[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 150 (Monday, August 6, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43666-43669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-15191]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-247 and 50-286; License Nos. DPR-26 and DPR-64; EA-07-
189]
In the Matter of Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc; Indian Point
Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3; Order Modifying License
(Effective Immediately)
I
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Licensee) is the holder of
Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-26 and DPR-64 issued by the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to 10 CFR Part 50.
The licenses authorize the operation of Indian Point Nuclear Generating
Unit Nos. 2 and 3, in accordance with the conditions specified therein.
The facilities are located on the Licensee's site in Buchanan, New
York.
II
On April 23, 2007, the NRC issued to Entergy Nuclear Operations,
Inc. (Entergy) a Notice of Violation (NOV) and Proposed Imposition of
Civil Penalty for a violation involving the failure to meet the
requirements of a Confirmatory Order (EA-05-190) that was issued to
Entergy on January 31, 2006. On January 23, 2007, the NRC granted
Entergy's request, provided in a letter dated January 11, 2007, to
extend the full implementation date until April 15, 2007. The NRC
issued the NOV and Proposed Civil Penalty after Entergy informed the
NRC that the ``radio only activation'' feature of the emergency
notification system (ENS) did not meet its test acceptance criteria,
resulting in the ENS not being fully operable by April 15, 2007, the
date it was required to be operable. Entergy responded to the NOV on
May 23, 2007, and committed to declaring the new ENS operable by August
24, 2007. In its response, Entergy admitted to the violation of the
Confirmatory Order, identified the apparent causes of the violation,
and described corrective actions that were taken or planned to correct
the violation.
Subsequent to the Licensee's May 23, 2007, letter, the NRC held a
public meeting with Entergy officials on July 9, 2007, to clarify
Entergy's actions to comply with the Confirmatory Order, particularly
with respect to ensuring that the new ENS met the applicable Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regulations, as well as to ensure
that any specific county needs were identified and addressed prior to
Entergy declaring the new ENS operable.
The NRC has evaluated Entergy's response to the NOV and the
additional information gathered during the July 9, 2007, public
meeting. The NRC has determined that additional actions are needed to
ensure that the new ENS with backup power supply capability is operable
by August 24, 2007, as committed to in Entergy's May 23, 2007 letter.
These actions include: Completing the outstanding requirements
delineated in the aforementioned Confirmatory Order issued January 31,
2006, as modified herein; implementing those measures necessary for
FEMA to accept the new ENS as the primary ENS for alerting the public
by August 24, 2007; and, completing the necessary software and
procedure upgrades and training of county personnel responsible for
actuation of the system.
III
Adequate backup power for the ENS, as required by the Energy Policy
Act of 2005 (Act) (see 42 U.S.C. 2210 et seq.) Section 651(b), requires
that: (a) The backup power supply for the Public Alerting System (PAS)
must meet commonly-applicable standards, such as National Fire
Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 1221, Standard for the
Installation, Maintenance, and Use of Emergency Communications Systems
(2002) and Underwriters Laboratory (UL) 2017, Section 58.2; (b) each
PAS and PAS Alerting Appliance (PASAA) must receive adequate power to
perform their intended functions such that backup power is sufficient
to allow operation in standby mode for a minimum of 24 hours and in
alert mode for a minimum of 15 minutes; (c)
[[Page 43667]]
batteries used for backup power must recharge to at least 80 percent of
their capacity in a period of not more than 24 hours; (d) except for
those components that are in facilities staffed on a continuous basis
(24 hours per day, 7 days per week) or otherwise monitored on a
continuous basis, immediate automatic indication of a loss of power
must be provided to the Licensee and appropriate government agencies;
and (e) except for those components that are in facilities staffed on a
continuous basis (24 hours per day, 7 days per week) or otherwise
monitored on a continuous basis, an automatic notification of an
unplanned loss of power must be made to the Licensee in sufficient time
to take compensatory action before the backup power supply can not meet
the requirements of Section IV, part II. A. 2 of the Confirmatory
Order.
The requirements needed to implement the foregoing are set forth in
Section IV below. Based on the above, and in consideration of other
communications involving the NRC, FEMA, New York State, the four
counties within the 10 mile Emergency Planning Zone, and Entergy
officials, additional actions are needed to ensure Entergy is in
compliance with the Commission's requirements and that the public
interest will be protected. Therefore, License Nos. DPR-26 and DPR-64
should be modified to require compliance with Section 651(b) of the
Act. Furthermore, pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202, and in consideration of the
ongoing violation of the Confirmatory Order, as well as the prior
enforcement related to such, I find that the significance of compliance
with the Act described above is such that the public interest requires
that this Order be immediately effective.
