[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 19 (Monday, January 29, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4078-4079]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-01520]
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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; Containment Air Filtration Exhaust
Rooms West Walls Removal
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 Nos. 98 and 97 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 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 November 14, 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 website: 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 May 24, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No. ML17144A413), as
supplemented by letter dated August 31, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML17243A445).
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 Nos. 98 and 97 to COLs, NPF-91
and NPF-92, respectively, 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 Updated Final Safety Analysis
Report in the form of departures from the incorporated
[[Page 4079]]
plant-specific Design Control Document Tier 2 information and involves
changes to COL Appendix C. The proposed changes revise the COLs to
remove the west walls of containment air filtration exhaust rooms A and
B in the annex building to facilitate ease of access to equipment in
the room during installation and maintenance.
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 Sec. Sec. 50.12, 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. ML17283A313.
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. ML17283A316 and
ML17283A317, 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. ML17283A314 and
ML17283A315, 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 May 24, 2017, as supplemented by letter dated
August 31, 2017, 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 17-017, ``Containment Air Filtration Exhaust
Rooms West Walls Removal.''
For the reasons set forth in Section 3.1 of the NRC staff's Safety
Evaluation, which can be found in ADAMS under Accession No.
ML17283A313, 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 License as described in the request
dated May 24, 2017, as supplemented by letter dated August 31, 2017.
This exemption is related to, and necessary for the granting of License
Amendment No. 98 (Unit 3) and 97 (Unit 4), 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. ML17283A313), 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 May 24, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No. ML17144A413), as
supplemented by letter dated August 31, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML17243A445), 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 8, 2017 (82 FR 37128). 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 May 24, 2017, as supplemented by letter dated
August 31, 2017.
The exemptions and amendments were issued on November 14, 2017, as
part of a combined package to the licensee (ADAMS Accession No.
ML17283A312).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd day of January, 2018.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jennifer L. Dixon-Herrity,
Chief, Licensing Branch 4, Division of New Reactor Licensing, Office of
New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2018-01520 Filed 1-26-18; 8:45 am]
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