[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 234 (Wednesday, December 4, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64379-64381]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-30902]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Final Memorandum of Understanding Between the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission and the State of Louisiana

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice is to advise the public of the issuance of a Final 
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) and the State of Louisiana. The MOU provides the basis 
for mutually agreeable procedures whereby the State of Louisiana may 
utilize the NRC Emergency Response Data System (ERDS) to receive data 
during an emergency at a commercial nuclear power plant in Louisiana. 
Public comments were addressed in conjunction with the MOU with the 
State of Michigan published in the Federal Register Vol. 57, No. 28, 
February 11, 1992.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This MOU is effective October 31, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Copies of all NRC documents are available for public 
inspection and copying for a fee in the NRC Public Document Room, 2120 
L Street, NW. (Lower Level), Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John R. Jolicoeur or Eric Weinstein, 
Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Telephone (301) 415-6383 
or (301) 415-7559.
    This attached MOU is intended to formalize and define the manner in 
which the NRC will cooperate with the State of Louisiana to provide 
data related to plant conditions during emergencies at commercial 
nuclear power plants in Louisiana.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of November 1996.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Edward L. Jordan,
Director, Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data.

Agreement Pertaining to the Emergency Response Data System Between the 
State of Louisiana and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

I. Authority

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the State of 
Louisiana enter into this Agreement under the authority of Section 274i 
of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.
    Louisiana recognizes the Federal Government, primarily the NRC, as 
having the exclusive authority and responsibility to regulate the 
radiological and national security aspects of the construction and 
operation of nuclear production or utilization facilities, except for 
certain authority over air emissions to states by the Clean Air Act.

II. Background

    A. The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Energy

[[Page 64380]]

Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended, authorize the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC) to license and regulate, among other 
activities, the manufacture, construction, and operation of utilization 
facilities (nuclear power plants) in order to assure common defense and 
security and to protect the public health and safety. Under these 
statutes, the NRC is the responsible agency regulating nuclear power 
plant safety.
    B. NRC believes that its mission to protect the public health and 
safety can be served by a policy of cooperation with State governments 
and has formally adopted a policy statement on ``Cooperation with 
States at Commercial Nuclear Power Plants and Other Nuclear Production 
or Utilization Facilities'' (54 FR 7530, February 22, 1989). The policy 
statement provides that NRC will consider state proposals to enter into 
instruments of cooperation for certain programs when these programs 
have provisions to ensure close cooperation with NRC. This agreement is 
intended to be consistent with, and implement, the provisions of the 
NRC's policy statement.
    C. NRC fulfills its statutory mandate to regulate power plant 
safety by, among other things, responding to emergencies at licensee's 
facilities and monitoring the status and adequacy of the licensee's 
responses to emergency situations.
    D. Louisiana fulfills its statutory mandate for preparedness, 
response, mitigation, and recovery in the event of an accident at a 
nuclear power plant through the Louisiana Revised Statutes, Subtitle II 
of Title 30, Chapter 6.

III. Scope

    A. This Agreement defines the way in which NRC and Louisiana will 
cooperate in planning and maintaining the capability to transfer 
reactor plant data via the Emergency Response Data System (ERDS) during 
emergencies at nuclear power plants in the State of Louisiana.
    B. It is understood by the NRC and the State of Louisiana that ERDS 
data will only be transmitted by a licensee during emergencies 
classified at the Alert level or above, during scheduled tests, or 
during exercises when available.
    C. Nothing in this Agreement is intended to restrict or expand the 
statutory authority of NRC, the State of Louisiana, or to affect or 
otherwise alter the terms of any agreement in effect under the 
authority of Section 274b of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; 
nor is anything in this Agreement intended to restrict or expand the 
authority of the State of Louisiana on matters not within the scope of 
this Agreement.
    D. Nothing in this Agreement confers upon the State of Louisiana 
authority to (1) interpret or modify NRC regulations and NRC 
requirements imposed on the licensee; (2) take enforcement actions; (3) 
issue confirmatory letters; (4) amend, modify, or revoke a license 
issued by NRC; or (5) direct or recommend nuclear power plant employees 
to take or not to take any action. Authority for all such actions is 
reserved exclusively to the NRC.

