[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 83 (Thursday, April 29, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23542-23546]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-9691]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Notice for Opportunity to Comment on Model Safety Evaluation on
Technical Specification Improvement to Eliminate Requirements to
Provide Monthly Operating Reports and Occupational Radiation Exposure
Reports Using the Consolidated Line Item Improvement Process
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Request for Comment.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the staff of the Nuclear
Regulatory
[[Page 23543]]
Commission (NRC) has prepared a model safety evaluation (SE) relating
to the elimination of requirements for licensees to provide monthly
operating reports (MORs) and occupational radiation exposure reports
(ORERs). The requirements to submit MORs and ORERs are imposed on
licensees through technical specifications. The NRC staff has also
prepared a model no significant hazards consideration (NSHC)
determination relating to this matter. The purpose of these models is
to permit the NRC to efficiently process amendments that propose to
remove the requirements for these reports. Licensees of nuclear power
reactors to which the models apply could request amendments confirming
the applicability of the SE and NSHC determination to their reactors
and providing the requested plant-specific verifications and
commitments. The NRC staff is requesting comments on the model SE and
model NSHC determination prior to announcing their availability for
referencing in license amendment applications.
DATES: The comment period expires May 28, 2004. Comments received after
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the
Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received
on or before this date.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted either electronically or via U.S.
mail.
Submit written comments to: Chief, Rules and Directives Branch,
Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mail
Stop T-6-D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001.
Hand deliver comments to 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland,
between 7:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays.
Copies of comments received may be examined at the NRC's Public
Document Room, located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike
(first floor), Rockville, Maryland.
Comments may be submitted by electronic mail to [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Reckley, Mail Stop: O-7D1,
Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, telephone 301-415-1323.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Regulatory Issue Summary 2000-06, ``Consolidated Line Item
Improvement Process for Adopting Standard Technical Specification
Changes for Power Reactors,'' was issued on March 20, 2000. The
consolidated line item improvement process (CLIIP) is intended to
improve the efficiency and transparency of NRC licensing processes.
This is accomplished by processing proposed changes to the Standard
Technical Specifications (STS) in a manner that supports subsequent
license amendment applications. The CLIIP includes an opportunity for
the public to comment on proposed changes to the STS following a
preliminary assessment by the NRC staff and finding that the change
will likely be offered for adoption by licensees. This notice is
soliciting comment on a proposed change to the STS that removes
requirements for providing MORs and ORERs. The CLIIP directs the NRC
staff to evaluate any comments received for a proposed change to the
STS and to either reconsider the change or to proceed with announcing
the availability of the change to licensees. Those licensees opting to
apply for the subject change to technical specifications are
responsible for reviewing the staff's evaluation, referencing the
applicable technical justifications, and providing any necessary plant
specific information. Each amendment application made in response to
the notice of availability would be processed and noticed in accordance
with applicable rules and NRC procedures.
This notice for comment involves the elimination of requirements in
the administrative controls in technical specifications for licensees
to submit selected reports. The removal of the requirements to submit
MORs and ORERs was proposed by the Technical Specification Task Force
(TSTF) in Revision 1 to STS Change Traveler TSTF-369, accessible
electronically from the Agencywide Documents Access and Management
System's (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet (ADAMS
Accession Number ML040050211) at the NRC web site http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who
encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should
contact the NRC Public Document Room Reference staff by telephone at 1-
800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to [email protected].
Applicability
This proposed change to remove requirements for MORs and ORERs is
applicable to all nuclear power reactors.
To efficiently process incoming license amendment applications, the
staff requests each licensee applying for the changes addressed by
TSTF-369 using the CLIIP to address the following plant-specific
verifications and regulatory commitments. The CLIIP does not prevent
licensees from requesting an alternative approach or proposing the
changes without the requested verifications and regulatory commitments.
Licensees choosing to request an approach different than that described
in this notice should submit applications with appropriate plant-
specific justifications for the proposed changes and an analysis of the
issue of no significant hazards consideration. Variations from the
approach recommended in this notice may require additional review by
the NRC staff and may increase the time and resources needed for the
review.
