[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 55 (Thursday, March 23, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14920-14921]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-05778]


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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 Nuclear Instrumentation System Excore 
Detector Surface Material Inspection Clarification

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. 66 to Combined Licenses (COLs), 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.

DATES: The exemption and amendment were issued on January 19, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2008-0252 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-2008-0252. 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 July 25, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No. ML16207A496), and 
supplemented by the letters dated September 23, 2016 (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML16267A429) and October 13, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML16287A662).
     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

[[Page 14921]]

part 52 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), and 
issuing License Amendment No. 66 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 to the VEGP 
Units 3 and 4 Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR) in the form 
of departures from the incorporated plant-specific DCD Tier 2 
information. The proposed amendment also involves related changes to 
plant-specific Tier 1 information, with corresponding changes to the 
associated COL Appendix C information to clarify the Inspections, 
Tests, Analyses and Acceptance Criteria (ITAAC) related to the 
inspection of excore (source range, intermediate range, and power 
range) detectors. 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 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. ML16320A370.
    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 documents for VEGP Units 3 and 
4 can be found in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML16320A277 and 
ML16320A282, 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. ML16320A258 and 
ML16320A265, 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 a letter dated July 25, 2016, as supplemented by letters 
dated September 23, 2016, and October 13, 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 16-010, 
``Nuclear Instrumentation System Excore Detector Surface Material 
Inspection Clarification.''
    For the reasons set forth in Section 3.1 of the NRC staff's Safety 
Evaluation, which can be found at ADAMS Accession No. ML16320A370, 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 changes to 
Appendix C of the Facility Combined Licenses as described in the 
licensee's request dated July 25, 2016, as supplemented by letters 
dated September 23, 2016, and October 13, 2016. This exemption is 
related to, and necessary for the granting of License Amendment No. 66, 
which is being issued concurrently with this exemption.
    3. As explained in Section 5.0 of the NRC staff's Safety Evaluation 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML16320A370), 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 July 25, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No. ML16207A496), 
and supplemented by the letters dated September 23, 2016 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML16267A429), and October 13, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML16287A662), 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 document.
    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 
September 13, 2016 (81 FR 62926). 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 
staff granted the exemption and issued the amendment that the licensee 
requested on July 25, 2016, as supplemented by letters dated September 
23, 2016, and October 13, 2016. The exemption and amendment were issued 
on January 19, 2017, as part of a combined package to the licensee 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML16320A230).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day of March 2017.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jennifer Dixon-Herrity,
Chief, Licensing Branch 4, Division of New Reactor Licensing, Office of 
New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2017-05778 Filed 3-22-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P