[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 220 (Wednesday, November 15, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57460-57461]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-28157]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-344]
Portland General Electric Company, Trojan Nuclear Plant;
Exemption
I.
Portland General Electric Company (PGE or the licensee) is the
holder of Facility Operating (Possession Only) License No. NPF-1, which
authorizes possession and maintenance of the Trojan Nuclear Plant
(Trojan or the plant). The license provides, among other things, that
the plant is subject to all rules, regulations, and orders of the
Commission now or hereafter in effect.
The plant is a permanently shutdown, defueled, pressurized light-
water reactor undergoing the initial stages of decommissioning, which
is located along the banks of the Columbia River in Columbia County,
Oregon.
II.
Trojan received an operating license on November 21, 1975. On
January 4, 1993, the Directors of PGE voted to accept the
recommendation of the PGE management to permanently cease power
operations at Trojan. The facility had been shut down since November 9,
1992, when a leak in the ``B'' steam generator was detected. PGE
completed defueling of the reactor on January 27, 1993. On March 24,
1993, the NRC staff issued a confirmatory order to confirm a commitment
by PGE not to move new or spent fuel into the reactor building without
prior NRC approval. On May 5, 1993, the Commission issued Amendment No.
190 for Facility Operating License No. NPF-1, which converted the
license to a possession-only license (POL).
Section 140.11(a)(4) of Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations, (10 CFR 140.11(a)(4)) requires each licensee to have and
maintain primary nuclear liability insurance of $200 million. In
addition, each licensee is required to maintain secondary financial
protection in the form of private liability insurance under an industry
retrospective plan. However, 10 CFR 140.8 allows the Commission, upon
application of any interested person or upon its own initiative, to
grant such exemptions from the requirements of Part 140 as it
determines are authorized by law and are otherwise in the public
interest.
In a letter dated April 6, 1995, the licensee requested a reduction
in primary financial coverage and an exemption from participation in
the industry retrospective rating plan requiring secondary level
coverage requirements in 10 CFR 140.11(a)(4). The licensee requested
that the exemption become effective on November 9, 1992, 3 years from
the date of final shutdown of the reactors.
III.
The licensee justified the exemption request by citing existing NRC
policy that provides for exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR
140.11(a)(4) for plants that have been permanently shut down, as
presented in a staff requirements memorandum (SRM) dated July 13, 1993,
on SECY-93-127, ``Financial Protection Required of Licensees of Large
Nuclear Power Plants During Decommissioning.'' The licensee contends
that as of November 9, 1995, no potential will exist for a reasonably
conceivable accident at Trojan that could cause offsite damage
resulting in liability claims exceeding $100 million. The licensee's
conclusion is based on (1) Its analyses of operating events and design-
basis accidents for Trojan in the permanently defueled condition
described in the Trojan Defueled Safety Analysis Report; (2) the NRC
staff's technical evaluation in SECY-93-127; and (3) the permanently
shutdown status of the plant, including the significant period of
elapsed time (3 years on November 9, 1995) in which the spent fuel
decay heat will have had to dissipate.
The NRC staff independently evaluated the legal and technical
issues associated with the application of the Price-Anderson Act to
permanently shutdown reactors in SECY 93-127. In its evaluation, the
staff concluded that the legislative history of the Price-Anderson Act
establishes a legal framework and the discretionary authority to
respond to licensee requests for a reduction in the level of primary
financial protection and withdrawal from participation in the industry
retrospective rating plan. Depending on the plant-specific
configuration and the amount of elapsed time since permanent shutdown,
the staff also concluded that potential hazards may exist at
permanently shutdown reactors for which financial protection is
warranted. The staff further concluded that accidents and hazards
insured against under the Price-Anderson Act go beyond design-basis
accidents and beyond those accidents considered ``credible'' as that
term is used in 10 CFR Part 100 and in cases interpreting the
application of the regulation.
In the exercise of its discretionary authority, the Commission
could, so long as a potential hazard existed at a permanently shutdown
reactor, require the full amount of primary financial protection and
full participation in the industry retrospective rating plan. At such
time as the hazard is determined to no longer exist, the Commission may
reduce the amount of primary financial protection and permit the
licensee to withdraw from participation in the industry retrospective
rating plan.
