[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 14, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1972-1975]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-00449]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. STN 50-454 and STN 50-455; NRC-2015-0002]
Exemption; Issuance; Exelon Generation Company, LLC
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Exemption; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a
scheduling exemption in response to a December 10, 2013 (Agencywide
Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No.
ML13345B157), request from Exelon Generation Company, LLC (EGC or the
licensee) for a one-time exemption from the requirement to exercise its
offsite emergency plan biennially with full participation by each
authority having a role under the radiological response plan. The
request was supplemented by letter dated June 13, 2014 (ADAMS Accession
No. ML14164A328). A series of deadly tornadoes struck Illinois 3 days
prior to the scheduled exercise at the Byron Station. Because of the
major involvement of the State of Illinois resources in response to the
tornadoes, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA), with the
agreement of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),
decided to postpone participation in the Byron Station exercise from
2013 to early 2014, which is outside of the NRC's biennial requirement.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0002 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0002. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the NRC
Library at http://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 (if that document is available in ADAMS)
is provided the first time that a 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
Rockvile Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joel S. Wiebe, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-6606, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following sections include the text of
the exemption in its entirety as issued to EGC.
I. Background
The licensee is the holder of Facility Operating License Nos., NPF-
37 and NPF-66, issued under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR) Part 50, and which authorize operation of the Byron Station,
Units 1 and 2. The license provides, among other things, that the
facility is subject to all rules, regulations, and Orders of the NRC
now or hereafter in effect. The facility consists of two pressurized-
water reactors located in Ogle County, Illinois.
II. Request/Action
Per 10 CFR 50.12, ``specific exemptions,'' the Commission may grant
exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 50 which: (1) Are
authorized by law, (2) will not present an undue risk to the public
health and safety, and (3) are consistent with the common defense and
security. The Commission will not consider granting an exemption unless
special circumstances as described in 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2) are present.
Special circumstances are present whenever, among other things,
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; or 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.
Part 50, Appendix E, Section IV.F.2.c requires that ``[o]ffsite
plans for each site shall be exercised biennially with full
participation by each offsite authority having a role under the
radiological response plan.'' Full participation when used in
conjunction
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with emergency preparedness (EP) exercises for a particular site means
appropriate offsite local and State authorities and licensee personnel
physically and actively take part in testing their integrated
capability to adequately assess and respond to an accident at a
commercial nuclear power plant. Full participation includes testing
major observable portions of the onsite and offsite emergency plans and
mobilization of State, local, and licensee personnel and other
resources in sufficient numbers to verify the capability to respond to
the accident scenario.
The Byron Station biennial exercise with full participation was
scheduled for November 20, 2013. On November 17, 2013, 3 days before
the exercise, a series of tornadoes struck Illinois and caused
significant widespread damage throughout the state resulting in a
Presidential Disaster Declaration for 15 Illinois counties. On November
18, 2013, due to the magnitude of the State and local disaster
response, and its impact on resources, IEMA verbally notified FEMA that
they would request postponement of participation in the Byron Station
Radiological Emergency Preparedness biennial exercise.
The onsite portion and some aspects of the offsite portions of the
exercise were conducted by the licensee and inspected by the NRC on
November 20, 2013. Since the State was not able to participate in the
exercise, Ogle and Winnebago Counties did not perform their required
interface functions. Therefore, the counties did not fully participate
in the exercise.
In a letter to FEMA dated December 2, 2013 (Attachment 2; ADAMS
Accession No. ML13345B157), IEMA requested that FEMA postpone the
exercise until calendar year (CY) 2014, citing the magnitude of the
State's disaster response to the series of deadly tornadoes. By letter
dated December 7, 2013 (Attachment 3; ADAMS Accession No. ML13345B157),
FEMA agreed to the IEMA request to postpone the offsite portions of the
biennial exercise until CY 2014.
The licensee requested on December 10, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML13345B157), pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, approval of a one-time
exemption from 10 CFR part 50, Appendix E, Section IV.F.2.c. The
requested exemption would allow the licensee to delay conduct of
certain offsite portions of a biennial EP exercise from November 23,
2013, to February 2014.
The licensee stated in their request that the IEMA and the Ogle and
Winnebago Counties have indicated that it was not feasible to
reschedule the specific offsite functions that remain to be exercised
prior to the end of CY 2013.
The postponed aspects at the offsite portions of the exercise were
conducted by the licensee on February 6, 2014, and were evaluated by
FEMA.
III. Discussion
A. Authorized by Law
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a), the Commission may grant exemptions
which are, among other things, authorized by law. It may be inferred
that an exemption is authorized by law if all of the conditions for
granting the exemption are met (i.e., will not present an undue risk to
the public health and safety, consistent with the common defense and
security, special circumstances are present). These factors are
discussed below in Sections B, C, and D.
