L-19-013, Request for Exemption from Record Retention Requirements

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Request for Exemption from Record Retention Requirements
ML19120A208
Person / Time
Site: Davis Besse Cleveland Electric icon.png
Issue date: 04/30/2019
From: Bezilla M
FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co
To:
Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
L-19-013
Download: ML19120A208 (12)
v • d • e


Text

FENOC Mark B. Bezilla Vice President - Nuclear April 30, 2019 L-19-013,,

ATTN: Document Control Desk U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001

SUBJECT:

Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station, Unit No. 1 Docket No. 50-346, License No. NPF-3 Request for Exemption from Record Retention Requirements 5501North State Route 2 Oak Harbor, Ohio 43449 10 CFR 50.12 419-321-7676 Fa:x: 41?-321-7582 In accordance with 10 CFR 50.12, "Specific Exemptions," FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), on behalf of Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station DBNPS), Unit No. 1, hereby requests a permanent exemption from the record retention requirements of:

10 CFR 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVII, which requires certain records to be retained consistent with applicable regulatory requirements for a duration established by the licensee; 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3), which requires certain records to be maintained until "termination of an operating license issued under this part;" and 10 CFR 50.71(c), which requires certain records to be retained for the period specified by the appropriate regulation, license condition, or technical specification, or until termination of the license if not otherwise specified.

By letter dated April 25, 2018 (Accession No. ML18115A007), FENOC provided formal notification to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that DBNPS will permanently cease power operation by May 31, 2020. Once DBNPS permanently ceases operations and submits the certifications required by 1 O CFR 50.82(a)(1)(i) and (ii), pursuant to 10 CFR 50.82(a)(2), the 10 CFR Part 50 license for DBNPS will no longer authorize operation of the reactor or placement or retention of fuel in the reactor vessel. Once granted, the application of the approved exemption will eliminate the requirement to maintain records that are no longer necessary due to the permanently shutdown status of DBNPS.

Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station, Unit No. 1 L-19-013 Page 2 FENOC is requesting review and approval of this exemption request by May 1, 2020 to support the current schedule that reflects DBNPS transitioning to a permanently shutdown and defueled facility. FENOC requests that the approved exemption request become effective for DBNPS following the docketing of the certifications required by 10 CFR 50.82(a)(1) that document DBNPS has been permanently shutdown and defueled.

FENOC will use the exemption, if granted, to eliminate the applicable records associated with structures, systems, and components, and activities no longer required by the licensing basis due to the permanently shutdown status of DBNPS.

