[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 137 (Wednesday, July 19, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46200-46201]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15331]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-320; NRC-2023-0117]
TMI-2 Solutions, LLC; Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 2
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Exemption; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued an
exemption in response to a request dated May 17, 2023, from TMI-2
Solutions, LLC (TMI-2S), for the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station,
Unit 2 (TMI-2), that permits TMI-2S to investigate, trace, and report
to the NRC any low-level radioactive waste shipment or part of a
shipment for which acknowledgement of receipt is not received by TMI-2S
within 45 days after transfer, rather than the 20 day requirement that
is currently delineated in the NRC's regulations.
DATES: The exemption was issued on July 5, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0117 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 Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0117. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individual listed in the For Further Information
Contact section of this document.
NRC's 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 NRC's Public
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, at 301-415-4737,
or by email to [email protected]. 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.
NRC's 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
[email protected] 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: Amy M. Snyder, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6822, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the exemption is attached.
Dated: July 14, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Shaun M. Anderson,
Chief, Reactor Decommissioning Branch, Division of Decommissioning,
Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety
and Safeguards.
Attachment--Exemption.
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Docket No. 50-320
TMI-2Solutions, LLC
Three Mile Island Station, Unit 2
Exemption From Certain Low-Level Waste Shipment Tracking Requirements
I. Background
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission)
license for Three Mile Island Station, Unit 2 (TMI-2) is Possession
Only License No. DPR-73. TMl-2Solutions, LLC (TMI-2S) is the holder
of Possession Only License (POL) No. DPR-73 for Three Mile Island
Nuclear Station, Unit No. 2 (TMI-2). The POL provides, among other
things, that the facility is subject to all rules, regulations, and
orders of the NRC now or hereafter in effect. TMI-2 is located in
Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
TMI-2S is currently decommissioning the TMI-2 facility. Inherent
to the decommissioning process, large volumes of low-level
radioactive waste are generated. This low-level radioactive waste
requires processing and disposal or disposal without processing, as
appropriate. To this end, TMI-2S will transport, by truck or by
mixed mode shipments like a combination of truck and rail, low-level
radioactive waste from TMI-2 to locations such as waste disposal
facilities owned by EnergySolutions in Clive, Utah, and Waste
Control Specialists in Andrews, TX.
II. Request/Action
By letter dated May 17, 2023, TMI-2 Solutions, LLC (TMI-2S)
submitted an exemption request (Agencywide Document Access and
Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML23137A282). TMI-2S
requests an exemption from certain requirements of 10 CFR 20,
appendix G, section III.E, ``Requirements for Transfers of Low-Level
Radioactive Waste Intended for Disposal at Licensed Land Disposal
Facilities and Manifests.'' Specifically, TMI-2S requests an
exemption from the requirement to investigate and report to the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) when notification of receipt of
a shipment, or part of a shipment, of low-level radioactive waste is
not received within 20 days after transfer. TMI-2S is requesting
that the time to receive acknowledgement that a shipment has been
received by the intended recipient be extended from 20 days to 45
days for low-level radioactive waste shipments from the TMI-2
facility. Further, TMI-2S states that the requested exemption would
be applicable to shipments from TMI-2 by rail or by mixed
transportation modes, such as a combination of truck/rail shipments.
III. Discussion
The NRC's regulations at 10 CFR 20.2301, ``Applications for
exemptions,'' allow the Commission to grant exemptions from the
requirements of the regulations in 10 CFR part 20 if it determines
the exemption is authorized by law and would not result in undue
hazard to life or property.
A. The Exemption is Authorized by Law
The requested exemption from 10 CFR part 20, appendix G, section
III.E would extend the receipt acknowledgment period from 20 days to
45 days before TMI-2S would have to investigate, trace, and report
on the status of a low-level radioactive waste shipment being
transported from TMI-2 to a licensed low-level radioactive waste
processing or land disposal facility. As stated above, 10 CFR
20.2301 allows the NRC to grant exemptions from the requirements of
10 CFR part 20 when, in part, the exemptions are authorized by law.
The NRC determined that the requested exemption is permissible under
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and other regulatory
requirements. Therefore, the NRC finds that the requested exemption
is authorized by law.
