[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]
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