In addition, the NRC staff must determine whether the exemption
would violate the Atomic Energy Act, National Environmental Policy Act,
or other law. In this case, the exemption removes for purposes of the
2013 exercise the requirement in 10 CFR part 50, Appendix E, Section
IV.F.2.c, to conduct the exercise biennially. The frequency is not
specified by any law and the NRC staff has not identified any legal
prohibition to the exemption. The change from annual to biennial
exercise frequency was a result of rulemaking in 1984 (Final Rule,
Emergency Planning and Preparedness (49 FR 27733-35; July 6, 1984)),
when after considering: (1) Experience with 150 exercises; (2) the fact
that State and local governments exercise their emergency response
capabilities frequently by responding to a variety of actual
emergencies on a continuing basis; (3) the flexibility provided in a
biennial frequency; and (4) FEMA's experiences showing the level of
preparedness of State and local governments. Accordingly, the NRC staff
has determined that granting of the licensee's proposed scheduling
exemption is authorized by law.
B. No Undue Risk to Public Health and Safety
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a), the Commission may grant exemptions
which, among other things, will not present an undue risk to public
health and safety. In other words, granting the exemption does not make
it more likely that an accident could adversely affect the health and
safety of the public. In 1984 (Final Rule, Emergency Planning and
Preparedness (49 FR 27733-35; July 6, 1984)), when the Commission
changed the exercise frequency from annual to biennial, the Commission
considered whether increasing the time between exercises would result
in making personnel and equipment less effective or reliable and
therefore reduce the level of safety. The Commission concluded that
``Because emergency response personnel at the State and local
government level continuously respond to actual emergencies, the
Commission does not consider that relaxing the frequency of State and
local government participation in emergency preparedness exercises
would adversely affect the health and safety of the public.'' Since the
last biennial EP exercise on July 27, 2011, the licensee has conducted
47 onsite training drills/exercises/demonstrations and 34 offsite
training sessions that have involved interface with State and/or local
authorities. These drills and training sessions did not exercise all of
the proposed rescheduled offsite functions, but they do support the
licensee's assertion that it has a continuing level of engagement with
the State and local authorities to maintain interfaces. The NRC staff
considers the intent of this requirement is met by having conducted
these series of drills and training sessions. Additionally, since the
July 27, 2011, Byron Station exercise, the IEMA has satisfactorily
participated in three full participation FEMA evaluated exercises at
other Illinois EGC plants in Illinois. By letter dated June 13, 2014,
the licensee stated that the proposed exemption is not a reduction in
effectiveness of the Byron Station emergency plan.
Based on the above information showing the extent of the State and
local authority participation in training and level of coordination
with the licensee, the NRC Staff concludes that the one-time exemption
to delay portions of the biennial EP exercise at the Byron Station
poses no undue risk to public health and safety.
C. Consistent With the Common Defense and Security
The requested exemption would allow rescheduling of the specific
offsite portions of the biennial EP exercise from the previously
scheduled date of November 20, 2013, until February 2014. Even with the
exemption granted, the Byron Station will continue to be required to
meet the substantial terms and conditions in the licenses. The
exemption merely allows for a delay of some portions of an emergency
response exercise, with no direct impact on regulations and
requirements associated with common defense and security. Therefore,
the granting of the exemption
[[Page 1974]]
is consistent with the common defense and security.
D. Special Circumstances
The Commission will not consider granting an exemption unless
special circumstances are present. Special circumstances, per 10 CFR
50.12(a)(2)(ii), are present when ``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.'' Section IV.F.2.c of 10 CFR part 50, Appendix E, requires
licensees to exercise offsite plans biennially with full or partial
participation by each offsite authority having a role under the plan.
The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 50, Appendix E, Section IV.F.2.c,
requiring licensees to exercise offsite plans with offsite authority
participation, is to test and maintain interfaces among affected State
and local authorities, and the licensee. The circumstances at Byron
Station show that maintaining the requirement to perform the biennial
test during 2013 is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of
the rule because, as described below, the offsite responders'
capabilities and interface with the licensee have been tested.
Although no NRC findings were identified at the previous biennial
EP exercise conducted on July 27, 2011, FEMA did identify two Areas
Requiring Corrective Actions (ARCAs). The State of Illinois received an
ARCA under Evaluation Area 2, ``Radiological Assessment and Protective
Action Recommendations and Decisions for the Plume Phase of the
Emergency'' from FEMA. This ARCA was demonstrated successfully and
closed by FEMA for the State of Illinois during the Clinton Power
Station exercise on November 2, 2011. In addition, Ogle County received
an ARCA under Evaluation Area 3, ``Implementation of Protective Actions
for Special Populations, School Evacuation.'' Training was conducted
with the Ogle County Regional Office of Education, EGC, and the State
of Illinois to resolve this issue. This ARCA was expected to be
resolved during the November 20, 2013. As previously discussed, the
licensee has conducted 47 onsite training drills/exercises/
demonstrations and 34 offsite training sessions that have involved
interface with State and/or local authorities in 2011 through 2013. The
NRC staff considers that these measures are adequate to test and
maintain interfaces with affected State and local authorities during
this period, satisfying the underlying purpose of the rule. Thus, the
special circumstances required by 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii) are present in
that application of the biennial test requirement during 2013 is not
necessary to achieve the purpose of the rule.