B. The Exemption Would Not Result in Undue Hazard to Life or
Property
As stated in Enclosure 1 to SECY-18-0055, ``Proposed Rule:
Regulatory Improvements for Production and Utilization Facilities
Transitioning to Decommissioning'' (ADAMS Package Accession No.
ML18012A019), the underlying purpose of 10 CFR part 20, appendix G,
section III.E is to require licensees to investigate, trace, and
report on low-level radioactive waste shipments that have not
reached their destination, as scheduled, for unknown reasons.
In its exemption request, TMI-2S stated that for rail shipments
from TMI-2, a tracking system will be utilized that allows daily
monitoring of a shipment's progress to its destination. Shipping
procedures prescribe the expectations for tracking and
communications during transit. As a result of these controls that
will remain in place during the extended time, granting an exemption
to TMI-2S for shipments of low-level radioactive waste to disposal
facilities
[[Page 46201]]
or waste processors from 20 to 45 days will not result in an undue
hazard to life or property. In its exemption request, TMI-2S stated
that it will be transporting low-level radioactive waste from the
TMI-2 facility to distant locations such as the waste disposal
facilities owned by EnergySolutions in Clive, Utah, and Waste
Control Specialists in Andrews, TX. TMI-2 plans to ship most of the
waste to these disposal facilities or intermediate processors by
rail. TMI-2S stresses that industry experience from other
decommissioning projects shipping large quantities of low level
radwaste to offsite disposal facilities, has shown that rail and
mixed mode shipments can routinely take longer than 20 days,
resulting in an excessive administrative burden due to the required
investigations and reporting. Further, TMI-2S states that there are
various reasons for these delays that cannot be anticipated or
avoided and that are beyond the control of the shipper. Extending
the time for receipt notification to 45 days before requiring
investigation and reporting is a reasonable upper limit on shipment
duration if a shipment is delayed, and does not create an undue
hazard to life or property.
In support of its exemption request, TMI-2S identified the NRC
staff statement in Enclosure 1 to SECY-18-0055 that ``operating
experience indicates that, while the 20-day receipt notification
window is adequate for waste shipments by truck, other modes of
shipment such as rail, barge, or mixed-mode shipments, such as
combinations of truck and rail, barge and rail, and barge and truck
shipments, may take more than 20 days to reach their destination due
to delays in the route that are outside the shipper's control (e.g.,
rail cars in switchyards waiting to be included in a complete train
to the disposal facility).'' On this basis, the NRC staff proposed
to amend 10 CFR part 20, appendix G, section III.E requirement to
extend the receipt notification window to 45 days. TMI-2S also
stated that its exemption request is similar to those previously
submitted to and approved by the NRC for San Onofre Nuclear
Generating Station (ML20287A358), Fort Calhoun Station
(ML20162A155), Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (ML20017A069),
La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor (ML17124A210), and Zion Nuclear
Power Station (ML15008A417). Also, TMI-2S states that ``[B]ased on
ample industry decommissioning experience, TMI-2S anticipates the
total transit time between when a waste shipment leaves the TMI-2
site until verification of receipt is received for the shipment at
the waste disposal facility will, at times, exceed 20 days. The NRC
staff note that all of the licensees that requested and were granted
this exemption, previously had at least once missed 20-day receipt
notification window. The NRC staff believe that due to the location
of TMI-2 to low level waste disposal facilities (located at West)
and the use or the rail system, that it is likely that without the
exemption, TMI-2 would likely be in a similar situation to the
licensees referenced above due to the rail transport system
practices. Such rail delays, though, is not indicative of loss, but
has shown in the past by other licensees to be a consequence of the
complexity involved in shipping by rail.
