[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 192 (Thursday, October 5, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46536-46537]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-21497]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 52-025 and 52-026; NRC-2008-0252]
Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 3 and 4; Southern Nuclear
Operating Company; Hydrogen Venting from Passive Core Cooling System
(PXS) Compartments
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
exemption to allow a departure from the certification information of
Tier 1 of the generic design control document (DCD) and is issuing
License Amendment Nos. 84 and 83 to Combined Licenses (COL), NPF-91 and
NPF-92, respectively. 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 that is 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.
DATES: The exemptions and amendments were issued on August 23, 2017.
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 February 22, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No. ML17053A425) and
supplemented by letter dated June 2, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML17153A362).
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: Paul Kallan, Office of New Reactors,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001;
telephone: 301-415-2809; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is granting exemptions 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 Nos. 84 and 83 to COLs, NPF-91
and NPF-92, respectively, to the licensee. The exemptions are 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 proposes to depart from approved AP1000 DCD Tier 2 information
(test and tables) as incorporated into the Updated Final Safety
Analysis Report (UFSAR) as plant-specific DCD information, and also
proposes to depart from involved plant-specific Tier 1 information (and
associated COL Appendix C information). Specifically, the amendment
request proposes to revise the licensing basis information to reflect
changes to the locations of the hydrogen venting primary openings in
the passive core cooling system (PXS) valve/accumulator rooms inside
containment.
Part of the justification for granting the exemptions was provided
by the review of the amendments. Because the exemption is necessary in
order to issue the requested license amendment, the NRC granted the
exemptions and issued the amendments 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 exemptions met all applicable regulatory criteria set
forth in Sec. Sec. 50.12, 52.7, and Section VIII.A.4 of appendix D to
10 CFR part 52. The license amendments were found to be acceptable as
well. The combined safety evaluation is available in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML17213A224.
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. ML17213A219 and
ML17213A221, 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. ML17213A222 and
ML17213A223, 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 Vogtle 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 February 22, 2017, and supplemented by letter
dated June 2, 2017, the licensee requested from the Commission an
exemption from the provisions of 10 CFR part 52, appendix D, Section
III.B, as part of license amendment request 17-003, ``Hydrogen Venting
from Passive Core Cooling System (PXS) Compartments (LAR-17-003).''
For the reasons set forth in Section 3.1, ``Evaluation of
Exemption,'' of the NRC staff's Safety Evaluation, which can be found
in ADAMS under
[[Page 46537]]
Accession No. ML17213A224, 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 February 22, 2017 and supplemented by letter
dated June 2, 2017. This exemption is related to, and necessary for,
the granting of License Amendment Nos. 84 and 83, which is being issued
concurrently with this exemption.
3. As explained in Section 5.0, ``Environmental Consideration,'' of
the NRC staff's Safety Evaluation (ADAMS Accession No. ML17213A224),
these exemptions 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. These exemptions are effective as of the date of its issuance.
III. License Amendment Request
By letter dated February 22, 2017, and supplemented by letter dated
June 2, 2017, 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 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 March 28, 2017 (82 FR 15377). 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 exemptions and issued the amendments that the
licensee requested on February 22, 2017 and supplemented June 2, 2017.
The exemptions and amendments were issued on August 23, 2017 as
part of a combined package to the licensee (ADAMS Accession No.
ML17213A217).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day of September 2017.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jennifer Dixon-Herrity,
Branch Chief, Licensing Branch 4, Division of New Reactor Licensing,
Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2017-21497 Filed 10-4-17; 8:45 am]
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