Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 183 / Friday, September 20, 2024 / Notices 77199 

Week of October 28, 2024—Tentative 

Wednesday, October 30, 2024 

1:00 p.m. Today and Tomorrow Across 

Region II Business Lines (Public 

Meeting) (Contact: Katie McCurry: 

404–997–4438) 

Additional Information: The meeting 

will be held in the 8th Floor Conference 

Center, Marquis One Tower, 245 

Peachtree Center Avenue NE, Suite 

1200, Atlanta, Georgia. The public is 

invited to attend the Commission’s 

meeting in person or watch live via 

webcast at the Web address—https://

video.nrc.gov/. 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

For more information or to verify the 

status of meetings, contact Wesley Held 

at 301–287–3591 or via email at 

Wesley.Held@nrc.gov. 

The NRC is holding the meetings 

under the authority of the Government 

in the Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. 552b. 

Dated: September 18, 2024. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Wesley W. Held, 

Policy Coordinator, Office of the Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2024–21720 Filed 9–18–24; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. 50–250 and 50–251; NRC– 

2024–0142] 

Florida Power and Light Company; 

Turkey Point Nuclear Generating, Unit 

Nos. 3 and 4; Exemption 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) has issued an 

exemption in response to a November 

15, 2023, request from Florida Power 

and Light Company from certain 

requirements of NRC regulations to use 

AXIOM® fuel rod cladding at Turkey 

Point Nuclear Generating, Unit Nos. 3 

and 4. Current NRC regulations limit 

applicability to the use of fuel rod 

cladding with zircaloy or ZIRLOTM. 

DATES: The exemption was issued on 

September 13, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2024–0142 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–2024–0142. Address 

questions about Docket IDs in 

Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 

telephone: 301–415–0624; email: 

Stacy.Schumann@nrc.gov. 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 

http://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 

PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. The ADAMS 

accession number for each document 

referenced in this document (if that 

document 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 PDR.Resource@nrc.gov 

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: 

Michael Mahoney, Office of Nuclear 

Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, Washington, 

DC 20555–0001; telephone: 301–415– 

3867, email: Michael.Mahoney@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of 

the exemption is attached. 

Dated: September 16, 2024. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Michael Mahoney, 

Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing 

Branch 4, Division of Operating Reactor 

Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation. 

Attachment: Exemption 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

Docket Nos. 50–250 and 50–251 

Florida Power and Light Company; 

Turkey Point Nuclear Generating, Unit 

Nos. 3 and 4 Exemption 

I. Background 

Florida Power and Light Company 

(FPL, the licensee) is the holder of 

Renewed Facility Operating License 

Nos. DPR–31 and DPR–41, which 

authorize operation of Turkey Point 

Nuclear Generating, Unit Nos. 3 and 4 

(Turkey Point). The license provides, 

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. The facility consists of 

pressurized-water reactors (PWRs) 

located in Miami-Dade County, Florida. 

II. Request/Action 

By application dated November 15, 

2023 (Agencywide Documents Access 

and Management System (ADAMS) 

Accession No. ML23320A028), FPL, 

pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of 

Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Section 

50.12, ‘‘Specific exemptions,’’ requested 

an exemption from certain requirements 

of 10 CFR 50.46, ‘‘Acceptance criteria 

for emergency core cooling systems for 

light-water nuclear power reactors,’’ to 

use AXIOM® fuel rod cladding at 

Turkey Point. 

The regulations in 10 CFR 50.46 are 

currently limited in applicability to the 

use of fuel rods with zircaloy or 

ZIRLOTM cladding. This exemption will 

allow FPL to use AXIOM® fuel rod 

cladding at Turkey Point. The special 

circumstances associated with the 

exemption request are that application 

of the regulation in this circumstance is 

not necessary to achieve the underlying 

purpose of the rule. 

III. Discussion 

The regulation in 10 CFR 

50.46(a)(1)(i) states, in part, that: 

Each boiling or pressurized light-water 

nuclear power reactor fueled with uranium 

oxide pellets within cylindrical zircaloy or 

ZIRLO cladding must be provided with an 

emergency core cooling system (ECCS) that 

must be designed so that its calculated 

cooling performance following postulated 

loss-of-coolant accidents [LOCA] conforms to 

the criteria set forth in paragraph (b) of this 

section. ECCS cooling performance must be 

calculated in accordance with an acceptable 

evaluation model and must be calculated for 

a number of postulated loss-of-coolant 

accidents of different sizes, locations, and 

other properties sufficient to provide 

assurance that the most severe postulated 

loss-of-coolant, accidents are calculated. 

Since 10 CFR 50.46 specifically refers 

to fuel with zircaloy or ZIRLOTM

cladding, its application to fuel clads 

with materials other than zircaloy or 

ZIRLOTM requires an exemption from 

this section of the regulations. 

