[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 177 (Wednesday, September 12, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46196-46198]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-19848]



[[Page 46196]]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-346, 50-440, 50-334 and 50-412; NRC-2018-0187, NRC-
2018-0192, and NRC-2018-0193]


FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) and FirstEnergy 
Nuclear Generation, LLC, Beaver Valley Power Station, Units 1 and 2, 
Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station, Unit No. 1, Perry Nuclear Power 
Plant, Unit No. 1

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Exemption; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an 
exemption in response to a July 19, 2017 request from FirstEnergy 
Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) and FirstEnergy Nuclear Generation, 
LLC (collectively, the licensee), as supplemented by letters dated 
March 16, 2018, and May 2, 2018. The exemption is from the NRC 
definition for a physical barrier regarding the construction standards 
for the fence bracket angle. The exemption allows the licensee to apply 
a fence topper bracket angle of zero degrees (or vertical) at specific 
locations on the protected area fence at each facility, in lieu of the 
30 to 45 degree fence bracket angle required by Commission regulations. 
All other construction standards contained in the Commission 
regulations for a physical barrier fence topper remain applicable.

DATES: The exemption was issued on September 6, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket IDs. NRC-2018-0187, NRC-2018-0192, 
and NRC-2018-0193 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-2018-0187, NRC-2018-
0192, and NRC-2018-0193. Address questions about dockets in 
Regulations.gov 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]. For 
the convenience of the reader, the ADAMS accession numbers are provided 
in a table in the ``Availability of Documents'' section of this 
document.
     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: Bhalchandra K. Vaidya, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3308; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NRC is making the documents identified 
below available to interested persons through one or more of the 
following methods, as indicated. To access documents related to this 
action, see ADDRESSES section of this document.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Document                        ADAMS Accession No.
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FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company--   ML17200D139
 Exemption Request for a Physical
 Barrier Requirement. Dated July 19,
 2017.
FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company--   ML18078A033
 Response to Request For Additional
 Information Regarding Exemption Request
 for a Physical Barrier Requirement.
 Dated March 16, 2018.
FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company--   ML18122A133
 Response to Request For Additional
 Information Regarding Exemption Request
 for a Physical Barrier Requirement.
 Dated May 2, 2018.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission--      ML18130A760,
 FENOC FLEET--Beaver Valley Power         ML18130A849,
 Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2;              ML18130A820
 Davis[dash]Besse Nuclear Power Station,
 Unit No. 1; and Perry Nuclear Power
 Plant, Unit No. 1--Environmental
 Assessment and Finding of No
 Significant Impact Related to Exemption
 Request for a Physical Barrier
 Requirement.
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    The text of the exemption is attached.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of September 2018.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Bhalchandra K. Vaidya,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch III, Division of Operating 
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

Attachment--Exemption

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Docket Nos. 50-334, 50-412, 50-346, 50-440

FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC)

Exemption

I. Background

    FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) and FirstEnergy 
Nuclear Generation, LLC (collectively, the licensee), are the 
holders of the following operating licenses: (1) Renewed Facility 
Operating License No. DPR-66, and No. NPF-73, at Beaver Valley Power 
Station, Units 1 and 2 (BVPS), issued on November 5, 2009; (2) 
Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-3 at Davis-Besse Nuclear 
Power Station (DBNPS), Unit No. 1, issued on December 8, 2015; and 
(3) Facility Operating License No. NPF-58 at Perry Nuclear Power 
Plant (PNPP), Unit No. 1, issued on November 13, 1986. The licenses 
provide, among other things, that the facilities are subject to all 
rules, regulations, and orders of the NRC now or hereafter in 
effect.

II. Request/Action

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5, ``Specific exemptions,'' by letter 
dated July 19, 2017 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management 
System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML17200D139), FENOC requested a 
specific partial exemption from one physical barrier construction 
standard described in 10 CFR 73.2, ``Definitions'' for fences. The 
Commission requirement for a protected area physical barrier is 
stated in 10 CFR 73.55(e)(8)(i) which requires, in part, that: ``The 
protected area perimeter must be protected by physical barriers that 
are designed and constructed to . . . '' to limit access, etc. The 
construction standards for a physical barrier are defined in 10 CFR 
73.2.
    The regulation in 10 CFR 73.2 requires, in part, that fences 
must be constructed of No. 11 American wire gauge, or heavier wire 
fabric, topped by three strands or more of barbed wire or similar 
material on brackets angled inward or outward between 30 and 45 
degrees from the vertical. Currently, some of the barbed wire 
bracketing on top of the protected area physical barrier fencing 
does not meet this design criteria specified in 10 CFR, Section 
73.2.
    The requested partial exemption would allow the licensees to 
configure the bracket topper supporting three strands of barbed-wire 
or similar material at the vertical orientation (or 0 degrees) only 
at specific

[[Page 46197]]

locations along the protected area perimeter fence at each facility, 
as specified in the licensees' supplemental letter dated March 16, 
2018 (ADAMS Accession No. ML18078A033).

