[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 205 (Tuesday, October 24, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54525-54527]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-26273]



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[[Page 54526]]


NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-390]


Tennessee Valley Authority, Watts Bar Power Station, Unit 1

Exemption

I

    Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA, the applicant) is the holder of 
Construction Permit CPPR-91, which authorizes the construction of Watts 
Bar Power Station, Unit 1 (WBN, the facility). Construction permit 
applications must contain emergency plans pursuant to 10 CFR 50.34. 10 
CFR 50.34(b)(6)(v) provides that the Final Safety Analysis Report will 
contain plans for coping with emergencies, which shall include the 
items in Appendix E of 10 CFR Part 50. When converting from a 
construction permit to a license upon completion of the construction or 
alteration of a facility in compliance with the terms and conditions of 
the construction permit and subject to any necessary testing of the 
facility for health or safety purposes, the Commission will, in the 
absence of good cause shown to the contrary, issue a license of the 
class for which the construction permit was issued or an appropriate 
amendment of the license, as the case may be. An operating license 
provides, among other things, that it is subject to all rules, 
regulations and orders of the Commission now or hereafter in effect. 
The facility will consist of two pressurized water reactors located at 
the licensee's site in Rhea County, Tennessee, even though only one is 
being considered for an operating license at this time.

II

    Section IV.F.2(a) of Appendix E of 10 CFR Part 50 requires that a 
full participation exercise be conducted within 2 years before the 
issuance of the first operating license for full power (one authorizing 
operation above 5 percent of rated power) of the first reactor and 
shall include participation by each State and local government within 
the plume exposure pathway emergency planning zone (EPZ) and each State 
within the ingestion pathway exposure EPZ.
    The NRC may grant exemptions from the requirements of the 
regulations which, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a), are (1) Authorized by 
law, will not present an undue risk to the public health and safety, 
and are consistent with the common defense and security; and (2) 
present special circumstances. Section 50.12(a)(2) of 10 CFR Part 50 
describes the special circumstances for an exemption. Special 
circumstances are present when the 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 
[10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii)]. The underlying purpose of Appendix E, Section 
IV.F.2(a) is to demonstrate the integrated capabilities of appropriate 
local and State authorities and licensee personnel to adequately assess 
and respond to an accident at a commercial nuclear power plant within 2 
years before the issuance of the first operating license for full power 
(authorizing operation above 5 percent of rated power) of the first 
reactor. Special circumstances are also present when compliance would 
result in undue hardship or other costs that are significantly in 
excess of those contemplated when the regulation was adopted [10 CFR 
50.12(a)(2)(iii)]. Additionally, special circumstances are present when 
the exemption would provide only temporary relief from the applicable 
regulation and the licensee or applicant has made good faith efforts to 
comply with the regulation [10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(v)].

III

    By letter dated July 19, 1995, as supplemented by letters dated 
July 26, and September 6, 1995, TVA requested an exemption from the 
ingestion pathway portion of the requirement of Appendix E of 10 CFR 
Part 50 to conduct a prelicensing full-participation exercise of the 
Watts Bar Emergency Plan in 1995. TVA plans to conduct a full-
participation emergency preparedness exercise, limited to the 10-mile 
plume exposure pathway EPZ, in November 1995. The Watts Bar plant, in 
conjunction with the State of Tennessee and the Counties of McMinn, 
Meigs, Rhea, Cumberland, and Roane, conducted a full participation 
emergency preparedness exercise, which included both the plume exposure 
and ingestion exposure pathway EPZs, on October 6-7, 1993. Offsite 
emergency response activities associated with the exercise were 
evaluated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the 
onsite emergency response activities were evaluated by the NRC. The 
NRC's evaluation of onsite emergency response activities is documented 
in Inspection Report 50-390/93-64, dated November 15, 1993. The report 
states that no violations, deviations, or exercise weaknesses were 
identified. It also states that the October 6-7, 1993, full-
participation emergency preparedness exercise demonstrated the ability 
of the applicant's emergency response organization to respond to a 
simulated emergency condition and to implement its radiological 
emergency plan and implementing procedures.
    FEMA's final exercise report for the October 1993 exercise, dated 
August 11, 1994, identified one deficiency. This deficiency involved 
the inability of the State of Tennessee to demonstrate the capability 
to provide both an alert signal and an initial instructional message to 
the populated areas throughout the 10-mile plume EPZ within 15 minutes 
of the decision to activate the alert and notification system to 
implement a protective action decision. The deficiency was shown to be 
corrected during a remedial exercise conducted on November 15, 1993. 
The FEMA report also indicates that the States of North Carolina and 
Georgia lie within the WBN 50-mile ingestion exposure pathway EPZ. 
These states did not participate in the October 1993 exercise because 
the State of Georgia participated in the 1992 exercise at the Vogtle 
site and the State of North Carolina participated in the 1991 exercise 
at the McGuire site. No deficiencies were noted concerning ingestion 
pathway exposure activities in the State of Tennessee during the 
October 1993 exercise. FEMA concluded that, based on the results of the 
October 6-7, 1993, exercise and the November 15, 1993, remedial 
exercise, the offsite radiological emergency response plans and 
preparedness for the State of Tennessee and the affected local 
jurisdictions, site specific to the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, can be 
implemented and are adequate to provide reasonable assurance that 
appropriate measures can be taken to protect the health and safety of 
the public in the event of a radiological emergency at the site.
    TVA's exemption request extends only to that portion of the full-
participation, prelicensing exercise requirement that provides for an 
ingestion exposure pathway (50 miles) exercise of the type that plants 
licensed for full-power operations are required to conduct once every 6 
years. Section IV.F.(2)(d) of Appendix E of 10 CFR Part 50 indicates 
that States should participate in the ingestion pathway portion of 
exercises at least once every 6 years. As noted above, the State of 
Tennessee participated in an ingestion exposure pathway exercise at 
Watts Bar in October 1993. It also participated in an ingestion 
exposure pathway exercise at Sequoyah in 1992. In anticipation of 
receiving an operating license in 1985, TVA conducted its first pre-
license full-participation exercise on September 11, 1984. A second 
prelicensing full participation exercise was conducted on July 25, 
1985, before TVA suspending 

