[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 233 (Tuesday, December 5, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62272-62273]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-29538]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-266 and 50-301]


Wisconsin Electric Power Company; (Point Beach Nuclear Plant, 
Units 1 and 2); Exemption

I

    Wisconsin Electric Power Company (WEPCo, the licensee) is the 
holder of Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-24 and DPR-27 which 
authorize operation of the Point Beach Nuclear Plant (PBNP), Unit Nos. 
1 and 2. The units are pressurized water reactors (PWR) located in 
Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. The licenses provide, among other things, 
that the facilities are subject to all rules, regulations, and orders 
of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) now or hereafter 
in effect.

II

    Section 50.54(q) of 10 CFR Part 50 requires a licensee authorized 
to operate a nuclear power reactor to follow and maintain in effect 
Emergency Plans that meet the standards of 10 CFR 50.47(b) and the 
requirements of Appendix E to 10 CFR Part 50. Section IV.F.2.b of 
Appendix E requires that each licensee annually exercise its Emergency 
Plan.
    The NRC may grant exemptions from the requirements of the 
regulations which, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, 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. Special circumstances exist 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 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E Section IV.F.2.b is to 
demonstrate that the state of emergency preparedness provides 
reasonable assurance that adequate protective measures can and will be 
taken in the event of a radiological emergency.

III

    By letters dated October 6, 1995 and November 3, 1995, the licensee 
requested a one-time exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.47 
and Appendix E to conduct an annual exercise of the Point Beach 
Emergency Plan in 1995. The Point Beach utility-only annual emergency 
exercise is currently scheduled for December 13, 1995. The licensee 
requested an exemption from the annual exercise requirement for 1995 
based on: (1) their continued excellent performance in the area of 
emergency preparedness, (2) their conduct, earlier in the year, of a 
comprehensive drill involving major elements of the emergency plan, and 
(3) the potential for the 1995 exercise to have a negative impact on 
dry cask fuel storage activities.
    The Point Beach Nuclear Plant, in conjunction with the State of 
Wisconsin, and Manitowoc and Kewaunee counties, conducted a full 
participation emergency preparedness exercise on December 6, 1994. 
Offsite emergency response activities were evaluated by the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the onsite emergency response 
activities were evaluated by the NRC. The NRC's evaluation is 
documented in NRC Inspection Report Nos. 50-266/94023 and 50-301/94023, 
dated December 16, 1994. The report states that no violations or 
deviations were identified and overall performance during the exercise 
was good. The licensee has implemented actions to correct the one 
exercise weakness, concerning offsite monitoring team vehicle 
readiness, identified during the December 6, 1994, exercise. The 
licensee has received an ``excellent'' rating on the last two 
Systematic Assessment of Licensee Performance reports in the area of 
emergency preparedness (Inspection Report Nos: 266/93001; 301/93001, 
dated July 16, 1993, and 266/94001; 301/94001 dated October 21, 1994).
    The licensee performed an emergency drill on August 29, 1995, 
involving major elements of the Point Beach Emergency Plan. All 
emergency response facilities were activated for the drill and 
communications were made to the State. The licensee performed a 
thorough critique of the drill to identify strengths, deficiencies, 
weaknesses, and areas for improvement. No deficiencies, three 
weaknesses, and several areas for improvement were identified during 
the drill. The licensee has a program for correcting the weaknesses and 
for implementing actions to address the areas for improvement. The 
licensee plans to correct weaknesses identified during the drill prior 
to the 1996 full-participation exercise.
    Appendix E to Part 50 requires that licensees shall enable any 
State or local government located within the plume exposure pathway 
emergency planning zone (EPZ) to participate in annual exercises when 
requested by such State or local government. The licensee has discussed 
the request for exemption from the 1995 annual emergency preparedness 
exercise with the State and local governments within the EPZ. The State 
and local governments within the EPZ have informed the licensee that 

[[Page 62273]]
they do not regard the exemption as a missed opportunity for them to 
exercise their emergency plan. The State and local governments within 
the Point Beach EPZ participated in the October 11, 1995, exercise at 
the nearby Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant. The licensee's next emergency 
preparedness exercise is scheduled for August 1996 and will include the 
participation of State and local government emergency response 
organizations.
    The licensee states that the 1995 exercise, as planned, is 
anticipated to have a negative impact on the licensee's oversight of 
the storage of spent fuel in an independent spent fuel storage 
installation at the Point Beach Nuclear Plant. The licensee had hoped 
to load their first dry storage container prior to mid-September. 
However, due to various reasons, they are now planning to load the 
first container in early December following the Point Beach Unit 2 
refueling outage which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 
November. The licensee states that it is prudent to load a dry storage 
container as soon as possible in order to minimize the time that Point 
Beach will not have the capacity for a full-core offload. In addition, 
the licensee states that emergency response personnel who would be 
involved in the emergency exercise will be involved in oversight of the 
process for loading the storage containers.

IV.

    Based upon a review of the licensee's request for an exemption for 
the requirement to conduct an exercise of the Point Beach Nuclear Plant 
Emergency Plan in 1995, the NRC staff finds that performance of the 
1995 utility-only annual exercise is not needed to achieve the 
underlying purpose of the regulation, that is, to demonstrate that the 
state of emergency preparedness provides reasonable assurance that 
adequate protective measures can and will be taken in the event of a 
radiological emergency. The licensee has demonstrated excellent 
performance in the emergency preparedness area. The integrated 
emergency preparedness drill in August of 1995 provided a good test of 
the emergency preparedness program. The licensee performed a thorough 
critique of the drill and no deficiencies were identified during the 
drill. The licensee plans to correct weaknesses which were identified 
during the drill prior to the 1996 full-participation exercise.
    The Commission has determined, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 50.12, that 
this exemption as described in Section II above is authorized by law, 
will not present an undue risk to the public health and safety, and is 
consistent with the common defense and security. Furthermore, the 
Commission has determined that special circumstances as provided in 10 
CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii) are present in that application of the regulation 
in the particular circumstances is not necessary to achieve the 
underlying purpose of the rule.
    The Commission hereby grants a one-time exemption from the 
requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, Section IV.F.2.b, for 
annually exercising the onsite Emergency Plan at the Point Beach 
Nuclear Plant in the year 1995.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that the 
granting of this exemption will have no significant impact on the 
quality of the human environment (60 FR 58685).
    This exemption is effective upon issuance.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jack W. Roe,
Director, Division of Reactor Projects III/IV, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 95-29538 Filed 12-4-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P