[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 204 (Friday, October 21, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65542-65544]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-27279]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-238; NRC-2011-0222]


N.S. Savannah; Exemption From Certain Security Requirements

1.0 Background

    The U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime

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Administration (MARAD) is the licensee and holder of Facility Operating 
License No. NS-1 issued for the N.S. Savannah (NSS) currently located 
in the Port of Baltimore, Maryland. The NSS was the world's first 
nuclear powered merchant ship. The NSS was operated in experimental and 
commercial demonstration service throughout the 1960s.
    The ship was removed from service in 1970. In August 1971, the 
reactor was defueled. The fuel was stored in a ``spent fuel pool'' 
inside MARAD's Refueling Facility, located at the Todd Shipyard in 
Galveston, Texas. The refueling facility was licensed by the state of 
Texas under an agreement with the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). On 
November 3, 1972, all 36 Core I spent fuel elements were returned to 
the AEC and transferred by the AEC for reprocessing at its Savannah 
River Site in South Carolina.
    On May 19, 1976, the operating license for the NSS was amended to a 
possession-only license.

2.0 Action

    Section 50.54(p)(1) of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
(10 CFR) states, in part, ``The licensee shall prepare and maintain 
safeguards contingency plan procedures in accordance with Appendix C of 
Part 73 of this chapter for affecting the actions and decisions 
contained in the Responsibility Matrix of the safeguards contingency 
plan.''
    Part 73 of 10 CFR, ``Physical Protection of Plant and Materials,'' 
provides in part in section 73.1(a), ``This part prescribes 
requirements for the establishment and maintenance of a physical 
protection system which will have capabilities for the protection of 
special nuclear material at fixed sites and in transit and of plants in 
which special nuclear material is used.'' In Section 73.55, entitled 
``Requirements for physical protection of licensed activities in 
nuclear power reactors against radiological sabotage,'' paragraph 
(b)(1) states, ``The licensee shall establish and maintain a physical 
protection program, to include a security organization, which will have 
as its objective to provide high assurance that activities involving 
special nuclear material are not inimical to the common defense and 
security and do not constitute an unreasonable risk to the public 
health and safety.''
    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) 
revised 10 CFR 73.55, in part to include the preceding language, 
through the issuance of a final rule on March 27, 2009 (74 FR 13970). 
The revised regulation stated that it was applicable to all Part 50 
licensees. The NRC became aware that some Part 50 licensees with 
facilities in decommissioning status did not recognize the 
applicability of this regulation to their facility. Accordingly, the 
NRC informed licensees with facilities in decommissioning status and 
other stakeholders that the requirements of 10 CFR 73.55 were 
applicable to all Part 50 licensees. By letter dated August 2, 2010, 
the NRC informed MARAD of the applicability of the revised rule and 
stated that it would have to evaluate the applicability of the 
regulation to its facility and either make appropriate changes or 
request an exemption.
    By letter dated November 8, 2010, MARAD responded to the NRC's 
letter and requested exemptions from the security requirements in 10 
CFR part 73 and 10 CFR 50.54(p).

