[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 207 (Friday, October 25, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 85254-85257]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-24917]


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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; Exemption

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued an 
exemption to Southern Nuclear Operating Company permitting Edwin I. 
Hatch Nuclear Plant (Hatch) to maintain three loaded and to load five 
new 68M multi-purpose canisters with continuous basket shims in HI-
STORM 100 Cask System at its Hatch Units 1 and 2 independent spent fuel 
storage installation in a storage condition where the terms, 
conditions, and specifications in Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, 
Amendment No. 11 are not met.

DATES: The exemption was issued 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:
    <bullet> 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: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0152756062782f526269746c606f6f416f73622f666e77"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d380a7b2b0aafd80b0bba6beb2bdbd93bda1b0fdb4bca5">[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#7f2f3b2d512d1a0c100a0d1c1a3f110d1c51181009"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d7879385f985b2a4b8a2a5b4b297b9a5b4f9b0b8a1">[email protected]</span></a>. The ADAMS accession number for 
each document

[[Page 85255]]

referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time 
that it is mentioned in this document.
    <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#29796d7b077b4c5a465c5b4a4c69475b4a074e465f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="beeefaec90ecdbcdd1cbccdddbfed0ccdd90d9d1c8">[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: Heath Stroud, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-287-3664; email: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4109242035296f1235332e3425012f33226f262e37"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d79fb2b6a3bff984a3a5b8a2b397b9a5b4f9b0b8a1">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the exemption is attached.

    Dated: October 22, 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.

Attachment--Exemption

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Docket Nos. 72-36, 50-321, and 50-366

Southern Nuclear Operating Company; Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant Units 
1 and 2; Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation

I. Background

    Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC) is the holder of Renewed 
Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-57 and NPF-5, which authorize 
operation of the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant (Hatch), Units 1 and 2 in 
Baxley, Georgia, pursuant to part 50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of Production and 
Utilization Facilities.'' 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) now or hereafter in 
effect.
    Consistent with 10 CFR part 72, subpart K, ``General License for 
Storage of Spent Fuel at Power Reactor Sites,'' 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. SNC is authorized to operate nuclear power reactors under 10 
CFR part 50 and holds a 10 CFR part 72 general license for storage of 
spent fuel at the Hatch ISFSI. Under the terms of the general license, 
SNC stores spent fuel at its Hatch ISFSI using the HI-STORM 100 Cask 
System in accordance with Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1014, 
Amendment No. 11.

II. Request/Action

    By a letter dated June 25, 2024 (Agencywide Documents Access and 
Management System [ADAMS] Accession No. ML24177A217), as supplemented 
on July 26, 2024 (ML24208A172), SNC requested an exemption 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 that require Hatch to comply with the terms, 
conditions, and specifications of CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 11 
(ML23328A045). If approved, SNC's exemption request would accordingly 
allow Hatch to maintain three loaded and to load five multi-purpose 
canisters (MPCs) with an unapproved, variant basket design with 
continuous basket shims (CBS) (i.e., MPC-68M-CBS) in the HI-STORM 100 
Cask System, and thus, to maintain and load the systems in a storage 
condition where the terms, conditions, and specifications in CoC No. 
1014, Amendment No. 11 are not met.
    SNC currently uses the HI-STORM 100 Cask System under CoC No. 1014, 
Amendment No. 11, for dry storage of spent nuclear fuel in MPC-68M at 
the Hatch ISFSI. 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 
performed a non-mechanistic tip-over analysis with favorable results 
and implemented the CBS variant design under the provisions of 10 CFR 
72.48, ``Changes, tests, and experiments,'' 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 is 
not the type of change allowed without a CoC amendment. For this 
reason, the NRC issued three Severity Level IV violations to Holtec 
(ML24016A190).
    Prior to the issuance of the violation, SNC had loaded three MPC-
68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System, which are safely in storage at 
the Hatch ISFSI. SNC's loading campaign for the Hatch ISFSI include 
loading five MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System beginning in 
April 2025. While Holtec was required to submit a CoC amendment to the 
NRC to seek approval of the CBS variant design, such a process will not 
be completed in time to inform decisions for this loading campaign. 
Therefore, SNC submitted this exemption request to allow for the 
continued storage of the three already loaded MPC-68-CBS, and future 
loading of five MPC-68M-CBS beginning in April 2025 at the Hatch ISFSI. 
This exemption is limited to the use of MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 
Cask System only for the three already loaded canisters and the planned 
loading of five specific new canisters using the MPC-68M-CBS variant 
basket design.

