ML25077A135
| ML25077A135 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Vallecitos Nuclear Center, Vallecitos |
| Issue date: | 04/18/2025 |
| From: | Jack Parrott Reactor Decommissioning Branch |
| To: | Self L NorthStar Vallecitos |
| References | |
| EPID L-2025-LLE-0009, EPID L-2025-LLA-0031 | |
| Download: ML25077A135 (1) | |
Text
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 Luke M. Self, Vice President NorthStar Vallecitos, LLC 6705 Vallecitos Rd.
Sunol, CA 94586
SUBJECT:
VALLECITOS BOILING WATER REACTOR REQUEST FOR EXEMPTION FROM LICENSE TERMINATION REQUIREMENTS IN 10 CFR PART 20 AND REQUEST FOR LICENSE TERMINATION - ACCEPTED FOR REVIEW (L-2025-LLE-0009 and L-2025-LLA-0031)
Dear Luke M. Self:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has reviewed your application for the Vallecitos Boiling Water Reactor (VBWR), dated February 3, 2025 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. (ML25034A275), requesting an exemption to the regulation in 10 CFR 50.82(a)(11)(ii), that requires demonstration that the facility and site meet the dose criteria for decommissioning in 10 CFR part 20, subpart E, to terminate the license, and the related request to terminate the license.
As explained in the VBWR License Termination Plan (ML23261A591), this exemption would be supported by moving the authority for the residual contamination associated with the VBWR to the license for the adjacent Empire State Atomic Development Associates (ESADA) Vallecitos Experimental Superheat Reactor (EVESR) reactor as requested by letter dated April 11, 2025 (ML25102A001). The EVESR license would then be decommissioned by April 15, 2030, which is the 60-year limit for the EVESR to complete decommissioning as required for power reactor licenses in accordance with 10 CFR 50.82(a)(3).
NRC staff have completed the acceptance review of your submittal and have identified no administrative omissions or deficiencies that would prevent us from proceeding with a detailed review. Your submittal has been assigned Enterprise Project Identification Number (EPID) L-2025-LLE-0009 for the exemption request and EPID L-2025-LLA-0031 for the license termination request. Please reference these EPID numbers and Docket No. 50-18 in any future correspondence associated with this request.
Please note that the NRC staffs technical review of your submittal may identify issues that require additional information. Based on the preliminary evaluation and projection of current review schedules, we anticipate completing our formal review by August 29, 2025. This date could change depending on the findings of our technical review, urgent assignments, or other factors. We will promptly communicate any significant changes to this schedule. In addition, the NRC staff estimates that completing the review of your submittal will require approximately 300 staff hours. This estimate of the completion of review is dependent on the concurrent completion of an amendment of the EVESR license to accept the transfer of the residual contamination from the VBWR.
April 18, 2025
L. Self 2
In accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 2, Agency Rules of Practice and Procedure, a copy of this letter will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) or from the Publicly Available Records component of the NRCs ADAMS. ADAMS is accessible from the NRC website at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact me by telephone at (301) 415-6634 or via e-mail at jack.parrott@nrc.gov.
Sincerely, Jack D. Parrott, Senior Project Manager Reactor Decommissioning Branch Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and Waste Programs Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Docket Nos. 50-18 License Nos. DPR-1 EPID Nos. L-2025-LLE-0009 L-2025-LLA-0031 cc: GEVallecitos Listserv Signed by Parrott, Jack on 04/18/25
ML25077A135; Ltr ML25077A135 OFFICE NMSS/DUWP/RDB NMSS/DUWP/RDB NMSS/DUWP/RDB NAME JParrott SAnderson JParrott for JParrott DATE Mar 18, 2025 Apr 17, 2025 Apr 18, 2025