There are no regulatory commitments contained in this submittal. If there are any questions, or if additional information is required, please contact Mr. Thomas A. Lentz, Manager, Nuclear Licensing & Regulatory Affairs, at (330) 315-6810.

~~~

Mark B. Bezi

Enclosure:

Exemption Request from Record Retention Requirements cc:

NRC Region Ill Administrator NRC Resident Inspector NRC Project Manager Utility Radiological Safety Board

Exemption Request from Record Retention Requirements Page 1 of 10

1. SPECIFIC EXEMPTION REQUEST In accordance with 10 CFR 50.12, Specific exemptions, FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) requests a permanent exemption from the following record retention requirements for Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station (DBNPS), Unit No. 1:
1) 10 CFR 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVII, which requires certain records to be retained consistent with applicable regulatory requirements for a duration established by the licensee;
2) 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3), which requires certain records to be maintained until "termination of an operating license issued under this part;" and
3) 10 CFR 50.71(c), which requires certain records to be retained for the period specified by the appropriate regulation, license condition, or technical specification, or until termination of the license if not otherwise specified.

The exemption is requested to allow DBNPS to eliminate the requirement to maintain records that will no longer be necessary or applicable due to the permanently defueled condition and decommissioning status of the station. Specifically, the following records would no longer be retained:

1) Records associated with systems, structures, and components (SSCs), and activities that were applicable to the nuclear unit, which are no longer required by the Part 50 licensing basis (that is, removed from the updated final safety analysis report (UFSAR) or technical specifications by appropriate change mechanisms); or
2) Records for SSCs associated with safe storage of fuel in the spent fuel pool (SFP), when spent nuclear fuel has been completely transferred from the SFP to dry storage, and the SFP is ready for demolition and the associated licensing bases are no longer effective.

FENOC is not requesting an exemption from 10 CFR 50, Appendix A, Criterion 1, which requires certain records to be maintained "throughout the life of the unit," because DBNPS is not a General Design Criteria plant. Nor is FENOC requesting an exemption associated with any record keeping requirements for storage of spent fuel at the DBNPS Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) under 10 CFR 50, the general license requirements of 10 CFR 72, or for the other requirements of 10 CFR 50 or Renewed Facility Operating License NPF-3 applicable to the decommissioning and dismantlement of DBNPS.

Exemption Request from Record Retention Requirements Page 2 of 10

2. BACKGROUND The DBNPS site is a single unit facility located on Lake Erie in Ottawa County, Ohio, approximately six miles northeast of Oak Harbor. The facility site consists of approximately 954 acres, of which 733 acres is marshland. The DBNPS facility employs a Babcock & Wilcox Company pressurized water reactor nuclear steam supply system licensed to generate 2817 megawatts-thermal, with net output generation of 925 megawatts-electrical. The pressurized water reactor and supporting facilities are owned by FirstEnergy Nuclear Generation, LLC and operated by FENOC. The licensees, FirstEnergy Nuclear Generation, LLC and FENOC, are the holders of the DBNPS Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-3. The license provides, among other things, that the facility is subject to all rules, regulations, and orders of the NRC now or hereafter in effect.

By letter dated April 25, 2018 (Reference 1), pursuant to 10 CFR 50.82(a)(1)(i), FENOC notified the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of its intention to permanently cease power operations at DBNPS by May 31, 2020. Once fuel has been permanently removed from the reactor vessel, FENOC will submit a written certification to the NRC, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.82(a)(1)(ii) that meets the requirements of 10 CFR 50.4(b)(9). Upon docketing of these certifications, the 10 CFR Part 50 license for DBNPS will no longer authorize operation of the reactor or emplacement or retention of fuel into the reactor vessel, as specified in 10 CFR 50.82(a)(2).

Decommissioning of DBNPS will begin after the spent fuel has been transferred from the reactor vessel to the spent fuel pool (SFP). The nuclear reactor and essentially all associated systems, structures, and components (SSCs) in the nuclear steam supply system and balance of plant that supported the generation of power will be retired in place and prepared for removal. SSCs that will remain operable or functional are:

1) those required to support safe storage of spent fuel in the SFP; and 2) those that are needed to meet other regulatory requirements or are needed to support other site facilities (such as radwaste handling; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning; and so on).

