[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 251 (Friday, December 30, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 96523-96524]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-31720]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 52-025 and 52-026; NRC-2008-0252]
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., Vogtle Electric
Generating Plant, Units 3 and 4; Tier 1 Editorial and Consistency
Changes
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 departure from the certification information of
Tier 1 of the generic design control document (DCD) and is issuing
License Amendment No. 56 to Combined Licenses (COL) NPF-91 and NPF-92.
The COLs were issued to Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., and
Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, MEAG Power SPVM,
LLC, MEAG Power SPVJ, LLC, MEAG Power SPVP, LLC, Authority of Georgia,
and the City of Dalton, Georgia (the licensee); for construction and
operation of the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant (VEGP) Units 3 and 4,
located in Burke County, Georgia. The granting of the exemption allows
the changes to Tier 1 information asked for 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.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2008-0252 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may access information related to this document, which the NRC
possesses and is publicly available, using any of the following
methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2008-0252. 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
letter dated June 3, 2016, and available in ADAMS under Accession No.
ML16155A366.
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: Chandu Patel, Office of New Reactors,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001;
telephone: 301-415-3025; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is granting an exemption from Paragraph B of section III,
``Scope and Contents,'' of appendix D, ``Design Certification Rule for
the AP1000,'' to part 52 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR), and issuing License Amendment No. 56 to COLs, NPF-91 and NPF-
92, 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 depart from Tier 1 information.
With the requested amendment, the licensee sought proposed changes that
would correct editorial errors in plant-specific Tier 1 information,
with corresponding changes to the associated COL Appendix C
information, to promote consistency with the Updated Final Safety
Analysis Report Tier 2 information. One of the proposed changes to
plant-specific Tier 1 information also involves a change to Updated
Final Safety Analysis Report Tier 2 information. The proposed amendment
also involves a proposed editorial correction to COL Paragraph
2.D.(12)(g)1. 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'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 Section VIII.A.4 of
appendix D to 10 CFR part 52. The license amendment was found to be
acceptable as well. The combined safety evaluation is available in
ADAMS under Accession No. ML16244A345.
Identical exemption documents (except for referenced unit numbers
and license numbers) were issued to the licensee for VEGP Units 3 and 4
(COLs NPF-91 and NPF-92). The exemption
[[Page 96524]]
documents for VEGP Units 3 and 4 can be found in ADAMS under Accession
Nos. ML16244A301 and ML16244A324, 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-91 and NPF-92 are available in ADAMS under Accession Nos.
ML16244A270 and ML16244A283, 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 VEGP Units 3
and Unit 4. 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 an application dated June 3, 2016, the licensee requested
from the Commission an exemption to allow departures from Tier 1
information in the certified DCD incorporated by reference in 10 CFR
part 52, appendix D, as part of license amendment request 16-008,
``Tier 1 Editorial and Consistency Changes.''
For the reasons set forth in Section 3 of the NRC's Safety
Evaluation, which can be found at ADAMS Accession No. ML16244A345, 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 licensee is granted an exemption from the
certified DCD Tier 1 information, with corresponding information in COL
Appendix C of the Facility Combined License as described in the
licensee's request dated June 3, 2016. This exemption is related to,
and necessary for the granting of License Amendment No. 56, which is
being issued concurrently with this exemption.
3. As explained in Section 5.0 of the NRC's Safety Evaluation
(ADAMS Accession No. ML16244A345), 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
By letter dated June 3, 2016, the licensee requested that the NRC
amend the COLs for VEGP, Units 3 and 4, COLs NPF-91 and NPF-92. The
proposed amendment is described in Section I of this Federal Register
notice.
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 COL, 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
August 2, 2016 (81 FR 50729). No comments were received during the 30-
day comment period.
The Commission has determined that these amendments satisfy the
criteria for categorical exclusion in accordance with 10 CFR 51.22.
Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact
statement or environmental assessment need be prepared for these
amendments.
IV. Conclusion
Using the reasons set forth in the combined safety evaluation, the
NRC granted the exemption and issued the amendment that the licensee
requested on June 3, 2016. The exemption and amendment were issued on
October 12, 2016 as part of a combined package to the licensee (ADAMS
Accession No. ML16308A174).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of December 2016.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jennifer Dixon-Herrity,
Chief, Licensing Branch 4, Division of New Reactor Licensing, Office of
New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2016-31720 Filed 12-29-16; 8:45 am]
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