IV
Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 104b, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182 and
186 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; Section 651(b) of the
Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-58, 119 Stat 594); and the
Commission's regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR Part 50, it is
hereby ordered, effective immediately, that license nos. Dpr-26 and
dpr-64 are modified as follows:
I. The Licensee shall meet all the provisions contained in the
January 31, 2006, Confirmatory Order (see Appendix A of this Order),
except as specifically modified or supplemented herein. With respect to
the requirement to provide and maintain an ENS with backup power supply
capability for the Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3
facilities, the new ENS intended to comply with that requirement shall
meet applicable requirements of state and federal authorities such that
it is declared operable and placed into service as the primary system
by August 24, 2007.
II. The Licensee shall provide to NRC within 7 days of this order a
report describing the steps and the expected schedule for completing
each of the steps that the licensee understands are necessary to meet
applicable requirements of state and federal authorities to place the
new ENS system into service as the Primary Notification system. The
report should identify any uncertainties in identification of
requirements or in schedules associated with requirements.
III. Prior to declaring the new ENS operable and using it as the
primary system, the Licensee shall: (a) Obtain FEMA approval that the
system, as installed, meets the design criterion of the approved ENS
Design Report and is in compliance with all applicable FEMA regulations
and guidance; and, (b) complete all necessary software and procedure
upgrades and training of all the four county response organizations,
accounting for the specific training needs identified by the counties,
in the proper use of the new ENS and response to associated alarming
conditions.
IV. The Licensee shall maintain the existing ENS fully available
(including conducting routine maintenance and testing activities) and
establish the necessary procedures and actions to enable its use as a
backup to the new ENS when the new ENS is declared in use as the
primary system, until such time that FEMA grants approval to remove the
existing ENS from service.
The Director, Office of Enforcement, may, in writing, relax or
rescind any of the above conditions upon demonstration by the Licensee
of good cause.
V
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, the Licensee must, and any other
person adversely affected by this Order may, submit an answer to this
Order within 20 days of its issuance. In addition, the Licensee and any
other person adversely affected by this Order may request a hearing on
this Order within 20 days of its issuance. Where good cause is shown,
consideration will be given to extending the time to request a hearing.
A request for extension of time must be made in writing to the
Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555, and include a statement of good cause for the
extension. Any answer or request for a hearing shall be submitted to
the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Chief,
Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, Washington, DC 20555. Copies of
the hearing request shall also be sent to the Director, Office of
Enforcement, to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, and
to the Assistant General Counsel for Materials Litigation and
Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555;
to the Regional Administrator, NRC Region I, U.S. NRC Region I, 475
Allendale Road, King of Prussia, PA 19406-1415; and to the Licensee,
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., 440 Hamilton Avenue, White Plains, NY
10601, if the answer or hearing request is by a person other than the
Licensee. It is requested that answers and requests for hearing or for
time extensions be transmitted to the Secretary of the Commission
either by means of facsimile transmission to 301-415-1101, or by e-mail
to [email protected], and also to the Office of the General Counsel
either by means of facsimile transmission to 301-415-3725 or by e-mail
to [email protected]. If a person other than the Licensee requests
a hearing, that person shall set forth with particularity the manner in
which his interest is adversely affected by this Order and shall
address the criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d).
If the hearing is requested by the Licensee or a person whose
interest is adversely affected, the Commission will issue an Order
designating the time and place of any hearing. If a hearing is held,
the issue to be considered at such hearing shall be whether this Order
should be sustained.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202(c)(2)(i), the Licensee, may, in addition
to demanding a hearing, at the time the answer is filed or sooner, move
the presiding officer to set aside the immediate effectiveness of the
Order on the ground that the Order, including the need for immediate
effectiveness, is not based on adequate evidence but on mere suspicion,
unfounded allegations, or error.
In the absence of any request for hearing or written approval of an
extension of time in which to request a hearing, the provisions
specified in Section IV above shall be final 20 days from the date of
this Order without further order or proceedings. If an extension of
time for requesting a hearing has been approved, the provisions
specified in Section IV shall be final when the extension expires if a
hearing request has not been received. An answer or a request for
hearing shall not stay the immediate effectiveness of this order.
[[Page 43668]]
Dated this 30th day of July 2007.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Cynthia A. Carpenter,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
Appendix A--Section IV Excerpt From NRC Confirmatory Order, Dated
January 31, 2006
IV
I. The Licensee shall provide and maintain a backup power supply
for the ENS for the Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3,
facilities. The ENS is the primary prompt notification system used to
alert the public of an event at a nuclear power plant.
II. The Licensee shall implement II.A, II.B, and II.C.1-3 by
January 30, 2007. The backup power system for the ENS shall be declared
operable by January 30, 2007. The backup power supply for the ENS shall
include, as a minimum:
A.1. A backup power supply for the PAS and each PASAA which shall
provide adequate power for each component to perform their design
function. These functions include the following as examples: sound
output, rotation, speech intelligibility, or brightness as applicable.
This criterion includes the associated activation, control, monitoring,
and testing components for the backup power supply to the ENS
including, but not limited to: radio transceivers, testing circuits,
sensors to monitor critical operating parameters of the PAS and PASAA.