FENOC's decommissioning plans for DBNPS will be described in the Post Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report, which FENOC intends to submit to the NRC in the fourth quarter of 2019. FENOC is planning to decommission DBNPS using the SAFSTOR method. Management of spent fuel will be required because of the Department of Energy's failure to perform its spent fuel removal obligations under its contract with FENOC. The initial decommissioning activities to be performed after plant shutdown will entail preparing the plant for a period of safe-storage (also referred to as dormancy). This includes de-fueling the reactor and transferring the fuel into the SFP, draining and de-energizing systems no longer required, and reconfiguring the electrical distribution, ventilation, heating, and fire protection systems to align with the decommissioning status of the facility. Systems needed for continued operation of the SFP will be reconfigured for operational efficiency. The existing ISFSI pad will be modified, if necessary, to allow for dry storage of all spent fuel assemblies and greater than class C waste generated by the plant.

Exemption Request from Record Retention Requirements Page 3 of 10 While FENOC intends to retain the records required by the DBNPS license, as the project transitions from the current plant conditions to fully dismantled with the fuel in dry storage, the regulatory and business needs for maintenance of most of the records will be obviated. As SSCs are retired (as their functions are no longer required) and they are removed from the licensing basis, the need to retain their associated records is, on a practical basis, eliminated. FENOC therefore requests exemption from the records retention requirements for DBNPS SSCs and historical activities that are no longer relevant to the licensing basis. Such exemptions would eliminate the associated, unnecessary regulatory and economic burdens of retaining records for SSCs and activities that are no longer part of the DBNPS licensing basis.

3. DISCUSSION In order for an exemption to be granted from the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVII, 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3), and 10 CFR 50.71(c), the licensee must show that the requirements of 10 CFR 50.12(a)(1) are met and that special circumstances, as specified in 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2), exist. As discussed below, DBNPS satisfies these requirements for the requested exemptions.
4. TECHNICAL EVALUATION A. Nuclear Power Generation SSCs The DBNPS nuclear steam supply system and balance of plant SSCs will no longer be required to be operable or maintained, except as required to support safe storage of spent fuel in the SFP and other support needs described above, and will be retired in place pending dismantlement. The general justification for eliminating records associated with that portion of the plant that has been retired is straightforward in that these SSCs have been (or will be) removed from service under the NRC license, dismantled or demolished, and will not serve any DBNPS function regulated by the NRC.

FENOC recognizes that some records related to the nuclear steam supply system and balance of plant will continue to be under NRC regulation primarily due to residual radioactivity. The radiological and other necessary programmatic controls (such as security, quality assurance, and so on) for the facility and the implementation of controls for the defueled condition and the decommissioning activities are and will continue to be appropriately addressed through the license and current plant documents such as the UFSAR and Technical Specifications. Except for future changes made through the applicable change process defined in the regulations (such as 10 CFR 50.48(f), 10 CFR 50.59, 10 CFR 50.90, 10 CFR 50.54(a), 10 CFR 50.54 (p), 10 CFR 50.54(q), and so on), these programmatic elements and their associated records will be unaffected by the exemption request.

Exemption Request from Record Retention Requirements Page 4 of 10 B. Spent Fuel Pool and Associated SSCs and Activities Records necessary for spent fuel storage SSCs and activities will continue to be retained through the functional life of the SFP. Similar to the other plant records, once the SFP is emptied of fuel, drained and ready for demolition, there will be no safety-significant function or other regulatory need for retaining SFP related records.

Also, similar to the power generation SSCs, FENOC recognizes that some records related to the SFP SSCs will continue to be under NRC regulation primarily due to residual radioactivity. The radiological and other necessary programmatic controls (such as security, quality assurance, and so on) for the facility and the implementation of controls for the defueled condition and the decommissioning activities are and will continue to be appropriately addressed through the license and current plant documents such as the UFSAR and Technical Specifications. Except for future changes made through the applicable change process defined in the regulations (such as 10 CFR 50.48(f), 10 CFR 50.59, 10 CFR 50.90, 10 CFR 50.54(a), 10 CFR 50.54(p), 10 CFR 50.54(q), and so on), these programmatic elements and their associated records will be unaffected by the exemption request.

The requested exemption is consistent with the retention period for records of changes in the facility or spent fuel storage cask design implemented under 10 CFR 72.48, Changes, Tests, and Experiments. 10 CFR 72.48(d)(3)(i) specifically states that records are to be retained until "... Spent fuel is no longer stored in the facility."

This is analogous to the condition when the fuel is no longer stored in the SFP and the SFP is ready for demolition.

C. Spent Fuel FENOC is not requesting any exemption associated with retention of spent fuel records required by 10 CFR 50 and 10 CFR 72.

D. ISFSI FENOC is not requesting any exemption associated with the retention of records associated with the storage of spent fuel at the ISFSI required by 10 CFR 72.

