ML24082A076
| ML24082A076 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Watts Bar  |
| Issue date: | 04/12/2024 |
| From: | Yoira Diaz-Sanabria Storage and Transportation Licensing Branch |
| To: | |
| Nguyen J, NMSS/DFM/STLB | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML24082A041 | List: |
| References | |
| 89 FR 27465, NRC-2024-0064 | |
| Download: ML24082A076 (1) | |
Text
[7590- 01-P]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 72-1048, 50- 390, and 50 -391; NRC-2024- 0064]
Tennessee Valley Authority;
Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2;
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation;
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice; issuance.
SUMMARY
- The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an
environmental assessment (EA) and a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for an
exemption request submitted by Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that would permit
Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN) to load five new 37 multi-purpose canisters (MPC) with
continuous basket shims (CBS) beginning July 2024 in the HI-STORM Flood/Wind (FW)
MPC Storage System at its Watts Bar Units 1 and 2 independent spent fuel storage
installation (ISFSI) in a storage condition where the terms, conditions, and specifications
in the Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1032, Amendment No. 0, Revision No. 1 are
not met.
DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on
April 17, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024- 0064 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:
- Federal Rulemaking Webs ite: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and
search for Docket ID NRC-2024- 0064. Address questions about D ocket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; telephone: 301-415- 0624; email:
Stacy.Schumann@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact the individual listed in the
For Further Information Contact section of this document.
- NRCs 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 NRCs Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, at
301-415-4737, or by email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. For the convenience of the
reader, instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are provided
in the Availability of Documents section.
- NRCs 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 PDR.Resource@nrc.gov 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: John-Chau Nguyen, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555; telephone: 301-415-0262; email: John-Chau.Nguyen@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is reviewing an exemption request from TVA, dated February 28, 2024,
and supplemented on March 18, 2024. TVA is requesting an exemption, pursuant to
section 72.7 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), in paragraphs
72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11), and 72.214 that require TVA
2 to comply with the terms, conditions, and specifications of C oC No. 1032, Amendment
No. 0, Revision No. 1. If approved, the exemption would allow TVA to load five MPC CBS beginning July 2024 in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System at the WBN ISFSI
in a storage condition where the terms, conditions, and specifications in CoC No. 1032,
Amendment No. 0, Revision No. 1, are not met.
II. Environmental Assessment
=
Background===
WBN is located in Rhea County, Tennessee, on the west bank of the Tennessee
River at Tennessee River Mile 528. Unit 1 began operating in 1996 and Unit 2 began
operating in 2016. TVA has been storing spent fuel in an ISFSI at WBN under a general
license as authorized by 10 CFR p art 72, subpart K, General License for Storage of
Spent Fuel at Power Reactor Sites. TVA currently uses the HI-STORM FW MPC
Storage System under CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 0, Revision No. 1 for dry storage
of spent nuclear fuel in a specific MPC (i.e., MPC-37) at the WBN ISFSI.
Description of the Proposed Action
The CoC is the NRC approved design for each dry cask storage system. The
proposed action would exempt the applicant 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 only as
these requirements pertain to the use of the MPC CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC
Storage System for the near-term planned loading of the systems. The exemption would
allow WBN to load five MPC CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System at the
WBN ISFSI beginning July 2024, despite the MPC CBS in the HI-STORM FW MPC
Storage System not being in compliance with the terms, conditions, and specifications in
the CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 0, Revision No. 1.
3 The HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System CoC provides the requirements,
conditions, and operating limits necessary for use of the system to store spent fuel.
Holtec International (Holtec), the designer and manufacturer of the HI-STORM FW MPC
Storage System, developed a variant of the design with CBS for the MPC-37, known as
MPC CBS. Holtec originally implemented the CBS variant design under the
provisions of 10 CFR 72.48, 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 was not
the type of change allowed without a CoC amendment. For this reason, the NRC issued
three Severity Level IV violations to Holtec. TVA plans to load five MPC-37-CBS in the
HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System beginning in July 2024. This exemption considers
the near-term planned loading of the five canisters with the CBS variant basket design.
Need For The Proposed Action
TVA requested this exemption in order to allow WBN to load five MPC-37-CBS in
HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System at the WBN ISFSI for the future loading campaign
scheduled to begin in July 2024. Approval of the exemption request would allow TVA to
effectively manage the margin for full core reserve in the WBN spent fuel pool to enable
refueling and offloading fuel from the reactor.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
This EA evaluates the potential environmental impacts of granting an exemption
from the terms, conditions, and specifications in CoC No. 1032, Amendment No. 0,
Revision No. 1. The exemption would allow five MPC CBS to be loaded in the HI-
STORM FW MPC Storage System in the near-term loading campaign and maintained in
4 The potential environmental impacts of storing spent nuclear fuel in NRC-
approved storage systems have been documented in previous assessments. 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 impacts of using NRC-
approved storage casks. The EA for the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System, CoC No.