The Licensee is required to meet all applicable standards, such as
NFPA Standard 1221, Standard for the Installation, Maintenance, and Use
of Emergency Communications Systems (2002) and UL 2017, Section 58.2.
2. The backup power supply for each PAS and PASAA shall be designed
for operation in standby mode, including, but not limited to: radio
transceivers, testing circuits, sensors fully operational and providing
polling data to the activation, control, monitoring, and test system
for at least 24 hours without AC supply power from the local electric
distribution grid. The backup power supply then shall be capable of
performing its intended function, without recharge, by operating the
PAS and PASAA in its alerting mode at its full design capability for a
period of at least 15 minutes. This sequence shall be assumed to occur
at the most unfavorable environmental conditions including, but not
limited to, temperature, wind, and precipitation specified for PAS and
PASAA operation and assume that the batteries are approaching the end
of their design life (i.e., the ensuing recharge cycle will bring the
batteries back to the minimum state that defines their design life).
3. In defining battery design life, automatic charging shall be
sized such that batteries in the backup power are fully recharged to at
least 80 percent of their maximum rated capacity from the fully
discharged state in a period of not more than 24 hours.
4. Battery design life and replacement frequency shall comply with
vendor(s) recommendations.
5. Except for those components that are in facilities staffed on a
continuous basis (24 hours per day, 7 days per week) or otherwise
monitored on a continuous basis, there shall be a feedback system(s)
that provides immediate automatic indication of a loss of power to the
Licensee and the appropriate government agencies, and an automatic
notification of an unplanned loss of power must be made to the Licensee
in sufficient time to take compensatory action before the backup power
supply can not meet the requirements of Section IV, part II.A.2.
6. The Licensee shall implement a preventative maintenance and
testing program of the ENS including, but not limited to: the equipment
that activates and monitors the system, equipment that provides backup
power, and the alerting device to ensure the ENS system performs to its
design specifications.
B.1. The Licensee shall implement any new Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) guidance pertaining to backup power for ENS that may
affect the system requirements outlined in this Order that is issued
prior to obtaining DHS approval of the alerting system design. The
Licensee shall not implement any DHS guidance that reduces the
effectiveness of the ENS as provided for in this Order without prior
NRC approval.
2. The Licensee shall document the evaluation of lessons learned
from any evaluation of the current alert and notification system (ANS)
and address resolution of identified concerns when designing the backup
power system and such consideration shall be included in the design
report.
3. The final PAS design must be submitted to DHS for approval prior
to May 1, 2006.
C.1. Within 60 days of the issuance of this Order, the Licensee
shall submit a response to this Order to the NRC Document Control Desk
providing a schedule of planned activities associated with the
implementation of the Order including interactions with the Putnam,
Rockland, Westchester, and Orange Counties, the State of New York, and
DHS. In addition, the Licensee shall provide a progress report on or
shortly before June 30, 2006.
2. The Licensee shall submit a proposed revision to its emergency
response plan to incorporate the implementation of items A.1-A.6, B.1-
B.3, and C.4-C.5. This plan shall be submitted to the NRC for review
and approval within 120 days from the issuance of the Order.
3. Prior to declaring the ENS operable, the Licensee shall, in
accordance with a test plan submitted to and approved by the NRC in
conjunction with the design submittal, demonstrate satisfactory
performance of all (100%) of the ENS components including the ability
of the backup power supply to meet its design requirements.
4. After declaring the ENS operable, the Licensee shall conduct
periodic testing to demonstrate reliable ENS system performance.
5. The results from testing as discussed in paragraph C.4 shall be
reported, in writing, to the NRC Document Control Desk, with a copy to
the Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, documenting the results of
each test, until there are 3 consecutive tests testing the operability
of all ENS components used during an actual activation), conducted no
sooner than 25 days and no more than 45 days from the previous test
with a 97% overall entire emergency planning zone success rate with no
individual county failure rate greater than 10%. A false negative
report from a feedback system will constitute a siren failure for the
purposes of this test.
III. The Licensee shall submit a written report to the NRC Document
Control Desk, with a copy to the Director of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, when the ENS is declared operable.
IV. The Licensee shall submit a written report to the NRC Document
Control Desk and provide a copy to the Director of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation when it has achieved full compliance with the requirements
contained in this Order.
V. The Licensee may use the criteria contained in 10 CFR 50.54(q)
to make changes to the requirements contained in this Order without
prior NRC approval provided that they do not reduce the effectiveness
of the Order requirements or the approved emergency plan. The Licensee
shall notify, in writing, the NRC Document Control Desk, with a copy to
the Director, Division of Preparedness and Response, Office of Nuclear
Security and Incident Response, 30 days in advance of implementing such
a change. For other changes, the Licensee may
[[Page 43669]]
submit a request, in writing, to the NRC Document Control Desk, with a
copy to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, to relax or
rescind any of the above requirements upon a showing of good cause by
the Licensee.
[FR Doc. E7-15191 Filed 8-3-07; 8:45 am]
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