ML22215A098

Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

ML22215A098
Person / Time
Site:	Indian Point, Holtec
Issue date:	10/25/2022
From:	William Allen Storage and Transportation Licensing Branch
To:
Allen W 3014156877
Shared Package
ML22215A097	List: ML22215A098 ML22215A099
References
Download: ML22215A098 (8)

Text

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION DOCKET NOS. 72-51, 72-1014, 50-247 AND 50-286

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE EXEMPTION REQUEST FOR HOLTEC DECOMMISSIONING INTERNATIONAL, LLC INDIAN POINT ENERGY CENTER INDEPENDENT SPENT FUEL STORAGE INSTALLATION IN BUCHANAN, NEW YORK

1. INTRODUCTION

By letter dated March 24, 2022, Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC (HDI), on behalf of Holtec Indian Point 2, LLC (IP2) and Holtec Indian Point 3, LLC (IP3), submitted a request to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for an exemption for the Indian Point Energy Center Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation, in accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 72.7 (HDI 2022). HDI supplemented its exemption request by providing additional information in support of its request during a Microsoft Teams conversation on June 17, 2022 (NRC 2022b). HDI further clarified its request during a Microsoft Teams call on September 20, 2022 (NRC 2022d). HDI requested an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(b)(3), and the portion of 10 CFR 72.212(b)(11) that states [t]he licensee shall comply with the terms, conditions, and specifications of the certificate of compliance (CoC).

The exemption request, if granted, would permit HDI to load up to three MPC-32Ms with multiple fuel assemblies that have neutron source assemblies (NSAs), that cannot be removed from the fuel assembly, under Amendment No. 15 of the Holtec International Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1014 for the HI-STORM 100 storage system (NRC 2021). More specifically, if granted, this exemption would allow HDI to load up to three MPC-32Ms, using Amendment No. 15 for CoC No. 1014, with either up to thirty-two fuel assemblies having either Californium-252 (Cf-252) and Antimony-Beryllium (Sb-Be) NSAs with sufficient cooling time, or a combination of up to fuel assemblies having five primary Plutonium-Beryllium (Pu-Be) NSAs and the remaining basket locations with fuel assemblies having either Cf-252 or Sb-Be NSAs with sufficient cooling time. Further, as discussed below, it would permit HDI to load the fuel assemblies having either Cf-252 or Sb-Be NSAs in any location in the basket and the fuel assemblies having Pu-Be NSAs such that one is located in the center of the basket and one is located in each of the four basket quadrants. Additionally, although HDIs analysis included information about fuel assemblies having Polonium-Beryllium (Po-Be) NSAs, based on its September 20, 2022, Microsoft Teams call (NRC 2022d), the NRC staff understands that HDI does not have fuel assemblies with Po-Be NSAs.

Although HDI only requested exemptions from 10 CFR 72.212(b)(3) and (b)(11), to carry out this action, the NRC would also need to grant exemptions from 72.212(a)(2), (b)(5)(i), and 72.214. Consequently, in evaluating the request, the NRC also considered, pursuant to its authority in 10 CFR 72.7, exempting HDI from the requirements in 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 10 CFR 72.212(b)(5)(i), and 10 CFR 72.214. For clarity, when this environmental assessment refers to HDIs requested exemption, it means both the two provisions from which HDI requested exemption and the additional provisions from which the NRC staff is considering exempting HDI on its own initiative.

In addition to this environmental review, the NRC staff will perform a safety evaluation to determine whether to grant HDIs exemption request. The NRC staff will prepare a separate

safety evaluation report to document its safety review and analysis. The NRCs safety evaluation report will evaluate the proposed exemption to ensure reasonable assurance of adequate protection of public health and safety and the common defense and security.

The environmental review is documented in this environmental assessment (EA), which the NRC staff prepared in accordance with 10 CFR 51.21 and 51.30(a). This EA is being coordinated with the development of the safety evaluation report. This EA defines the NRCs proposed action in section 2 and the purpose and need for the proposed action in section 3.

The evaluation of the potential environmental impacts of the proposed action is presented in section 4, the environmental impacts of the alternative to the proposed action is found in section 5, and section 6 discusses the agencies the NRC consulted in the development of this EA.

Finally, the NRCs conclusion is summarized in section 7. The NRCs decision whether to grant the exemption will be based on the results of the NRC staffs review as documented in this EA and the staffs safety review, which will be documented in the safety evaluation report.