TMI-2S further stated that although the proposed exemption from
certain reporting requirements of 10 CFR 20, appendix G, section
III.E is unrelated to any facility operation. TMII-2S said in its
request that it will request daily updates be provided identifying
the location of the shipment from the appropriate carrier. As a
result, TMI-2S explains that it will be unlikely that a shipment
could be lost, misdirected, or diverted without the knowledge of the
carrier or TMI-2S personnel. According to TMI-2S, exceeding the 20-
day requirement results in the ``excessive administrative burden''
of investigating and reporting, even though the shipments continue
to be under requisite controls.
The NRC staff notes that the shipments are compliant with the
Department of Transportation and NRC requirements for low-level
radioactive waste packaging, placarding, and radiation levels for
health and safety purposes during transit, including during
switchyard staging. Therefore, there are no potential health or
safety concerns associated with these shipments sitting in a
switchyard for an extended period of time or taking more than 20
days overall.
Based on the history of low-level radioactive waste shipments
from other Nuclear Power Plants in decommissioning and the lack of
potential health or safety concerns associated with these shipments
sitting in a switchyard for an extended period of time or taking
more than 20 days overall, the need to investigate, trace, and
report on these shipments that take longer than 20 days but not
longer than 45 days is inappropriate. The NRC staff believes that
the application of 45 days as an upper bound is appropriate for the
same reasons as presented in Enclosure 1 to SECY-18-0055.
Additionally, as indicated in the exemption request, for truck
and rail shipments from TMI-2, TMI-2S will use a tracking system
that allows daily monitoring of a shipment's progress to its
destination and TMI-2 shipping procedures prescribe the expectations
for tracking and communications during transit. The NRC staff notes
that this will allow for monitoring the progress of shipments on a
daily basis, if needed, in lieu of the 20-day requirement, and will
initiate an investigation as provided for by 10 CFR part 20,
appendix G, section III.E after 45 days. Because of this oversight
and the ability to monitor low-level radioactive waste shipments
throughout the entire journey from TMI-2 to a disposal or processing
facility, the staff concludes that it is unlikely that a shipment
could be lost, misdirected, or diverted without the knowledge of the
carrier or TMI-2S and that, therefore, there is no potential health
or safety concern presented by the requested exemption. Furthermore,
by extending the time for receipt acknowledgment to 45 days before
requiring investigations, tracing, and reporting, a reasonable upper
limit on shipment duration is maintained in the event that a
breakdown of normal tracking systems was to occur.
Based on the above, the NRC staff finds that the requested
exemption would not result in undue hazard to life or property.
C. Environmental Considerations
With respect to compliance with section 102(2) of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), the NRC staff
has determined that the proposed action, the approval of the TMI-2S
exemption request, is within the scope of the categorical exclusion
at 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25). The proposed granting of the exemption from
certain requirements of the NRC's regulations at 10 CFR part 20,
appendix G, section III.E, would: (i) present no significant hazards
consideration; (ii) not result in a significant change in the types
or significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may be
released offsite; (iii) not result in a significant increase in
individual or cumulative public or occupational radiation exposure;
(iv) have no significant construction impact; and (v) not result in
a significant increase in the potential for or consequences from
radiological accidents. Additionally, the requirements from which
the exemption is sought involve reporting requirements under 10 CFR
51.22(c)(25)(vi)(B) and inspection or surveillance requirements
under 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(vi)(C). Given the applicability of a
relevant categorical exclusion, no further analysis is required
under NEPA.
IV. Conclusions
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10
CFR 20.2301, the exemption is authorized by law and will not result
in undue hazard to life or property. Therefore, effective
immediately, the Commission hereby grants TMI-2S an exemption from
10 CFR part 20, appendix G, section III.E, to extend the receipt of
notification period from 20 days to 45 days after transfer for rail
or mixed-mode shipments of low-level radioactive waste from TMI-2 to
a licensed land disposal or processing facility.
Dated: July 5, 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.
[FR Doc. 2023-15331 Filed 7-18-23; 8:45 am]
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