[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 150 (Monday, August 7, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52220-52222]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16756]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-425; NRC-2023-0091]
Southern Nuclear Operating Company; Vogtle Electric Generating
Plant, 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 June 30, 2022, as supplemented
by letters dated September 13, 2022, and January 20, and May 5, 2023,
from Southern Nuclear Operating Company to allow the use of AXIOM fuel
rod cladding material in lead test assemblies 7ST1, 7ST2, 7ST3, and
7ST4, for up to two cycles of operation at Vogtle Electric Generating
Plant, Unit 2.
DATES: The exemption was issued on August 1, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0091 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-2023-0091. 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: John G. Lamb, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3100; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the exemption is attached.
Dated: August 2, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John G. Lamb,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch 2-1, Division of
Operator Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
Attachment--Exemption From 10 CFR 50.46 for Vogtle, Unit 2, To Allow
the Use of AXIOM Fuel Rod Cladding Material in Lead Test Assemblies
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Docket No. 50-425
Southern Nuclear Operating Company
Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Unit 2
Exemption
I. Background
Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC, the licensee) is the
holder of Facility Operating License No. NPF-81, for the Vogtle
[[Page 52221]]
Electric Generating Plant (Vogtle), Unit 2. The license provides,
among other things, that the license is subject to all rules,
regulations, and orders of the Commission now or hereafter in
effect.
The Vogtle, Unit 2, consists of a pressurized-water reactor
located at the licensee's site in Burke County, Georgia.
II. Request/Action
By letter dated June 30, 2022 (Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML22181B156), as
supplemented by letters dated September 13, 2022 (ML22256A198),
January 20, 2023 (ML23020A148), and May 5, 2023 (ML23125A269), SNC
requested an exemption to title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), part 50, section 50.46, ``Acceptance criteria
for emergency core cooling systems for light-water nuclear power
reactors,'' for Vogtle, Unit 2.
Specifically, SNC requested an exemption from 10 CFR 50.46 to
allow the use of AXIOM fuel rod cladding material in lead test
assemblies (LTAs) 7ST1, 7ST2, 7ST3, and 7ST4 for up to two cycles of
operation at Vogtle, Unit 2.
The regulation at 10 CFR 50.46(a)(1)(i) requires that, ``Each
boiling or pressurized light-water nuclear power reactor fueled with
uranium oxide pellets within cylindrical zircaloy or ZIRLO cladding
must be provided with an emergency core cooling system (ECCS) that
must be designed so that its calculated cooling performance
following postulated loss-of-coolant accidents conforms to the
criteria set forth in paragraph (b) of this section.'' The
regulations make no provisions for use of fuel rods clad in a
material other than zircaloy or ZIRLO.
III. Discussion
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the NRC may, upon application by any
interested person or upon its own initiative, grant exemptions from
the requirements of 10 CFR part 50, including 10 CFR 50.46, when:
(1) the exemptions are authorized by law, will not present an undue
risk to the public health or safety, and are consistent with the
common defense and security; and (2) when special circumstances are
present. Under 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2), special circumstances include,
among other things, when application of the specific regulation in
the particular circumstances would not serve, or is not necessary to
achieve, the underlying purpose of the rule.
A. The Exemption Is Authorized by Law
In accordance with 10 CFR 50.12, the NRC may grant an exemption
from the requirements of 10 CFR part 50 if the exemption is
authorized by law. The exemption requested in this instance is
authorized by law, because no other prohibition of law exists to
preclude the activities which would be authorized by the exemption.
This exemption would allow the licensee to insert four LTAs
containing AXIOM fuel rod cladding that is neither Zircaloy nor
ZIRLO, which are the cladding materials contemplated by 10 CFR
50.46(a)(1)(i). Selection of a specific cladding material in 10 CFR
50.46 was at the discretion of the Commission consistent with its
statutory authority. No statute required the NRC to adopt this
specification. As stated above, 10 CFR 50.12 allows the Commission
to grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 50. The NRC
staff has determined that granting of an exemption from 10 CFR 50.46
related to AXIOM fuel rod cladding, which is neither Zircaloy nor
ZIRLO, will not result in a violation of the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended, or the Commission's regulations. Therefore, the
exemption is authorized by law.
B. The Exemption Presents No Undue Risk to Public Health and Safety
SNC stated the following in its letter dated June 30, 2022:
The Vogtle reactors each contain 193 fuel assemblies. Each
assembly consists of a matrix of 264 Zircaloy, ZIRLO[supreg]\[TM]\,
or Optimized ZIRLO[supreg]\[TM]\ clad fuel rods with an initial
composition of natural or slightly enriched uranium dioxide (UO2) as
fuel material, not to exceed 5 wt% [weight-percent] enrichment. The
proposed change is to load four LTAs with advanced ATF [accident-
tolerant fuel] features, including ADOPT fuel [2], AXIOM cladding
[3], chromium coating, and four rods per LTA with up to 6 wt%
enrichment, in limiting core locations for up to two cycles of
operation.
This exemption will not present an undue risk to public health
and safety. Reload evaluations ensure that acceptance criteria are
met for the insertion of LTAs with fuel rods clad with AXIOM
material. Due to similarities in the composition of the AXIOM alloy
and the Optimized ZIRLO and standard ZIRLO alloys, fuel assemblies
using AXIOM fuel rod cladding are evaluated using plant-specific
models to address the changes in the cladding material properties.
