[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 215 (Thursday, November 6, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62837-62838]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-27943]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-440]


FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co., Perry Nuclear Power Plant; 
Exemption

1.0 Background

    The FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC/ the licensee) is 
the holder of Facility Operating License No. NPF-58 which authorize 
operation of Perry Nuclear Power Plant (PNPP). The license provides, 
among other things, that the facility is subject to all rules, 
regulations, and orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the 
Commission) now or hereafter in effect.
    The facility consists of a boiling water reactor located on FENOC's 
Perry site, which is located in Lake County, Ohio.

2.0 Request/Action

    Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 50, Sec.  
50.71(e)(4) requires that licensees provide the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) with updates to the Final Safety Analysis Report 
(FSAR) annually or 6 months after each refueling outage provided the 
interval between successive updates does not exceed 24 months. The 
revisions must reflect changes up to 6 months prior to the date of 
filing. This regulation would require the submittal of the PNPP FSAR 
update by September 10, 2003.
    The licensee has requested a one-time schedular exemption from the 
requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4). The proposed exemption would extend 
the PNPP submittal date up to 120 days beyond the required filing date 
of September 10, 2003. The new filing date would be January 8, 2004. 
The requirement to reflect changes up to 6 months prior to the date of 
filing would still apply.

3.0 Discussion

    By letter dated August 8, 2003, the licensee requested a one-time 
schedular exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4). 
Specifically, the licensee requested that it be permitted to delay the 
required update from September 10, 2003, to January 8, 2004, which is a 
120 day delay.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the Commission may, upon application by 
any interested person or upon its own

[[Page 62838]]

initiative, grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 50, 
when (1) the exemptions are authorized by law, will not present an 
undue risk to public health or safety, and are consistent with the 
common defense and security; and (2) when special circumstances are 
present. Section 50.12 (a)(2)(v) of 10 CFR Part 50 indicates that 
special circumstances exist when an exemption would provide only 
temporary relief from the applicable regulation and the licensee has 
made good faith efforts to comply with the regulation.
    The requested exemption is administrative and would not affect the 
plant equipment, operation, or procedures. The FSAR contains the 
analysis, assumptions, and technical details of the facility design and 
operating parameters. Until the FSAR is updated, the recent changes are 
documented in the licensee's safety analysis reports and in the 
Commission's Safety Evaluations for actions requiring prior approval. 
Changes to a facility or its operation are made through the use of 
processes which are defined in regulations other than 10 CFR 50.71, 
such as, 10 CFR 50.59 and 10 CFR 50.54. These regulations provide the 
basis for evaluating proposed changes and ensuring that the changes 
will not present an undue risk to the public health and safety and are 
consistent with the common defense and security. Because the FSAR 
update reflects changes after they have been implemented, extending the 
due date does not present an undue risk to the public health and 
safety.
    While preparing the scheduled submittal, a computer failure 
occurred affecting the PNPP electronic data management system (EDMS) 
which resulted in the loss of over 11,000 electronic documents. Updates 
to the FSAR that were being prepared were among the documents lost. Due 
to the need to reconstruct the updated FSAR information that was lost, 
additional time is needed to complete the submittal. The requirement to 
reflect changes up to 6 months prior to the date of filing would still 
apply. The exemption is requested to allow adequate time to complete 
the submittal.
    The licensee has made a good faith effort to comply with the 
regulations for filing in September 2003, in that the updated FSAR 
submittal was approximately 80 percent completed, however, due to 
circumstances beyond their control the computer supporting the EDMS 
failed resulting in the loss of the documents prepared for the 
submittal. Therefore, the exemption would only provide temporary relief 
from the applicable regulation and the extension would allow the time 
necessary for corrective actions and would result in an improved update 
to the FSAR. Thus, there are special circumstances present which would 
satisfy the requirements of 10 CFR 50.12(1)(2)(v).

4.0 Conclusion

    Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 
50.12(a), the exemption is authorized by law, will not endanger life or 
property or common defense and security, and is, otherwise, in the 
public interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants FirstEnergy 
Nuclear Operating Company, exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 
part 50, Sec.  50.71(e)(4) for PPNP.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that the 
granting of this exemption will not have a significant effect on the 
quality of the human environment (68 FR 59824).
    This exemption is effective upon issuance.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 31st day of October 2003.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Ledyard B. Marsh,
Director, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 03-27943 Filed 11-5-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P