[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]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P