III. Discussion

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, ``Specific exemptions,'' the Commission 
may, upon application by any interested person or upon its own 
initiative, grant such 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.

A. The Exemption is Authorized by Law

    This exemption would allow SNC to maintain three loaded and to load 
five MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System at its Hatch ISFSI in 
a storage condition where the terms, conditions, and specifications in 
CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 11, are not met. SNC is requesting an 
exemption from the provisions in 10 CFR part 72 that require the 
licensee to comply with the terms, conditions, and specifications of 
the CoC for the approved cask model it uses. Section 72.7 allows the 
NRC to grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 72. This 
authority to grant exemptions is consistent with the Atomic Energy Act 
of 1954, as amended, and is not otherwise inconsistent with NRC's 
regulations or other applicable laws. Additionally, no other law 
prohibits the activities that would be authorized by the exemption. 
Therefore, the NRC concludes that there is no statutory prohibition on 
the issuance of the requested exemption, and the NRC is authorized to 
grant the exemption by law.

B. The Exemption Will Not Endanger Life or Property or the Common 
Defense and Security

    This exemption would allow SNC to maintain three loaded and to load 
five 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 
CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 11, are not met. In support of its 
exemption request,

[[Page 85256]]

SNC asserts that issuance of the exemption would not endanger life or 
property because the administrative controls the applicant has in place 
prevent a tip-over or handling event, and that the containment boundary 
would be maintained in such an event. SNC relies, in part, on the 
approach in the NRC's Safety Determination Memorandum (ML24018A085). 
The NRC issued this Safety Determination Memorandum to address whether, 
with respect to the enforcement action against Holtec regarding this 
violation, there was any need to take an immediate action for the cask 
systems that were already loaded with non-compliant basket designs. The 
Safety Determination Memorandum documents a risk-informed approach 
concluding that, during the design basis event of a non-mechanistic 
tip-over, the fuel in the basket in the MPC-68M-CBS remains in a 
subcritical condition.
    SNC also provided site-specific technical information, including 
information explaining why the use of the approach in the NRC's Safety 
Determination Memorandum is appropriate for determining the safe use of 
the CBS variant baskets at the Hatch ISFSI. Specifically, SNC described 
that the analysis of the tip-over design basis event that is relied 
upon in the NRC's Safety Determination Memorandum, which demonstrates 
that the MPC confinement barrier is maintained, is documented in the 
updated final safety analysis report (UFSAR) for the HI-STORM 100 Cask 
System CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 11 that is used at the Hatch site. 
SNC also described its administrative controls for handling of the HI-
STORM 100 Cask System at the Hatch ISFSI to prevent a tip-over or 
handling event. Those controls include operational procedures that 
demonstrate lift height restrictions and that the system is handled 
with a single failure proof device, which comply with CoC No. 1014, 
Amendment No. 11, Appendix A.
    Additionally, SNC provided specific information from Hatch's 72.212 
Evaluation Report, Revision 27, indicating that during the design basis 
event of a non-mechanistic tip-over, Hatch's ISFSI would meet the 
requirements in 10 CFR 72.104, ``Criteria for radioactive materials in 
effluents and direct radiation from an ISFSI or MRS,'' and 72.106, 
``Controlled area of an ISFSI or MRS.'' Specifically, SNC described 
that, in the highly unlikely event of a tip-over, any potential fuel 
damage from a non-mechanistic tip-over event would be localized, the 
confinement barrier would be maintained, and the shielding material 
would remain intact. SNC concluded that compliance with 72.104 and 
72.106 is not impacted by approving this exemption request.
    The NRC staff reviewed the information provided by SNC and 
concludes that issuance of the exemption would not endanger life or 
property because the administrative controls that SNC has in place at 
the Hatch ISFSI sufficiently minimize the possibility of a tip-over or 
handling event, and that the containment boundary would be maintained 
in such an event. The staff confirmed that these administrative 
controls are documented in the technical specifications and UFSAR for 
the HI-STORM 100 Cask System CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 11, that is 
used at the Hatch site. In addition, the staff confirmed that the 
information provided by SNC regarding Hatch's 72.212 Evaluation Report, 
Revision 27, demonstrates that the consequences of normal and accident 
conditions would be within the regulatory limits of the 10 CFR 72.104 
and 10 CFR 72.106. The staff also determined that the requested 
exemption is not related to any aspect of the physical security or 
defense of the Hatch ISFSI; therefore, granting the exemption would not 
result in any potential impacts to common defense and security.
    For these reasons, the NRC staff has determined that under the 
requested exemption, the storage system will continue to meet the 
safety requirements of 10 CFR part 72 and the offsite dose limits of 10 
CFR part 20 and, therefore, will not endanger life or property or the 
common defense and security.