2. THE PROPOSED ACTION

The CoC is the NRC-approved design for each dry cask storage system. CoC No. 1014 constitutes the approval and contains the conditions for the use of Holtecs HI-STORM 100 storage system for the storage of spent nuclear fuel under the general licensing provisions of 10 CFR 72.210. The proposed action would grant HDI an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), (b)(3), (b)(5)(i), (b)(11); and 10 CFR 72.214, which require the licensee to comply with the terms, conditions, and specifications of the CoC.

Appendix D, table 2.1-1, section V, "MPC MODEL: MPC-32M," Item C of Amendment No. 15 for CoC No. 1014 only permits general licensees to load a single NSA per cask. Further, per FSAR table 2.II.1.1, rev. 22, (ADAMS Accession No. ML21221A328), the single NSA must be located in a cell in the inner part of the basket (i.e., fuel storage location 13, 14, 19, or 20). With this exemption, if granted, HDI could load up to three MPC-32Ms, using Amendment No. 15 for CoC No. 1014, with either up to thirty-two fuel assemblies having either Cf-252 or Sb-Be NSAs with sufficient cooling time, or a combination of up to five fuel assemblies having primary Pu-Be NSAs and the remaining basket locations with fuel assemblies having either Cf-252 or Sb-Be NSAs with sufficient cooling time. Further, as discussed below, it would permit HDI to load the fuel assemblies having either Cf-252 or Sb-Be NSAs in any location in the basket and the fuel assemblies having Pu-Be NSAs such that one is located in the center of the basket and one is located in each of the four basket quadrants. As the staff will discuss in its safety evaluation, the decay time sufficient for HDI to load up to three MPC-32Ms with up to 32 fuel assemblies having either Cf-252 or Sb-Be NSAs is seven half-lives.

3. NEED FOR THE PROPOSED ACTION

HDI is currently decommissioning IP2 and IP3 and, as part of that decommissioning, is transferring all spent fuel assemblies from the IP2 and IP3 spent fuel pools to the ISFSI. HDI currently plans to load IP2 spent fuel assemblies and the NSAs during the fall of 2022. HDI also plans to commence loading IP3 spent fuel assemblies and the NSAs in February 2023. Without this exemption, the licensee would have to pause loading until the NRC staff could process a CoC amendment. This would require the licensee to prolong the use of the spent fuel pools and their cleaning system. Longer use of the spent fuel pool cleaning system would generate additional low-level waste in the form of ion exchange resins. Granting an exemption now, if appropriate, would avoid the additional production of waste.

4. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF THE PROPOSED ACTION

This EA evaluates the potential environmental impacts of granting the exemption to allow HDI to load up to three MPC-32Ms, using Amendment No. 15 for CoC No. 1014, with either up to thirty-two fuel assemblies having either Cf-252 or Sb-Be NSAs with sufficient cooling time, or a combination of up to five fuel assemblies having primary Pu-Be NSAs and the remaining basket locations with fuel assemblies having either Cf-252 or and Sb-Be NSAs with sufficient cooling time. It also evaluates the potential environmental impacts of granting the exemption permitting HDI to load the fuel assemblies having either Cf-252 or Sb-Be NSAs in any location in the basket and the fuel assemblies having Pu-Be NSAs such that one is located in the center of the basket and one is located in each of the four basket quadrants.

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 impact of using NRC-approved storage casks. The NRC has also considered the potential environmental impacts of storing spent fuel in accordance with Amendment No. 15 to the CoC for the HI-STORM 100 storage cask when it issued the direct final rule adding Amendment No. 15 to the list of acceptable casks in 10 CFR 72.214 (86 FR 16291). The EA accompanying the direct final rule determined the environmental impacts resulting from the implementation of Amendment No. 15 would not significantly differ from the environmental impacts evaluated in the environmental assessment supporting the July 18, 1990, final rule. The EA for HI-STORM 100, Amendment No. 15 (86 FR 16291), tiered off the EA issued for the July 18, 1990, final rule. The EA for this exemption tiers off the EA for HI-STORM 100, Amendment No. 15 direct final rule. Tiering off earlier EAs is a standard process under the National Environmental Policy Act by which the impact analyses of previous EAs can be cited by a subsequent EA, such as this one, to include the impacts of the proposed action within the scope of the previous EA. Thus, for the proposed action, this EA will only consider the potential impacts from granting the exemption.

