[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 238 (Wednesday, December 11, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75381-75383]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-29560]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 52-024; NRC-2008-0233]


Entergy Operations, Inc.; Combined License Application for Grand 
Gulf Unit 3; Exemption From the Requirements To Revise a Combined 
License Application To Comply With Enhancements to Emergency 
Preparedness Rule

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Exemption.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an 
exemption in response to a September 30, 2013 request from Entergy 
Operations, Inc. (EOI) which requested an exemption from addressing 
enhancements to the Emergency Preparedness (EP) rules in their Combined 
License (COL) application. The NRC staff reviewed this request and 
determined that it is appropriate to grant the exemption but stipulated 
that the revised application must be submitted prior to, or coincident 
with, requesting the NRC to resume its review of the COL application, 
or by December 31, 2014, whichever comes first.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2008-0233 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may access publicly-available information related to this action by the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2008-0233. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC 
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the 
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's 
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number 
for each document referenced in this document (if that document is 
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that the document is 
referenced.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Klos, Office of New Reactors, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; 
telephone: 301-415-5136; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following sections include the text of 
the exemption in its entirety as issued to EOI.

1.0 Background

    On February 27, 2008, EOI submitted to the NRC a COL application 
for one Economic Simplified Boiling-Water Reactor to be constructed and 
operated at the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station (GGNS) site in Claiborne 
County, Mississippi. The NRC accepted for docketing the Grand Gulf 
Nuclear Station Unit 3 (GGNS3) COL application on April 17, 2008, 
(Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession 
No. ML081050460, Docket No. 52-024). On January 9, 2009, EOI requested 
that the NRC temporarily suspend review of the application and the NRC 
granted EOI's request (ADAMS Accession No. ML090080523) while the 
application remained docketed. On September 30, 2013 (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML13275A065), EOI requested an exemption from the requirements of 
10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, Section I.5, as referenced by 10 CFR 
52.79(a)(21), to submit an update by December 31, 2013,

[[Page 75382]]

to the COL application, addressing the enhancements to Emergency 
Preparedness (EP) rules by December 31, 2013.

2.0 Request/Action

    Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, 
Appendix E, Section I.5 requires that an applicant for a COL under 
Subpart C of 10 CFR Part 52 whose application was docketed prior to 
December 23, 2011, must revise their COL application to comply with the 
EP rules published in the Federal Register (76 FR 72560) on November 
23, 2011. 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, Section I.5 gives those COL 
applicants close to receiving their COL the option to defer addressing 
the changes to the EP rules, however a license amendment request must 
be submitted no later than December 31, 2013. An applicant that does 
not receive a COL before December 31, 2013, shall revise its COL 
application to comply with these changes no later than December 31, 
2013.
    Because EOI will not hold a COL prior to December 31, 2013, it is 
therefore, required to revise its application to be compliant with the 
new EP rules by December 31, 2013. By letter dated January 9, 2009, EOI 
requested that the NRC suspend review of the GGNS3 COL application. The 
NRC granted EOI's request for suspension of all review activities while 
the application remained docketed (ADAMS Accession No. ML090080523). In 
a letter dated, September 30, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. ML13275A065), 
EOI requested an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, 
Appendix E, Section I.5 until the time that EOI requests reactivation 
of the GGNS3 COL application review. Prior to, or coincident with this 
reactivation request, EOI commits to submit an upgrade of the GGNS3 COL 
application addressing the enhancements to Emergency Preparedness 
Regulations.
    EOI's requested exemption is seen as an open-ended, one-time 
schedule change from the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, 
Section I.5. Therefore the NRC included an imposed December 31, 2014 
deadline as part of its review of the exemption request. The exemption 
would allow EOI to comply with the new EP rule 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 schedule to comply with 
the new EP rule by December 31, 2013, could not be changed, absent the 
exemption.

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, including 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix 
E, Section I.5, when: (1) The exemption(s) 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: ``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)).
    The purpose of 10 CFR Part 50 Appendix E, Section I.5 was to ensure 
that applicants and new COL holders updated their COL application or 
Combined License to allow the NRC to review them efficiently and 
effectively, and to bring the applicants or licensees into compliance 
prior to COL approval and receipt of license, or operate the facility. 
The target of Section I.5 of the rule were those applications that were 
in the process of being actively reviewed by the NRC staff when the 
rule came into effect on November 23, 2011. Because EOI requested the 
NRC to suspend its review of the GGNS3 COL application, compelling EOI 
to revise its COL application in order to meet the December 31, 2013 
compliance deadline would only bring on unnecessary burden and hardship 
for the applicant to meet the compliance date. So long as it is 
recognized that the COL application must be updated to comply with the 
enhancements to the EP rules, prior to the NRC approving EOI's COL 
application, it makes no difference if they revise the COL application 
now, when they request the review be restarted, or December 31, 2014. 
For this reason the application of Appendix E, Section I.5 can be 
deemed unnecessary, and therefore special circumstances are present.

Authorized by Law

    The exemption is a one-time schedule exemption from the 
requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, Section I.5. The exemption 
would allow EOI to revise its COL application and comply with the new 
EP rules on or before December 31, 2014, in lieu of December 31, 2013, 
the date required by 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, Section I.5. As stated 
above, 10 CFR 50.12 allows the NRC to grant exemptions from the 
requirements of 10 CFR Part 50. The NRC staff has determined that 
granting EOI the requested one-time exemption from the requirements of 
10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, Section I.5 will be only temporary, 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 the enhancements to Emergency 
Preparedness found in 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E is to amend certain EP 
requirements which are aimed at enhancing protective measures in the 
event of a radiological emergency; address, in part, enhancements 
identified after the terrorist events of September 11, 2001; clarify 
regulations to effect consistent Emergency Plan implementation among 
licensees; and modify certain requirements to be more effective and 
efficient. Since plant construction cannot proceed until the NRC review 
of the application is completed, a mandatory hearing is completed, and 
a license is issued, the exemption does not increase the probability of 
postulated accidents. Additionally, 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 EOI to submit the revised COL 
application prior to, or coincident, with a request of 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.

Special Circumstances

    Special circumstances, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii), 
are present whenever ``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)). The underlying purpose of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, 
Section I.5 is to ensure that applicants are in compliance with the new 
EP rules in a time that allows the NRC to effectively review their 
revised COL application prior to issuance of the license. Because

[[Page 75383]]

the requirement to comply with the new EP rules was intended for active 
reviews and the GGNS3 COL application review is now suspended, the 
application of this regulation in this particular circumstance is 
unnecessary in order to achieve its underlying purpose. If the NRC were 
to grant this exemption, and EOI were then required to comply by 
December 31, 2014 or prior to any request to restart their review, the 
purpose of the rule would still be achieved. Therefore, the special 
circumstances required by 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii) for the granting of an 
exemption from 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, Section I.5 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 COL 
application by EOI and
    (G) Scheduling requirements;
    The proposed exemption relates to the schedule for submitting a COL 
application update to the NRC.

4.0 Conclusion

    Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 
50.12(a)(1) and (2), 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 Commission hereby grants EOI 
a one-time exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 50, Appendix E, 
Section I.5 pertaining to the Grand Gulf Unit 3 COL application to 
allow submittal of the revised COL application that complies with the 
new EP rules prior to, or coincident with, 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 Commission 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 4th day of December 2013.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Ronaldo Jenkins,
Branch Chief, Licensing Branch 3, Division of New Reactor Licensing, 
Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2013-29560 Filed 12-10-13; 8:45 am]
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