[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 250 (Thursday, December 29, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81992-81994]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-33466]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 52-039; NRC-2008-0603]


PPL Bell Bend, LLC; Combined License Application for Bell Bend 
Nuclear Power Plant; Exemption

1.0 Background

    PPL Bell Bend, LLC submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC or the Commission) a Combined License (COL) Application 
for a single unit of AREVA NP's U.S. EPR in accordance with the 
requirements of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), 
subpart C of part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for 
Nuclear Power Plants.'' This reactor is to be identified as Bell Bend 
Nuclear Power Plant (BBNPP), in Salem County, Pennsylvania. The BBNPP 
COL application incorporates by reference AREVA NP's application for a 
Standard Design Certification for the U.S. EPR. Additionally, the BBNPP 
COL application is based upon the U.S. EPR reference COL (RCOL) 
application for UniStar's Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 3 
(CCNPP3). The NRC docketed the BBNPP COL application on October 10, 
2008. The NRC is currently performing a detailed review of the CCNPP3 
RCOL application, as well as AREVA NP's application for design 
certification of the U.S. EPR.

2.0 Request/Action

    The regulations specified in 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii), require that 
an applicant for a combined license under 10 CFR part 52 shall, during 
the period from docketing of a COL application until the Commission 
makes a finding under 10 CFR 52.103(g) pertaining to facility 
operation, submit an annual update to the application's Final Safety 
Analysis Report (FSAR), which is a part of the application.
    On February 12, 2010, PPL Bell Bend, LLC submitted Revision 2 to 
the COL application, including updates to the FSAR. Pursuant to 10 CFR 
50.71(e)(3)(iii), the next annual update is due by December 2011. PPL 
Bell Bend, LLC has requested a one-time exemption from the 10 CFR 
50.71(e)(3)(iii) requirements to submit

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the scheduled 2011 update, and proposed, for approval, a new submittal 
deadline of March 30, 2012, for the next FSAR update.
    In summary, the requested exemption is a one-time schedule change 
from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii). The exemption would 
allow PPL Bell Bend, LLC to submit the next FSAR update at a later 
date. The current FSAR update schedule could not be changed, absent the 
exemption. PPL Bell Bend LLC requested the exemption by letter dated 
October 26, 2011 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS) Accession No. ML11307A414).

3.0 Discussion

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the NRC may, upon application by any 
interested person or upon its own initiative, grant exemptions from the 
requirements of 10 CFR part 50, including Section 50.71(e)(3)(iii) 
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) special circumstances are present. 
As relevant to the requested exemption, special circumstances exist if: 
(1) ``Application of the regulation in the particular circumstances 
would not serve the underlying purpose of the rule or is not necessary 
to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule'' (10 CFR 
50.12(a)(2)(ii)); or (2) ``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'' (10 CFR 
50.12(a)(2)(v)).
    PPL Bell Bend LLC commits to submit the next FSAR update by March 
30, 2012, and would need to identify all changes to the U.S. EPR FSAR 
in order to prepare a COL application FSAR revision that accurately and 
completely reflects the changes to the U.S. EPR FSAR.
    The requested one-time schedule exemption to defer submittal of the 
next update to the NMP3NPP COL application FSAR would provide only 
temporary relief from the regulations of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii).

Authorized by Law

    The exemption is a one-time schedule exemption from the 
requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii). The exemption would allow PPL 
Bell Bend LLC to submit the next BBNPP COL application FSAR update on 
or before March 30, 2012. As stated above, 10 CFR 50.12 allows the NRC 
to grant exemptions. The NRC staff has determined that granting PPL 
Bell Bend LLC the requested one-time exemption from the requirements of 
10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii) will provide only temporary relief from this 
regulation and will not result in a violation of the Atomic Energy Act 
of 1954, as amended, or the NRC's regulations. Therefore, the exemption 
is authorized by law.

No Undue Risk to Public Health and Safety

    The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii) is to provide for 
a timely and comprehensive update of the FSAR associated with a COL 
application in order to support an effective and efficient review by 
the NRC staff and issuance of the NRC staff's safety evaluation report. 
The requested exemption is solely administrative in nature, in that it 
pertains to the schedule for submittal to the NRC of revisions to an 
application under 10 CFR part 52, for which a license has not been 
granted. Based on the nature of the requested exemption as described 
above, no new accident precursors are created by the exemption; thus, 
neither the probability, nor the consequences of postulated accidents 
are increased. Therefore, there is no undue risk to public health and 
safety.

Consistent With Common Defense and Security

    The requested exemption would allow PPL Bell Bend LLC to submit the 
next FSAR update on or before March 20, 2012. This schedule change has 
no relation to security issues. Therefore, the common defense and 
security is not impacted by this exemption.

