[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 125 (Thursday, June 28, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30462-30464]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-13892]


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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; Technical Specifications for Reactor 
Coolant System Vacuum Fill and Inspections, Tests, Analyses, and 
Acceptance Criteria for Containment Floodup

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. 118 and 117 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, 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.

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DATES: The exemption and amendment were issued on March 29, 2018.

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 Jennifer Borges telephone: 301-287-9127; 
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 by September 25, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No. ML17268A188), 
as supplemented by letters dated November 16, 2017, December 18, 2017, 
and February 14, 2018 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML17320A808, ML17352B003 
and ML18045A082, respectively).
     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. 118 and 117 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 proposed changes to COL Appendix A, Technical Specifications, 
and plant-specific DCD Tier 2 information, as well as departures from 
plant specific Tier 1 information (and associated COL Appendix C 
information). The requested amendment proposed changes to Technical 
Specifications to allow Reactor Coolant System vacuum fill operations 
in cold shutdown (i.e., Mode 5) conditions, and proposes conforming 
consistency changes to plant-specific DCD information in the form of 
departures from DCD Tier 2 information, as incorporated into the 
Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR).
    The amendment request also requested a departure from Tier 1 Design 
Descriptions and Inspections, Tests, Analyses, and Acceptance Criteria 
related to inspecting the volume in the containment that allows for 
floodup to support long-term core cooling for postulated loss-of-
coolant accidents and proposed corresponding changes to plant-specific 
AP1000 DCD Tier 2 information in the UFSAR.
    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. ML18075A104.
    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. ML18075A097 and 
ML18075A099, 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. ML18075A100 and 
ML18075A102, 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 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 September 25, 2017, as supplemented by letters 
dated November 16, 2017, December 18, 2017, and February 14, 2018, 
Southern Nuclear Operating Company 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 17-027, ``Technical Specifications for 
Reactor Coolant System Vacuum Fill and Inspections, Tests, Analyses, 
and Acceptance Criteria for Containment Floodup.''
    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. 
ML18075A104, 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 September 25, 2017, as supplemented by letters dated 
November 16, 2017, December 18, 2017, and February 14, 2018. This 
exemption is related to, and necessary for the granting of License 
Amendment No. 118 [for Unit 3, 117 for 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. ML18075A104), this exemption meets the eligibility 
criteria for categorical exclusion set forth in 10

[[Page 30464]]

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 September 25, 2017, as supplemented by letters 
dated November 16, 2017, December 18, 2017, and February 14, 2018, 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML17268A188, ML17320A808, ML17352B003 and 
ML18045A082, respectively), 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 
December 19, 2017 (82 FR 60229). 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 September 25, 2017, as supplemented by letters 
dated November 16, 2017, December 18, 2017, and February 14, 2018.
    The exemptions and amendments were issued on March 29, 2018, as 
part of a combined package to the licensee (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML18075A094).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, on June 22, 2018.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jennifer L. Dixon-Herrity,
Chief, Licensing Branch 4, Division of Licensing, Siting, and 
Environmental Analysis, Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2018-13892 Filed 6-27-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P