1032, Amendment No. 0, Revision No. 1, (80 FR 58195), published in 2015, tiers off of
the EA issued for the July 18, 1990, final rule. Tiering off earlier EAs is a standard
process encouraged by the regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969 (NEPA) that entails the use of impact analyses of previous EAs to bound the
impacts of a proposed action where appropriate. The Holtec HI-STORM FW MPC
Storage System is designed to mitigate the effects of design basis accidents that could
occur during storage. C onsidering the specific design requirements for the accident
conditions, the design of the cask would prevent loss of containment, shielding, and
criticality control. If there is no loss of containment, shielding, or criticality control, the
environmental impacts would not be significant.
The exemptions requested by TVA at the WBN site as they relate to CoC No.
1032, Amendment No. 0, Revision No. 1, for the HI-STORM FW MPC Storage System
are limited to the use of the CBS variant basket design only for the near-term planned
loading of five canisters utilizing the CBS variant basket design. The staff has
determined that this change in the basket would not result in either radiological or non-
radiological environmental impacts that significantly differ from the environmental
impacts evaluated in the environmental assessment supporting the issuance of CoC No.
1032, Amendment No. 0, Revision No. 1. If the exemption is granted, there would be no
significant change in the types or amounts of any effluents released, no significant
5 increase in individual or cumulative public or occupational radiation exposure, and no
significant increase in the potential for or consequences from radiological accidents.
Accordingly, the Commission concludes that there would be no significant environmental
impacts associated with the proposed action.
Alternative to the Proposed Action
The staff considered the no-action alternative. The no -action alternative (denial of
the exemption request) would require TVA to keep the spent fuel in the spent fuel pool
until older design canisters can be fabricated and delivered to site. Not allowing the
planned future loading campaign could affect TVAs ability to manage pool capacity,
reactor fuel offloading, and refueling. Any further delay would lead to insufficient space in
the spent fuel pool for core offload and the shutdown of WBN Unit 2, which in turn would
potentially impact the energy supply in the area. The NRC has determined that these
potential impacts of the no -action alternative could be avoided by proceeding with the
proposed exemption, especially given that the staff has concluded in NRCs Safety
Determination Memorandum, issued with respect to the enforcement action against
Holtec regarding these violations, that fuel can be stored safel y in the MPC CBS
casks.
Agencies Consulted
The NRC provided the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
(TDEC) a copy of this draft EA for review by an email dated April 8, 2024. On April 9,
2024, the TDEC provided its concurrence by email.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The environmental impacts of the proposed action have been reviewed in
accordance with the requirements in 10 CFR part 51, which implement NEPA. Based
upon the foregoing e nvironmental assessment, the NRC finds that the proposed action
6 of granting the exemption from the regulations in 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3),
72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.212(b)(11) and 72.214, which require the licensee to comply with the
terms, conditions, and specifications of the CoC, would not significantly impact the
quality of the human environment. The exemption in this case would be limited to the
specific future loading of five canisters with the CBS variant basket design. Accordingly,
the NRC has determined that a f inding of n o significant impact (FONSI) is appropriate,
and an environmental impact statement is not warranted.
IV. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to interested
persons through ADAMS, as indicated.
Document Description ADAMS Accession No. or Federal Register notice TVAs request for exemption, dated ML24059A369 February 28, 2024.
Supplement to request for exemption, dated ML24078A257 March 18, 2024.
Certificate of Compliance No. 1032, Amendment 0, ML16112A306 (Package)
Revision 1, dated April 25, 2016.
Notice of Violation; The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspection Report No. ML24016A190 07201014/2022-201, Holtec International, Inc. -
EA-23-044, dated January 30, 2024.
10 CFR part 72 amendment to allow spent fuel storage in NRC-approved casks, dated 55 FR 29181 July 18, 1990.
EA for part 72 amendment to allow spent fuel storage in NRC-approved casks, dated ML051230231 March 8, 1989.
Final rule for List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: HI-STORM Flood/Wind Multipurpose 80 FR 58195 Storage System, CoC No. 1032, Amendment 0, Revision 1, dated September 28, 2015.
Safety Determination of a Potential Structural Failure of the Fuel Basket During Accident Conditions for the HI-STORM 100 and HI-STORM ML24018A085 Flood/Wind Dry Cask Storage Systems, dated January 31, 2024.
7 NRC email to TDEC requesting review of EA/FONSI for Watts Bar Exemption, dated ML24100A840 April 8, 2024.
TDEC email response regarding review of EA/FONSI for Watts Bar Exemption, dated ML24100A839 April 9, 2024.
Dated: April 12, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
/RA/
Yoira Diaz-Sanabria, Chief, Storage and Transportation Licensing Branch,
Division of Fuel Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
8