[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 24, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58571-58573]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-23243]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-029, 50-213, 50-309, 72-030, 72-031, and 72-039; NRC-
2013-0217]
Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company, Connecticut Yankee Atomic
Power Company, and The Yankee Atomic Electric Company
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Exemption; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an
exemption in response to a May 16, 2011, request from Maine Yankee
Atomic Power Company (Maine Yankee), Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power
Company (Connecticut Yankee), and the Yankee Atomic Electric Company
(Yankee Atomic) (together, ``licensees'' or ``the Yankee Companies'')
from the foreign ownership, control, or domination (FOCD) requirements.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0217 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may access publicly-available information related to this action by the
following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0217. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section
of this document.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then 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, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number
for each
[[Page 58572]]
document referenced in this document (if that document is available in
ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is referenced.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Goshen, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-287-9250; email:
[email protected].
1.0 Background
Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company (Maine Yankee), Connecticut
Yankee Atomic Power Company (Connecticut Yankee), and the Yankee Atomic
Electric Company (Yankee Atomic) (together, ``licensees'' or ``the
Yankee Companies'') hold part 50 of Title10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR) possession only licenses for the following
facilities: Haddam Neck Plant (Connecticut Yankee); Maine Yankee Atomic
Power Station (Maine Yankee); and, Yankee Nuclear Power Station (Yankee
Atomic), (together, ``the facilities''). The facilities ceased power
operations between 1991 and 1997, and all have completed the
decommissioning process. All reactor plant facilities have been
dismantled and removed, and only the independent spent fuel storage
installations (ISFSIs) remain at the stations.
2.0 Request/Action
On May 16, 2011, the Yankee Companies submitted a request for
exemption from the FOCD requirements of 10 CFR 50.38 in accordance with
10 CFR 50.12.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(1), the Commission may grant exemptions
from the requirements of 10 CFR part 50 which:
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.
Sections [103d.and] 104d. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as
amended, (AEA, the Act) state that:
No license may be issued to [an alien or] any corporation or other
entity if the Commission knows or has reason to believe it is owned,
controlled, or dominated by an alien, a foreign corporation or a
foreign government. In any event, no license may be issued to any
person within the United States if, in the opinion of the Commission,
the issuance of a license to such person would be inimical to the
common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public.
Section 50.38 implements Sections 103d. and 104d. of the AEA.
In the exemption application, the licensees stated that Sections
103d. and 104d. of the AEA, apply only to a license for a production or
utilization facility as defined in the AEA. The licensees stated that
regardless of their 10 CFR part 50 licenses, the possession only
conditions of the licenses do not allow their use as a production or
utilization facility, and they are therefore not subject to Sections
103d. or 104d. of the AEA.
Due to the complete decommissioning and dismantlement of the
reactor facilities, the 10 CFR part 50 licenses for operation of the
stations held by the Yankees have been amended to allow for only the
possession of spent nuclear fuel (SNF). Under 10 CFR 72, Subpart K,
``General License for Storage of Spent Fuel at Power Reactor Sites,''
the Yankee Companies are authorized to store spent fuel. Specifically,
under 10 CFR 72.210, the Yankees have a general license to store spent
fuel in an ISFSI at each site by virtue of their Part 50 licenses to
possess nuclear power reactors.
Each Yankee company is partially indirectly owned by foreign
entities. The remaining owner is a U.S. entity.
3 Discussion
3.1 Exemption is Authorized by Law
The NRC staff concluded that Section 103d. of the AEA does not
apply to ISFSIs. The plain language of the statute demonstrates that it
applies to commercial licenses for production and utilization
facilities.\1\ The section, which refers to ``license[s] under this
section'' and therefore, applies solely to licenses for production or
utilization facilities, states that ``[n]o license may be issued to an
alien or any corporation or other entity if the Commission knows or has
reason to believe it is owned, controlled, or dominated by an alien, a
foreign corporation, or a foreign government.'' The AEA definitions of
``production facility'' (Section 11.v) and ``utilization facility''
(Section 11.cc) do not include ISFSIs. Therefore, Section 103d. does
not preclude the NRC from granting the Yankee Companies an exemption
from 10 CFR 50.38.
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\1\ AEA Sec. Sec. 101, 103.