5. JUSTIFICATION FOR EXEMPTION 10 CFR 50.12 states that the Commission may, upon application by any interested person or upon its own initiative, grant exemptions from the requirements of the regulations of Part 50 which are authorized by law, will not present an undue risk to the public health and safety, and are consistent with the defense and security. 10 CFR 50.12 also states that the Commission will not consider granting an exemption unless special circumstances are present. As discussed below, this exemption request satisfies the provisions of Section 50.12.

Exemption Request from Record Retention Requirements Page 5 of 10 A. The exemptions are authorized by law Paragraph 50.71(d)(2) allows for the granting of specific exemptions to the record retention requirements specified in the regulations. Paragraph 50.71(d)(2) states, in part that, "...the retention period specified in the regulations in this part for such records shall apply unless the Commission, pursuant to §50.12 of this part, has granted a specific exemption from the record retention requirements specified in the regulations in this part."

If the specific exemption requirements of 10 CFR 50.12 are satisfied, the exemption from the record keeping requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(c); 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVII; and 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3) is authorized by law. The request does not result in a violation of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or the Commission's regulations. Therefore, the exemptions are authorized by law.

B. The exemptions will not present an undue risk to public health and safety As SSCs are prepared for decommissioning and dismantlement, they will be removed from licensing basis documents through appropriate change mechanisms (such as, 10 CFR 50.59 or an NRC approved license amendment). These change processes involve a determination by the licensee or an approval by the NRC that the affected SSC no longer serves any NRC regulated safety purpose. Therefore, the removal of the SSC would not present an undue risk to public health and safety.

As such, the elimination of associated records for these SSCs will have no additional impact.

The partial exemption from the record keeping requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(c);

10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVII; and 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3), for the records described above is administrative in nature and will have no impact on any remaining decommissioning activities or on radiological effluents. The exemption will merely advance the schedule for no longer maintaining the specified records.

Considering the historical nature of these records, the elimination of these records on an advanced timetable will have no reasonable possibility of presenting any undue risk to the public health and safety.

C. The exemptions are consistent with the common defense and security The elimination of the recordkeeping requirements is administrative in nature and does not involve information or activities that could potentially impact the common defense and security of the United States. Upon removal of the affected SSCs from the DBNPS licensing basis, the records will have no functional purpose relative to maintaining the safe operation of the SSCs nor to maintaining conditions that would affect the ongoing health and safety of workers or the public.

Rather, the exemption requested is administrative in nature and would merely advance the current schedule for destruction of the specified records. Therefore, the

Exemption Request from Record Retention Requirements Page 6 of 10 partial exemption from the recordkeeping requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(c); 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVII; and 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3), for the types of records described above is consistent with the common defense and security.

D. Special Circumstances Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2), the NRC will not consider granting an exemption to its regulations unless special circumstances are present. FENOC has determined that special circumstances, as defined under 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii) and (iii), are present as discussed below.

1. 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii): 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 following record retention requirements apply to operating nuclear power plants.

Appendix B of 10 CFR 50, Criterion XVII, states in part, "Sufficient records shall be maintained to furnish evidence of activities affecting quality."

Paragraph 50.59(d)(3) states in part, "The records of changes in the facility must be maintained until the termination of an operating license issued under this part..."

Paragraph 50.71(c), states in part, "Records that are required by the regulations in this part or part 52 of this chapter, by license condition, or by technical specifications must be retained for the period specified by the appropriate regulation, license condition, or technical specification. If a retention period is not otherwise specified, these records must be retained until the Commission terminates the facility license..."

