ML23026A233

Exemption from 10 CFR 70.24

ML23026A233
Person / Time
Site:	Three Mile Island
Issue date:	05/02/2023
From:	John Marshall Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs
To:
Snyder A
References
eConcurrence 20230126-80029, EPID L-2023-LLE-0003
Download: ML23026A233 (6)

Text

TMI-2 Solutions, Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit No. 2

EXEMPTION FROM 10 CFR 70.24

I. Background

TMl-2 Solutions, LLC, (TMI-2 Solutions or the licensee) is the holder of Possession Only

License (POL) No. DPR-73 for Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit No. 2 (TMI-2). The

license provides, among other things, that the facility is subj ect to all rules, regulations, and

orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Co mmission) now or hereafter

in effect. The TMI-2 facility is located in Dauphin County, Pen nsylvania.

II. Request/Action

Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Part 70, Domestic Licensing

of Special Nuclear Material, Section 70.24, Criticality accid ent requirements, requires that

each licensee authorized to possess special nuclear material in a quantity exceeding 700 grams

of contained uranium-235, 520 grams of uranium-233,450 grams of plutonium, 1,500 grams of

contained uranium-235 if no uranium enriched to more than 4 per cent by weight of uranium-235

is present, 450 grams of any combination thereof, or one-half s uch quantities if massive

moderators or reflectors made of graphite, heavy water, or bery llium may be present, shall

maintain in each area in which such licensed special nuclear ma terial is handled, used, or

stored, a monitoring system meeting the requirements of either paragraph (a)(1) or (a)(2), as

appropriate, and using gamma-or neutron-sensitive radiation de tectors which will energize

clearly audible alarm signals i f accidental criticality occurs.

Pursuant to the provision of 70.17 (a), "Specific exemptions, the Commission may, upon

application by any interested person or upon its own initiative, grant exemptions from the

requirements of 10 CFR Part 70 when the exemptions are authoriz ed by law, will not endanger

1 life or property or the common defense and security, and are ot herwise in the interest of the

public. TMl-2 Solutions considers that an exemption to 10 CFR 7 0.24 for a criticality monitoring

system to be appropriate under the licensing basis because TMl2 -RA-COR-2022-0008,

"Supplemental Information to License Amendment Request-Three Mile Island, Unit 2,

Decommissioning Technical Specifications" provides a calculatio n which shows the SFML

associated with remaining fuel bearing material at TMl-2 is 136 1 kg UO2. That SFML is 24%

higher than the 1097 kg UO2 estimate of record for remaining fu el bearing material at TMl-2

which analytically precludes a criticality accident at TMl-2. T he 1361 kg UO2 SFML result

represents a significant improvement over the 1990 SFML calcula tion result. This improvement

was achieved by taking credit for impurities and actual enrichm ent based on the results of

physical samples taken during the defueling effort.

Administrative controls for geometric spacing are not necessary to further preclude a criticality

accident because there is not enough kg UO2 at TMl-2 to assembl e an optimal critical

configuration. However, as part of its Fuel Bearing Material Ma nagement Program TMl-2

Solutions will be implementing lo cal administrative controls fo r the purpose of defense in depth

on the activities which will handle the highest quantities of f uel bearing material (e.g.,

segmenting the reactor vessel internals which represent 925 kg UO2 or 68% of the SFML).

These defense in depth controls will include control on the phy sical location of segmentation

equipment and limiting the number of waste receptacles (i.e., physical manifestations of controls

on geometric spacing).

III. Discussion

The exemption is authorized by Law because 10 CFR 70.17(a) states that the

Commission may, upon application of any interested person or up on its own initiative, grant

such exemptions from the requirements of the regulations in thi s part 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.

The NRC staff has reviewed the exemption request and finds tha t granting the proposed

exemption will not result in a vi olation of the Atomic Energy A ct of 1954, as amended, the

Commissions regulations, or other laws. As explained below, th e proposed exemption will not

endanger life or property, or the common defense and security, and is otherwise in the public

interest. Therefore, the exemption is authorized by law. Addit ionally, the exemption will not

endanger life or property or the common defense and security, a nd is otherwise in the public

interest.

The exemption will not endanger life or property because, base d on the NRC staffs

evaluation (ML23094A269), the NRC staff determined that the Licensees proposed

decommissioning activities do not present any credible critical ity hazards. Because there are no

credible criticality hazards related to the Licensees proposed decommissioning activities and

because all activities will be conducted such that subcriticali ty is assured under normal and all

credible abnormal conditions, the NRC staff concludes that the Licensees program will provide

reasonable assurance of adequate protection of the health and s afety of workers and the public.

The exemption is consistent with the Common Defense and Securi ty because the NRC

staff determined there would be no impact to the physical prote ction plan, emergency

preparedness, environmental monitoring, effluent monitoring, or material control and

accountability programs at TMI-2.

As described in the NRC staffs nuclear criticality safety eva luation for this Criticality

Exemption Request (ML22276A024), the NRC staff conducted independent evaluations and concluded that criticality is not credible; therefore, an exemp tion from criticality monitoring

requirements is warranted. The NRC staff agrees with the licen sees conclusion in its

application that the requested exemption to the requirements of 10 CFR 70.24 does not involve

information or activities that could potentially impact the com mon defense and security. The

SFML calculation determined that there is no credible criticali ty hazard, and the existing

administrative restrictions described in the TMl-2 Fuel Bearing Material Program prevent

proliferation and limit aggregation. The elimination of the cri ticality monitoring requirements does

not involve information or activities that could potentially im pact the common defense and

security of the United States.

Activities at the TMI-2 site do not pose any credible critical ity hazards that would affect

the ongoing health and safety of workers or the public, or info rming decisions related to nuclear

security. Therefore, for the reasons explained above, the exemp tion will not endanger life or

property or the common defense and security.

The exemption is in the public interest because, as stated pre viously, the Licensee

demonstrated that criticality is not credible during site decom missioning activities under credible

normal and credible abnormal conditions. Therefore, conducting criticality monitoring at TMI-2

would expend NRC staff inspection and other NRC staff regulator y resources that could be used

for other activities at the facility. Additionally, the License e states that, if the exemption request

were denied, its personnel would experience a slight increase i n occupational dose during the

maintenance of criticality monitors, which would not be consist ent with as low as reasonably

achievable (ALARA) principles. The NRC staff agrees.

IV. Conclusions

Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 70, the

exemption is authorized by law, will not present an undue risk to the public health and safety, and is consistent with the common defense and security. There fore, the Commission hereby

grants TMI-2 Solutions, LLC an exemption from 10 CFR part 70, S ection 24 during

decommissioning.

Dated: May 02, 2023.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

/RA/

Jane E. Marshall, Director, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.

ML23026A233 *viaeC oncurrence OFFICE NMSS/DUWP/RDB/PM NMSS/DUWP/RDB/BC OGC NAME *ASnyder *SAnderson TJones DATE 02/03/2023 05/01/2023 05/01/2023 OFFICE NMSS/DUWP/RDB/PM NMSS/DUWP/D NAME *ASnyder *JMarshall DATE 05/02/2023 05/02/2023