Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 198 / Friday, October 11, 2024 / Notices 82645 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. 72–36, 50–321, and 50–366; 

NRC–2024–0147] 

Southern Nuclear Operating Company; 

Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant Units 1 

and 2; Independent Spent Fuel Storage 

Installation; Environmental 

Assessment and Finding of No 

Significant Impact 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is issuing an 

environmental assessment (EA) and a 

finding of no significant impact (FONSI) 

for an exemption request submitted by 

Southern Nuclear Operating Company 

(SNC) that would permit Edwin I. Hatch 

Nuclear Plant (Hatch) Units 1 and 2, to 

maintain and load 68M multi-purpose 

canisters (MPC) with continuous basket 

shims (CBS) in the HI-STORM 100 Cask 

System at its Hatch Units 1 and 2 

independent spent fuel storage 

installation (ISFSI) in a storage 

condition where the terms, conditions, 

and specifications in the Certificate of 

Compliance (CoC) No. 1014, 

Amendment No. 11 are not met. 

DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in 

this document are available on October 

11, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2024–0147 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–2024–0147. 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 

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 

PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. For the 

convenience of the reader, instructions 

about obtaining materials referenced in 

this document are provided in the 

‘‘Availability of Documents’’ section. 

• 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: 

Heath Stroud, Office of Nuclear Material 

Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, Washington, 

DC 20555–0001; telephone: 301–287– 

3664; email: Heath.Stroud@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

The NRC is reviewing an exemption 

request from SNC, dated June 25, 2024, 

and supplemented on July 26, 2024. 

SNC is requesting an exemption, 

pursuant to section 72.7 of title 10 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), 

‘‘Specific exemptions,’’ in paragraphs 

72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 

72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), and 

72.214 that require SNC to comply with 

the terms, conditions, and specifications 

of the CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 

11. If approved, the exemption would 

allow SNC to maintain three loaded and 

to load five new MPC–68M–CBS in the 

HI-STORM 100 Cask System at the 

Hatch ISFSI in a storage condition 

where the terms, conditions, and 

specifications in the CoC No. 1014, 

Amendment No. 11, are not met. 

II. Environmental Assessment 

Background 

Hatch is 32 kilometers (20 miles) east 

of Vidalia, Georgia. The plant is located 

on the southwest side of the Altamaha 

River. Unit 1 began operating in 1975 

and Unit 2 began operating in 1979. 

SNC has been storing spent fuel in the 

Hatch ISFSI under a general license as 

authorized by 10 CFR part 72, subpart 

K, ‘‘General License for Storage of Spent 

Fuel at Power Reactor Sites.’’ SNC 

currently uses the HI-STORM 100 Cask 

System under CoC No. 1014, 

Amendment No. 11 for dry storage of 

spent nuclear fuel in a specific MPC 

(i.e., MPC–68M) at the Hatch ISFSI. 

Description of the Proposed Action 

The CoC is the NRC-approved design 

for each dry cask storage system. The 

proposed action would exempt the 

applicant 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 only as these requirements 

pertain to the use of the MPC–68M–CBS 

in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System. The 

exemption would allow SNC to 

maintain three loaded and to load five 

new MPC–68M–CBS in the HI-STORM 

100 Cask System at the Hatch ISFSI, 

despite the MPC–68M–CBS in the HISTORM 100 Cask System not being in 

compliance with the terms, conditions, 

and specifications in the CoC No. 1014, 

Amendment No. 11. 

The HI-STORM 100 Cask System CoC 

provides the requirements, conditions, 

and operating limits necessary for use of 

the system to store spent fuel. Holtec 

International (Holtec), the designer and 

manufacturer of the HI-STORM 100 

Cask System, developed a variant of the 

design with CBS for the MPC–68M, 

known as MPC–68M–CBS. Holtec 

originally implemented the CBS variant 

design under the provisions of 10 CFR 

72.48, 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 was not the type of change 

allowed without a CoC amendment. For 

this reason, the NRC issued three 

Severity Level IV violations to Holtec. 

However, SNC had previously loaded 

three MPC–68M–CBS in the HI-STORM 

100 Cask System and plans to load five 

MPC–68M–CBS in the HI-STORM 100 

Cask System beginning in April 2025. 

This exemption considers the storage of 

the three already loaded systems and 

the planned loading of the five canisters 

with the CBS variant basket design. 

