 

DSC decay heat of 34.92 kW. Secondly, 

the licensee applies a storage condition 

ambient temperature of 115 °F, which is 

above the maximum normal storage 

ambient temperature of 100 °F. The NRC 

staff finds the assumed 115 °F boundary 

condition provides a reasonably 

conservative ambient temperature 

choice, considering that summer 

temperatures often are greater than 90 °F 

and can reach 100 °F (per weather 

almanac, www.NOAA.gov). The NRC 

staff further finds that applying a higher 

ambient temperature boundary 

condition also mitigates the thermal 

effects of other ambient weather 

conditions, such as wind direction 

relative to the DSC’s inlet and outlet 

openings. 

Using the conservative assumptions 

stated above, the TN Calculation No. 

10494–174 analysis presented by the 

licensee indicates a maximum cladding 

temperature of 689 °F for the as-loaded 

DSC with the reversed heat load zoning 

for storage conditions. This is 5 °F 

higher than the previously calculated 

cladding temperature found in Table 4– 

2 of the UFSAR. The temperatures of 

other DSC components increased by less 

than 5 °F. The temperature increases 

due to the misloaded fuel assemblies are 

essentially unchanged for transfer 

conditions. By applying an additional 5 

°F to the previously calculated 

temperature for transfer conditions 

listed in Table 4–1 of the UFSAR, the 

licensee estimates that the maximum 

fuel cladding temperature for the asloaded DSC with the reversed heat load 

zoning for transfer conditions to be 724 

°F. As a result, the licensee concluded 

that the maximum cladding 

temperatures for both normal storage 

and transfer conditions were below the 

752 °F maximum allowable cladding 

temperature limit noted in the UFSAR 

analysis. The NRC staff has reviewed 

the analysis presented by Dominion and 

finds the thermal effect of the misloaded 

fuel assemblies to be minimal, and that 

the thermal margins were sufficient to 

mitigate the effects of the misloaded fuel 

assemblies so as to provide adequate 

heat removal capabilities when the DSC 

fuel assembly arrangement was not 

within the design basis. This thermal 

evaluation provides reasonable 

assurance that the TN NUHOMS® HD 

Storage System (HD–32PTH) loaded 

with fuel assemblies exceeding the 

decay heat limits allowed by the CoC 

will allow for continued safe storage of 

the spent fuel. 

The licensee also discusses structural 

and pressure considerations due to the 

increased decay heat of the Zone 1b fuel 

assemblies. The licensee concludes that 

the increased decay heat did not have 

an effect on the structural evaluation 

since the DSC fuel compartment and 

basket rails are at temperatures below 

those considered in the design basis 

analysis. The submitted analysis finds 

that the 5 °F higher temperature, due to 

the larger as-loaded decay heat, would 

result in a DSC pressure increase of 0.1 

psig. The resulting 6 psig and 6.5 psig 

DSC pressures for the normal storage 

and transfer conditions were less than 

the 15 psig design basis pressure. The 

NRC staff has reviewed the analysis 

submitted in the exemption request and 

finds that there were no structural 

implications on the cask system 

resulting from the misloaded fuel 

assemblies. 

The licensee verified the design basis 

shielding analysis remained bounding 

for the as-loaded DSCs. The licensee 

concluded the design basis shielding 

analysis assumes a DSC loading of 32 

assemblies all having source terms 

applicable to assemblies generating 1.5 

kW of decay heat and therefore bounds 

the as-loaded DSCs. The NRC staff has 

reviewed the design basis shielding 

analysis and concludes that the design 

remains bounding for the as-loaded 

DSCs and the radiation protection 

system of the NUHOMS® HD–32PTH 

dry cask storage system remains in 

compliance with 10 CFR part 72. 

The NRC staff has reviewed 

Dominion’s exemption request and 

finds that the five fuel assemblies 

loaded into four DSCs with decay heat 

greater than specified in the CoC do not 

affect the heat removal capabilities, the 

structural integrity, or the radiation 

protection system of the cask systems. 

Therefore, the NRC staff concludes that 

the exemption to allow the licensee to 

store the four DSCs in their as-loaded 

configuration does not pose an 

increased risk to public health and 

safety or the common defense or 

security. 

Otherwise in the Public Interest 

The information Dominion submitted 

with its exemption request and the TN 

analysis documented in TN Calculation 

No. 10494–174 demonstrate that the asloaded DSCs are not compromised due 

to the misloaded fuel assemblies. 

Dominion has also considered an 

alternative action to 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. 

The licensee estimates this alternative 

action of loading and unloading 

operations would increase personnel 

exposures by 250 mRem per affected 

DSC. In addition, the licensee also 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 exemption, by allowing the four 

affected DSCs to remain in their asloaded condition, is consistent with 

NRC’s mission to protect public health 

and safety. Approving the DSCs to 

remain in their as-loaded condition 

results in less of an opportunity for a 

release of radioactive material than the 

alternative to the proposed action. 

Therefore, the exemption is in the 

public interest. 

Environmental Consideration 

The NRC staff also considered in the 

review of this exemption request 

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 proposed action is 

the approval of a request for 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, but only to 

the extent necessary to allow Dominion 

to store the four DSCs in the current asloaded configuration at the Surry Power 

Station ISFSI. 

The NRC staff performed an 

environmental assessment and 

determined that the proposed action 

will not significantly impact the quality 

of the human environment. The NRC 

staff concludes that 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 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 79 / Tuesday, April 24, 2012 / Notices 24541 

the proposed action. In addition the 

proposed action only affects the 

requirements associated with the fuel 

assemblies already loaded into the casks 

and does not affect non-radiological 

plant effluents, or any other aspects of 

the environment. The Environmental 

Assessment and the Finding of No 

Significant Impact are documented in 

the Federal Register (77 FR 20440, 

dated April 4, 2012). 

