[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 120 (Wednesday, June 23, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35067-35071]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-14164]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Notice of Availability of Model Application Concerning Technical
Specifications 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: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the staff of the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) has prepared a model safety evaluation
(SE), a model no significant hazards consideration (NSHC)
determination, and a model license amendment application relating to a
change in the technical specifications (TS) to eliminate requirements
to provide monthly operating reports and occupational radiation
exposure reports. The purpose of these models is to permit the NRC to
efficiently process amendments that propose to incorporate this change
into plant-specific TS. Licensees of nuclear power reactors to which
the models apply may request amendments utilizing the model
application.
DATES: The NRC staff issued a Federal Register notice (69 FR 23542) on
April 29, 2004, which proposed a model SE and a model NSHC
determination related to changing plant TSs by eliminating requirements
to provide monthly operating reports and occupational radiation
exposure reports. The NRC staff hereby announces that the enclosed
model SE and NSHC determination may be referenced in plant-specific
applications. The NRC staff has posted a model application on the NRC
web site to assist licensees in using the consolidated line item
improvement process (CLIIP) to incorporate this change. The NRC staff
can most efficiently consider applications based upon the model
application if the application is submitted within a year of this
Federal Register notice.
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 Specifications
Changes for Power Reactors,'' was issued on March 20, 2000. The CLIIP
is intended to improve the efficiency of NRC licensing processes. This
is accomplished by processing proposed changes to the standard TSs
(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. 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 for proposed adoption by licensees. Those
licensees opting to apply for the subject change to TS 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 will be processed and noticed in accordance with
applicable rules and NRC procedures.
This notice involves changes to plant TS to eliminate requirements
to submit monthly operating reports and occupational radiation exposure
reports. This proposed change was proposed for incorporation into the
STS by the industry's Technical Specification Task Force as TSTF-369,
Revision 1.
Applicability
This proposed change to eliminate requirements to submit monthly
operating reports and occupational radiation exposure reports is
applicable to all nuclear power reactors.
The CLIIP does not prevent licensees from requesting an alternative
approach or proposing the changes without referencing the model SE and
the NSHC. Variations from the approach recommended in this notice may,
however, require additional review by the NRC staff and may increase
the time and resources needed for the review.
Public Notices
In a notice in the Federal Register dated April 29, 2004 (69 FR
23542), the
[[Page 35068]]
NRC staff requested comment on the use of the CLIIP for proposed
changes to eliminate the requirements for licensees to submit monthly
operating reports and occupational radiation exposure reports.
TSTF-369, as well as the NRC staff's SE and model application, may
be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document
Room, located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first
floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records are accessible
electronically from the ADAMS Public Library component on the NRC Web
site, (the Electronic Reading Room).
The NRC staff received several comments providing general support
for the effort to eliminate the subject reporting requirements. In
addition, the staff received three comments requesting specific changes
or clarifications to the model SE included in the notice for comment.
Each of these comments are addressed below:
1. The letters from the Nuclear Energy Institute, Tennessee Valley
Authority, and Strategic Teaming and Resource Sharing (STARS) requested
that the regulatory commitment to provide operating data by the 21st of
the month following each calendar quarter be revised to by the last day
of the month following each calendar quarter. The added days were said
to be warranted to support the processes associated with consolidated
data entry by each licensee and the subsequent submitting of a single
report with the operating data collected for all licensees. The
proposed change in the reporting schedule is acceptable to the NRC
staff and the model SE and model application are revised to include a
regulatory commitment to submit the requested operating data by the
last day of month following the end of each calendar quarter.
2. Arizona Public Service (APS) commented that licensees should be
allowed to either make and control the reporting of the operating data
as a regulatory commitment or to make a regulatory commitment to
incorporate and subsequently control the reporting of the operating
data as part of a licensing document such as the safety analysis report
or technical requirements manual. The proposal by APS is acceptable to
the NRC staff and revised wording has been incorporated into the model
SE and model application.