Each licensee requesting approval to revise their technical
specifications using the CLIIP will make a regulatory commitment to
provide to the NRC the information defined in Generic Letter 97-02,
``Revised Contents of the Monthly Operating Report,'' by the 21st of
the month following the end of each calendar quarter. This coincides
with the schedule for the submission of performance indicator data
associated with the Reactor Oversight Process. The regulatory
commitment will be based on use of an industry database (e.g., the
industry's Consolidated Data Entry (CDE) program, currently being
developed and maintained by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations).
Public Notices
This notice requests comments from interested members of the public
within 30 days of the date of publication in the Federal Register.
Following the staff's evaluation of comments received as a result of
this notice, the staff may reconsider the proposed change or may
proceed with announcing the availability of the change in a subsequent
notice (perhaps with some changes to the SE or proposed NSHC
determination as a result of public comments). If the staff announces
the availability of the change, licensees wishing to adopt the change
will submit an application in accordance with applicable rules and
other regulatory requirements. The staff will in turn issue for each
application a notice of proposed action, which includes a proposed NSHC
determination. A notice of issuance of an amendment of operating
license will also be issued to announce the removal of the reporting
requirements for each plant that applies for and receives the requested
change.
[[Page 23544]]
Proposed Safety Evaluation
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, Consolidated Line Item Improvement, Technical Specification
Task Force (TSTF) Change Traveler TSTF-369, Elimination of Requirements
for Monthly Operating Reports and Occupational Radiation Exposure
Reports.
1.0 Introduction
By application dated [DATE], [LICENSEE NAME] (the licensee),
submitted a request for changes to the [PLANT NAME], Technical
Specifications (TSs) (ADAMS Accession No. MLxxx). The requested change
would delete TS [5.6.1], ``Occupational Radiation Exposure Report,''
and TS [5.6.4], ``Monthly Operating Reports,'' as described in the
Notice of Availability published in the Federal Register on [DATE ] (xx
FR yyyyy).
2.0 Regulatory Evaluation
Section 182a. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, (the
``Act'') requires applicants for nuclear power plant operating licenses
to state TS to be included as part of the license. The Commission's
regulatory requirements related to the content of TSs are set forth in
10 CFR 50.36, ``Technical specifications.'' The regulation requires
that TSs include items in five specific categories, including (1)
safety limits, limiting safety system settings, and limiting control
settings; (2) limiting conditions for operation (LCOs); (3)
surveillance requirements; (4) design features; and (5) administrative
controls. However, the regulation does not specify the particular
requirements to be included in a plant's TSs.
The Commission has provided guidance for the content of TSs in its
``Final Policy Statement on Technical Specification Improvements for
Nuclear Power Reactors' (58 FR 39132, published July 22, 1993), in
which the Commission indicated that compliance with the Final Policy
Statement satisfies Section 182a. of the Act. The Final Policy
Statement identified four criteria to be used in determining whether a
particular item should be addressed in the TSs as an LCO. The criteria
were subsequently incorporated into 10 CFR 50.36 (60 FR 36593,
published July 19, 1995). While the criteria specifically apply to
LCOs, the Commission indicated that the intent of these criteria may be
used to identify the optimum set of administrative controls in TSs.
Addressing administrative controls, 10 CFR 50.36 states that they are
``the provisions relating to organization and management, procedures,
recordkeeping, review and audit, and reporting necessary to assure
operation of the facility in a safe manner.'' The specific content of
the administrative controls section of the TS is, therefore, related to
those programs and reports that the Commission deems essential for the
safe operation of the facility, which are not adequately covered by
regulations or other regulatory requirements. Accordingly, the staff
may determine that specific requirements, such as those associated with
this change, may be removed from the administrative controls in the TS
if they are not explicitly required by 10 CFR 50.36(c)(5) and are not
otherwise necessary to obviate the possibility of an abnormal situation
or event giving rise to an immediate threat to the public health and
safety.