4.0 Conclusion 

Based on the foregoing 

considerations, the NRC has determined 

pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, that 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 Dominion a one-time 

exemption from the requirements in 10 

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

of 10 CFR 72.212(b)(11) that states the 

licensee shall comply with the terms, 

conditions, and specifications of the 

CoC for the TN NUHOMS® HD dry cask 

storage system with DSCs serial 

numbers DOM–32PTH–001–C, –002–C, 

–003–C, and –009–C, at the Surry Power 

Station ISFSI. 

This exemption is effective upon 

issuance. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Dated: Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 

12th day of April 2012. 

Doug Weaver, 

Deputy Director, Division of Spent Fuel 

Storage and Transportation, Office of Nuclear 

Material Safety and Safeguards. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9802 Filed 4–23–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. 50–338, 50–339, 72–56, and 

72–1030; NRC–2012–0084] 

Virginia Electric and Power Company, 

North Anna Power Station Units 1 and 

2, Independent Spent Fuel Storage 

Installation; Exemption 

1.0 Background 

Virginia Electric and Power Company 

(Dominion, the licensee) is the holder of 

Facility Operating License Nos. NPF–4 

and NPF–7, which authorize operation 

of the North Anna Power Station Units 

1 and 2 in Louisa County, Virginia, 

pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of 

Federal Regulations (10 CFR), part 50. 

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 

or the Commission) now or hereafter in 

effect. 

Pursuant to 10 CFR part 72, Subpart 

K, 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. 

Dominion is authorized to operate a 

nuclear power reactor under 10 CFR 

part 50, and holds a 10 CFR part 72 

general license for storage of spent fuel 

at the North Anna Power Station ISFSI. 

Under the terms of its general license, 

Dominion loaded spent fuel using the 

Transnuclear, Inc., (TN) NUHOMS® HD 

Storage System (HD–32PTH) dry cask 

storage system (Certificate of 

Compliance (CoC) No. 1030, 

Amendment No. 0) at the North Anna 

Power Station ISFSI. 

2.0 Request/Action 

The TN NUHOMS® HD dry cask 

storage system is designed for zone 

loading based on decay heat. CoC 1030 

specifies requirements, conditions, and 

operating limits of the dry shielded 

canisters (DSCs) in Appendix A of the 

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 

licensee inadvertently reversed the 

upper and lower zones while preparing 

the DSC loading maps. This resulted in 

twelve fuel assemblies being loaded into 

seven DSCs with decay heat greater than 

the limits specified in the CoC. The 

seven DSCs are designated with serial 

numbers DOM–32PTH–004–C, –005–C, 

–007–C, –010–C, –013–C, –019–C and 

GBC–32PTH–011–C. 

In a letter dated July 21, 2011, as 

supplemented September 28, 2011 

(Agencywide Documents Access and 

Management System (ADAMS) 

Accession Nos. ML11208C453 and 

ML11286A143, respectively), Dominion 

requested a one-time exemption from 

the following requirements to allow 

storage of the seven 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, asloaded, condition at the North Anna 

Power Station ISFSI: 

• 10 CFR 72.212(b)(3), which states 

the general licensee must ‘‘[e]nsure that 

each cask used by the general licensee 

conforms to the terms, conditions, and 

specifications of a CoC or an amended 

CoC listed in § 72.214.’’ 

• The portion of 10 CFR 

72.212(b)(11), which states that ‘‘[t]he 

licensee shall comply with the terms, 

conditions, and specifications of the 

CoC * * *’’ 

3.0 Discussion 

Pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, the 

Commission may, upon application by 

any interested person or upon its own 

initiative, grant 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. 

Authorized by Law 

This exemption would allow the 

licensee to continue to store seven DSCs 

(loaded with spent nuclear fuel 

assemblies having decay heat exceeding 

the limits required by CoC No. 1030, 

Amendment No. 0, at the time of 

loading) in their as-loaded configuration 

at the North Anna Power Station ISFSI. 

The provisions in 10 CFR Part 72 from 

which Dominion is requesting an 

exemption, require the licensee to 

comply with the terms, conditions, and 

specifications of the CoC for the 

approved cask model that it uses. 

The Commission issued 10 CFR 72.7 

under the authority granted to it under 

Section 133 of the Nuclear Waste Policy 

Act of 1982, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 

10153. Section 72.7 allows the NRC to 

grant exemptions from the requirements 

of 10 CFR part 72. Granting the 

licensee’s proposed exemption provides 

adequate protection to public health and 

safety, and the environment. As 

explained below, the proposed 

exemption will not endanger life or 

property, or the common defense and 

security, and is otherwise in the public 

interest. Therefore, the exemption is 

authorized by law. 

Will Not Endanger Life or Property or 

the Common Defense and Security 

The provisions in 10 CFR 72.212(a) 

specifically state that the general 

licensee is limited to spent fuel that the 

general licensee is authorized to possess 

at the site under the specific license for 

the site. Sections 72.212(b)(3) and 

72.212(b)(11) require the general 

licensee to store spent fuel in cask 

models approved under the provisions 

of 10 CFR part 72 (which are listed in 

10 CFR 72.214) and require general 

licensees to comply with the terms and 

conditions of the CoC for the approved 

cask model that is used. The requested 

exemption would allow the licensee to 

continue to store seven DSCs (loaded 

with spent nuclear fuel assemblies 

having decay heat exceeding the limits 

required by CoC No. 1030, Amendment 

No. 0 at the time of loading) in their asloaded configuration at the North Anna 

Power Station ISFSI. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES