[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 203 (Monday, October 21, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84206-84207]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-24191]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-327, 50-328, and 72-34; NRC-2024-0174]


Tennessee Valley Authority; Sequoyah Nuclear Plant Independent 
Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Exemption

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued an 
exemption to Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), for the Sequoyah Nuclear 
Plant (SQN) Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI), in 
accordance with NRC regulations. Specifically, the exemption permits 
SQN's ISFSI to deviate from conditions of the NRC Certificate of 
Compliance (CoC) No. 1032, which was issued to Holtec International 
(Holtec or the CoC holder) amendment No. 3, appendix B, section 3.3, 
``Codes and Standards.''

DATES: The exemption was issued on September 18, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0174 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:
    <bullet> Federal Rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0174. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#74270015170d5a27171c0119151a1a341a06175a131b02"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b4e7c0d5d7cd9ae7d7dcc1d9d5dadaf4dac6d79ad3dbc2">[email protected]</span></a>. For technical 
questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section of this document.
    <bullet> 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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#366672641864534559434455537658445518515940"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="85d5c1d7abd7e0f6eaf0f7e6e0c5ebf7e6abe2eaf3">[email protected]</span></a>. For the convenience of the reader, 
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are 
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
    <bullet> 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 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9fcfdbcdb1cdfaecf0eaedfcfadff1edfcb1f8f0e9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5b0b1f0975093e28342e29383e1b352938753c342d">[email protected]</span></a> 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: Tilda Liu, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001; telephone: 404-997-4730; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#bce8d5d0d8dd92f0d5c9fcd2cedf92dbd3ca"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0b5f62676f6a2547627e4b657968256c647d">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion

    The NRC issued an exemption to TVA for the SQN ISFSI. By letter 
dated August 4, 2022, as supplemented by letters dated December 19, 
2022, April 27, 2023, and January 3, 2024, TVA submitted to the NRC an 
exemption request for the SQN ISFSI, in accordance with section 72.7 of 
title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Specific 
exemptions,'' from the requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 
72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), 72.214, 72.154(b), and 
72.174. Specifically, the exemption request permits SQN ISFSI to 
deviate from conditions of the NRC CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 3, 
appendix B, section 3.3, ``Codes and Standards.''
    The requirements contained in 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3),

[[Page 84207]]

72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), 72.214, 72.154(b), and 72.174 are 
applicable to CoC No. 1032, which was issued to Holtec. The condition 
of CoC No.1032, appendix B, technical specifications, section 3.3, 
``Codes and Standards,'' specifies American Society of Mechanical 
Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel (B&PV) Code, 2007 Edition, 
as the governing B&PV Code for Holtec's HI-STORM Flood/Wind (FW) Multi-
Purpose Canister (MPC) Storage System, the dry cask spent fuel storage 
system in use at SQN ISFSI. The ASME B&PV Code requires that 100 
percent of the weld seam joining shell-to-shell of the MPC be inspected 
by radiography test (RT) where RT is a form of non-destructive 
examination.
    The licensee loaded spent fuel in the HI-STORM FW dry cask storage 
system MPC Type 37 (MPC-37), Serial No. 234, for storage in the ISFSI 
at SQN under CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 3, and its general license. 
During a review of manufacturer's documents, the CoC holder identified 
that MPC-37 Serial No. 234 at SQN ISFSI has a longitudinal shell-to-
shell weld for which no digital RT is available following a weld 
repair, which is inconsistent with the governing ASME B&PV code for 
this CoC system. When TVA was notified of this issue, MPC-37 Serial No. 
234 was already put in use, and TVA registered it by letter dated 
February 24, 2022, entitled ``Sequoyah Nuclear Plant Registration of 
Spent Fuel Storage Cask Pursuant to 10 CFR 72.212(b)(2).'' TVA then 
submitted this exemption request to the NRC to allow continued storage 
of spent fuel in MPC-37 Serial No. 234 for the service life of the 
canister at SQN, despite the non-compliance with the ASME B&PV code.
    Based on the NRC staff's review of TVA's analysis supporting the 
exemption request, the NRC staff determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 
72.7, 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 granted the licensee an exemption 
from the requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 10 CFR 72.212(b)(3), 10 
CFR 72.212(b)(5)(i), 10 CFR 72.212(b)(11), 10 CFR 72.214, 10 CFR 
72.154(b), and 10 CFR 72.174 with regard to: (1) meeting the 
requirement to repeat volumetric examination as required for the 
original weld on an approximately 7.5-inch portion of the repaired weld 
in conformance with section III, subsection NB, of the ASME B&PV Code, 
2007 Edition, and (2) maintaining and having available documentary 
evidence of the test for the service life of the canister. The 
exemption allowed TVA to continue using MPC-37 Serial No. 234 to store 
spent fuel for the service life of the canister at SQN. All other 
relevant requirements of the CoC shall continue to be met. This 
exemption, including the supporting evaluation for issuance of it, can 
be found in the table as follows.

II. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as 
indicated.

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              Document description                  ADAMS Accession No.
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Issuance of Certificate of Compliance No. 1032,   ML17214A040.
 Amendment No. 3 for the HI-STORM Flood/Wind
 Multipurpose Canister Storage, dated August 9,
 2017.
Sequoyah Nuclear Plant--Registration of Spent     ML22059B061.
 Fuel Storage Cask Pursuant to 10 CFR
 72.212(b)(2), dated February 24, 2022.
Sequoyah Nuclear Plant--Request for Exemption     ML22216A078.
 from Various 10 CFR part 72 Regulations
 Resulting from Non-Destruction-Examination
 Compliance, dated August 4, 2022.
Sequoyah Nuclear Plant--Response to Request for   ML22353A066.
 Supplemental Information (D-RSI) Request for
 Exemption from Non-Destruction-Examination
 Compliance, dated December 19, 2022.
Sequoyah Nuclear Plant--Response to Follow-up     ML23117A116.
 Questions to TVA's Response to NRC's Request
 for Supplemental Information (RSI) Related to
 August 4, 2022, Sequoyah ISFSI Exemption
 Request, dated April 27, 2023.
Sequoyah Nuclear Plant--Response to NRC's         ML24004A040.
 November 8, 2023, Request for Additional
 Information--Related to Sequoyah Nuclear Plant
 Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation,
 dated January 3, 2024.
Issuance of Exemption Related to Non-Destructive  ML24185A172 (Package).
 Examination Compliance Regarding Sequoyah
 Nuclear Plant Independent Spent Fuel Storage
 Installation, dated September 18, 2024.
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    Dated: October 15, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Yoira Diaz-Sanabria,
Chief, Storage and Transportation Licensing Branch, Division of Fuel 
Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024-24191 Filed 10-18-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P


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