IV. NRC's General Responsibilities

    Under this agreement, NRC is responsible for maintaining the ERDS. 
ERDS is a system designed to receive, store, and retransmit data from 
in-plant data systems at nuclear power plants during emergencies. The 
NRC will provide user access to ERDS data to one user terminal for the 
State of Louisiana during emergencies at nuclear power plants which 
have implemented an ERDS interface and for which any portion of the 
plant's 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) lies within the State of 
Louisiana. The NRC agrees to provide unique software already available 
to NRC (not commercially available) that was developed under NRC 
contract for configuring an ERDS workstation.

V. State of Louisiana General Responsibilities

    A. Louisiana (through its lead radiological agency) will, in 
cooperation with the NRC, establish a capability to receive ERDS data. 
To this end, Louisiana will provide the necessary computer hardware and 
commercially licensed software required for ERDS data transfer to 
users.
    B. Louisiana agrees not to use ERDS to access data from nuclear 
power plants for which a portion of the 10 mile Emergency Planning Zone 
does not fall within its State boundary.
    C. For the purpose of minimizing the impact on plant operators, 
clarification of ERDS data will be pursued through the NRC.

VI. Implementation--Louisiana and the NRC agree to work in concert to 
assure that the following communications and information exchange 
protocol regarding the NRC ERDS are followed:

    A. Louisiana and the NRC agree in good faith to make available to 
each other information within the intent and scope of this Agreement.
    B. NRC and Louisiana agree to meet, as necessary, to exchange 
information on matters of common concern pertinent to this Agreement. 
Unless otherwise agreed, such meetings will be held in the NRC 
Operations Center. The affected utilities will be kept informed of 
pertinent information covered by this Agreement.
    C. To preclude the premature public release of sensitive 
information, NRC and Louisiana will protect sensitive information to 
the extent permitted by the Federal Freedom of Information Act, the 
State of Louisiana Public Record Act (Louisiana Revised Statute 44), 10 
CFR 2.790, and other applicable authority.
    D. NRC will conduct periodic tests of licensee ERDS data links. A 
copy of the test schedule will be provided to the Louisiana Radiation 
Protection Division (State of Louisiana's lead radiological agency) by 
the NRC. The Louisiana Radiation Protection Division may test its 
ability to access ERDS data during these scheduled tests, or may 
schedule independent tests of the State link with the NRC.
    E. NRC will provide access to ERDS for emergency exercises with 
reactor units capable of transmitting exercise data to ERDS. For 
exercises in which the NRC is not participating, the Louisiana 
Radiation Protection Division will coordinate with NRC in advance to 
ensure ERDS availability. NRC reserves the right to preempt ERDS use 
for any exercise in progress in the event of an actual event at any 
licensed nuclear power plant.

VII. Contacts

    A. The principal senior management contacts for this Agreement will 
be the Director, Incident Response Division, Office for Analysis and 
Evaluation of Operational Data, and the Administrator, Louisiana 
Radiation Protection Division. These individuals may designate 
appropriate staff representatives for the purpose of administering this 
Agreement.
    B. Identification of these contacts is not intended to restrict 
communication between NRC and the Louisiana Radiation Division staff 
members on technical and other day-to-day activities.

VIII. Resolution of Disagreements

    A. If disagreements arise about matters within the scope of this 
Agreement, NRC and Louisiana will work together to resolve these 
differences.
    B. Resolution of differences between the State and NRC staff over 
issues arising out of this Agreement will be the initial responsibility 
of the NRC Incident Response Division management.
    C. Differences which cannot be resolved in accordance with Sections

[[Page 64381]]

VIII.A and VIII.B will be reviewed and resolved by the Director, Office 
for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data.
    D. The NRC's General Counsel has the final authority to provide 
legal interpretation of the Commission's regulations.

IX. Effective Date

    This Agreement will take effect after it has been signed by both 
parties.

X. Duration

    A formal review, not less than 1 year after the effective date, 
will be performed by the NRC to evaluate implementation of the 
Agreement and resolve any problems identified. This Agreement will be 
subject to periodic reviews and may be amended or modified upon written 
agreement by both parties, and may be terminated upon 30 days written 
notice by either party.

XI. Separability

    If any provision(s) of this Agreement, or the application of any 
provision(s) to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the 
remainder of this Agreement and the application of such provisions to 
other persons or circumstances will not be affected.

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

James M. Taylor,
Executive Director for Operations.
    For the State of Louisiana.

    Dated: October 31, 1996.
Gus Von Bodungen,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Air Quality and Radiation Protection, 
Department of Environmental Quality.
[FR Doc. 96-30902 Filed 12-3-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M