ML24226B139
| ML24226B139 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 09/10/2024 |
| From: | Carrie Safford NRC/SECY |
| To: | |
| References | |
| PRM-50-125, NRC-2024-0135, 89FR76750-76751 | |
| Download: ML24226B139 (7) | |
Text
[7590-01-P]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. PRM-50-125; NRC-2024-0135]
Returning a Decommissioning Plant to Operating Status
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of docketing and request for comment.
SUMMARY
- The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a petition for
rulemaking from Alan Blind and Roger Rapoport, dated July 1, 2024, requesting that the
NRC revise its regulations to include a Commission-approved process for returning a
decommissioning plant to operational status. The petition was docketed by the NRC on
July 23, 2024, and has been assigned Docke t No. PRM-50-125. The NRC is examining
the issues raised in PRM-50-125 to determine whether they should be considered in
rulemaking. The NRC is requesting public comment on this petition at this time.
DATES: Submit comments by December 3, 2024. Comments received after this date
will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is able to assure consideration
only for comments received on or before this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods however, the
NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the Federal rulemaking
website:
- Federal Rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC-2024-0135. Address questions about NRC dockets to Helen Chang;
telephone: 301-415-3228; email: Helen.Chang@nrc.gov. For technical questions contact
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this
document.
- Email comments to: Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov. If you do not receive
an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact us at 301-415-1677.
- Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 301-
415-1101.
- Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
- Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland
20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. eastern time, Federal workdays; telephone:
301-415-1677.
You can read a plain language description of this petition for rulemaking at
https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NRC-2024-0135. For additional direction on
obtaining information and submitting co mments, see Obtaining Information and
Submitting Comments in the SUPPLEME NTARY INFORMATION section of this
document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Soly Soto Lugo, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-7528, email:
Soly.Sotolugo@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
2 I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0135 when contacting the NRC about the
availability of information for this action. You may obtain publicly available information
related to this action by any of the following methods:
- Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and
search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0135.
- 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,
301-415-4737, or by email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. The ADAMS accession number
for each document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it
is mentioned in this document.
- NRCs PDR: The NRC Public Document Room (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,
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the Federal
Rulemaking Website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please include Docket ID NRC-
2024-0135 in your comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include identif ying or contact information that you
do not want to be publicly disclosed in y our comment submission. The NRC will post all
3 comment submissions at https://www.regulat ions.gov as well as enter the comment
submissions into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons for
submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to include identifying
or contact information that they do not w ant to be publicly disclosed in their comment
submission. Your request should state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment
submissions to remove such information before making the comment submissions
available to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.
II. The Petitioner and Petition
The petition for rulemaking (PRM) was filed by Alan Blind and Roger Rapoport.
Subsequently, the petitioner submitted additional signatures of community members
near the Palisades Nuclear Plant (Palisades) in support of the petition. The PRM
requests that the NRC revise its regulations at 10 CFR part 52, Licenses, Certifications,
and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants, to include a Commission-approved process for
returning a decommissioning plant to operational status. The NRC understands the
petition, based on the context and references within, to mean plants currently in the
decommissioning process rather than fully decommissioned plants and to be requesting
a revision of the part 50 regulations rather than part 52 regulations. The petition may be
found in ADAMS at Accession No. ML24205A122.
III. Discussion of the Petition
The petition states that the NRC staff lack a specific NRC Commission-approved
and codified process for licensing, inspecting, and approving the return to service of a
power reactor that has entered decommissioning. The petitioner requests that the NRC
4 conduct rulemaking to include a codified process for returning a decommissioning plant
to operational status. The petitioner points to the ongoing Palisades proceedings as
examples for where new, codified processes are needed.
The petition states that the NRC received a proposal for a regulatory path to the
reauthorization of power operations at the Palisades plant using the current regulatory
framework. The petition also states that the proposed framework is based on a denial of
PRM-50-117, Criteria to Return Retired Nuclear Power Reactors to Operations (86 FR
24362), which the petitioner states is taken out of context by Holtec/Palisades. The
petitioner contends that returning a plant that has entered the decommissioning process
to an operational status does not meet the applicability requirements of 10 CFR 50.12,
Specific exemptions; 50.59, Changes, test s and experiments and 50.90, Application
for amendment of license, construction permit, or early site permit. The petitioner also
states that a generic rulemaking to establish a Commission-approved process for
returning a decommissioning plant to operational status is necessary as Palisades is the
first plant seeking NRC approval to transit ion from a decommissioning status back to
operations.
The petitioner did not provide proposed regulatory language but rather proposed
elements that should be included in the rulemaking. These elements include
decommissioning status and configuration verification, aging management, quality
assurance during restart and operations, equipment maintenance, personnel
qualifications, license expirations, hearing process, appropriate licensing basis, startup
testing, and NRC catchup review, as well as completion of past, open commitments.
In addition, the petitioner requests that the NRC revise its regulations to require
the NRC to review all materials associated with license transfers to new entities for the
purpose of completion of decommissioning. The petitioner also requests that the NRC
revise its regulations to require that entities previously approved primarily for
5 decommissioning activities submit a new licens e transfer application in accordance with
10 CFR 50.80, Transfer of licenses, before that entity can be qualified to engage in
activities associated with power operations. The petitioner contends that this
requirement would ensure that the NRC asse sses the qualifications of the requesting
entity based on evidence of its operational capabilities and not evidence of its
decommissioning qualifications.
Only public comments responsive to PRM-50-125 regarding the request that the
NRC revise its regulations to include a Commission-approved process for returning a
decommissioning plant to an operational status will be considered. Note that this is a
separate process from the ongoing NRC consider ation of requested actions related to
the potential restart of the Palisades Nuclear Plant, which has separate Docket IDs, and
can be found at NRC-2024-0128 and NRC-2024-0130.
IV. Conclusion
The NRC has determined that the petition meets the sufficiency requirements for
docketing a PRM under 10 CFR 2.803, Petition for rulemaking-NRC action. The NRC
will examine the issues raised in PRM-50-125 and any comments received in response
to this comment request to determine whether these issues should be considered in
rulemaking. While the petition is being evaluated, the NRC staff will continue to follow
existing regulations for its regulatory activities.
The public can monitor further action on the rulemaking that will address this
petition by searching Docket ID NRC-2024-0135 on the Federal rulemaking website,
https://www.regulations.gov. The site allows members of the public to receive alerts
when changes or additions occur in a docket folder. To subscribe: 1) navigate to the
docket folder (NRC-2024-0135); 2) click the Subscribe link; and 3) enter an email
address and click on the Subscribe link. The NRC also tracks the status of all NRC
6 rules and PRMs on its website at https://www.nrc.gov/about-
nrc/regulatory/rulemaking/rules-petitions.html.
Dated: September 10, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
/RA/
Carrie Safford, Secretary of the Commission.
7