The impetus for the monthly operating report (MOR) came from the
1973-1974 oil embargo. Regulatory Guide 1.16, Revision 4, ``Reporting
of Operating Information--Appendix A Technical Specifications,''
published for comment in August 1975, identifies operating statistics
and shutdown experience information that was desired in the operating
report at that time. In the mid-1990s, the NRC staff assessed the
information that is submitted in the MOR and determined that while some
of the information was no longer used by the staff, the MOR was the
only source of some data used in the NRC Performance Indicator (PI)
Program of that time period (see NRC Generic Letter (GL) 97-02,
``Revised Contents of the Monthly Operating Report''). Beginning in the
late 1990s, the NRC developed and implemented a major revision to its
assessment, inspection, and enforcement processes through its Reactor
Oversight Process (ROP). The ROP uses both plant-level PIs and
inspections performed by NRC personnel. In conjunction with the
development of the ROP, the NRC developed the Industry Trends Program
(ITP). The ITP provides the NRC a means to assess overall industry
performance using industry level indicators and to report on industry
trends to various stakeholders (e.g., Congress). Information from the
ITP is used to assess the NRC's performance related to its goal of
having ``no statistically significant adverse industry trends in safety
performance.'' The ITP uses some of the same PIs as the PI Program from
the mid-1990s and, therefore, the NRC has a continuing use for the data
provided in MORs. The NRC also uses some data from the MORs to support
the evaluation of operating experience, licensee event reports, and
other assessments performed by the staff and its contractors.
Licensees are required by TSs to submit annual occupational
radiation exposure reports (ORERs) to the NRC. The reports, developed
in the mid-1970s, supplement the reporting requirements currently
defined in 10 CFR 20.2206, ``Reports of individual monitoring,'' by
providing a tabulation of data by work areas and job functions. The NRC
included data from the ORERs in its annual publication of NUREG-0713,
``Occupational Radiation Exposure at Commercial Nuclear Power Reactors
and Other Facilities,'' through the year 1997, but no longer includes
the data in that or other reports.
3.0 Technical Evaluation
3.1 Monthly Operating Reports
As previously mentioned, the administrative requirements in TSs are
reserved for ``the provisions relating to organization and management,
procedures, recordkeeping, review and audit, and reporting necessary to
assure operation of the facility in a safe manner.'' The current use of
the information from the MORs is not related to reporting on or
confirming the safe operation of specific nuclear power plants.
Instead, the data is used by the NRC to assess and communicate with
stakeholders regarding the overall performance of the nuclear industry.
Data related to PIs for specific plants are reported to the NRC as part
of the ROP. The staff has determined that the MORs do not meet the
criteria defined for requirements to be included in the administrative
section of TSs and the reporting requirement may, therefore, be
removed.
Although the MORs do not satisfy the criteria for inclusion in TSs,
the NRC staff nevertheless has a continuing need to receive the data in
order to compile its reports on industry trends and to support other
evaluations of operating experience. In addition, information such as
plant capacity factors that are reported in the MORs are useful to the
staff and are frequently asked for by agency stakeholders.
The NRC staff interacted with licensees, industry organizations,
and other stakeholders during the development of the Consolidated Data
Entry (CDE) program (currently being developed and maintained by the
Institute of Nuclear Power Operation), regarding the use of an industry
database like CDE to provide data currently obtained from MORs. These
discussions also involved the related Revision 1 to TSTF-369, ``Removal
of
[[Page 23545]]
Monthly Operating Report and Occupational Radiation Exposure Report.''
As described in Section 4 of this safety evaluation, the licensee is
making a regulatory commitment to continue to provide the data
identified in GL 97-02, following the removal of the TS requirement to
submit MORs, and will, therefore, continue to meet the needs of the NRC
staff for the ITP and other evaluations. The use of an industry
database such as CDE is more efficient and cost-effective for both the
NRC and licensees than would be having the NRC staff obtain the needed
information from other means currently available. Should a licensee
fail to satisfy the regulatory commitment to voluntarily provide the
information, the NRC could obtain the information through its
inspection program (similar to the process described in NRC Inspection
Procedure 71150, ``Discrepant or Unreported Performance Indicator
Data'') with the cost passed on to the licensee.
