[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 14 (Tuesday, January 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4467-4469]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-01145]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 52-016; NRC-2008-0250]


UniStar Nuclear Energy, Combined License Application for Calvert 
Cliffs Power Plant, Unit 3, Exemption

1.0 Background

    UniStar Nuclear Energy (UNE), on behalf of Calvert Cliffs Nuclear 
Project, LLC and UniStar Nuclear Operating Services, LLC, 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 Calvert 
Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 3 (CCNPP Unit 3), and is to be located 
in Calvert County, MD. The NRC docketed Part 2 of the CCNPP Unit 3 COL 
application on June 3, 2008. The CCNPP Unit 3 COL application 
incorporates by reference AREVA NP's application for a standard design 
certification for the U.S. EPR. The NRC is currently performing 
concurrent reviews of the CCNPP Unit 3 COL application, as well as 
AREVA NP's application for design certification of the U.S. EPR. UNE 
previously requested an exemption on November 8, 2011, pursuant to 10 
CFR 50.71(e)(iii) to submit the scheduled 2011 update, and proposed, 
for approval, a new submittal deadline of March 30, 2012. The NRC 
granted the exemption as described in Federal Register notice (FR) 76 
FR 81994 (December 29, 2011).

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 COL application.
    On March 27, 2012, UNE submitted Revision 8 to the COL application, 
including updates to the FSAR. Since this submittal was provided to 
satisfy their requested exemption of November 8, 2011, pursuant to 10 
CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii), the next annual update is due by the end of 
December 2012. UNE has again requested a one-time exemption from the 10 
CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii) requirements to submit the scheduled 2012 update, 
and proposed for approval, a new submittal deadline of March 29, 2013, 
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 UNE to submit the next FSAR update at a later date. The current 
FSAR update schedule could not be changed, absent the exemption. UNE 
requested the exemption by letter dated November 2, 2012 (Agencywide 
Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. 
ML12311A270). Documents related to this action, including the 
application for amendment and supporting documentation, are available 
electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can access the 
NRC's ADAMS, which provides text and image files of NRC's public 
documents. The ADAMS accession numbers for the documents related to 
this notice are ML12341A189 and ML12341A262.

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)).
    UNE commits to submit the next COL FSAR update by March 29, 2013, 
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 CCNPP Unit 3 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 UNE 
to submit the next CCNPP Unit 3 COL application FSAR update on or 
before March 29, 2013. Per 10 CFR 50.12. the NRC staff has determined 
that granting UNE 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 UNE to submit the next FSAR 
update on or before March 29, 2013. 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

[[Page 4468]]

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 UNE 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 CCNPP Unit 
3 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 UNE has made 
good faith efforts to comply with the regulation by submitting Revision 
8 to the COL application on March 27, 2012. This COLA revision 
incorporated changes resulting from Revision 3 of the U.S. EPR FSAR and 
COLA changes resulting from UNE's responses to the NRC requests for 
additional information submitted through February 12, 2012. 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 [which includes 
10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii)] 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:
    (A) Recordkeeping requirements;
    (B) Reporting requirements;
    (C) Inspection or surveillance requirements;
    (D) Equipment servicing or maintenance scheduling requirements;
    (E) Education, training, experience, qualification, requalification 
or other employment suitability requirements;
    (F) Safeguard plans, and materials control and accounting inventory 
scheduling requirements;
    (G) Scheduling requirements;
    (H) Surety, insurance or indemnity requirements; or
    (I) Other requirements of an administrative, managerial, or 
organizational nature.
    The requirements from which this exemption is sought involve only 
(B) Reporting requirements; or (G) Scheduling requirements of those 
required by 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(vi).
    The NRC staff's determination that each of the applicable criteria 
for this categorical exclusion is met is justified as follows:
    I. 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(i) There is no significant hazards 
consideration;
    Staff Analysis: The criteria for determining if an exemption 
involves a 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. 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(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. 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(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. 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(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 aforementioned 
application's March 29, 2013, submittal of the revised FSAR, therefore, 
the proposed action does not involve any construction impact.
    V. 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(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. 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(vi) The requirements from which this 
exemption is sought involve only (B) Reporting requirements; or (G) 
Scheduling requirements of those required this regulation.
    Staff Analysis: The exemption request involves requirements in both 
of these categories because it involves submitting an updated COL FSAR 
by JUNE and also relates to the schedule for submitting COL 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.

[[Page 4469]]

Therefore, the NRC hereby grants UNE a one-time exemption from the 
requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii) pertaining to the CCNPP Unit 3 
COL application to allow submittal of the next FSAR update, no later 
than March 29, 2013.
    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 impact on the human environment.
    This exemption is effective upon issuance.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of January 2013.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John Segala,
Chief, Licensing Branch 1, Division of New Reactor Licensing, Office of 
New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2013-01145 Filed 1-18-13; 8:45 am]
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