[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 248 (Tuesday, December 28, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72700-72701]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-33683]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-295 and 50-304]
In the Matter of Commonwealth Edison Company (Zion Nuclear Power
Station, Units 1 and 2); Exemption
I
Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd or the licensee) is the holder
of Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-39 and DPR-48, which authorize
the licensee to possess the Zion Nuclear Power Station (ZNPS). The
license states, among other things, 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 two pressurized-water reactors located at the
ComEd site on the west shore of Lake Michigan about 40 miles north of
Chicago, Illinois, in the extreme eastern portion of the city of Zion,
Illinois (Lake County). 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 10 CFR Part 50 requires power reactor licensees
to maintain onsite property damage insurance coverage in the amount of
$1.06 billion or whatever amount of insurance is generally available
from private sources, whichever is less. Section 140.11(a)(4) of 10 CFR
Part 140 requires a reactor with a rated capacity of 100,000 electrical
kilowatts or more to maintain liability insurance of $200 million and
to participate in a secondary insurance pool.
NRC may grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50 of
the regulations, which pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a), (1) are authorized
by law, will not present an undue risk to public health and safety, and
are consistent with the common defense and security, and (2) present
special circumstances. Special circumstances exist when (1) application
of the regulation 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)), or (2)
compliance would result in undue hardship or costs that are
significantly in excess of those incurred by others similarly situated.
The underlying purpose of Section 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.
Also, the NRC may grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR
Part 140 of the regulations, which pursuant to 10 CFR 140.8, are
authorized by law and are otherwise in the public interest. The
underlying purpose of Section 140.11 is to provide sufficient liability
insurance to ensure funding for claims resulting from a nuclear
incident or a precautionary evacuation.
III
On October 22, 1999, ComEd requested an exemption from the
financial protection requirement limits of 10 CFR 50.54(w) and 10 CFR
140.11(a)(4). ComEd requested that the amount of insurance coverage it
must maintain be reduced to $50 million for onsite property damage and
$100 million for offsite financial protection and to withdraw from
participation in the secondary liability insurance pool. The licensee
stated that special circumstances exist because of the permanently
shutdown and defueled condition of ZNPS.
The financial protection limits of 10 CFR 50.54(w) and 10 CFR
140.11 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. In a permanently shutdown and
defueled reactor facility, the reactor will never again be operated,
thus eliminating the possibility of accidents involving the reactor.
The Defueled Safety Analysis Report (DSAR) analyzed the remaining
design basis accidents that are relevant at ZNPS in its defueled
condition. These are: a loss of spent fuel inventory and cooling; a
fuel handling accident in the fuel building; and a radioactive waste
handling accident. The staff evaluated these accidents in the safety
evaluation supporting the ZNPS exemption from offsite emergency
planning requirements dated August 31, 1999. In its analysis, the staff
determined that the radiological consequences of the design basis
accidents cannot exceed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
early-phase Protective Action Guidelines (PAGs) of 1.0 rem.
The ZNPS was shut down in February 1997. The decay heat from the
spent fuel stored in the spent fuel pool decreases over time. In this
regard, the staff has determined that as of June 1999, air cooling of
the fuel would be sufficient to maintain the integrity of the fuel
cladding, and a complete loss of water from the ZNPS spent fuel pool
(SFP) would not result in an offsite release of fission products
exceeding the EPA early-phase PAGs.
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 staff estimated the onsite
cleanup costs of accidents considered to be the most costly at a
permanently defueled site with spent fuel stored in the SFP. 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 proposed insurance coverage levels in SECY 96-256
were calculated on a per-reactor basis and each reactor at a multi-unit
site would be treated as having its own SFP. Although ZNPS is a two-
reactor site, there is only one SFP. Therefore, the licensee's proposed
level of $50 million for onsite property insurance is sufficient to
cover these estimated cleanup costs.
The offsite cleanup costs of the accident scenarios previously
discussed are estimated to be negligible in SECY 96-256. However, a
licensee's liability for offsite costs may be significant as a result
of lawsuits alleging damages from offsite releases. Experience at Three
Mile Island Unit 2 showed that significant judgments against a licensee
are possible despite negligible dose consequences from an offsite
release. An appropriate level of financial liability coverage is needed
to account for potential judgments and settlements and to protect the
Federal Government from indemnity claims. The licensee's proposed level
of $100 million in primary offsite liability coverage is sufficient for
this purpose.
The staff has determined that participation in the secondary
insurance pool for offsite financial protection is
[[Page 72701]]
not required for a permanently shutdown and defueled plant after the
time that air cooling of the spent fuel is sufficient to maintain the
integrity of the fuel cladding. As previously noted, the staff finds
that sufficient time has elapsed to ensure the integrity of the ZNPS
spent fuel cladding.
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 and $100 million for offsite liability insurance. On the
basis of its review, the NRC staff finds that the spent fuel stored in
the Zion Nuclear Power Station's SPF is no longer susceptible to rapid
zirconium oxidation. The requested reductions are consistent with SECY
96-256. The licensee's proposed financial protection limits will
provide sufficient insurance to recover from 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 authorized by law, will not present an undue risk to 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 an
exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.54(w).
In addition, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
140.8, an exemption to reduce primary offsite liability insurance to
$100 million, accompanied by withdrawal from the secondary insurance
pool for offsite liability insurance, is authorized by law and is in
the public interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants an
exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 140.11(a)(4).
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that this
exemption will not have a significant effect on the quality of the
human environment (64 FR 69806).
These exemptions are effective upon issuance.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of December 1999.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Suzanne C. Black,
Acting Director, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 99-33683 Filed 12-27-99; 8:45 am]
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