[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