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Additionally, the Commission's regulations at 10 CFR 50.2 defines
``production facility'' as a facility designed or used for the
formation or processing of nuclear material, and ``utilization
facility'' as ``any nuclear reactor other than one designed or used
primarily for the formation of plutonium or U-233.''
As an ISFSI is neither ``capable of the production of special
nuclear material'' nor ``capable of making use of special nuclear
material,'' it is neither a production facility nor a utilization
facility under the AEA. Furthermore, an ISFSI is not designed or used
for the formation or processing of nuclear material and is not a
nuclear reactor. Accordingly, an ISFSI is neither a production facility
nor a utilization facility under 10 CFR part 50. As such, the Section
103d. prohibition on FOCD entities does not apply to an ISFSI,
regardless of whether it is licensed under 10 CFR part 50 or 10 CFR
part 72, and therefore does not preclude the NRC from granting the
Yankee Companies an exemption from the FOCD requirements of 10 CFR
50.38.
3.2 The Exemption Presents no Undue Risk to Public Health and Safety
The staff finds the requirements of 10 CFR 50.38 are intended to
prevent the FOCD of production and utilization facilities. The Yankee
facilities are neither production nor utilization facilities as defined
in the AEA. Additionally, since FOCD restrictions are financial
ownership restrictions and are neither technical nor operational
requirements, granting the exemption has no bearing on the risk to
public health and safety.
3.3 The Exemption is Consistent With the Common Defense and Security
The Yankees are restricted by their licenses to storing SNF in
ISFSIs approved under 10 CFR 72.214. The underlying purpose of the 10
CFR 50.38 FOCD prohibition is to prevent foreign ownership, control or
domination of production and utilization facilities as defined by the
AEA. The Yankee facilities are neither production nor utilization
facilities as defined in the AEA. In addition, there are no FOCD
restrictions placed on similarly situated 10 CFR part 72 ISFSIs with
specific licenses to store SNF. Such licensees have similar security
and common defense concerns, and similar considerations apply. The
staff finds, therefore, that granting the exemption is consistent with
the common defense and security.
3.4 Special Circumstances Evaluation
The Commission cannot grant an exemption unless special
circumstances apply per 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2), and application of the
regulation would not serve the underlying purpose of the rule or is not
necessary to achieve the
[[Page 58573]]
underlying purpose of the rule per 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii).
The Yankees are restricted to by their licenses to store SNF in
ISFSIs approved by 10 CFR 72.214. The underlying purpose of 10 CFR
50.38 is to implement the FOCD restrictions of Sections 103d. and 104d.
of the AEA and to prevent foreign ownership, control or domination of
production and utilization facilities as defined by the AEA. The Yankee
Companies are not production or utilization facilities as defined in
the AEA. The NRC staff determined that there are no 10 CFR 50.38 FOCD
restrictions placed on 10 CFR part 72 ISFSIs with specific licenses
that are similarly situated to the Yankee facilities and similar
considerations apply. The NRC staff finds, therefore, that applying the
10 CFR 50.38 FOCD requirement clearly does not serve the underlying
purpose of the rule, and granting the exemption is consistent with the
special circumstances as defined in 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii).
3.5 Environmental Evaluation
The staff has determined that this action meets the eligibility
criteria for categorical exclusion set forth in 10 CFR
51.22(c)(25)(vi)(I), ``Other requirements of an administrative,
managerial, or organizational nature.'' Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR
51.22(b), no environmental impact statement or environmental assessment
need be prepared in connection with this action, and granting the
exemption, therefore, does not present an undue risk to the public
health and safety.
4 Conclusions
The staff finds granting the licensee's exemption request from 10
CFR 50.38 FOCD requirements acceptable for the reasons provided in the
letter from Mark Lombard to Wayne Norton dated July 15, 2013 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML13086A010).
5 Additional Information
Documents related to this action, including the application for
renewal, supporting documentation, and the staff's safety evaluation
are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can
access the NRC's ADAMS, which provides text and image files of NRC's
public documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are
problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC
Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737 or by email to [email protected]. These documents may also be
viewed electronically on the public computers located at the NRC's PDR,
O1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD
20852. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day of September, 2013.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
John M. Goshen,
Project Manager, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation,
Office of Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguard.
[FR Doc. 2013-23243 Filed 9-23-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P