This exemption request involves neither the disturbance of land, the construction of new facilities, nor modifications to current operating practices. The EA for Holtecs HI-STORM 100, Amendment No. 15 analyzed the effects of design-basis accidents that could occur during storage operations. Design-basis accidents account for human-induced events and the most severe natural phenomena reported for the site and surrounding area as well as the resultant effects on the storage cask. The NRC staff evaluated the exemption request and concluded that HDIs proposed exemption did not reflect any structural design changes or fabrication requirement changes; therefore, there is no additional risk of loss of structure or confinement in the event a design-basis accident occurs. Further, because there is no increased risk in the loss of structure or confinement, there is no significant increase in the consequences of design-basis accidents. As a result, the proposed action will result in no change in the types or amounts of any effluent released.

Additionally, this exemption, if granted would neither introduce shielding design changes nor operational changes. Although the requested exemption would change the source term, HDI submitted dose rate calculations as part of its exemption request, which the NRC staff reviewed and will discuss in its safety evaluation. These calculations demonstrate that, in most instances, the source term change would only increase the dose rate by small amounts (e.g., a few millirem/hour at the cask surface and less than a millirem/hour at a distance of 1 meter). The greatest dose rate increase would occur when the canister is in the transfer cask at the axial midplane of the transfer cask radial surface. The dose rate would increase by approximately 28 percent, which works out to an increase of 1099.92 millirem/hour and a total dose of 5033.67 millirem/hour. However, most cask operations are not performed at this location. Cask operations that are performed at this location are typically not performed at the surface, but rather approximately 1 meter from the surface. At that distance, the increase in dose rate would fall to approximately 122.69 millirem/hour and the total dose rate, including the increase, would fall to 1445.59 millirem/hour. Given that the workers would only be exposed to this increased dose rate for relatively short periods of time, the NRC staff does not consider this increase significant. Importantly, dose would remain within the applicable limits of 10 CFR Part 20.

Consequently, the exemption, if granted, will not cause a significant increase in either individual or cumulative radiation exposure to workers.

With regard to public dose rate increases, as noted above, most of the dose rate increases would only be a few millirem/hour at the cask surface and would be less than a millirem/hour at a distance of 1 meter. HDIs dose calculations demonstrate that even the highest dose rate increase (at the surface of the transfer cask) would be significantly less at a distance of 1 meter.

The dose rate would continue to fall off at even greater distances. Thus, the dose increase at the site boundarywhich, under 10 CFR 72.106, must be at least 100 meters from the spent fuel, would be even smaller and, therefore, not significant. Importantly, dose would remain within applicable 10 CFR Part 20 limits as well as 72.104 and 72.106 limits. Consequently, the proposed exemption would not significantly affect the exposure to the public.

Therefore, the proposed exemption request, if granted, will not result in radiological or non-radiological environmental impacts that significantly differ from impacts evaluated in the EA supporting the HI-STORM 100, Amendment No. 15 direct final rule. Accordingly, the NRC finds that granting the exemption will not significantly impact the quality of the human environment.

Based upon the foregoing discussion, NRC staff finds that HDIs requested action, if approved, is bounded by the EA for CoC No. 1014, Amendment No. 15.

5. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF THE ALTERNATIVES TO THE PROPOSED ACTION

In addition to the proposed action, the staff also considered the no-action alternative-the denial of the proposed exemption request. Denial of the exemption would preserve the status quo, i.e., the licensee could continue loading one fuel assembly having an NSA in baskets but could not load multiple fuel assemblies having NSAs in the same basket and could only load that single fuel assembly in the inner part of the basket. The NRC staff has previously found that the Indian Point Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR) contained a discussion providing the reasons for concluding that the environmental impacts associated with site-specific decommissioning activities will be bounded by appropriate previously issued environmental impact statements (NRC 2022c). Further, the NRC staff has previously found that the licensee provided adequate reasons in its PSDAR and associated RAI responses to conclude that, for generic issues, the environmental impacts of decommissioning IP2 and IP3 are bounded by the previous environmental reviews (NRC 2022c). The effects of preserving the status quo would be bounded by these previous reviews. This is because preserving the status quo, in this regard, would preserve the status considered when the NRC staff reviewed the PSDAR. Under this alternative, the licensee would need to maintain the spent fuel pools for longer periods of time. This would lead to the generation of additional low-level waste from fuel pool cleaning activities (NRC 2022b). The licensee would need to dispose of this low-level waste, which would itself have environmental impacts. Based on that additional waste, the NRC staff has determined that the environmental impact of the no-action alternative would either be the same or may be greater than the proposed action.