The exemption request from the 

licensee relates solely to the types of 

fuel cladding materials specified in 

these regulations. As written, the 

regulations presume the use of zircaloy 

or ZIRLOTM cladding. Thus, an 

exemption is necessary to apply 10 CFR 

50.46 to cladding materials (i.e., 

AXIOM®), other than zircaloy or 

ZIRLOTM cladding. The proposed 


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77200 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 183 / Friday, September 20, 2024 / Notices 

request does not exempt Turkey Point 

from any other requirements of 10 CFR 

50.46 regarding acceptance criteria, 

evaluation model features and 

documentation, reporting of changes or 

errors, etc. 

Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the NRC 

may, upon application by any interested 

person or upon its own initiative, grant 

exemptions from requirements of 10 

CFR part 50 when: (1) the exemptions 

are authorized by law, will not present 

an undue risk to the public health and 

safety, and are consistent with the 

common defense and security, and (2) 

special circumstances, as defined in 10 

CFR 50.12(a)(2), are present. The 

licensee’s proposed exemption request 

which would permit application of the 

requirements of 10 CFR 50.46 to fuel 

rods clad with AXIOM® at Turkey Point 

identifies, in particular, that the special 

circumstance associated with this 

exemption request is that the 

application of the regulation in this 

circumstance is not necessary to achieve 

the underlying purpose of the rule. 

The technical basis for the use of fuel 

cladding with AXIOM® in PWRs is 

documented in Topical Report (TR) 

WCAP–18546NP–A, Revision 0, 

‘‘Westinghouse AXIOM® Cladding for 

Use in Pressurized Water Reactor Fuel,’’ 

dated March 2021 (ML23089A066). This 

TR describes Westinghouse’s evaluation 

for the use of the AXIOM® alloy in PWR 

fuel assemblies as a replacement for 

ZIRLOTM and Optimized ZIRLOTM. This 

TR discusses material properties of 

AXIOM®, as well as its behavior under 

normal operation, anticipated 

transients, and postulated accident 

conditions. 

As identified in TR WCAP–18546NP– 

A, Revision 0, the AXIOM® alloy is a 

proprietary niobium-bearing variant of 

zirconium. This material also has tin, 

vanadium, and copper as alloying 

elements. Westinghouse stated that the 

AXIOM® alloy was developed to 

provide enhanced performance with 

respect to corrosion, hydrogen pickup, 

growth, and creep. While demonstrating 

relevant differences in certain material 

properties and physical behavior, TR 

WCAP–18546NP–A, Revision 0 

identifies that the basic physical 

properties of AXIOM® are similar to 

ZIRLOTM. 

Sections 3.11, 3.12, and 6.2.1.4 of TR 

WCAP–18546NP–A, Revision 0 provide 

Westinghouse’s rationale for concluding 

that each of the acceptance criteria in 10 

CFR 50.46 is applicable to fuel clad with 

AXIOM®. 

As documented in the NRC staff’s SE 

on TR WCAP–18546NP–A, Revision 0, 

the staff concluded that the criteria of 10 

CFR 50.46 are acceptable for application 

to AXIOM® cladding. The technical 

basis for the NRC staff’s conclusions is 

the testing and analysis Westinghouse 

performed in support of the AXIOM®

alloy is described in the NRC staff’s 

relevant safety evaluation. Despite 

finding application of 10 CFR 50.46 to 

AXIOM® acceptable from a technical 

perspective, current regulations in 10 

CFR 50.46 are limited in applicability to 

the use of fuel rods with zircaloy or 

ZIRLOTM cladding; therefore, an 

exemption for use of a new cladding 

material (such as AXIOM®), is required. 

A. The Exemption Is Authorized by Law 

The NRC has the authority under 10 

CFR 50.12 to grant exemptions from the 

requirements of 10 CFR part 50 upon 

demonstration of proper justification. 

The fuel that will be irradiated at 

Turkey Point is clad with a zirconiumbased alloy that is not expressly within 

the scope of 10 CFR 50.46. However, the 

NRC staff considers all other aspects of 

these regulations (e.g., acceptance 

criteria, prescribed methods, reporting 

requirements) applicable to the 

AXIOM® cladding material, and the 

licensee states that it will ensure that 

these regulations are satisfied for 

operation with fuel clad with AXIOM®. 

As discussed below, the NRC staff 

determined that special circumstances 

exist, which support granting the 

proposed exemption. Furthermore, 

granting the exemption would not result 

in a violation of the Atomic Energy Act 

of 1954, as amended, or the NRC’s 

regulations. Therefore, the exemption is 

authorized by law. 