Special Circumstances

    Special circumstances, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2), are 
present whenever: (1) ``Application of the regulation in the particular 
circumstances would not serve the underlying purpose of the rule or is 
not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule'' (10 CFR 
50.12(a)(2)(ii)); or (2) ``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'' (10 CFR 
50.12(a)(2)(v)).
    The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii) is to provide for 
a timely and comprehensive update of the FSAR associated with a COL 
application in order to support an effective and efficient review by 
the NRC staff and issuance of the NRC staff's safety evaluation report. 
As discussed above, the requested one-time exemption is solely 
administrative in nature, in that it pertains to a one-time schedule 
change for submittal of revisions to an application under 10 CFR part 
52, for which a license has not been granted. The requested one-time 
exemption will permit PPL Bell Bend LLC time to carefully review the 
most recent revisions of the U.S. EPR FSAR, and fully incorporate these 
revisions into a comprehensive update of the FSAR associated with the 
BBNPP COL application. This one-time exemption will support the NRC 
staff's effective and efficient review of the COL application when 
resumed, as well as issuance of the safety evaluation report. For this 
reason, application of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii) in the particular 
circumstances is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of 
that rule. Therefore, special circumstances exist under 10 CFR 
50.12(a)(2)(ii). In addition, special circumstances are also present 
under 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(v) because granting a one-time exemption from 
10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii) would provide only temporary relief, and PPL 
Bell Bend LLC has made good faith efforts to comply with the regulation 
by submitting Revision 2 to the COL application on February 12, 2010. 
Revision 2 incorporated information provided in prior supplements and 
standardized language with the RCOL application. For the above reasons, 
the special circumstances required by 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2) for the 
granting of an exemption from 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii) exist.

Eligibility for Categorical Exclusion From Environmental Review

    With respect to the exemption's impact on the quality of the human 
environment, the NRC has determined that this specific exemption 
request is eligible for categorical exclusion as identified in 10 CFR 
51.22(c)(25). Under 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25), granting of an exemption from 
the requirements of any regulation of 10 CFR Chapter 1 is an action 
that is a categorical exclusion, provided that:
    (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:

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    (B) Reporting requirements; or (G) Scheduling requirements.
    The NRC staff's determination that each of the applicable criteria 
for this categorical exclusion is met is justified as follows:
    (i) There is no significant hazards consideration;
    Staff analysis: The criteria for determining whether there is no 
significant hazards consideration are found in 10 CFR 50.92. The 
proposed action involves only a schedule change regarding the 
submission of an update to the application for which the licensing 
review is currently underway. Therefore, there are no significant 
hazard considerations because granting the proposed exemption would 
not:
    (1) Involve a significant increase in the probability or 
consequences of an accident previously evaluated; or
    (2) Create the possibility of a new or different kind of accident 
from any accident previously evaluated; or
    (3) Involve a significant reduction in a margin of safety.
    (ii) There is no significant change in the types or significant 
increase in the amounts of any effluents that may be released offsite;
    Staff analysis: The proposed action involves only a schedule change 
which is administrative in nature, and does not involve any changes to 
be made in the types or significant increase in the amounts of 
effluents that may be released offsite.
    (iii) There is no significant increase in individual or cumulative 
public or occupational radiation exposure;
    Staff analysis: Since the proposed action involves only a schedule 
change which is administrative in nature, it does not contribute to any 
significant increase in occupational or public radiation exposure.
    (iv) There is no significant construction impact;
    Staff analysis: The proposed action involves only a schedule change 
which is administrative in nature; the application review is underway 
and no license will be issued prior to receipt of the afore-mentioned 
application's March 30, 2012 submittal of the revised FSAR, hence the 
proposed action does not involve any construction impact.
    (v) There is no significant increase in the potential for or 
consequences from radiological accidents;
    Staff analysis: The proposed action involves only a schedule change 
which is administrative in nature, and does not impact the probability 
or consequences of accidents.
    (vi) The requirements from which an exemption is sought involve:
    (B) Reporting requirements; or (G) Scheduling requirements.
    Staff analysis: The exemption request involves requirements in both 
of these categories because it involves submitting an updated FSAR by 
PPL Bell Bend, LLC and also relates to the schedule for submitting FSAR 
updates to the NRC.

4.0 Conclusion

    Accordingly, the NRC 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 
NRC hereby grants PPL Bell Bend LLC a one-time exemption from the 
requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii) pertaining to the BBNPP COL 
application to allow submittal of the next FSAR update, no later than 
March 30, 2012.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22, the NRC has determined that the exemption 
request meets the applicable categorical exclusion criteria set forth 
in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25), and the granting of this exemption will not 
have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment.
    This exemption is effective upon issuance.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of December, 2011.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John Segala,
Chief, Licensing Branch1, Division of New Reactor Licensing, Office of 
New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2011-33466 Filed 12-28-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P