The common and underlying purpose for the records related regulations cited above is to ensure that the licensing and design basis of the facility is understood, documented, preserved and retrievable relative to establishing and maintaining the SSC's safety functions for the life of the facility. These regulations, however, do not consider the reduction in safety-related SSCs during the decommissioning process. Removal of the SSCs from the licensing basis has been or will be evaluated in accordance with the applicable change process in the regulations (such as 10 CFR 50.59 or NRC approved license amendment) to have no adverse public health and safety impact prior to elimination of any records. Elimination of associated records for these SSCs will have no additional impact. Retention of records associated with SSCs that are or will no longer be part of the facility licensing basis serves no safety or regulatory purpose.

Ultimately, the SSCs will be physically removed from the facility. Therefore, application of these record requirements in those circumstances does not serve the underlying purpose of the regulations.

Exemption Request from Record Retention Requirements Page 7 of 10 Based on the above, the application of the subject record keeping requirements to the DBNPS records specified above is not required to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule. Thus, special circumstances are present which the NRC may consider, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii), to grant the requested exemption.

2. 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(iii): Compliance would result in undue hardship or other costs that are significantly in excess of those contemplated when the regulation was adopted, or that are significantly in excess of those incurred by others similarly situated.

The records retention requirements applied by the NRC to the construction and operation of nuclear power plants are intended to demonstrate, on a broad basis, that SSCs and activities are supportive of the safety analysis and the requirements of the NRC license for an operating reactor and operability of its safety functions. The records program requirements provide assurance that records will be captured, indexed, and stored in an environmentally suitable and retrievable condition resulting in a significant volume of records of many forms and a significant associated cost. The burden associated with the operations phase records requirements was understood and considered appropriate by the NRC and their reactor licensees. However, the effect of the operations phase record retention requirements that survived the life of a facility and no longer served an underlying safety purpose was not fully understood or considered.

The operating reactor records retention requirements to which DBNPS is currently regulated will no longer be necessary nor appropriate in that the SSCs and activities to which many of the records apply will no longer be important to the facility, the public or worker health and safety.

6. ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT The proposed exemption meets the eligibility criterion for categorical exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25), because the proposed exemption involves: (i) no significant hazards consideration; (ii) no significant change in the types or significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may be released offsite; (iii) no significant increase in individual or cumulative public or occupational radiation exposure; (iv) no significant construction impact; (v) no significant increase in the potential for or consequences from radiological accidents; and (vi) the requirements from which the exemption is sought involve record keeping requirements. Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact statement or environmental assessment need be prepared in connection with the proposed exemption.

Exemption Request from Record Retention Requirements Page 8 of 10 (i) No Significant Hazards Consideration Determination FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) has evaluated the proposed exemption to determine whether or not a significant hazards consideration is involved by focusing on the three standards set forth in 10 CFR 50.92 as discussed below:

1. Does the proposed exemption involve a significant increase in the probability or consequences of an accident previously evaluated?

The proposed exemption is administrative in nature. It has no effect on structures, systems, and components (SSCs) and no effect on the capability of any plant SSC to perform its design function. The proposed exemption would not increase the likelihood of the malfunction of any plant SSC.

The probability of occurrence of previously evaluated accidents is not increased, since most previously analyzed accidents will no longer be able to occur and the probability and consequences of the remaining Fuel Handling Accident are unaffected by the proposed exemption.

Therefore, the proposed exemption does not involve a significant increase in the probability or consequences of an accident previously evaluated.

2. Does the proposed exemption create the possibility of a new or different kind of accident from any accident previously evaluated?

The proposed exemption does not involve a physical alteration of the plant. No new or different type of equipment will be installed and there are no physical modifications to existing equipment associated with the proposed exemption.

Similarly, the proposed exemption will not physically change any SSCs involved in the mitigation of any accidents. Thus, no new initiators or precursors of a new or different kind of accident are created. Furthermore, the proposed exemption does not create the possibility of a new accident as a result of new failure modes associated with any equipment or personnel failures. No changes are being made to parameters within which the plant is normally operated, or in the setpoints which initiate protective or mitigative actions, and no new failure modes are being introduced.

