[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 172 (Tuesday, September 5, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53768-53769]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-22650]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-206]


In the Matter of Southern California Edison Company; San Onofre 
Nuclear Generating Station, Unit 1

Exemption

I

    Southern California Edison Company (SCE or the licensee) is the 
holder of Facility Operating License No. DPR-13, which authorizes the 
licensee to possess the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Unit 1 
(SONGS1). The license states, in part, that the facility is subject to 
all the rules, regulations, and orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (the Commission or NRC) now or hereafter in effect. The 
facility consists of a pressurized-water reactor located at the 
licensee's site in San Diego County, California. The facility is 
permanently shut down and defueled, and the licensee is no longer 
authorized to operate or place fuel in the reactor.

II

    It is stated in Title 10 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations 
(10 CFR) section 73.55, ``Requirements for physical protection of 
licensed activities in nuclear power reactors against radiological 
sabotage,'' paragraph (a), that ``The licensee shall establish and 
maintain an onsite physical protection system and security organization 
which will have as its objective to provide high assurance that 
activities involving special nuclear material are not inimical to the 
common defense and security and do not constitute an unreasonable risk 
to the public health and safety.''
    By letter dated April 28, 2000, as supplemented by letter dated 
July 21, 2000, the licensee requested 12 exemptions from certain 
requirements of 10 CFR 73.55. These requirements are: (1) 10 CFR 
73.55(a) the requirement that any emergency suspension of safeguards 
measures be approved by a licensed senior operator, (2) 10 CFR 
73.55(c)(1)--the requirement that a protected area be maintained, (3) 
10 CFR 73.55(c)(3)--the requirement that isolation zones be maintained 
in outdoor areas adjacent to the physical barrier at the perimeter of 
the protected area, (4) 10 CFR 73.55(c)(4)--the requirement that 
intrusion detection equipment for the perimeter of the protected area 
be utilized, (5) 10 CFR 73.55(c)(5)--the requirement that exterior 
illumination levels for the spent fuel building be maintained at the 
0.2 footcandle level, (6) 10 CFR 73.55(c)(6)--the requirement that the 
control room be bullet resisting, (7) 10 CFR 73.55(c)(7)--the 
requirement that a vehicle barrier system be maintained around the 
spent fuel pool, (8) 10 CFR 73.55(d)(1)--the requirement that the last 
access control point be bullet resisting, (9) 10 CFR 73.55(e)(1)--the 
requirements that the central alarm station be located within the 
protected area, that there be a secondary alarm station, and that a 
secondary power supply system for the alarm annunciation equipment be 
within a vital area, (10) 10 CFR 73.55(e)(2)--the requirement for the 
alarm transmission lines to be tamper indicating and self-checking, 
(11) 10 CFR 73.55(h)(3)--the requirement to have five or more guards 
per shift immediately available to fulfill response commitments, and 
(12) 10 CFR 73.55(h)(6)--the requirement to remotely observe the 
isolation zone and physical barrier at the perimeter of the protected 
area. The proposed exemption is a preliminary step toward enabling SCE 
to revise the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Security Plan under 
10 CFR 50.54(p) to develop and implement a defueled security plan to 
protect against radiological sabotage at SONGS1, a permanently shutdown 
reactor facility with fuel stored in the spent fuel storage pool.

III

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5, ``Specific exemptions,'' the Commission 
may, upon application of any interested person or upon its own 
initiative, grant such exemptions in this part as it determines are 
authorized by law and will not endanger life or property or the common 
defense and security, and are otherwise in the public interest. 
Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.55 the Commission is allowed to authorize a 
licensee to provide alternative measures for protection against 
radiological sabotage, provided the licensee demonstrates that the 
proposed measures meet the general performance requirements of the 
regulation and that the overall level of system performance provides 
protection against radiological sabotage equivalent to that provided by 
the regulation.
    The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 73.55 is to provide reasonable 
assurance that adequate security measures can be taken in the event of 
an act of radiological sabotage. Because of its permanently shutdown 
and defueled condition, the number of target sets susceptible to 
sabotage attacks has been reduced. In addition, with more than 90 
months of radiological and heat decay since SONGS1 was shut down in 
1992, the radiological hazards associated with the remaining target 
sets, even if subject to sabotage attack, do not pose a significant 
threat to the public health and safety.