The NRC staff also considered a different alternative to granting the exemption. The licensee could request that the certificate holder, in this case Holtec International, request an amendment to CoC No. 1014. Under this alternative, the licensee could either continue loading canisters with only one fuel assembly having an NSA in the inner part of the basket or postpone loading of multiple spent fuel assemblies that contain NSAs and not load spent fuel assemblies that contain NSAs in basket cells not located in the inner part of the baskets while the CoC holder prepared the request and the NRC staff reviewed it. In either scenario, HDI would extend the timeframe for which it maintained the IP2 and IP3 spent fuel pools. Thus, the environmental impacts of the licensee requesting the certificate holder request an amendment, would be the generation of additional low-level waste from fuel pool cleaning activities (NRC 2022b). The licensee would need to dispose of this low-level waste, which would itself have environmental impacts. Further, if the CoC holder did seek an amendment and the NRC staff granted that requested amendment, the licensee would then load multiple fuel assemblies having NSAs in a single canister, in basket cells not located in the inner part of the baskets, thus ultimately leading to the environmental impacts caused by granting this exemption. Therefore, the NRC staff has determined that the environmental impact of this alternative would either be the same or may be greater than the proposed action.

6. AGENCIES CONSULTED

The NRC provided the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) a draft copy of this EA for review in an email dated July 19, 2022 (NRC 2022a). In an email dated August 1, 2022 (NYSERDA 2022), NYSERDA stated that it had completed its review. NYSERDA provided no comments explicitly addressing the NRC's assessment that granting the HDI exemption request has no significant impacts on the environment. However, NYSERDA noted that increasing the surface dose rate to approximately 3,934 millirem/hour, appears to be a very large increase. 1 For the reasons stated above, however, the NRC staff does not consider this increase significant from the perspective of this EA and FONSI.

NYSERDA also provided three comments on the exemptions. The first two comments raised safety concerns with the exemption. The NRC staff will address these concerns, as appropriate, in the safety evaluation report it prepares as part of its review of the requested exemption. NYSERDA also raised a third comment related to transportability/retrievability. The NRC staff responded to this comment in a letter to NYSERDA dated October 14, 2022 (NRC 2022f).

While preparing the safety evaluation, staff identified errors in the draft environmental assessment provided to NYSERDA on July 19, 2022, and as noted above, participated in a clarification call with HDI about the scope of the exemption. After correcting the errors, as well as incorporating the clarification call information related to Cf-252 and Sb-Be NSAs, the NRC resubmitted the draft EA to NYSERDA for review on September 28, 2022 (NRC 2022e). In an e-mail dated September 29, 2022 (NYSERDA 2022a), NYSERDA reaffirmed their prior comments on the proposed exemption request, as submitted by letter on August 1, 2022, but did not provide additional comments.

1 The copy of this EA the NRC staff originally provided to NYSERDA, mistakenly listed the maximum total dose at the radial surface of the transfer cask at the axial midplane as approximately 3,934 millirem/hour, rather than 5033.67 millirem/hour. The NRC staff is interpreting the comment to be referring to the maximum dose generally and responding as if the comment had said 5,034 millirem/hour.

Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 Consultation

Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act requires Federal agencies to consult with the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service or National Marine Fisheries Service regarding actions that may affect listed species or designated critical habitats. The Endangered Species Act is intended to prevent further decline of endangered and threatened species and restore those species and their critical habitat.

The NRC staff determined that a consultation under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act is not required because the proposed action will not affect listed species or critical habitat.

National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 Consultation

Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) requires Federal agencies to consider the effects of their undertakings on historic properties. As stated in the NHPA, historic properties are any prehistoric or historic district, site, building, structure, or object included in, or eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

The NRC determined that the scope of activities described in this exemption request do not have the potential to cause effects on historic properties because the NRCs approval of this exemption request will not authorize new construction or land-disturbing activities. The NRC staff also determined that the proposed action is not a type of activity that has the potential to impact historic properties because the proposed action would occur within the established Indian Point site boundary. Therefore, in accordance with 36 CFR 800.3(a)(1), no consultation is required under section 106 of NHPA.