3. Exelon Generation Company and AmerGen Energy Company commented
that the model SE and application should address the requirements in
many plants-specific TSs to report as part of the monthly operating
report challenges to pressurizer power operated relief valves or
pressurizer safety valves for pressurized water reactors and safety/
relief valves for boiling water reactors. A requirement to report such
challenges within the monthly operating report was included in many
plants' TS prior to licensees either converting to Revision 2 to the
STS or otherwise requesting the elimination of the report as part of an
application adopting the NRC-approved Revision 4 to TSTF-258, ``Changes
to Section 5.0, Administrative Controls.'' The NRC staff has included a
paragraph in the model SE to address the adoption of the relevant
portion of TSTF-258 (i.e., the elimination of the reporting of
challenges to relief or safety valves) for those plants that have not
previously removed this requirement. This change simply incorporates
previously approved wording into the SE, maximizes the usefulness of
the CLIIP for licensees preparing submittals, and improves the
efficiency of NRC review of license amendment applications.
Licensees may reference in their plant-specific applications the
revised SE, NSHC determination, and environmental assessment provided
below.
Model 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
[[Page 35069]]
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.
[Optional for licensees adopting TSTF-258: The reporting
requirements for the MOR include challenges to the ((pressurizer power
operated relief valves and pressurizer safety valves) or (safety/relief
valves)). The reporting of challenges to the ((pressurizer power
operated relief valves and pressurizer safety valves) or (safety/relief
valves)) was included in TSs based on the guidance in NUREG-0694,
``[Three Mile Island] TMI-Related Requirements for New Operating
Licensees.'' The industry proposed and the NRC accepted the elimination
of the reporting requirements in TS for challenges to ((pressurizer
power operated relief valves and pressurizer safety valves) or (safety/
relief valves)) in Revision 4 to TSTF-258, ``Changes to Section 5.0,
Administrative Controls.'' The staff's acceptance of TSTF-258 and
subsequent approval of plant-specific adoptions of TSTF-258 is based on
the fact that the information on challenges to relief and safety valves
is not used in the evaluation of the MOR data, and that the information
needed by the NRC is adequately addressed by the reporting requirements
in 10 CFR 50.73, ``Licensee event reports.'']
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 NRC 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 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 licensee being charged for the time spent by
the NRC staff.
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 NRC 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 NRC 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).
[Optional for licensees adopting TSTF-258: The content requirements
for the MOR currently include information on challenges to the
((pressurizer power operated relief valves and pressurizer safety
valves) or (safety/relief valves)). As discussed in the previous
section, the NRC staff has documented in its approval of TSTF-
[[Page 35070]]
258 and related plant-specific amendments that the reporting of
challenges to ((pressurizer power operated relief valves and
pressurizer safety valves) or (safety/relief valves)) may be removed
from TSs since the information needed by the NRC is adequately
addressed by the reporting requirements in 10 CFR 50.73, ``Licensee
event reports.'' The NRC staff finds it acceptable to remove the
requirement to report challenges to ((pressurizer power operated relief
valves and pressurizer safety valves) or (safety/relief valves)) along
with the other reporting requirements associated with the MOR.]
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 NRC staff requested each licensee requesting the
changes addressed by TSTF-369 using the CLIIP to address the following
plant-specific regulatory commitment.
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 last day of the
month following the end of each calendar quarter. 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 end of
the month following each calendar quarter (i.e., within seven to ten
days after the submission of Pl data associated with the ROP).
[optional: The licensee's regulatory commitment included the
incorporation of the criteria for reporting operational data to the--
(e.g., safety analysis report, technical requirements manual).]
[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 Nuclear Energy Institute 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 NRC staff notes that this
amendment establishes a voluntary reporting system for the operating
data that is similar to the system established for the ROP Pl program.
Should the licensee choose to incorporate a regulatory commitment into
the final safety analysis report or other document with established
regulatory controls, the associated regulations would define the
appropriate change-control and reporting requirements.
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.
Model Proposed No Significant Hazards Consideration Determination
Description of amendment request: The requested change would delete
Technical Specification (TS) [5.6.1],
[[Page 35071]]
``Occupational Radiation Exposure Report,'' and [5.6.4], ``Monthly
Operating Reports,'' as described in the Notice of Availability
published in 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 (TSs)
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
TS 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, the requested change does
not involve a significant hazards consideration.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of June 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. 04-14164 Filed 6-22-04; 8:45 am]
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