B. The Exemption Presents No Undue 

Risk to Public Health and Safety 

The NRC staff’s previous review of TR 

WCAP–18546NP–A, Revision 0, which 

concerns the properties of the AXIOM®

alloy, provides assurance that predicted 

chemical, thermal, and mechanical 

characteristics of AXIOM®-alloy 

cladding are acceptable under normal 

operation, anticipated transients, and 

postulated accidents. The NRC staff 

finds that by utilizing the methods and 

properties listed in the NRC-approved 

TR (i.e., TR WCAP–18546NP–A), the 

licensee meets the acceptance criteria 

and analytical methods in 10 CFR 50.46 

to 10 CFR part 50, and thus, ensures 

acceptable safety margins for fuel clad 

with AXIOM® that are consistent with 

those the Commission has established 

for zircaloy and ZIRLOTM. Turkey Point 

cores involving AXIOM® cladding will 

continue to be subject to the operating 

limits specified in the technical 

specifications and core operating limits 

report. Thus, granting this exemption 

request will not pose undue risk to 

public health and safety. 

C. The Exemption Is Consistent with the 

Common Defense and Security 

The exemption will allow the licensee 

to use an enhanced fuel rod cladding 

material relative to the zircaloy material 

for which the requirements of 10 CFR 

50.46 were originally established. The 

NRC staff concludes that the use of 

AXIOM® fuel rod cladding at Turkey 

Point will not significantly affect plant 

operations and is therefore consistent 

with the common defense and security. 

Further, the exemption does not involve 

security requirements and does not 

create a security risk. Therefore, the 

exemption is consistent with the 

common defense and security. 

D. Special Circumstances 

The regulations in 10 CFR 50.46 do 

not explicitly apply to fuel clad with 

AXIOM®. However, the underlying 

purpose of 10 CFR 50.46 is to provide 

requirements capable of ensuring 

adequate core cooling during and after 

the most limiting postulated LOCA. As 

discussed above, Westinghouse has 

demonstrated in an NRC-approved TR 

(i.e. TR WCAP–18546NP–A) that 

application of the acceptance criteria 

and analytical methods required in 10 

CFR 50.46 to fuel cladding with 

AXIOM® is acceptable. For the 

maximum local oxidation limit in 

50.46(b)(2), Westinghouse meets the 17 

percent limit in the rule for cladding 

without any hydrogen, but further 

justified the use of an alternative limit 

that the NRC finds acceptable for 

maintaining post quench ductility 

during a postulated LOCA. The licensee 

stated in the exemption request that the 

core reload safety analyses will be used 

to confirm on a cycle-specific basis that 

there is no adverse impact on ECCS 

performance for Turkey Point. 

Therefore, strict application of the 

material-specific requirements for fuel 

cladding in 10 CFR 50.46 is not 

necessary to achieve the underlying 

purpose of ensuring adequate core 

cooling in this instance. Furthermore, 

granting an exemption to allow 

application of the balance of these 

regulations for fuel cladding with 

AXIOM® at Turkey Point would be 

consistent with the underlying 

regulatory purpose. 

E. Environmental Considerations 

The exemption requested by the 

licensee includes changes to 

requirements with respect to installation 

or use of a facility component located 

within the restricted area. The NRC staff 

determined that the exemption meets 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 183 / Friday, September 20, 2024 / Notices 77201 

the eligibility criteria for the categorical 

exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9) 

because the granting of this exemption 

involves: (i) no significant hazards 

consideration, (ii) no significant change 

in the types or a significant increase in 

the amounts of any effluents that may be 

released offsite, and (iii) no significant 

increase in individual or cumulative 

occupational radiation exposure. 

Therefore, in accordance with 10 CFR 

51.22(b), no environmental impact 

statement or environmental assessment 

need be prepared in connection with the 

NRC’s consideration of this exemption 

request. The basis for the NRC staff’s 

determination of each of the 

requirements in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9) is 

discussed below. 

Requirements in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9)(i) 

The NRC staff evaluated the issue of 

no significant hazards consideration 

using the standards described in 10 CFR 

50.92(c), as presented below: 

1. Does the proposed exemption 

involve a significant increase in the 

probability or consequences of an 

accident previously evaluated? 

Response: No. 

The proposed exemption to allow the 

use of AXIOM® fuel rod cladding does 

not involve a significant increase in the 

probability or consequences of an 

accident previously evaluated. 

For the set of previously evaluated 

accidents, their probability is governed 

by the failure or malfunction of 

equipment or components other than 

the fuel rod cladding. The fuel rod 

cladding itself is not an accident 

initiator and does not affect the accident 

probability. Therefore, the change in 

fuel rod cladding material does not 

affect the probability of previously 

evaluated accidents. 