Therefore, the proposed exemption does not create the possibility of a new or different kind of accident from any accident previously evaluated.

3. Does the proposed exemption involve a significant reduction in a margin of safety?

The proposed exemption does not alter the design basis or any safety limits for the plant. The proposed exemption does not impact station operation or any plant SSC that is relied upon for accident mitigation.

Exemption Request from Record Retention Requirements Page 9 of 10 Therefore, the proposed exemption does not involve a significant reduction in a margin of safety.

Based on the above, FENOC concludes that the proposed exemption presents no significant hazards consideration, and, accordingly, a finding of "no significant hazards consideration" is justified.

(ii) There is no significant change in the types or significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may be released offsite.

There are no expected changes in the types, characteristics, or quantities of effluents discharged to the environment associated with the proposed exemption. There are no materials or chemicals introduced into the plant that could affect the characteristics or types of effluents released offsite. In addition, the method of operation of waste processing systems will not be affected by the exemption. The proposed exemption will not result in changes to the design basis requirements of SSCs that function to limit or monitor the release of effluents. All of the SSCs associated with limiting the release of effluents will continue to be able to perform their functions. Therefore, the proposed exemption will result in no significant change to the types or significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may be released offsite.

(iii) There is no significant increase in individual or cumulative public or occupational radiation exposure.

The proposed exemption does not involve any physical alterations to the plant configuration or any changes to the operation of the facility that could lead to a significant increase in individual or cumulative occupational radiation exposure.

(iv) There is no significant construction impact.

No construction activities are associated with the proposed exemption.

(v) There is no significant increase in the potential for or consequences from radiological accidents.

As evaluated in the no significant hazards consideration discussion in Item (i)(1) above, the proposed exemption is administrative in nature and will not affect any previously evaluated radiological accidents. Therefore, there is no significant increase in the potential for or consequences from radiological accidents.

(vi) The requirements from which exemption is sought involve: recordkeeping requirements.

The requirements from which the exemption is sought involve recordkeeping requirements as defined in 10 CFR 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVII; 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3);

and 10 CFR 50.71(c).

Exemption Request from Record Retention Requirements Page 10 of 10

7. PRECEDENT This exemption request is consistent with a similar exemption request that was recently approved by the NRC for the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station (Reference 2).

The Oyster Creek precedent is very similar to this request, in that the Oyster Creek request was submitted before permanent plant shutdown.

8. CONCLUSION The information provided above gives the NRC sufficient basis for granting an exemption from the recordkeeping requirements of 10 CFR 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVII; 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3); and 10 CFR 50.71(c) for: 1) records pertaining to SSCs or activities associated with the nuclear power unit and associated support systems that are no longer required to support the licensing basis at the DBNPS site; and 2) records pertaining to the SFP and associated support systems for the safe storage of fuel in the SFP after all the spent nuclear fuel has been transferred from the SFP to the ISFSI and the SFP is ready for demolition. This exemption does not apply to any record keeping requirements for spent fuel or storage of the spent fuel at the DBNPS ISFSI under 10 CFR 50 or the general requirements of 10 CFR 72.

Based on the considerations discussed above, the requested exemption is authorized by law, otherwise in the public interest, and consistent with the common defense and security.

FENOC requests that the NRC approve this exemption request by May 1, 2020.

FENOC will use the exemption, if granted, to eliminate the applicable records associated with SSCs and activities no longer required by the DBNPS licensing basis.

9. REFERENCES
1. Letter from FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company to NRC, Certification of Permanent Cessation of Power Operations for Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2, Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station, Unit No. 1, and Perry Nuclear Power Plant, Unit No. 1, dated April 25, 2018 (ADAMS Accession Number ML18115A007).
2. Letter from J. G. Lamb (NRC) to B. C. Hanson (Exelon Nuclear), Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station - Exemption from Certain Record Retention Requirements (EPID L-2018-LLE-0006), dated June 26, 2018 (ADAMS Accession Number ML18122A306).
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