[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 62 (Thursday, April 1, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16520-16521]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-7387]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-333; NRC-2010-0136]


James A. Fitzpatrick Nuclear Power Plant; Exemption

1.0 Background

    Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (the licensee) is the holder of 
Facility Operating License No. DPR-59, which authorizes operation of 
the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant (JAFNPP). 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 boiling-water reactor located in Oswego 
County in New York State.

2.0 Request/Action

    Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 73, 
``PHYSICAL PROTECTION OF PLANTS AND MATERIALS,'' Section 73.55, 
``Requirements for physical protection of licensed activities in 
nuclear power reactors against radiological sabotage,'' published March 
27, 2009, effective May 26, 2009, with a full implementation date of 
March 31, 2010, requires licensees to protect, with high assurance, 
against radiological sabotage by designing and implementing 
comprehensive site security programs. The amendments to 10 CFR 73.55 
published on March 27, 2009, establish and update generically 
applicable security requirements similar to those previously imposed by 
Commission Orders issued after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 
2001, and implemented by licensees. In addition, the amendments to 10 
CFR 73.55 include additional requirements to further enhance site 
security based upon insights gained from implementation of the post-
September 11, 2001, security Orders. It is from four of these new 
requirements that JAFNPP now seeks an exemption from the March 31, 
2010, implementation date. All other physical security requirements 
established by this recent rulemaking have already been or will be 
implemented by the licensee by March 31, 2010.
    By letter dated January 21, 2010, as supplemented by letters dated 
February 25 and March 2, 2010, the licensee requested an exemption in 
accordance with 10 CFR 73.5, ``Specific exemptions.'' The licensee's 
letter dated January 21, 2010, and February 25, 2010, contain sensitive 
security information and, accordingly, are withheld from public 
disclosure in accordance with 10 CFR 2.390. The licensee has requested 
an exemption from the March 31, 2010, compliance date stating that due 
to the scope of the design, procurement, and installation activities 
and in consideration of impediments to construction such as winter 
weather conditions and equipment delivery schedules, completion of some 
of the new requirements contained in 10 CFR 73.55 will require 
additional time beyond March 31, 2010, before all requirements can be 
met. Specifically, the request to extend the compliance date is for 
four specific requirements from the current March 31, 2010, deadline to 
December 31, 2010. Being granted this exemption for the four items 
would allow the licensee to be in full compliance with the 10 CFR Part 
73 Final Rule.

3.0 Discussion of Part 73 Schedule Exemptions From the March 31, 2010, 
Full Implementation Date

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.55(a)(1), ``By March 31, 2010, each nuclear 
power reactor licensee, licensed under 10 CFR part 50, shall implement 
the requirements of this section through its Commission-approved 
Physical Security Plan, Training and Qualification Plan, Safeguards 
Contingency Plan, and Cyber Security Plan referred to collectively 
hereafter as ``security plans.'' Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5, the 
Commission may, upon application by any interested person or upon its 
own initiative, grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 
73 when the exemptions are authorized by law, and will not endanger 
life or property or the common defense and security, and are otherwise 
in the public interest.
    The NRC approval of this exemption, as noted above, would allow an 
extension for the implementation date from March 31, 2010, until 
December 31, 2010, with the new rule for four specified requirements. 
As stated above, 10 CFR 73.5 allows the NRC to grant exemptions from 
the requirements of 10 CFR part 73. The NRC staff has determined that 
granting of the licensee's proposed exemption would not result in a 
violation of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or the 
Commission's regulations. Therefore, the NRC approval of the licensee's 
exemption request is authorized by law.
    In the draft final power reactor security rule provided to the 
Commission, the NRC staff proposed that the requirements of the new 
regulation be met within 180 days. The Commission directed a change 
from 180 days to approximately 1 year for licensees to fully implement 
the new requirements. This change was incorporated into the final rule. 
From this, it is clear that the Commission wanted to provide a 
reasonable timeframe for licensees to achieve full compliance.
    As noted in the final rule, the Commission also anticipated that 
licensees would have to conduct site-specific analyses to determine 
what changes were necessary to implement the rule's requirements, and 
that changes could be accomplished through