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, 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. Special circumstances are 
present when, for example, application of the regulation in the 
particular circumstances would not serve the underlying purpose of the 
rule or when compliance would result in costs significantly in excess 
of those incurred by others similarly situated. Also, pursuant to 10 
CFR 73.5, ``Specific exemptions,'' the Commission may, upon application 
of any interested person or upon its own initiative, grant exemptions 
from the regulations in Part 73 as it determines 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 purpose of the security requirements of 10 CFR part 73, as 
applicable to a 10 CFR part 50 licensed facility, is to prescribe 
requirements for a facility that possesses and utilizes SNM. By the end 
of 1972, all spent fuel at the NSS had been returned to the AEC for 
reprocessing. Since the license defines the facility as the reactor and 
associated components located aboard the ship, the removal of the spent 
Core I fuel from the ship is equivalent to removing all SNM from the 
NRC licensed site other than that contained in plant systems as 
residual contamination.
    The remaining radioactive material of concern (i.e., reactor 
vessel, piping systems, and ship structures) for the NSS is in a form 
that does not pose a risk of removal (i.e., an intact reactor pressure 
vessel) and is well dispersed and is not easily aggregated into 
significant quantities. With the removal of the fuel containing SNM, 
the potential for radiological sabotage or diversion of SNM at the 10 
CFR part 50 licensed site was eliminated. Therefore, the continued 
application of the fixed site physical protection requirements of 10 
CFR part 73 to the NSS would no longer be necessary to achieve the 
underlying purpose of the rule. Additionally, as has been noted at 
other decommissioning nuclear power facilities, with the removal of the 
spent nuclear fuel from the site, the 10 CFR part 50 licensed site 
would be comparable to a source and byproduct licensee that uses 
general industrial security (i.e. locks and barriers) to protect the 
public health and safety. The continued application of fixed site 
physical protection requirements of 10 CFR part 73 would cause the 
licensee to expend significantly more funds for security requirements 
than other source and byproduct facilities that use general industrial 
security. Therefore, compliance with the fixed site physical protection 
requirements of 10 CFR Part 73 would result in costs significantly in 
excess of those incurred by others similarly situated. Based on the 
above, the NRC has determined that the removal of the fuel containing 
SNM at the 10 CFR part 50 licensed site constitutes special 
circumstances. The possession and responsibility for the security of 
the SNM was transferred to the AEC and is no longer the responsibility 
of the licensee. Therefore, protection of the SNM is no longer a 
requirement of the licensee's 10 CFR part 50 license. With no SNM to 
protect, there is no need for the physical protection requirements of 
10 CFR part 73, which includes a safeguards contingency plan or 
procedures, physical security plan, guard training and qualification 
plan, and cyber security plan for the NSS, 10 CFR part 50 licensed 
site. The requirements for protection of safeguards information, 
physical protection of SNM in transit, and records and reports remain 
applicable.

4.0 Conclusion

    Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 
50.12(a), an exemption is authorized by law, will not present an undue 
risk to the public health and safety, and is consistent with the common 
defense

[[Page 65544]]

and security based on the continued maintenance of appropriate security 
requirements for the remaining SNM contained in plant systems as 
residual contamination. Additionally, special circumstances are present 
based on the removal of the spent nuclear fuel from the 10 CFR part 50 
licensed site. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants MARAD an 
exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.54(p) for the NSS.
    The Commission has also determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5, 
an exemption is authorized by law, will not endanger life or property 
or the common defense and security, and is otherwise in the public 
interest based on the security requirements for the spent fuel 
containing SNM no longer being the responsibility of the licensee. 
Therefore, the Commission hereby grants MARAD an exemption from the 
fixed site physical protection requirements of 10 CFR Part 73 for the 
NSS. The fixed site physical protection requirements of 10 CFR Part 73 
are delineated in Sec. Sec.  73.20, 74.40, 73.45, 73.46, 73.50, 73.51, 
73.54, 73.55, 73.56, 73.57, 73.58, 73.59, 73.60, 73.61, 73.67, Appendix 
B and Appendix C. The requirements for protection of safeguards 
information, physical protection of SNM in transit, and records and 
reports, contained in these or other sections of Part 73 continue to 
apply. To the extent that the licensee's request for an exemption from 
10 CFR part 73 included requirements other than the fixed site physical 
protection requirements, that request is denied.
    Part of this licensing action meets the categorical exclusion 
provision in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25), as part of this action is an 
exemption from the requirements of the Commission's regulations and (i) 
there is no significant hazards consideration; (ii) there is no 
significant change in the types or significant increase in the amounts 
of any effluents that may be released offsite; (iii) there is no 
significant increase in individual or cumulative public or occupational 
radiation exposure; (iv) there is no significant construction impact; 
(v) there is no significant increase in the potential for or 
consequences from radiological accidents; and (vi) the requirements 
from which an exemption is sought involve safeguard plans. Therefore, 
this part of the action does not require either an environmental 
assessment or an environmental impact statement.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.21, 51.32, and 51.35, an environmental 
assessment and finding of no significant impact related to the part of 
this exemption not dealing with safeguards plans (i.e.; transportation 
of SNM, interaction with emergency planning, and background checks) was 
published in the Federal Register on September 23, 2011 (76 FR 59174). 
Based upon the environmental assessment, the Commission has determined 
that issuance of this exemption will not have a significant effect on 
the quality of the human environment.
    These exemptions are effective immediately.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of October 2011.

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Keith I. McConnell,
Deputy Director, Decommissioning and Uranium Recovery Licensing 
Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, 
Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management 
Programs.
[FR Doc. 2011-27279 Filed 10-20-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P