Need for the Proposed Action 

SNC requested this exemption 

because SNC is currently out of 

compliance with NRC requirements, 

resulting from the previous loading of 

spent fuel into a storage system with the 

CBS variant basket design. This 

exemption would allow three already 

loaded MPC–68M–CBS in the HISTORM 100 Cask System to remain in 

storage at the Hatch ISFSI. The 

exemption would also allow SNC to 

load five new MPC–68M–CBS in HISTORM 100 Cask System at the Hatch 

ISFSI for the future loading campaign 

scheduled to begin in April 2025. 

Approval of the exemption request 

would allow SNC to effectively manage 

the spent fuel pool margin and capacity 

to enable refueling and offloading fuel 

from the reactor. It would also allow 

SNC to effectively manage the 

availability of the specialized resources 

and equipment needed to support 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
82646 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 198 / Friday, October 11, 2024 / Notices 

competing fuel loading and operational 

activities at Hatch. 

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed 

Action 

This EA evaluates the potential 

environmental impacts of granting an 

exemption from the terms, conditions, 

and specifications in CoC No. 1014, 

Amendment No. 11. The exemption 

would allow three already loaded MPC– 

68M–CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask 

System to remain loaded at the Hatch 

ISFSI. The exemption would also allow 

five new MPC–68M–CBS to be loaded in 

the HI-STORM 100 Cask System in 

loading campaigns and maintained in 

storage at the Hatch ISFSI. 

The potential environmental impacts 

of storing spent nuclear fuel in NRCapproved storage systems have been 

documented in previous assessments. 

On July 18, 1990 (55 FR 29181), the 

NRC amended 10 CFR part 72 to 

provide for the storage of spent fuel 

under a general license in cask designs 

approved by the NRC. The EA for the 

1990 final rule analyzed the potential 

environmental impacts of using NRCapproved storage casks. The EA for the 

HI-STORM 100 Cask System, CoC No. 

1014, Amendment No. 11, published in 

2018 tiers off of the EA issued for the 

July 18, 1990, final rule (83 FR 63794). 

‘‘Tiering’’ off earlier EAs is a standard 

process encouraged by the regulations 

implementing the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA) that entails the use of impact 

analyses of previous EAs to bound the 

impacts of a proposed action where 

appropriate. The Holtec HI-STORM 100 

Cask System is designed to mitigate the 

effects of design basis accidents that 

could occur during storage. Considering 

the specific design requirements for the 

accident conditions, the design of the 

cask would prevent loss of containment, 

shielding, and criticality control. If there 

is no loss of containment, shielding, or 

criticality control, the environmental 

impacts would not be significant. 

The exemptions requested by SNC at 

the Hatch site as they relate to CoC No. 

1014, Amendment No. 11, for the HISTORM 100 Cask System are limited to 

the use of the CBS variant basket design 

only for the three previously loaded 

canisters and planned loading of five 

canisters utilizing the CBS variant 

basket design. The staff has determined 

that this change in the basket will not 

result in either radiological or nonradiological environmental impacts that 

significantly differ from the 

environmental impacts evaluated in the 

environmental assessment supporting 

the issuance of CoC No. 1014, 

Amendment No. 11. If the exemption is 

granted, there will be no significant 

change in the types or amounts of any 

effluents released, no significant 

increase in individual or cumulative 

public or occupational radiation 

exposure, and no significant increase in 

the potential for or consequences from 

radiological accidents. Accordingly, the 

Commission concludes that there would 

be no significant environmental impacts 

associated with the proposed action. 

Alternative to the Proposed Action 

The staff considered the no-action 

alternative. The no-action alternative 

(denial of the exemption request) would 

require SNC to unload spent fuel from 

the MPC–68M–CBS in the HI-STORM 

100 Cask System to bring it in 

compliance with the CoC terms, 

conditions, and specifications in the 

CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 11. 

Unloading the cask would subject 

station personnel to additional radiation 

exposure, generate additional 

contaminated waste, 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, where 

it would remain until it could be loaded 

into an approved storage cask. SNC has 

rescheduled its 2024 loading campaign 

to April 2025, and further delay in the 

loading of this spent fuel into other 

casks could affect SNC’s ability to 

effectively manage the spent fuel pool 

capacity and reactor fuel offloading. Not 

allowing the planned future loading 

campaign could affect SNC’s ability to 

manage pool capacity, reactor fuel 

offloading, and refueling. It could also 

pose challenges to spent fuel heat 

removal and impact the availability of 

the specialized resources and 

equipment needed to support competing 

fuel loading and operational activities at 

Hatch, including spent fuel pool cleanup and refueling outages. SNC has 

ordered an additional five MPC–68M 

canisters for the planned loading 

starting in April 2025, that comply with 

CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 11. 