IV

    For the foregoing reasons, the Commission has determined that the 
proposed alternative measures for protection against radiological 
sabotage meet the same assurance objective and the general performance 
requirements of 10 CFR 73.55 considering the permanently shutdown 
conditions at SONGS1 with all of the fuel in the spent fuel pool. In 
addition, the Commission has determined that the overall level of the 
proposed system's performance, as limited by this exemption, would not 
result in a reduction in the physical protection capabilities for the 
protection of special nuclear material or of SONGS1. Specifically, an 
exemption is being granted for 12 specific areas in

[[Page 53769]]

which the licensee is authorized to modify the existing security plan 
commitments commensurate with the security threats associated with a 
permanently shutdown and defueled site for Unit 1 as follows:
    (1) 10 CFR 73.55(a)--the requirement that any emergency suspension 
of safeguards measures be approved by a licensed senior operator in 
accordance with 10 CFR 50.54(x) and 50.54(y) for Unit 1 and that 
authority assigned to a certified fuel handler, (2) 10 CFR 
73.55(c)(1)--the requirement that a protected area be maintained, since 
there are no vital areas, (3) 10 CFR 73.55(c)(3)--the requirement that 
isolation zones be maintained, since there are no vital areas, (4) 10 
CFR 73.55(c)(4)--the requirement that an exterior intrusion detection 
system be located around the spent fuel building of the new security 
area, (5) 10 CFR 73.55(c)(5)--the requirement that the exterior 
illumination levels surrounding the spent fuel building be maintained 
at 0.2 footcandle measured horizontally at ground level, (6) 10 CFR 
73.55(c)(6)--the requirement that the control room walls, doors, 
ceiling, floor, and any windows in the walls and in the doors be 
bullet-resisting, (7) 10 CFR 73.55(c)(7)--the requirement that a 
vehicle barrier system be maintained around the spent fuel building, 
(8) 10 CFR 73.55(d)(1)--the requirement that the individual responsible 
for the last access control function must be isolated within a bullet-
resisting structure to assure the ability to respond or to summon 
assistance, (9) 10 CFR 73.55(e)(1)--the requirement that a continuously 
manned central alarm station be located within the protected area, the 
requirement for a continuously manned secondary alarm station, and the 
need for a secondary power supply system for the alarm annunciation 
equipment to be located within a vital area, (10) 10 CFR 73.55(e)(2)--
the requirement that alarm transmission lines be tamper indicating and 
self-checking, (11) 10 CFR 73.55(h)(3)--the requirement that at least 
five guards be immediately available for responding to threats, theft, 
and radiological sabotage associated with the spent fuel pool, and (12) 
10 CFR 73.55(h)(6)--the requirement that assessment capability of the 
protected area and isolation zones be provided.
    Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 
73.5, this exemption is authorized by law, will not endanger life or 
property or the common defense and security, and is otherwise in the 
public interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants SCE an 
exemption as described above from those requirements of 10 CFR 73.55 at 
SONGS1 in its permanently shutdown and defueled condition based on the 
safety evaluation enclosed with NRC letter to SCE dated August 29, 
2000, which issues the exemption.
    This exemption does not apply to SONGS Unit 2 or 3 or to the 
storage of any SONGS Unit 2 or 3 spent fuel in the SONGS Unit 1 spent 
fuel pool.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that this 
exemption will not have a significant effect on the quality of the 
human environment (65 FR 42402, dated July 10, 2000).
    This exemption is effective upon issuance.

    Dated: Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of August 
2000.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John A. Zwolinski,
Director, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 00-22650 Filed 9-1-00; 8:45 am]
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