81 FR 71769 - LaCrosseSolutions, LLC; La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor Partial Site Release

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 201 (October 18, 2016)

On June 27, 2016, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received from LaCrosseSolutions, LLC (LS) a request for approval to remove portions of the site from the operating license for the La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor. Specifically, LS intends to remove and release five radiologically non-impacted portions of the site from its license. The partial site release request was submitted concurrently with the La Crosse License Termination Plan and supports ongoing decommissioning activities at the site. The NRC is requesting public comments on LS's partial site release request and the La Crosse License Termination Plan.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 201 (Tuesday, October 18, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71769-71770]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-25124]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-409; NRC-2015-0279]


LaCrosseSolutions, LLC; La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor Partial 
Site Release

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Request for comment.

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SUMMARY: On June 27, 2016, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 
received from LaCrosseSolutions, LLC (LS) a request for approval to 
remove portions of the site from the operating license for the La 
Crosse Boiling Water Reactor. Specifically, LS intends to remove and 
release five radiologically non-impacted portions of the site from its 
license. The partial site release request was submitted concurrently 
with the La Crosse License Termination Plan and supports ongoing 
decommissioning activities at the site. The NRC is requesting public 
comments on LS's partial site release request and the La Crosse License 
Termination Plan.

DATES: Submit comments by November 17, 2016. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the 
Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received 
on or before this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods 
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting 
comments on a specific subject):
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0279. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 
document.
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: OWFN-12-H08, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marlayna Vaaler, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3178; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0279 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain 
publicly-available information related to this action by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0279.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection 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 document referenced (if it is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.
     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.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2015-0279 in in the subject line of 
your comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to 
make your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as entering the comment submissions into 
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove 
identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Discussion

    The La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor (LACBWR) was an Atomic Energy 
Commission (AEC) Demonstration Project Reactor that first went critical 
in 1967, commenced commercial operation in November 1969, and was 
capable of producing 50 megawatts electric. The reactor is located on 
the east bank of the Mississippi River in Vernon County, Wisconsin. The 
Allis-Chalmers Company was the original licensee; the AEC later sold 
the plant to the Dairyland Power Cooperative (DPC) and granted it 
Provisional Operating License No. DPR-45 on August 28, 1973.
    The reactor permanently ceased operations on April 30, 1987, and 
reactor defueling was completed on June 11, 1987. In a letter dated 
August 4, 1987, the NRC terminated DPC's authority to operate LACBWR 
under Provisional Operating License No. DPR-

[[Page 71770]]

45, and granted the licensee a possess-but-not-operate status. By 
letter dated August 18, 1988, the NRC amended DPC's Provisional 
Operating License No. DPR-45 to Possession Only License No. DPR-45 to 
reflect the permanently defueled configuration at LACBWR. Therefore, 
pursuant to the provisions of Sec. Sec.  50.82(a)(1)(iii) and 
50.82(a)(2) of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), 
DPC's part 50 license does not authorize operation of LACBWR or 
emplacement or retention of fuel into the reactor vessel.
    The NRC issued an order to authorize decommissioning of LACBWR and 
approve the licensee's proposed Decommissioning Plan (DP) on August 7, 
1991. Because the NRC approved DPC's DP before August 28, 1996, 
pursuant to 10 CFR 50.82, the DP is considered the Post-Shutdown 
Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR) for LACBWR. The PSDAR public 
meeting was held on May 13, 1998, and subsequent updates to the LACBWR 
decommissioning report have combined the DP and PSDAR into the ``LACBWR 
Decommissioning Plan and Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities 
Report'' (D-Plan/PSDAR).
    The DPC developed an on-site independent spent fuel storage 
installation (ISFSI) and completed the movement of all 333 spent 
nuclear fuel elements from the Fuel Element Storage Well to dry cask 
storage at the ISFSI by September 19, 2012 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML12290A027). The remaining associated buildings and structures are 
ready for dismantlement and decommissioning activities.
    By Order dated May 20, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No. ML16123A073), the 
NRC approved the direct transfer of Possession Only License No. DPR-45 
for LACBWR from DPC to LaCrosseSolutions, LLC (LS), a wholly-owned 
subsidiary of EnergySolutions, LLC, and approved a conforming license 
amendment, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80 and 50.90, to reflect the change. 
The Order was published in the Federal Register on June 2, 2016 (81 FR 
35383). The transfer assigns DPC's licensed possession, maintenance, 
and decommissioning authorities for LACBWR to LS in order to implement 
expedited decommissioning at the LACBWR site. Decommissioning of LACBWR 
is scheduled to be completed in 2018.
    By letter dated June 27, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No. ML16200A095), LS 
submitted the License Termination Plan (LTP) for LACBWR in accordance 
with 10 CFR 50.82(a)(9). The LTP includes a site characterization to 
ensure that final radiation surveys (FRS) cover all areas where 
contamination existed, remains, or has the potential to exist or 
remain; identification of remaining dismantlement activities; plans for 
site remediation; a description of the FRS plan to confirm that LACBWR 
will meet the release criteria in 10 CFR part 20, subpart E; dose-
modeling scenarios that ensure compliance with the radiological 
criteria for license termination; an estimate of the remaining site-
specific decommissioning costs; and a supplement to the Environmental 
Report describing any new information or significant environmental 
changes associated with proposed license termination activities. The 
LACBWR LTP is currently being reviewed by the NRC.
    By letter dated June 27, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No. ML16181A068), LS 
submitted a request for approval to remove portions of the site from 
the part 50 License, No. DPR-45. Specifically, LS intends to remove and 
release five radiologically non-impacted portions of the site from its 
part 50 license in accordance with 10 CFR 50.83(b), ``Release of part 
of a power reactor facility or site for unrestricted use.'' This 
request is the subject of this notice.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 12th day of October 2016.

    For The Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Ted Carter,
Acting Chief, Reactor Decommissioning Branch, Division of 
Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and Waste Programs, Office of 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2016-25124 Filed 10-17-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P