However, due to factors outside of 

SNC’s control, delivery of the compliant 

canisters is not guaranteed for the April 

2025 loading. 

The NRC has determined that the noaction alternative would result in undue 

potential human health and safety 

impacts that could be avoided by 

proceeding with the proposed 

exemption, especially given that the 

staff has concluded in NRC’s Safety 

Determination Memorandum, issued 

with respect to the enforcement action 

against Holtec regarding these 

violations, that fuel can be stored safely 

in the MPC–68M–CBS canisters. 

Agencies Consulted 

The NRC provided the Georgia 

Division of Natural Resources (DNR) 

and Georgia Emergency Management 

and Homeland Security Administration 

(GEMA) a copy of this draft EA for 

review by an email dated August 28, 

2024. On September 25, 2024, Georgia 

DNR and GEMA provided its 

concurrence by email. 

III. Finding of No Significant Impact 

The environmental impacts of the 

proposed action have been reviewed in 

accordance with the requirements in 10 

CFR part 51, which implement NEPA. 

Based upon the foregoing environmental 

assessment, the NRC finds that the 

proposed action of granting the 

exemption from the regulations in 10 

CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 

72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), and 

72.214, which require the licensee to 

comply with the terms, conditions, and 

specifications of the CoC, in this case 

limited to the past and specific future 

loading of baskets with the CBS variant 

design, would not significantly impact 

the quality of the human environment. 

Accordingly, the NRC has determined 

that a FONSI is appropriate, and an 

environmental impact statement is not 

warranted. 

IV. Availability of Documents 

The documents identified in the 

following table are available to 

interested persons through ADAMS, as 

indicated. 

Document description ADAMS Accession No. or 

Federal Register notice 

SNC’s request for exemption, dated June 25, 2024 ...................................................................................................... ML24177A217. 

SNC’s request for exemption, amended, dated July 26, 2024 ...................................................................................... ML24208A172. 

Renewed Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, Amendment 11, dated June 29, 2023 ................................................. ML23328A045 (Package). 

Holtec International, Inc.—Notice of Violation; The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspection Report No. 

07201014/2022–201, EA–23–044, dated January 30, 2024.

ML24016A190. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 198 / Friday, October 11, 2024 / Notices 82647 

1United States Postal Service Request to Convert 

USPS Connect Local Mail to a Permanent Offering, 

October 3, 2024 (Request). The Postal Service has 

previously filed two other requests to convert this 

experimental product into a permanent offering, 

both of which were denied. See Docket No. 

MC2023–12, Order Dismissing Without Prejudice 

Postal Service’s Request to Convert USPS Connect 

Local Mail Market Test to a Permanent Offering, 

October 17, 2022, at 5–6 (Order No. 6301); Docket 

No. MC2023–12, Order Dismissing Without 

Prejudice the Postal Service’s Revised Request to 

Convert USPS Connect Local Mail Market Test to 

a Permanent Offering, January 20, 2023 (Order No. 

6423). 

2 Docket No. MT2022–1, Order Authorizing 

Market Test of Experimental Product—USPS 

Connect Local Mail, January 4, 2022 (Order No. 

6080). 

3 Docket No. MT2022–1, Order Authorizing 

Extension of USPS Connect Local Mail Market Test, 

December 13, 2023 (Order No. 6860). 

4 Docket No. MT2022–1, United States Postal 

Service Notice of Request to Convert USPS Connect 

Local Mail to Permanent Offering, October 3, 2024. 

Document description ADAMS Accession No. or 

Federal Register notice 

10 CFR part 72 amendment to allow spent fuel storage in NRC-approved casks, dated July 18, 1990 ..................... 55 FR 29181. 

EA for part 72 amendment to allow spent fuel storage in NRC-approved casks, dated March 8, 1989 ...................... ML051230231. 

Direct final rule for List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: Holtec International HI-STORM 100 Cask System 

CoC No. 1014, Certificate and Amendment Nos. 11 and 12, dated December 12, 2018.

83 FR 63794. 

Safety Determination of a Potential Structural Failure of the Fuel Basket During Accident Conditions for the HISTORM 100 and HI-STORM Flood/Wind Dry Cask Storage Systems, dated January 31, 2024.ML24018A085. 