The proposed exemption does not 

involve a significant increase in the 

consequences of previously evaluated 

accidents. This conclusion is 

demonstrated by the analysis submitted 

by the licensee in support of the 

proposed use of AXIOM® cladding that 

the NRC staff has reviewed in support 

of the proposed license amendment. 

The licensee’s analysis shows that fuel 

clad with AXIOM® material performs 

comparably to fuel cladding materials 

that have been used previously. This 

satisfies the acceptance criteria in 10 

CFR 50.46(b) for the LOCA event. 

Therefore, the proposed exemption 

does not involve a significant increase 

in the probability or consequences of an 

accident previously evaluated. 

2. Does the proposed exemption 

create the possibility of a new or 

different kind of accident from any 

accident previously evaluated? 

Response: No. 

The use of AXIOM® fuel rod cladding 

does not create the possibility of a new 

or different kind of accident from any 

previously evaluated. The fuel rod 

cladding is not an accident initiator. 

The use of AXIOM® cladding has been 

assessed by the licensee and vendor, 

and it has been found to exhibit 

comparable or enhanced behavior 

relative to Optimized ZIRCLO cladding 

material specifically identified in 10 

CFR 50.46. The NRC staff has previously 

reviewed this information in its safety 

evaluation approving TR WCAP– 

18546NP–A. Use of Westinghouse fuel 

with AXIOM® cladding in the Turkey 

Point reactor core is compatible with the 

plant design and does not introduce any 

new safety functions for plant 

structures, systems, or components. 

Furthermore, the introduction of 

AXIOM® cladding does not affect any 

accident mitigation systems and does 

not introduce any new accident 

initiation methods. 

Therefore, the proposed exemption 

does not create the possibility of a new 

or different kind of accident from any 

previously evaluated. 

3. Does the proposed exemption 

involve a significant reduction in a 

margin of safety? 

Response: No. 

The proposed exemption does not 

involve a significant reduction in the 

margin of safety. The licensee’s analysis 

of the spectrum of postulated LOCA 

events for fuel rods clad with AXIOM®

exhibits results comparable to those for 

the fuel currently in use at Turkey Point 

for the small-break and the large-break 

LOCA events. Furthermore, the fuel 

vendor has generically evaluated the 

performance of AXIOM® cladding 

relative to the zircaloy cladding 

specifically identified in 10 CFR 50.46. 

The vendor concluded that the 

performance of the AXIOM® cladding 

material is quite similar to or enhanced 

relative to Optimized ZIRCLO cladding 

material The NRC staff has performed a 

review of these conclusions and 

documented in its safety evaluation on 

TR WCAP–18546NP–A that the 

AXIOM® material properties and 

mechanical design methodology are in 

accordance with applicable regulations 

and regulatory guidance. 

Therefore, the proposed exemption 

does not involve a significant reduction 

in a margin of safety. 

The NRC staff concludes that the 

proposed exemption presents no 

significant hazards consideration under 

the standards set forth in 10 CFR 

50.92(c), and, accordingly, a finding of 

no significant hazards consideration is 

justified (i.e., satisfies the provision of 

10 CFR 51.22(c)(9)(i)). 

Requirements in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9)(ii) 

The proposed exemption would allow 

the use of AXIOM® fuel rod cladding 

material in the reactors. AXIOM 

cladding has similar properties and 

performance characteristics as the 

currently licensed optimized ZIRLO 

cladding. Therefore, the use of the 

AXIOM® fuel rod cladding material will 

not significantly change the types of 

effluents that may be released offsite, or 

significantly increase the amount of 

effluents that may be released offsite. 

Therefore, the provision of 10 CFR 

51.22(c)(9)(ii) is satisfied. 

Requirements in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9)(iii) 

The proposed exemption would allow 

the use of the AXIOM® fuel rod 

cladding material in the reactors. 

AXIOM cladding has similar properties 

and performance characteristics as the 

currently licensed optimized ZIRLO 

cladding. Therefore, the use of the 

AXIOM® fuel rod cladding material will 

not significantly increase individual 

occupational radiation exposure, or 

significantly increase cumulative 

occupational radiation exposure. 

Therefore, the provision of 10 CFR 

51.22(c)(9)(iii) is satisfied. 

The NRC staff concludes that the 

proposed exemption meets the 

eligibility criteria for the categorical 

exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 

51.22(c)(9). Therefore, in accordance 

with 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental 

impact statement or environmental 

assessment need be prepared in 

connection with the NRC’s proposed 

granting of this exemption. 

IV. Conclusions 

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 FPL an 

exemption from the specific 

requirements of 10 CFR 50.46 for use of 

AXIOM® fuel rod cladding. 

Dated: September 13, 2024. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

/RA/ 

Bo M. Pham, 

Director, Division of Operating Reactor 

Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulations. 

[FR Doc. 2024–21500 Filed 9–19–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 


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