There is an additional special circumstance present under 10 CFR
50.12(a)(2)(v). Specifically, 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,
but the scheduled exercise was interrupted by tornadoes. The requested
exemption to conduct the specific offsite portions of the biennial EP
exercise in early 2014, instead of 2013, would grant only temporary
relief from the applicable regulation until the end of February 2014.
The 47 onsite training drills/exercises/demonstrations involving
interface with State and local authorities conducted in 2011, 2012, and
2013, demonstrate the licensee's good faith efforts to comply with the
regulation. In addition, the licensee's inability to meet the Appendix
E requirement was due to circumstances beyond its control (i.e., the
impact of widespread tornado disaster response on State resources and
the State's need to postpone its participation until CY 2014). The
licensee scheduled the exercise and arranged for the necessary
participants before the storms hit. Therefore, the licensee has made a
good faith effort to comply with the regulation. Thus, the special
circumstances required by 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(v) are also present.
Based on the above, the special circumstances required by 10 CFR
50.12(a)(2)(ii) and (v), exist to grant the requested exemption.
IV. Environmental Considerations
The Commission has found that issuing an exemption to the
requirements of a regulation does not individually or cumulatively have
a significant effect on the human environment provided that 10 CFR
51.22(c)(25) is met in 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, among other things, scheduling requirements.
An exemption involves no significant hazards consideration under 10
CFR 50.92(c) if operation of the facility in accordance with 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.
The proposed exemption to postpone the Byron Station EP exercise
from November 23, 2013, to February 2014, does not increase the
probability of an accident because EP exercises are not initiators of
any design-basis event. Additionally, the proposed exemption does not
involve any physical changes to plant systems, structures, or
components (SSCs), or the manner in which these SSCs are maintained or
controlled. Therefore, the proposed exemption does not involve a
significant increase in the probability or consequences of an accident
previously evaluated. The proposed exemption does not alter the
physical design, safety limits, or safety analysis assumptions
associated with the operation of Byron Station. Accordingly, the
proposed exemption does not introduce any new accident initiators, nor
does it reduce or adversely affect the capabilities of any plant
structure or system in the performance of their safety function.
Therefore, the proposed exemption does not create the possibility of a
new or different kind of accident from any previously evaluated. The
proposed exemption does not impact the assumptions of any design basis
accident, and does not alter assumptions relative to the mitigation of
an accident or transient event. Therefore, the proposed exemption does
not involve a significant reduction in a margin of safety. Accordingly,
the NRC staff has determined that the three standards of 10 CFR
50.92(c) are satisfied, and the exemption request involves no
significant hazards consideration, and 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(i) is
satisfied.
In reviewing the other factors in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25), the NRC
staff determined that the proposed exemption changes the EP exercise
from November 23, 2013, to February 2014, involves no significant
change in the types or significant increase in the amounts of any
effluents that may be released offsite; increase in individual or
cumulative occupational radiation exposure; construction impact; and
increase in the potential for or consequences from radiological
[[Page 1975]]
accidents. Therefore, 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(ii)-(v) are satisfied.
The NRC staff has further determined that the requirements from
which the exemption is sought involve the factors associated with 10
CFR 51.22(c)(25)(vi)(G) scheduling requirements. Specifically, the
proposed exemption changes the EP exercise from November 23, 2013, to
February 2014. Therefore, the criteria specified in 10 CFR
51.22(c)(25)(vi)(G) is satisfied. Accordingly, the exemption meets the
eligibility criteria for exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25).
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact statement or
environmental assessment is required to be prepared with the issuance
of the exemption.
V. Conclusion
Accordingly, the Commission 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, the special circumstances required by 10
CFR 50.12(a)(ii) and (v), are present. Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR
50.12(a)(ii) and (v), the Commission hereby grants EGC a one-time
exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR part 50, Appendix E, Section
IV.F.2.c., to conduct the specific offsite portion of the Byron Station
biennial EP exercise required for 2013. The one-time exemption permits
the specific offsite portion of the exercise to be conducted in
coordination with FEMA, NRC Region III, and Byron Station as scheduled
in February 2014. As noted above, the postponed aspects at the offsite
portions of the exercise were conducted by the licensee on February 6,
2014.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd day of December 2014.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michele G. Evans,
Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2015-00449 Filed 1-13-15; 8:45 am]
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