ML17353A009
| ML17353A009 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Holtec, Vermont Yankee File:NorthStar Vermont Yankee icon.png |
| Issue date: | 12/18/2017 |
| From: | Irwin W State of VT, Dept of Health |
| To: | Yen-Ju Chen Spent Fuel Licensing Branch |
| Chen Y | |
| References | |
| Download: ML17353A009 (2) | |
Text
From: Irwin, William [1]
Sent: Monday, December 18, 2017 3:29 PM To: Chen, Yen-Ju <Yen-Ju.Chen@nrc.gov>
Subject:
[External_Sender] RE: DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT: EXEMPTION REQUEST FOR VERMONT YANKEE INDEPENDENT SPENT FUEL STORAGE INSTALLATION
Dear Ms. Chen,
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the draft environmental assessment for Entergy Nuclear Operations requested exemption from certain specific aspects of the Holtec multipurpose canister (MPC) Certificate of Compliance Number 72-1014. This Certificate of Compliance is for an MPC used for spent nuclear fuel storage at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station independent spent fuel storage installation. I had numerous questions about this exemption for an optional regionalized fuel loading pattern, minimum spent fuel cooling time and per-cell maximum average burnup time limit. Some of my questions were answered in conversations with State Nuclear Engineer Anthony Leshinskie, and the remainder were answered in a teleconference call with you and Mr. Meraj Rahimi at the NRC on 11 December 2017. The questions I had were related to the Safety Evaluation Report for this exemption request which is not currently available to the public.
During the teleconference, Mr. Leshinskie and I were able to ask our questions which were answered thoroughly on the conference call. Since my questions have been answered, I have no comments on the exemption request.
William Irwin, Sc.D., CHP Radiological & Toxicological Sciences Program Chief, Vermont Department of Health Crew Chief, Vermont Hazardous Materials Response Team Volunteer Fire Officer, Firefighter, Emergency Medical Technician 802-316-0119 (m) l 802-250-3592 (p) l William.irwin@vermont.gov From: Chen, Yen-Ju [2]
Sent: Monday, October 16, 2017 12:20 PM To: Irwin, William <William.Irwin@vermont.gov>
Subject:
DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT: EXEMPTION REQUEST FOR VERMONT YANKEE INDEPENDENT SPENT FUEL STORAGE INSTALLATION October 16, 2017 Dr. William Irwin II, SC.D, CHP Radiological Health Chief VT Department of Health 108 Cherry Street P.O. Box 70, Drawer #43 Burlington, VT 05402-0070
SUBJECT:
DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT: EXEMPTION REQUEST FOR VERMONT YANKEE INDEPENDENT SPENT FUEL STORAGE INSTALLATION
Dear Dr. Irwin:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received, by letter dated May 16, 2017, a request for an exemption, from Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc, (Entergy) in accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 72.7, from the requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.214, and the portion of 72.212(b)(11) that requires compliance with the terms, conditions, and specifications of the Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 72-1014 for spent nuclear fuel storage at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VYNPS) independent spent fuel storage installation (or ISFSI). The CoC is the NRC-approved design for each dry storage cask system used for spent fuel storage.
This exemption would allow 1) the use of an optional regionalized loading pattern for the multipurpose canister (MPC-)68M; 2) the loading of fuel that has been cooled for at least 2 years to be loaded into the MPC 68M, as compared to the current minimum cooling time of 3 years; and 3) the establishment of a per-cell maximum average burnup limit at 65,000 megawatt days per metric ton of uranium (MWD/MTU), as compared to the current condition of calculating from an equation. ENO also provided supplemental information in a letter dated September 7, 2017, and proposed to limit the total aggregate heat load for each cask to 36.9 kW as allowed in CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 10. The exemption request is publicly available from the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), accessible at:
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The ADAMS Accession Number for the exemption request and supplemental information are ML17142A354 and ML17255A236, respectively.
As established in Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations Part 51, the NRC regulation that implements the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, the NRC is preparing an environmental assessment (EA) for the proposed action. The purpose of the EA is to assess potential environmental impacts that may significantly affect the human environment. No significant change in the types or amounts of any effluent released, no significant increase in individual or cumulative radiation exposures, and no significant increase in the potential for or consequences of radiological accidents will occur as the result of the exemption request. For these reasons, the NRC concludes in the draft EA that approval of the exemption request will not significantly affect the quality of the human environment.
The NRC is providing your office with the opportunity to review the draft EA and comment on environmental issues prior to public issuance of the EA. We request that the distribution and use of the draft EA be limited only to those staff involved in the review and comment process. We further request that your office provide any comments to the NRC staff by November 15, 2017. You can provide your comments to me, via email, if that is convenient for you. We will consider your timely comments and will revise the EA, as appropriate, before its final issuance.
If you have any questions, please contact me at Yen-Ju.Chen@nrc.gov or by telephone at 301-415-1018.
Sincerely, Yen-Ju Chen, Sr. Project Manager Spent Fuel Licensing Branch Division of Spent Fuel Management Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission