[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 143 (Tuesday, July 27, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40631-40632]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-19161]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-320]
GPU Nuclear, Inc., Three Mile Island, Unit 2; Exemption
I
GPU Nuclear, Inc. (the licensee), is the holder of Facility
Operating License No. DPR-73, which authorizes the licensee to possess
the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 2 (TMI-2). The license
states, in part, that the facility is subject to all the rules,
regulations, and orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the
Commission or NRC) now or hereafter in effect. The facility consists of
a pressurized-water reactor located at the licensee's site in Dauphin
County, Pennsylvania. The facility is permanently shut down and
defueled and the licensee is no longer authorized to operate or place
fuel in the reactor.
II
Section 50.54(w) of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations,
part 50 (10 CFR part 50) requires power reactors to maintain onsite
property damage insurance coverage in the amount of $1.06 billion. The
NRC may grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 50 of the
regulations, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a), which (1) are authorized by
law, will not present an undue risk to the public health and safety,
and are consistent with the common defense and security and (2) present
special circumstances. Special circumstances exist when application of
the regulations in the particular circumstance would not serve the
underlying purpose of the rule or is not necessary to achieve the
underlying purpose of the rule [10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii)]. The underlying
purpose of Sec. 50.54(w) is to provide sufficient property damage
insurance coverage to ensure funding for onsite post-accident recovery,
stabilization, and decontamination costs in the unlikely event of an
accident at a nuclear power plant.
III
On March 9, 1999, the licensee requested exemption from the
financial protection requirement limits of 10 CFR 50.54(w). The
licensee requested that the amount of insurance coverage that it is
required to maintain be reduced to $50 million for onsite property
damage. The licensee stated that special circumstances exist because of
the permanently shutdown and defueled condition of TMI-2.
The financial protection limits of 10 CFR 50.54(w) were established
to require a licensee to maintain sufficient insurance to cover the
costs of a nuclear accident at an operating reactor. Those costs were
derived from the consequences of a release of radioactive material from
the reactor. Although the risk of an accident at an operating reactor
is very low, the consequences can be large. In an operating plant, the
high temperature and pressure of the reactor coolant system, as well as
the large inventory of relatively short-lived radionuclides, contribute
to both the risk and consequences of an accident. In a permanently
shutdown and defueled reactor facility, the reactor coolant system will
never be operated and contains no short-lived radionuclides, which
eliminates the possibility of reactor accidents. A further reduction in
risk occurs when fuel is shipped offsite as in the case at TMI-2, where
over 99 percent of the fuel has been removed and shipped offsite.
Along with the reduction in risk, the consequences of potential
releases decrease after a reactor permanently shuts down and defuels.
The short-lived radionuclides contained in the fuel, particularly
volatile components such as iodines and noble gases decay, thereby,
reducing the inventory of radioactive materials that are readily
dispersible and transportable in air.
Although the risk and consequences of radiological releases decline
substantially after a plant permanently defuels the reactor, they are
not completely eliminated. There are potential onsite and offsite
radiological consequences that can be associated with storage of
activated reactor components, contaminated materials, and the remaining
fuel debris at TMI-2. In addition, an inventory of liquid and solid
radioactive wastes can be created during the future decontamination
phases of the TMI-2 decommissioning process. For the purposes of
modifying the amount of insurance coverage maintained by the licensee,
the potential consequences, despite the very low risk, are an
appropriate consideration.
In order to determine the insurance coverage sufficient for a
permanently defueled facility, the cost of recovery from potential
accident scenarios must be evaluated. At TMI-2, greater than 99 percent
of the fuel debris has been removed and transported offsite. The
remaining fuel debris is stored dry with no need for forced cooling.
Loss of spent fuel cooling water accident scenarios are not applicable
to the TMI-2 plant condition. In SECY 96-256, ``Changes to the
Financial Protection Requirements for Permanently Shutdown Nuclear
Power Reactors, 10 CFR 50.54(w) and 10 CFR 140.11,'' dated December 17,
1996, the NRC staff estimated the onsite cleanup costs of accidents
considered to be the most costly at a permanently shut down reactor
with spent fuel stored in the spent fuel pool. The staff found that the
onsite recovery costs for a fuel handling accident could range up to
$24 million. The estimated onsite cleanup costs to recover from the
rupture of a large liquid radwaste storage tank could range up to $50
million. The licensee's proposed level of $50 million for onsite
property insurance is sufficient to cover these estimated cleanup
costs.
IV
The NRC staff has completed its review of the licensee's request to
reduce financial protection limits to $50 million for onsite property
insurance. The requested reductions are consistent with SECY 96-256.
The Commission informed the staff in a staff requirements memo dated
January 28, 1997, that it did not object to the insurance reductions
recommended in SECY 96-256. The licensee's proposed financial
protection limits will provide sufficient insurance to recover from the
limiting hypothetical events, if they occur. Thus, the underlying
purposes of the regulations will not be adversely affected by the
reductions in insurance coverage.
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
50.12(a), an exemption to reduce onsite property insurance to $50
million is
[[Page 40632]]
authorized by law, will not present an undue risk to the public health
and safety, and is consistent with the common defense and security.
Further, special circumstances are present, as set forth in 10 CFR
50.12(a)(2)(ii). Therefore, the Commission hereby grants the licensee
an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.54(w).
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that the
granting of this exemption will have no significant effect on the
quality of the human environment (64 FR 39178). This exemption is
effective immediately.
Dated at Rockville, MD., this 21st day of July 1999.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John A. Zwolinski,
Director, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 99-19161 Filed 7-26-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P