[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 245 (Wednesday, December 23, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68286-68287]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-30482]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-395; NRC-2009-0566]


South Carolina Electric and Gas Company, Virgil C. Summer Nuclear 
Station, Unit 1; Exemption

1.0 Background

    The South Carolina Electric and Gas Company (the licensee) is the 
holder of Facility Operating License No. NPF-12 which authorizes 
operation of the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station, Unit 1. The license 
provides, among other things, that the facility is subject to all 
rules, regulations, and orders of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC, the Commission) now or hereafter in effect. The facility consists 
of a pressurized-water reactor located in Fairfield County in South 
Carolina.

2.0 Request/Action

    Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Part 50, 
Appendix E, Section IV.F.2.b requires that ``Each licensee at each site 
shall conduct an exercise of its onsite emergency plan every 2 years. * 
* *'' By letters dated October 15, and November 3, 2009, the licensee 
requested a one-time exemption from this requirement that would allow 
postponing the onsite portion of the biennial emergency preparedness 
exercise from October 2009 until April 2010.
    The licensee states that it has made a good faith effort to comply 
with the regulation in that the biennial exercise was previously 
scheduled to be performed on October 7, 2009. The licensee further 
states, ``However, a plant trip occurred on October 2, 2009 due to 
failure of the main generator output breaker. The plant trip required 
redirection of station resources to respond to the forced outage and to 
perform recovery activities. Since the recovery efforts were a major 
distraction, the decision was made to postpone the exercise.'' The 
licensee states that it did participate in the offsite portion of the 
exercise on October 7, 2009, with Federal, state and local authorities. 
Therefore, since the scenario for the exercise is known to the licensee 
emergency response organization (ERO) team members designated for the 
offsite portion of the exercise, the scenario will require modification 
for the forthcoming onsite portion of the exercise and a new ERO team 
will need to be selected to participate in the onsite portion of the 
biennial exercise.
    In summary, as a result of the impact of the combined need to 
repair the generator output breaker, an ongoing extensive refueling 
outage, the associated unavailability of key station personnel and the 
need to perform activities to support the onsite portion of the 
exercise, the licensee requests an exemption that would allow 
rescheduling the onsite portion of the exercise from the year 2009 
until April 2010.

3.0 Discussion

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the Commission may, upon application by 
any interested person or upon its own initiative, grant exemptions from 
the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, 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.

Authorized by Law

    This exemption would allow the licensee to accommodate these 
impacts upon its resources by postponing the onsite portion of the 
exercise from the previously scheduled date of October 2009 until April 
2010.
    As stated above, 10 CFR 50.12 allows the NRC to grant exemptions 
from the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E. The NRC staff has 
determined that granting of the licensee's proposed exemption will not 
result in a violation of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or 
the Commission's regulations. Therefore, the exemption is authorized by 
law.

No Undue Risk to Public Health and Safety

    The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 50, Appendix E, Section IV.F.2.b 
requiring licensees to conduct a biennial exercise is to ensure that 
ERO personnel are familiar with their duties and to test the adequacy 
of emergency plans. In addition, 10 CFR 50, Appendix E, Section 
IV.F.2.b also requires licensees to maintain adequate emergency 
response capabilities during the intervals between biennial exercises 
by conducting drills to exercise the principal functional areas of 
emergency response. In order to accommodate the scheduling of full 
participation exercises, the NRC has allowed licensees to schedule the 
exercises at any time during the calendar biennium. Conducting the 
VCSNS full-participation exercise in calendar year 2010 places the 
exercise past the previously scheduled biennial calendar year of 2009. 
Since the last biennial exercise on October 2, 2007, the licensee has 
conducted nine full-Station participation training drills to exercise 
these principal functional areas, including an after-hours augmentation 
drill. In addition, at the request of the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency (FEMA), the licensee supported the State and local authorities 
with the offsite portion of the biennial exercise on October 7, 2009, 
thereby facilitating the FEMA evaluation of the State and local 
authorities. The NRC staff considers the intent of this requirement is 
met by having conducted these series of training drills.
    Based on the above, no new accident precursors are created by 
allowing the licensee to postpone the onsite portion of the exercise 
from the previously scheduled date of October 2009 until April 2010. 
Thus, the probability and consequences of postulated accidents are not 
increased. Therefore, there is no undue risk to public health and 
safety.

Consistent With Common Defense and Security

    The proposed exemption would allow rescheduling of the onsite 
portion of the biennial emergency planning exercise from the previously 
scheduled date of October 2009 until April 2010. This change to the 
emergency planning exercise schedule has no relation to security 
issues. Therefore, the common defense and security is not impacted by 
this exemption.

Special Circumstances

    For regulations that require special circumstances for exemptions 
in accordance with 10 CFR 50.12, special circumstances are present 
whenever application of the regulation in the particular circumstances 
is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule. The 
underlying purpose of 10 CFR 50, Appendix E, Section IV.F.2.b requiring 
licensees to conduct a biennial exercise is to ensure that ERO 
personnel are familiar with their duties and to test the adequacy of

[[Page 68287]]

emergency plans. As a result of the licensee participating in the 
offsite portion of the exercise performed on October 7, 2009, the 
exercise scenario would be compromised with respect to having the 
licensee's ERO subsequently conduct the onsite exercise in accordance 
with that scenario. Thus, to ensure exercise integrity, the scenario 
will require modification and a new ERO will be selected to participate 
in the onsite portion of the biennial exercise. The licensee states 
that with the station currently in a refueling outage, key personnel 
are not available to complete the scenario modification activities and 
conduct the exercise prior to the end of calendar year 2009. Section 
IV.F.2.b of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E requires licensees at each site 
to conduct an exercise of onsite emergency plans biennially with full-
participation by each offsite authority having a role under the plan. 
Since the licensee has conducted nine full-Station participation 
training drills and supported the FEMA evaluation of the State and 
local authorities, the NRC staff considers that these measures are 
adequate to maintain an acceptable level of emergency preparedness 
during this period, satisfying the underlying purpose of the rule. 
Therefore, since the underlying purpose of 10 CFR 50, Appendix E, 
Section IV.F.2.b is achieved, the special circumstances required by 10 
CFR 50.12 for the granting of an exemption exist.
    Under 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(v), special circumstances are also present 
whenever the exemption would provide only temporary relief from the 
applicable regulation and the licensee or applicant has made good faith 
efforts to comply with the regulation. The NRC staff finds that the 
licensee has made good faith efforts to comply with the emergency 
planning regulations in that it had previously scheduled the onsite 
portion of the exercise for October 2009 and it had also implemented 
other emergency planning requirements by conducting the series of 
onsite drills and the offsite portion of the exercise, as discussed 
above.

4.0 Conclusion

    Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 
50.12, the exemption is authorized by law, will not present an undue 
risk to the public health and safety, and is consistent with the common 
defense and security. Also, special circumstances are present. 
Therefore, the Commission, hereby grants South Carolina Electric and 
Gas Company an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, 
Appendix E, Section IV.F.2.b to conduct the onsite portion of the 
biennial emergency planning exercise required for 2009, to permit that 
part of the exercise to be conducted by April 30, 2010 for the Virgil 
C. Summer Nuclear Station, Unit 1.
    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 (74 FR 66697).
    This exemption is effective upon issuance.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17th day of December 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Joseph. G. Giitter,
Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E9-30482 Filed 12-22-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P