The LOCA [loss-of-coolant accident] safety analyses for VEGP [Vogtle
Electric Generating Plant] are supported by the applicable site-
specific Technical Specifications (TS). Reload cores are required to
be operated in accordance with the operating limits specified in the
TS. Thus, the granting of this exemption request will not pose an
undue risk to public health and safety.\1\
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\1\ Although this quoted material states that the LTAs would be
placed in limiting core locations, SNC's May 5, 2023, supplement,
states that the LTAs will not be placed in core regions that have
been shown to be limiting with respect to the control rod ejection
analysis.
Based upon the limited number of AXIOM clad fuel rods, the
safeguards in place which would detect anomalous behavior, the use
of NRC-approved models to ensure that all design criteria remain
satisfied, and the requirement to operate the Vogtle, Unit 2, core
within TS limits, the NRC staff finds the four LTAs acceptable for
Vogtle, Unit 2. In conclusion, the NRC staff finds that the
requested exemption does not result in any undue risk to the public
health and safety, because NRC staff concluded that the existing
LOCA evaluation models analysis of records for Vogtle are
representative of the LTAs, and the presence of the LTAs will have a
negligible impact on the co-resident fuel, and 10 CFR 50.46
acceptance criteria continue to be met. Further information can be
found in the NRC staff safety evaluation (ML23093A028).
C. The Exemption Is Consistent With the Common Defense and
Security.
The proposed exemption would allow the use of four LTAs with a
variant cladding material. This change to the plant core
configuration has no impact on security issues. Special nuclear
material in the LTAs will continue to be handled and controlled in
accordance with applicable regulations. Therefore, the common
defense and security is not impacted by this exemption.
D. Special Circumstances
Special circumstances, in accordance with 10 CFR
50.12(a)(2)(ii), are present whenever application of the regulation
in the particular circumstances would not serve the underlying
purpose of the rule or is not necessary to achieve the underlying
purpose of the rule. The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 50.46 is to
establish acceptance criteria for ECCS performance. In the safety
evaluation (SE) contained in (ML23093A028) for the license amendment
request, the NRC staff evaluated for Vogtle, Unit 2, four LTAs that
demonstrated the acceptability of the AXIOM cladding under LOCA
conditions. The unique features of the LTAs were evaluated for
effects on the LOCA analyses. The results showed that the LTAs would
not adversely affect ECCS performance. Therefore, the NRC staff
concludes that application of the limitation to zircaloy and ZIRLO
in 10 CFR 50.46 in this particular circumstance is not necessary for
the licensee to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule.
E. Environmental Considerations
With respect to its impact on the quality of the human
environment, the NRC has determined that the issuance of the
exemption discussed herein meets the eligibility criteria for
categorical exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9). The NRC
staff's determination that all of the criteria for this categorical
exclusion are met is as follows:
The regulation 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9) states:
Issuance of an amendment to a permit or license for a reactor
under part 50 or part 52 of this chapter that changes a requirement
or issuance of an exemption from a requirement, with respect to
installation or use of a facility component located within the
restricted area, as defined in part 20 of this chapter; or the
issuance of an amendment to a permit or license for a reactor under
part 50 or part 52 of this chapter that changes an inspection or a
surveillance requirement; provided that: (i) The amendment or
exemption involves no significant hazards consideration; (ii) There
is no significant change in the types or significant increase in the
amounts of any effluents that may be released offsite; and
(iii) There is no significant increase in individual or
cumulative occupational radiation exposure.
Staff Analysis: The exemption is from requirements with respect
to the installation or use of facility components located within the
restricted area as defined in 10 CFR part 20. The criteria for
determining whether an
[[Page 52222]]
action involves a significant hazards consideration are found in 10
CFR 50.92. The proposed action involves installed four LTAs. As
stated in the evaluation in ML23093A028, the Commission has
previously issued a proposed finding that the amendments involve no
significant hazards consideration, published in the Federal Register
on November 8, 2022 (87 FR 67508), and there has been no public
comment on such finding.
The proposed action involves installing four LTAs, and as the
NRC staff evaluated under the SE contained in ML23093A028, this
action does not involve any significant change in the types or
significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may be
released offsite.
The proposed action involves installing four LTAs, and as the
NRC staff evaluated under the SE contained in ML23093A028, this
action does not involve any significant increase in individual or
cumulative occupational exposure.
Based on the above, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed
exemption meets the eligibility criteria for the categorical
exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9). Therefore, in accordance
with 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact statement or
environmental assessment need be prepared in connection with the
NRC's issuance of this exemption.
IV. Conclusions
Accordingly, the NRC has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
50.12, 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. Also, special circumstances, pursuant
to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii), are present. Therefore, the NRC hereby
grants SNC an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.46 to
allow the use of AXIOM fuel rod cladding material in LTAs, 7ST1,
7ST2, 7ST3, and 7ST4, for up to two cycles of operation at Vogtle,
Unit 2.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 1st day of August, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
/RA/
Bo M. Pham,
Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2023-16756 Filed 8-4-23; 8:45 am]
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