C. The Exemption is Otherwise in the Public Interest

    The proposed exemption would allow the three already loaded MPC-
68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System to remain in storage at the 
Hatch ISFSI, and allow SNC to load five MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 
Cask System beginning in April 2025 at the Hatch ISFSI, even though the 
CBS variant basket design is not part of the approved CoC No. 1014, 
Amendment No. 11. According to SNC, the exemption is in the public 
interest because being unable to load fuel into dry storage in the 
future loading campaign would impact SNC's ability to offload fuel from 
the Hatch reactor units, consequently impacting continued safe reactor 
operation.
    SNC rescheduled its 2024 loading campaign to 2025 and stated that 
further delaying the future loading campaign would impact its ability 
to effectively manage the margin to capacity in the Hatch Units 1 and 2 
spent fuel pools. The low spent fuel pool capacity would make it 
difficult to refuel and present potential risks to fuel handling 
operations. In addition, a crowded spent fuel pool would challenge the 
decay heat removal demand of the pool and increase the likelihood of a 
loss of fuel pool cooling event and a fuel handling accident. 
Furthermore, Hatch planned the cask loading campaign years in advance 
based on availability of the specialized resources and equipment. These 
specialty resources support competing activities and priorities, 
including spent fuel pool clean-up and refueling outages. Therefore, 
the available windows to complete cask loading campaigns are limited, 
and any delays would have a cascading impact on other scheduled 
specialized activities. SNC also stated that leaving the three loaded 
CBS canisters is in the public interest because it eliminates the risks 
associated with dispositioning spent fuel, including increased 
radiation dose to workers and affecting SNC's ability to manage the 
spent fuel pool capacity. 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. It would put the 2025 campaign and Hatch's 
capability for full core offloading of both reactors at risk.
    For the reasons described by SNC in the exemption request, the NRC 
agrees that it is in the public interest to grant the exemption. If the 
exemption is not granted, in order to comply with the CoC, SNC would 
have to unload MPC-68M-CBS from the HI-STORM 100 Cask System at the 
Hatch ISFSI and reload into the older design MPC-68M to restore 
compliance with the terms, conditions, and specifications of the CoC. 
This would subject onsite personnel to additional radiation exposures 
and increase the risk of a possible fuel handling accident. 
Furthermore, the removed spent fuel would need to be placed in the 
spent fuel pool until it can be loaded into another storage cask or 
remain in the spent fuel pool if it is not permitted to be loaded into 
CBS casks for the future loadings. As described by SNC, this scenario 
would affect SNC ability to effectively manage the spent pool capacity 
and reactor fuel offloading at Hatch. In addition, the rescheduling of 
the specialized resources for the future loading campaign would impact 
the operations of Hatch.

[[Page 85257]]

    Therefore, the staff concludes that approving the exemption is in 
the public interest.
Environmental Consideration
    The NRC staff also considered 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 environmental assessment 
concluded that the proposed action would not significantly impact the 
quality of the human environment. The NRC staff concluded that the 
proposed action would not result in any changes in the types or amounts 
of any radiological or non-radiological effluents that may be released 
offsite, and there would be no significant increase in occupational or 
public radiation exposure because of the proposed action. The 
environmental assessment and the finding of no significant impact was 
published on October 11, 2024 (89 FR 82645).

IV. Conclusion

    Based on these considerations, the NRC has 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 grants SNC an 
exemption from the requirements of Sec. Sec.  72.212(a)(2), 
72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), and 72.214 with respect 
to the ongoing storage of three MPC-68M-CBS in the HI-STORM 100 Cask 
System and a future loading in the HI-STORM 100 Cask System of five new 
MPC-68M-CBS beginning in April 2025.
    This exemption is effective upon issuance.

    Dated: October 11, 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. 2024-24917 Filed 10-24-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P


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