7. CONCLUSION

The environmental impacts of the proposed action have been reviewed under the requirements in 10 CFR Part 51. The exemption request, if granted, would allow HDI to load up to three MPC-32Ms, using Amendment No. 15 for CoC No. 1014, with either up to thirty-two fuel assemblies having either Cf-252 or Sb-Be NSAs with sufficient cooling time, or a combination of up to five fuel assemblies having primary Pu-Be NSAs and the remaining basket locations with fuel assemblies having either Cf-252 or Sb-Be NSAs with sufficient cooling time. Further it would permit HDI to load the fuel assemblies having either Cf-252 or Sb-Be NSAs in any location in the basket and the fuel assemblies having Pu-Be NSAs such that one is located in the center of the basket and one is located in each of the four basket quadrants. The NRC staff has concluded that the proposed action will not result in radiological or non-radiological environmental impacts that significantly differ from impacts evaluated in the EA supporting the HI-STORM 100, Amendment No. 15 direct final rule. In this EA, the NRC staff considered two alternatives and determined that the environmental impacts of granting this exemption will be less than or the same as both alternatives. No changes are being made in the types or quantities of effluents that may be released offsite, and there is no significant increase in occupational or public radiation exposures in granting this exemption request for HDI. The NRC staff has determined that this exemption would have no impact on historic and cultural resources or ecological resources and therefore no consultations are necessary under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act or Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

Therefore, based on the above discussions, the NRC finds that there are no significant environmental impacts from the proposed action, and that preparation of an environmental impact statement is not warranted. Accordingly, the NRC has determined that a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) is appropriate. The NRC will publish the FONSI in the Federal Register.

8. REFERENCES

The documents referenced in this EA are all publicly available. The references are available for public inspection and copying at NRCs Public Document Room, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. Documents available through the NRCs Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS) at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html have an Accession No. provided.

10 CFR Part 51. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 10, Energy, Part 51, Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions.

Washington, D.C.

10 CFR Part 72. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 10, Energy, Part 72, Licensing Requirements for the Independent Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level Radioactive Waste, and Reactor-Related Greater Than Class C Waste. Washington, D.C.

10 CFR Part 20. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 10, Energy, Part 20, Standards for Protection Against Radiation. Washington, D.C.

55 FR 29181. Final Rule: Storage of Spent Fuel in NRC-Approved Storage Casks at Power Reactor Sites. Federal Register Volume 55, Issue 138. July 18, 1990.

86 FR 16291. Direct Final Rule: List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: Holtec HI-STORM 100 System; Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, Amendment No. 15. Federal Register Volume 86 Issue 58. March 29, 2021.

HDI 2022. Letter from Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC to NRC Request for Exemption from an Allowable Contents Requirement Contained in the Certificate of Compliance No. 1014 for the HI-STORM 100S Version E Cask March 24, 2022. ADAMS Accession No. ML22083A191.

NYSERDA 2022. Email from New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Re: Exemption Request for Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC, Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, New York. August 1, 2022. ADAMS Accession No. ML22215A042.

NYSERDA 2022a. Email from New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Re: Exemption Request for Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC, Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, New York. September 29, 2022. ADAMS Accession No. ML22276A164.

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. 16 USC §1531 et seq.

National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. 16 USC §470 et seq.

NRC 2021. Issuance of Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, Amendment No. 15 for the HI-STORM 100 Multipurpose Canister Storage System. May 18, 2021. ADAMS Package Accession No. ML21118A862.

NRC 2022a. Email from NRC to New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Draft Environmental Assessment: Exemption Request for Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC, Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, New York. July 19, 2022. ADAMS Accession No. ML22208A029.

NRC 2022b. Indian Point Exemption Environmental Assessment Conversation Record (6-16-22). June 17, 2022. ADAMS Accession No. ML22172A174.

NRC 2022c. Letter from NRC to Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC, Indian Point Energy Center - Review of Post Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report. May 2, 2022.

ADAMS Accession No. ML22082A220.

NRC 2022d. Neutron Source Assembly Loading Clarification Call. September 20, 2022. ADAMS Accession No. ML22264A045.

NRC 2022e. Email from NRC to New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Resubmittal of Draft Environmental Assessment: Exemption Request for Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC, Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, New York.

September 28, 2022. ADAMS Accession No. ML22271A849.

NRC 2022f. Letter from NRC to Alyse Peterson, Response to Comments on Exemption Related to Allowable Contents for the Certificate of Compliance No. 1014, HI-STORM 100S Version E Cask. October 14, 2022. ADAMS Accession No. ML22234A063.