[[Page 54527]]
its efforts to obtain the operating license for Watts Bar Unit 1.
    In a letter dated July 3, 1995, the Tennessee Emergency Management 
Agency (TEMA) indicated that the State and local governments in the 
Watts Bar area have conducted three full-participation exercises for 
Watts Bar since 1983 with the last on October 6-7, 1993. TEMA stated 
that another licensing exercise for Watts Bar would not be cost 
effective in that the State and local governments exercise both the 
Watts Bar and Sequoyah plans regularly and the same personnel 
participate in both the Watts Bar and Sequoyah exercises. TEMA also 
noted that the State of Tennessee has participated in exercises since 
the late 1970's and no problems have been experienced at either site 
with offsite programs. Consequently, these State and local government 
agencies would be required to duplicate past efforts at significant 
expense. Additionally, TEMA did not budget for State participation in a 
second prelicensing full-participation WBN exercise in calendar year 
1995, since the frequency requirements for State participation in the 
emergency plan exercise would have been met under the previous schedule 
for the licensing of WBN. If the prelicensing 50-mile ingestion pathway 
requirement is not exempted, it is estimated that an additional 
$160,000 would be expended by the State. Furthermore, State resources 
have been strained in responding to six major emergencies which have 
occurred in the last 15 months, including tornadoes, flooding and ice 
storms. The State has spent in excess of $30 million mitigating the 
consequences of these major emergencies. TEMA further states that the 
local government agencies did not include funding for another 
prelicensing full-participation exercise in calendar year 1995. 
Consequently, they would have to redirect financial and personnel 
resources to support such an effort. Since TVA and the State and local 
governments depend heavily upon volunteer organizations to support the 
radiological emergency preparedness program, there is concern that the 
repeated use of the volunteers in emergency exercises would lessen 
their enthusiasm for support of another ingestion pathway exercise.
    The staff's last Systematic Assessment of Licensee Performance 
(SALP) report (Inspection Report Nos. 50-390/94-41 and 50-391/94-41) 
for Watts Bar for the period of June 13, 1993 through June 18, 1994, 
indicates that the emergency preparedness program was excellent, 
emergency response training was strong, and that TVA's emergency 
response facilities were good and capable of supporting emergency 
operations. Additionally, the report indicated that individuals 
demonstrated knowledge of duties and an ability to respond to emergency 
conditions and mitigate the consequences during the October 1993 full-
scale exercise and that TVA conducted thorough critiques and was timely 
in correcting identified problems.
    The exemption from the ingestion exposure pathway exercise portion 
of Section IV(F)(2)(a) to Appendix E of 10 CFR Part 50 would provide 
relief from what was originally intended as a ``one-time'' prelicense 
exercise requirement. As discussed above, TVA has already conducted 
three full-participation plume and ingestion pathway exercises to 
support anticipated operating license scheduled dates. In view of past 
and planned emergency planning efforts and successful results, TVA has 
made good faith efforts to fully comply with the prelicense emergency 
exercise rule. If WBN does not obtain a full-power operating license 
within 2 years of the November 1995 exercise, another prelicensing 
full-participation exercise, to include both the plume and ingestion 
exposure pathway EPZs, will have to be conducted.

IV

    On the basis of its review of the applicant's request for an 
exemption from the requirement to conduct the ingestion exposure 
pathway portion of the qualifying full-participation exercise of the 
Watts Bar Emergency Plan, the staff finds that the underlying purpose 
of the regulation has been achieved through the applicant's conduct of 
the ingestion exposure pathway portion of the October 6-7, 1993, full 
participation exercise at Watts Bar and the ingestion exposure pathway 
portion of the September 1992 full-participation exercise at Sequoyah. 
In addition, because the States of Georgia and North Carolina have 
participated in ingestion pathway exercises at other nuclear power 
plant sites within their respective borders, as well as the fact that 
only limited actions are required of these States in the WBN ingestion 
pathway exposure EPZ, the staff concludes the underlying purpose for 
their potential participation in the ingestion pathway portion of the 
November 1995 exercise at WBN has been achieved. FEMA concurs with this 
exemption.
    For these reasons, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 
10 CFR 50.12, the exemption requested by the applicant is authorized by 
law, will not present an undue risk to public health and safety, and is 
consistent with the common defense and security and that special 
circumstances are present as set forth in 10 CFR 50.12(a) (ii), (iii), 
and (v).
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that 
granting of this exemption will have no significant impact on the 
environment (60 FR 53814, dated October 17, 1995). A copy of the 
applicant's request for exemption and supporting documentation is 
available for public inspection at the Commission's Public Document 
Room, 2120 L Street, NW, Washington, DC and at the local public 
document room located at Chattanooga-Hamilton Library, 1101 Broad 
Street, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402.
    This exemption is effective upon issuance.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 17th day of October 1995.

    For The Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Steven A. Varga,
Director, Division of Reactor Projects--I/II, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 95-26273 Filed 10-23-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P