NRC email to Georgia DNR and GEMA, ‘‘State’s review of EA/FONSI for Hatch Exemption,’’ dated August 28, 

2024.

ML24274A068. 

Georgia DNR and GEMA email response, ‘‘State’s response regarding EA/FONSI for Hatch Exemption,’’ dated 

September 25, 2024.

ML24274A067. 

Dated: October 8, 2024. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Christian Jacobs, 

Acting Chief, Storage and Transportation 

Licensing Branch, Division of Fuel 

Management, Office of Nuclear Material 

Safety and Safeguards. 

[FR Doc. 2024–23630 Filed 10–10–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION 

[Docket No. MC2025–19; Order No. 7662] 

Mail Classification Schedule 

AGENCY: Postal Regulatory Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Commission is 

recognizing a recently filed Postal 

Service request to convert the 

experimental product offering USPS 

Connect Local Mail into a permanent 

product offering on the Mail 

Classification Schedule. This notice 

informs the public of the filing, invites 

public comment, and takes other 

administrative steps. 

DATES: Comments are due: November 

12, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments 

electronically via the Commission’s 

Filing Online system at http://

www.prc.gov. Those who cannot submit 

comments electronically should contact 

the person identified in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section by 

telephone for advice on filing 

alternatives. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David A. Trissell, General Counsel, at 

202–789–6820. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. Introduction and Overview 

II. Commission Action 

III. Ordering Paragraphs 

I. Introduction and Overview 

On October 3, 2024, the Postal Service 

filed a request with the Commission 

pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 3642 and 39 CFR 

3045.18 to convert the experimental 

product offering USPS Connect Local 

Mail into a permanent product offering 

on the Mail Classification Schedule.1 In 

support of its Request, the Postal 

Service filed the following documents: 

• Attachment A to Request—Proposed 

Changes to the Mail Classification 

Schedule; 

• Attachment B to Request—Market 

Test Quarterly Data Collection 

Reports; 

• Attachment C to Request—Resolution 

of the Governors of the United States 

Postal Service; and 

• Attachment D to Request—Statement 

of Supporting Justification 

See Request, Attachments A through D. 

The USPS Connect Local Mail market 

test was initially authorized by the 

Commission on January 4, 2022.2 It was 

then extended through January 9, 2025.3

Order No. 6080 at 20. USPS Connect 

Local Mail is a derivative of First-Class 

Mail that functions as an alternative to 

long-distance, end-to-end mailing for 

use by business mailers who wish to 

send mail locally with regular 

frequency. Id. at 2. The Postal Service 

asserts that the USPS Connect Local 

Mail market test has proven successful 

and that it now wishes to insert the 

USPS Connect Local Mail product 

offering into the Mail Classification 

Schedule under section 1115 (Market 

Dominant Products: First-Class Mail: 

First-Class Mail Flats). Request at 5. The 

Postal Service maintains that the USPS 

Connect Local Mail product meets all 

the conditions in 39 U.S.C. 3642 and 39 

CFR 3045.18 for adding a nonexperimental product based on an 

experimental product to the product 

list. Id. at 6–8. The Postal Service also, 

as required by 39 CFR 3045.18(e), filed 

a separate notice of the instant request 

in Docket No. MT2022–1.4 The planned 

rate for USPS Connect Local Mail is 

$2.95. See Request at 10. 

II. Commission Action 

The Commission establishes Docket 

No. MC2025–19 to consider the Postal 

Service’s Request. Interested persons 

may submit comments on whether the 

Request is consistent with the policies 

of 39 U.S.C. 3642, 39 CFR 3045.18, and 

39 CFR 3040.130 through .135. 

Comments are due by November 12, 

2024. 

The Request and related filings are 

available on the Commission’s website 

(http://www.prc.gov). The Commission 

encourages interested persons to review 

the Request for further details. 

The Commission appoints Joanne 

Diez to serve as Public Representative in 

this proceeding. 

III. Ordering Paragraphs 

It is ordered: 

1. The Commission establishes Docket 

No. MC2025–19 for consideration of the 

United States Postal Service Request to 

Convert USPS Connect Local Mail to a 

Permanent Offering, filed October 3, 

2024. 

2. Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, Joanne 

Diez is appointed to serve as an officer 

of the Commission (Public 

Representative) to represent the 

interests of the general public in this 

proceeding. 

3. Comments by interested persons 

are due by November 12, 2024. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1