Because the legislative history does not explicitly consider the
potential hazards that might exist after termination of operation, the
staff generically evaluated the offsite consequences associated with
normal and abnormal operations, design-basis accidents, and beyond-
design-basis accidents for reactors that have been permanently defueled
and shut down. The staff concluded that aside from the handling,
storage, and transportation of spent fuel and radioactive materials, no
potential exists for a reasonably conceivable accident that could cause
significant offsite damage.
A severe transportation accident could cause local contamination
requiring cleanup and offsite liabilities resulting from traffic
disruption and damage to property. The possibility of this type of
accident would warrant the licensee's maintaining some level of
liability insurance. The liabilities and indemnification requirements
associated with the transfer of spent fuel from the licensee to the
Department of Energy will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis in the
future, when spent fuel is shipped to a repository.
The most significant accident sequence for a permanently defueled
and shutdown reactor involves the complete loss of water from a light-
water reactor spent fuel pool. This beyond-design-basis accident
sequence could result in a zirconium fuel cladding fire that could
propagate through the spent fuel storage pool and result in significant
offsite consequences. Although such an accident is beyond the design
bases, it may be considered ``reasonably conceivable'' and could
warrant requiring substantial financial protection. Such an accident is
possible during the first year after reactor shutdown for a low-density
spent fuel storage configuration and during the first 2 to 3 years
after shutdown for spent fuel stored in certain high-density
configurations.
[[Page 57461]]
Accident scenarios involving blockage of coolant channels in
conjunction with loss of spent fuel pool water could hypothetically
further extend the time at which a zirconium fuel cladding fire could
occur. However, in addition to being less likely than loss of water,
air flow to react with the zirconium and to disperse fission products
would most likely be inhibited by such blockage. The staff believes
that this sequence approaches the strictly hypothetical.
Once the requisite cooling period after reactor shutdown has
elapsed, the zirconium fuel cladding fire sequence is no longer a
concern because the fuel would air cool sufficiently to avoid zirconium
fuel cladding combustion. Possible accident scenarios after these
cooling periods have elapsed possess greatly reduced consequences but
could result in small releases or precautionary evacuations that could
result in offsite liability.
With respect to the Trojan plant-specific evaluation, the NRC staff
independently evaluated the legal and technical justifications for the
exemption presented by the licensee. The NRC recognizes the current
condition of the Trojan plant, that is, permanently shut down and
defueled, licensed for ``possession-only,'' and under a confirmatory
order that prohibits fuel movement from the spent fuel pool into the
reactor building without approval of the Commission. The staff
concurred with the licensee's evaluation of credible design-basis
accidents and their minimal associated offsite consequences.
The staff also considered liability coverage needs associated with
decommissioning activities, transportation of radioactive materials,
design-basis accidents, and beyond-design-basis accidents as previously
noted herein. The results of the staff's evaluation, as embodied in the
staff requirements memorandum of July 13, 1993, on SECY 93-127 and in
SECY 93-127, allow (after the requisite minimum spent fuel cooling
period has elapsed) a reduction in the amount of financial protection
required of licensees of large nuclear plants that have been
prematurely shut down. The Trojan plant was permanently shut down on
November 9, 1992; therefore, as of November 9, 1995, 3 years will have
elapsed since the permanent shutdown of the Trojan plant. This time
period meets the criteria established in SECY 93-127 for relief from
financial protection requirements.
IV.
On the basis of its independent evaluation as embodied in the staff
requirements memorandum of July 13, 1993, on SECY 93-127 and in SECY
93-127, the staff concluded that sufficient bases exist for the
Commission's approval of relief from the financial protection
requirements for the Trojan plant. The staff also concluded that
granting the proposed exemption does not increase the probability or
consequences of any accidents or reduce the margin of safety at this
facility.
V.
Based on Sections III. and IV. above, the Commission has determined
that pursuant to 10 CFR 140.8, this exemption is authorized by law and
is otherwise in the public interest. Therefore, the Commission grants
an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 140.11(a)(4) to the extent
that primary financial protection in the amount of $100 million shall
be maintained. An exemption from participation in the industry
retrospective rating plan (secondary level financial protection) is
granted for the Trojan plant effective November 9, 1995, 3 years from
the date of final shutdown of the reactor.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that the
granting of this exemption will not have a significant effect on the
quality of the human environment (60 FR 55741 dated November 2, 1995).
This exemption is effective upon issuance.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of November 1995.
Brian K. Grimes,
Acting Director, Division of Reactor Program Management, Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 95-28157 Filed 11-14-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
