[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 105 (Wednesday, June 1, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35067-35068]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-12915]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 52-027 and 52-028; NRC-2008-0441]


Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station, Units 2 and 3; South Carolina 
Electric & Gas Company, South Carolina Public Service Authority, 
Addition of Instruments to Design Reliability Assurance Program

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Exemption and combined license amendment; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is granting an 
exemption to allow a change to the certification information of Tier 1 
of the generic design control document (DCD) and issuing License 
Amendment No. 45 to Combined Licenses (COL), NPF-93 and NPF-94. The 
COLs were issued to South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G), and 
South Carolina Public Service Authority (Santee Cooper) (together 
called the licensee) in March 2012, for the construction and operation 
of the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station (VCSNS), Units 2 and 3, located 
in Fairfield County, South Carolina.

DATES: June 1, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2008-0441 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-2008-0441. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; 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 
ADAMS Public Documents collection 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 (if it is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this 
document. The request for the amendment and exemption was submitted by 
the letter dated July 6, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15188A275). The 
licensee supplemented this request by letter dated March 24, 2016 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML16084A765).
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. Specific information on NRC's PDR is 
available at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/pdr.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William (Billy) Gleaves, Office of New 
Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001; telephone: 301-415-5848; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction

    The NRC is granting an exemption from Tier 1 information in the 
certified DCD incorporated by reference in part 52 of title 10 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), appendix D, ``Design 
Certification Rule for the AP1000 Design,'' and issuing License 
Amendment No. 45 to COLs, NPF-93 and NPF-94, to the licensee. The 
exemption is required by paragraph A.4 of Section VIII, ``Processes for 
Changes and Departures,'' appendix D to 10 CFR part 52 to allow the 
licensee to change Tier 1 information. With the requested amendment, 
the licensee sought proposed changes related to the plant-specific Tier 
1 tables related to the Class 1E DC and uninterruptible power supply 
system. The Tier 1 tables contain ITAAC and specifically, the licensee 
sought proposed changes to Tier 1 ITAAC Table 2.6.3-1 contains lists 
Category I equipment and Tier 1 ITAAC Table 2.6.3-4 contains component 
locations for this system. The proposed changes to plant-specific Tier 
1 information also contain corresponding

[[Page 35068]]

COL Appendix C and UFSAR Tier 2 information that would facilitate the 
replacement of four Class 1E DC and uninterruptible power supply system 
(IDS) spare termination boxes with a single spare battery termination 
box.
    The granting of the exemption allows the changes to Tier 1 
information requested in the amendment. Because the acceptability of 
the exemption was determined in part by the acceptability of the 
amendment, the exemption and amendment are being issued concurrently.
    Part of the justification for granting the exemption was provided 
by the review of the amendment. Because the exemption is necessary in 
order to issue the requested license amendment, the NRC granted the 
exemption and issued the amendment concurrently, rather than in 
sequence. This included issuing a combined safety evaluation containing 
the NRC staff's review of both the exemption request and the license 
amendment. The exemption met all applicable regulatory criteria set 
forth in 10 CFR 50.12, 10 CFR 52.7, and 10 CFR 52.63(b)(1). The license 
amendment was found to be acceptable as well. The combined safety 
evaluation is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML16075A107.
    Identical exemption documents (except for referenced unit numbers 
and license numbers) were issued to the licensee for VCSNS Units 2 and 
3 (COLs NPF-93 and NPF-94). These documents can be found in ADAMS under 
Accession Nos. ML16075A126 and ML16075A133, respectively. The exemption 
is reproduced (with the exception of abbreviated titles and additional 
citations) in Section II of this document. The amendment documents for 
COLs NPF-93 and NPF-94 are available in ADAMS under Accession Nos. 
ML16068A113 and ML16068A115, respectively. A summary of the amendment 
documents is provided in Section III of this document.

II. Exemption

    Reproduced below is the exemption document issued to VCSNS, Units 2 
and 3. It makes reference to the combined safety evaluation that 
provides the reasoning for the findings made by the NRC (and listed 
under Item 1) in order to grant the exemption:
    1. In a letter dated July 6, 2015, supplemented March 24, 2016, the 
South Carolina Electric & Gas Company acting on behalf of the South 
Carolina Public Service Authority (hereafter referred to as the 
licensees) requested from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or 
Commission) an exemption to allow changes to Tier 1 information in the 
certified Design Control Document (DCD) incorporated by reference in 
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 52, appendix 
D, ``Design Certification Rule for the AP1000 Design,'' as part of 
license amendment request (LAR) 14-10, ``Addition of Instruments to 
Design Reliability Assurance Program (D-RAP).''
    For the reasons set forth in Section 3.1 of the NRC staff's Safety 
Evaluation that supports this license amendment, which can be found at 
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. 
ML16075A107, the Commission finds that:
    A. The exemption is authorized by law;
    B. the exemption presents no undue risk to public health and 
safety;
    C. the exemption is consistent with the common defense and 
security;
    D. special circumstances are present in that the application of the 
rule in this circumstance is not necessary to serve the underlying 
purpose of the rule;
    E. the special circumstances outweigh any decrease in safety that 
may result from the reduction in standardization caused by the 
exemption, and
    F. the exemption will not result in a significant decrease in the 
level of safety otherwise provided by the design.
    2. Accordingly, the licensees are granted an exemption from the 
certified AP1000 DCD Tier 1 information, as described in the licensee's 
request dated July 6, 2015, supplemented by letter dated March 24, 
2016. This exemption is related to, and necessary for, the granting of 
License Amendment No. 45, which is being issued concurrently with this 
exemption.
    3. As explained in Section 5.0 of the NRC staff's Safety Evaluation 
that supports this license amendment (ADAMS Accession No. ML16075A107), 
this exemption meets the eligibility criteria for categorical exclusion 
set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9). Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 
51.22(b), no environmental impact statement or environmental assessment 
needs to be prepared in connection with the issuance of the exemption.
    4. This exemption is effective as of the date of its issuance.

III. License Amendment Request

    The request for the amendment and exemption was submitted by the 
letter dated July 6, 2015. The licensee supplemented this request by 
the letter dated March 24, 2016. The proposed amendment is described in 
Section I, above.
    The Commission has determined for these amendments that the 
application complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic 
Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's rules 
and regulations. The Commission has made appropriate findings as 
required by the Act and the Commission's rules and regulations in 10 
CFR chapter I, which are set forth in the license amendment.
    A notice of consideration of issuance of amendment to facility 
operating license or combined license, as applicable, proposed no 
significant hazards consideration determination, and opportunity for a 
hearing in connection with these actions, was published in the Federal 
Register on September 1, 2015 (80 FR 52806). No comments were received 
during the 30-day comment period.
    The NRC staff has found that the amendment involves no significant 
hazards consideration. The Commission has determined that these 
amendments satisfy the criteria for categorical exclusion in accordance 
with 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9). Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no 
environmental impact statement or environmental assessment need be 
prepared for these amendments. The supplement dated March 24, 2016, 
provided additional information that clarified the application, did not 
expand the scope of the application as originally noticed, and did not 
change the staff's original proposed no significant hazards 
consideration determination as published in the Federal Register.

IV. Conclusion

    Using the reasons set forth in the combined safety evaluation, the 
staff granted the exemption and issued the amendment that the licensee 
requested on July 6, 2015, and supplemented by the letter dated March 
24, 2016. The exemption and amendment were issued on May 2, 2016, as 
part of a combined package to the licensee (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML16095A290).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of May 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John McKirgan,
Acting Chief, Licensing Branch 4, Division of New Reactor Licensing, 
Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2016-12915 Filed 5-31-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P