The only significant changes resulting from the adoption of TSTF-
369 are that the information will be provided quarterly instead of
monthly (although the operating data will still be divided by month)
and the form of the reporting will be from a consolidated database such
as CDE instead of in correspondence from individual licensees. The
change of reporting frequency to quarterly has some advantages for both
the staff and licensees, since it will coincide with the collection and
submission of the ROP PI data. In terms of the specific method used to
transmit the data to the NRC, the licensee has committed (see Section
4.0) to provide data identified in GL 97-02 on a quarterly basis. The
staff believes that the most efficient process for licensees and the
NRC will be for all licensees to use a system such as CDE. Such systems
have advantages in terms of improved data entry, data checking, and
data verification and validation. The NRC will recognize efficiency
gains by having the data from all plants reported using the same
computer software and format. Although the data may be transmitted to
the NRC from an industry organization maintaining a database such as
CDE, the licensee provides the data for the system and remains
responsible for the accuracy of the data submitted to the NRC for its
plant(s). The public will continue to have access to the data through
official agency records accessible on the Agencywide Documents Access
and Management System (ADAMS).
3.2 Occupational Radiation Exposure Reports
The information that the NRC staff needs regarding occupational
doses is provided by licensees in the reports required under 10 CFR
Part 20. The data from the Part 20 reports are sufficient to support
the NRC trending programs, radiation related studies, and preparation
of reports such as NUREG-0713. Accordingly, the NRC's limited use of
the ORER submitted pursuant to the existing TS requirements no longer
warrants the regulatory burden imposed on licensees. Therefore, the
staff finds it acceptable that TS [5.6.1] is being deleted and the ORER
will no longer be submitted by the licensee.
[Note: For stations with both boiling and pressurized water
reactors (i.e., Salem/Hope Creek and Millstone) and for stations
with both operating and shutdown reactors (e.g., Dresden, Indian
Point, Millstone, San Onofre, Three Mile Island), the NRC staff uses
information provided in the ORERs to apportion the doses reported
under 10 CFR Part 20 to the different categories of reactors at a
single site. The licensees for facilities with different reactor
types at a single site and those having both operating and shutdown
reactors at a single site will include in their applications a
regulatory commitment to provide information to the NRC annually
(e.g., with their annual submittal in accordance with 10 CFR
20.2206) to support the apportionment of the station doses to each
type of reactor and to differentiate between operating and shutdown
units. The data will provide the summary distribution of annual
whole body doses as presented in Appendix B of NUREG-0713 for each
reactor type and for operating and shutdown units.]
[The licensee's application included editorial and formatting
changes such as the renumbering of TS sections to reflect the deletion
of the sections related to MORs and ORERs. The NRC staff has reviewed
these changes and found that they do not revise substantive technical
or administrative requirements, and are acceptable.]
4.0 Verifications and Commitments
In order to efficiently process incoming license amendment
applications, the staff requested each licensee requesting the changes
addressed by TSTF-369 using the CLIIP to address the following plant-
specific regulatory commitment.
4.1 Each licensee should make a regulatory commitment to provide to the
NRC using an industry database the operating data (for each calender
month) that is described in Generic Letter 97-02 ``Revised Contents of
the Monthly Operating Report,'' by the 21st of the month following the
end of each calendar quarter. This coincides with the schedule for the
submission of performance indicator data associated with the Reactor
Oversight Process. The regulatory commitment will be based on use of an
industry database (e.g., the industry's Consolidated Data Entry (CDE)
program, currently being developed and maintained by the Institute of
Nuclear Power Operations).
The licensee has made a regulatory commitment to provide the
requested data via an industry database (i.e., the CDE) by the 21st of
the month (coinciding with the schedule for the submission of
performance indicator data associated with the Reactor Oversight
Process) following each calendar quarter.
[4.2 Each licensee [(operating different reactor types at a single
site) or (possessing both operating and shutdown reactors at a single
site)] will include in its application a regulatory commitment to
provide information to the NRC annually (e.g., with its annual
submittal in accordance with 10 CFR 20.2206) to support the
apportionment of station doses [(to each type of reactor) or (to
differentiate between operating and shutdown units)]. The data will
provide the summary distribution of annual whole body doses as
presented in Appendix B of NUREG-0713 for each reactor type and for
operating and shutdown units.
