[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 249 (Friday, December 28, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76539-76541]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-31199]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 52-037; NRC-2008-0556]
Ameren Missouri; Combined License Application For Callaway Plant,
Unit 2; Exemption
1.0 Background
Union Electric Company, doing business as Ameren UE, submitted to
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 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
Callaway Plant (Callaway), Unit 2, and located at the current Callaway
County, Missouri site of the Callaway Power Plant. The Callaway, Unit
2, COL application is based upon and linked to the U.S. EPR reference
COL (RCOL) application for UniStar's Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power
Plant, Unit 3 (CCNPP3). The NRC docketed the Callaway, Unit 2, COL
application on December 12, 2008. On February 25, 2009, Ameren
submitted Revision 1 to the COL application, including updates to the
Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR). In its letter to the NRC dated
April 28, 2009, Ameren informed the NRC that it was suspending its
efforts to build a nuclear power plant in Missouri. Subsequently, by
letter dated June 23, 2009, Ameren requested the NRC to suspend all
review activities relating to the Callaway, Unit 2, COL application.
The NRC informed Ameren by letter dated June 29, 2009, that it had
suspended all review activities relating to the Callaway, Unit 2, COL
application. By letter to the NRC dated October 26, 2010, Ameren
requested a one-time exemption from the 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii)
requirements to submit the scheduled 2010 and 2011 COL application FSAR
updates, and proposed for approval of a new submittal deadline of
December 31, 2012, for the next FSAR update. The NRC granted the
exemption as described in Federal Register Notice (FRN) 76 FR 3927
(January 21, 2011). 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 FSAR, which is
a part of the application.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii), the next annual update of the
Callaway, Unit 2, COL application FSAR would be due in December 2012.
By letter to the NRC dated October 15, 2012, Ameren requested a one-
time exemption from the 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii) requirements to submit
the scheduled 2012 as well as the 2013 COL application FSAR updates,
and proposed for approval of a new submittal deadline of December 31,
2014, for the next FSAR update.
Ameren's requested exemption is a one-time schedule change from the
requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii). The exemption would allow
Ameren to submit the next FSAR update at a later date, but still in
advance of NRC's reinstating its review of the application and in any
event, by December 31, 2014. The current FSAR update schedule could not
be changed, absent the exemption. Ameren requested the exemption by
letter dated October 15, 2012 (Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System (ADAMS) Accession Number ML12311A370).
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 Sec. 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)).
The review of the Callaway, Unit 2, COL application FSAR has been
suspended since June 29, 2009. Since the COL application FSAR is
directly linked to the CCNPP3 RCOL application, many changes in the
RCOL application require an associated change to the COL application
FSAR and, because the NRC review of the COL application is suspended,
the updates to the FSAR will not be reviewed by the NRC staff until the
Callaway, Unit 2, COL application review is resumed. Thus, the optimum
time to prepare a revision to the COL application FSAR is sometime
prior to Ameren requesting the NRC to resume its review. To prepare and
submit a COL application FSAR update when the review remains suspended
and in the absence of any decision by Ameren to request the NRC to
resume the review would require Ameren to spend significant time and
effort and would be of no value, particularly due to the fact that the
RCOL application and the U.S. EPR FSAR are still undergoing periodic
revisions and updates. Furthermore, the adjudicatory proceedings
related to the Callaway, Unit 2, COL application were terminated by the
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) after agreements were made
between Ameren, the NRC, and the petitioners for intervention, as
documented in ``AMERENUE (Callaway Plant Unit 2) MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
(Approving Settlement Agreement and Terminating Contested Adjudicatory
Proceeding) LBP-09-23 (August 28, 2009)'' (ADAMS Accession No.
ML092400189). Ameren commits to submit the next FSAR update prior to
any request to the NRC to resume review of the COL application and, in
any event, by December 31, 2014. Ameren would need to identify all
committed changes to the RCOL application since the last revisions to
the RCOL application and the U.S. EPR FSAR in order to prepare a COL
application FSAR revision that accurately and completely reflects the
committed changes to the RCOL application as well as the U.S. EPR FSAR.
The requested one-time exemption to defer submittal of the next
update to the Callaway, Unit 2, COL application FSAR would provide only
temporary relief from the regulations of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii).
Ameren has made good faith efforts to comply with 10 CFR
50.71(e)(3)(iii) by submitting Revision 1 to the COL application dated
February 25, 2009, prior to requesting the review suspension. Revision
1 incorporated information provided in prior supplements and
standardized language with the RCOL application.
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
Ameren to submit the next Callaway Unit 2 COL application FSAR update
on or before December 31, 2014, in lieu of the required scheduled
[[Page 76540]]
submittals in December 2012, and December 2013. As stated above, 10 CFR
50.12 allows the NRC to grant exemptions. The NRC staff has determined
that granting Ameren 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. In addition, since the review of the application has been
suspended, any update to the application submitted by Ameren will not
be reviewed by the NRC at this time. 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 Ameren to submit the next FSAR
update prior to requesting the NRC to resume the review and, in any
event, on or before December 31, 2014. 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 Ameren time to carefully review the most recent
revisions of the RCOL application and the U.S. EPR FSAR, and fully
incorporate these revisions into a comprehensive update of the FSAR
associated with the Callaway, Unit 2, 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, and therefore does not affect the underlying purpose
of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii). Under the circumstances that Ameren has
suspended its pursuit of the COL, the NRC has suspended its review of
the application, and the adjudicatory proceedings have been terminated
by ASLB, application of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii) would result in Ameren
spending significant time and effort in incorporating changes made to
the RCOL application as well as the U.S. EPR FSAR into the Callaway,
Unit 2, COL application, but not achieve the underlying purpose of that
rule; granting a one-time exemption from 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii) would
provide only temporary relief; and Ameren has made good faith efforts
to comply with the regulation; therefore, 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), and justified by the NRC staff as follows:
(c) The following categories of actions are categorical exclusions:
(25) Granting of an exemption from the requirements of any
regulation of this chapter, provided that--
(i) There is no significant hazards consideration;
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 has been suspended.
Therefore, there is no significant hazards 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;
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;
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;
The proposed action involves only a schedule change which is
administrative in nature; the application review is suspended until
further notice, and there is no consideration of any construction at
this time, and 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; and
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;
The exemption request involves submitting an updated FSAR by Ameren
and
(G) Scheduling requirements;
The proposed exemption relates to the schedule for submitting FSAR
updates to the NRC.
[[Page 76541]]
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 Ameren a one-time exemption from the requirements of
10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii) pertaining to the Callaway, Unit 2, COL
application to allow submittal of the next FSAR update prior to any
request to the NRC to resume the review, and in any event, no later
than December 31, 2014.
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 17th day of December 2012.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John Segala,
Chief, Licensing Branch 1, Division of New Reactor Licensing, Office of
New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2012-31199 Filed 12-27-12; 8:45 am]
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