Southern Nuclear Operating Company; Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Units 1 & 2; Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Exemption

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a one- time exemption to Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC), authorizing Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Units 1 and 2 (Vogtle 1 and 2) to retain a single Neutron Source Assembly (NSA) in its current storage cell within a multi-purpose canister ((MPC-32), serial number MPC-707) at the Vogtle Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation, in a manner that is inconsistent with the loading restrictions specified in Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 1014, Amendment 11, for the HI- STORM 100S Version B dry storage system. The exemption allows the NSA to remain in a peripheral basket cell, contrary to Appendix B, Table 2.1-1, which restricts NSA containing assemblies to designated interior cells. The NRC's determination is based on SNC's safety evaluation and supporting analyses demonstrating that the configuration continues to meet applicable safety requirements for criticality control, shielding, thermal performance, structural integrity, and confinement.