The licensee has made a regulatory commitment to provide
information to the NRC annually to support the apportionment of the
station doses to each type of reactor and to differentiate between
operating and shutdown units.] The NRC staff finds that reasonable
controls for the implementation and for subsequent evaluation of
proposed changes pertaining to the above regulatory commitment(s) can
be provided by the licensee's administrative processes, including its
commitment management program. The NRC staff has agreed that NEI 99-04,
Revision 0, ``Guidelines for Managing NRC Commitment Changes,''
provides reasonable guidance for the control of regulatory commitments
made to the NRC staff (see Regulatory Issue Summary 2000-17, ``Managing
Regulatory Commitments Made by Power Reactor Licensees to the NRC
Staff,'' dated September 21, 2000). The staff notes that this amendment
establishes a voluntary reporting system for the operating data that is
similar to
[[Page 23546]]
the system established for the ROP PI program.
5.0 State Consultation
In accordance with the Commission's regulations, the [STATE] State
official was notified of the proposed issuance of the amendments. The
State official had [(1) no comments or (2) the following comments--with
subsequent disposition by the staff].
6.0 Environmental Consideration
The amendment relates to changes in recordkeeping, reporting, or
administrative procedures or requirements. The Commission has
previously issued a proposed finding that the amendment involves no
significant hazards consideration, and there has been no public comment
on such finding (FR citation and date). Accordingly, the amendment
meets the eligibility criteria for categorical exclusion set forth in
10 CFR 51.22(c)(10). Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental
impact statement or environmental assessment need be prepared in
connection with the issuance of the amendment.
7.0 Conclusion
The Commission has concluded, based on the considerations discussed
above, that (1) there is reasonable assurance that the health and
safety of the public will not be endangered by operation in the
proposed manner, (2) such activities will be conducted in compliance
with the Commission's regulations, and (3) the issuance of the
amendments will not be inimical to the common defense and security or
to the health and safety of the public.
Proposed No Significant Hazards Consideration Determination
Description of amendment request: The requested change would delete
Technical Specification (TS) [5.6.1], ``Occupational Radiation Exposure
Report,'' and [5.6.4], ``Monthly Operating Reports,'' as described in
the Notice of Availability published in the Federal Register on [DATE]
(xx FR yyyyy).
Basis for proposed no significant hazards consideration
determination: As required by 10 CFR 50.91(a), an analysis of the issue
of no significant hazards consideration is presented below:
1. Does the proposed change involve a significant increase in the
probability or consequences of an accident previously evaluated?
Response: No.
The proposed change eliminates the Technical Specifications
reporting requirements to provide a monthly operating report of
shutdown experience and operating statistics if the equivalent data is
submitted using an industry electronic database. It also eliminates the
Technical Specification reporting requirement for an annual
occupational radiation exposure report, which provides information
beyond that specified in NRC regulations. The proposed change involves
no changes to plant systems or accident analyses. As such, the change
is administrative in nature and does not affect initiators of analyzed
events or assumed mitigation of accidents or transients. Therefore, the
proposed change does not involve a significant increase in the
probability or consequences of an accident previously evaluated.
2. Does the proposed change create the possibility of a new or
different kind of accident from any accident previously evaluated?
Response: No.
The proposed change does not involve a physical alteration of the
plant, add any new equipment, or require any existing equipment to be
operated in a manner different from the present design. Therefore, the
proposed change does not create the possibility of a new or different
kind of accident from any accident previously evaluated.
3. Does the proposed change involve a significant reduction in a
margin of safety?
Response: No.
This is an administrative change to reporting requirements of plant
operating information and occupational radiation exposure data, and has
no effect on plant equipment, operating practices or safety analyses
assumptions. For these reasons, the proposed change does not involve a
significant reduction in the margin of safety.
Based upon the reasoning presented above, requested change does not
involve a significant hazards consideration.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of April 2004.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Robert A. Gramm,
Chief, Section 1, Project Directorate IV, Division of Licensing Project
Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 04-9691 Filed 4-28-04; 8:45 am]
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