[[Page 16521]]

a variety of licensing mechanisms, including exemptions. Since issuance 
of the final rule, the Commission has rejected a generic industry 
request to extend the rule's compliance date for all operating nuclear 
power plants, but noted that the Commission's regulations provide 
mechanisms for individual licensees, with good cause, to apply for 
relief from the compliance date (Reference: June 4, 2009, letter from 
R. W. Borchardt, NRC, to M. S. Fertel, Nuclear Energy Institute). The 
licensee's request for an exemption is, therefore, consistent with the 
approach set forth by the Commission and discussed in the June 4, 2009, 
letter.

JAFNPP Schedule Exemption Request

    The licensee provided detailed information in letter dated January 
21, 2010, requesting an exemption, as supplemented by letters dated 
February 25 and March 2, 2010. In its submissions, JAFNPP described a 
comprehensive plan including the scope of work such as the design, 
procurement, and installation activities, consideration of impediments 
to construction such as winter weather conditions and equipment 
delivery schedules, and provides a timeline for achieving full 
compliance with the new regulation. The licensee's submissions contain 
(1) sensitive security information regarding the site security plan, 
(2) details of specific portions of the regulation for which the site 
cannot be in compliance by the March 31, 2010, deadline and the reasons 
for the same, (3) the required changes to the site's security 
configuration, and (4) a timeline with critical path activities that 
will bring the licensee into full compliance by December 31, 2010. The 
timeline provides dates indicating when (1) construction will begin on 
various phases of the project (i.e., new roads, buildings, and fences), 
(2) outages are scheduled for each unit, and (3) critical equipment 
will be ordered, installed, tested and become operational.
    Notwithstanding the schedule exemptions for these limited 
requirements, the licensee stated that it will continue to be in 
compliance with all other applicable physical security requirements as 
described in 10 CFR 73.55 and reflected in its current NRC-approved 
physical security program. By December 31, 2010, JAFNPP will be in full 
compliance with all the regulatory requirements of 10 CFR 73.55, as 
issued on March 27, 2009.

4.0 Conclusion for Part 73 Schedule Exemption Request

    The NRC staff reviewed the licensee's submittals and concludes that 
the licensee has provided adequate justification for its request for an 
extension of the compliance date to December 31, 2010, with regard to 
four specified requirements of 10 CFR 73.55.
    Accordingly, the Commission has determined that pursuant to 10 CFR 
73.5, ``Specific exemptions,'' an exemption from the March 31, 2010, 
compliance date is authorized by law and will not endanger life or 
property or the common defense and security, and is otherwise in the 
public interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants the requested 
exemption.
    The NRC staff has determined that the long-term benefits that will 
be realized when the design, procurement, and installation activities 
described in the licensee's submissions, are complete, justifies 
extending the full compliance date in the case of this particular 
licensee. The security measures for which JAFNPP needs additional time 
to implement, are new requirements imposed by March 27, 2009, 
amendments to 10 CFR 73.55, and are in addition to those required by 
the security orders issued in response to the events of September 11, 
2001. Therefore, the NRC concludes that the licensee's actions are in 
the best interest of protecting the public health and safety through 
the security changes that will result from granting this exemption.
    As per the licensee's request and the NRC's regulatory authority to 
grant an exemption from the March 31, 2010, deadline for the four items 
specified in the licensee's letter dated January 21, 2010, as 
supplemented by letters dated February 25 and March 2, 2010, the 
licensee is required to be in full compliance by December 31, 2010. In 
achieving full compliance, the licensee is reminded that it is 
responsible for determining the appropriate licensing mechanism (i.e., 
10 CFR 50.54(p) or 10 CFR 50.90) for incorporation of all necessary 
changes to its security plans.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, ``Finding of no significant impact,'' the 
Commission has previously determined that the granting of this 
exemption will not have a significant effect on the quality of the 
human environment (75 FR 14637; dated March 26, 2010).
    This exemption is effective upon issuance.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day of March 2010.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Joseph G. Giitter,
Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2010-7387 Filed 3-31-10; 8:45 am]
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