III. Discussion

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5, ``Specific exemptions,'' the Commission 
may, upon application of any interested person or upon its own 
initiative, grant such exemptions from the requirements of the 
regulations in this part as it determines are authorized by law and 
will not endanger life or property or the common defense and 
security, and are otherwise in the public interest.
    In the request dated July 19, 2017, FENOC states, in part, that 
brackets on the top of physical barrier fencing are currently 
oriented vertically on gates, near gates, near interfaces with 
buildings, and on corners. BVPS, DBNPS, and PNPP have similar 
configurations while DBNPS has vertical brackets on top of fences 
near the intrusion detection system (lDS). The FENOC exemption 
request is limited to specific portions of the protected area 
perimeter fence where the licensee prefers to orient the bracket 
topper on the protected area fence at a vertical orientation, in 
lieu of the inward or outward, 45 to 30 degree angular construction 
standard stated in the 10 CFR 73.2.
    In Section 4.0 of the submittal dated July 19, 2017, FENOC 
states that the basis for this exemption is that the vertical 
configuration of the brackets on and near gates, near interfaces 
with buildings, on corners, and near the IDS, of the protected area 
fence does not have an adverse impact on the site protective 
strategies and will continue to protect against the design basis 
threat of radiological sabotage. FENOC further states that because 
the vertical barbed wire will maintain the plant's physical 
security, the underlying purpose of the regulation is met. The 
limited protected area fence sections where the configuration does 
not meet the current regulatory requirement is a small portion of 
the entire protected area perimeter fence. Consultation of design 
drawings and protected area site walk-downs estimates this portion 
to be approximately 6 percent or less for each of the three sites. 
Finally, in Chapter 6, Section 6.2, of the BVPS, DBNPS, and PNPP 
Physical Security Plans, the licensee states that the 45 to 30 
degree angular requirement for the fence topping may not be met at 
locations such as gates and buildings.
    In the supplemental submission dated March 16, 2018, to NRC 
staff Request for Additional Information (RAI) No. 2, the licensee 
stated that the technical basis for the FENOC request for exemption 
from this requirement is that the vertical bracket configuration is 
limited to locations on gates, near gates, near interfaces with 
buildings, and on corners where the licensee prefers to increase the 
tension that can be applied to the three strands of barbed-wire. The 
licensee goes on to state that ``DBNPS also has vertical brackets in 
two locations adjacent to the IDS where physical separation 
clearance is required.'' In the supplemental submission dated May 2, 
2018 (ADAMS Accession No. ML18122A133), to NRC staff request for 
Follow-up RAI No. 1, the licensee stated that the outward angular 
fence bracket requirement would interfere with the effective 
operation of the IDS in that it would result in an unacceptable 
frequency of false alarms and would reduce the sensitivity of the 
detection capability to an unacceptable level.
    The licensee further states in the supplemental response dated 
March 16, 2018, that ``other than the DBNPS locations near the IDS, 
the vertical bracket configuration at the other locations described 
in the exemption request is preferred to maintain sufficient tension 
in the barbed wire strands.'' The licensee goes on to state that the 
vertical bracket configuration is preferred because greater barbed 
wire tension can be applied when using vertical brackets as opposed 
to angular brackets on the end of fence runs (which includes on top 
of gates, adjacent to gates, and adjacent to buildings). Angular 
corner arms do not provide a good tension point in the barbed wire.
    In the supplemental submission dated March 16, 2018, in response 
to NRC staff RAI No. 3, the licensee stated that the vertical 
bracket configuration has no impact to adversary or responder 
timelines in the protective strategies for the FENOC fleet. This is 
due to site-specific evaluations that determined the limiting 
perimeter barrier fence scenarios are most similar to a 
configuration illustrated in Regulatory Issue Summary 2003-06, or 
the use of mechanical breaching utilizing the same configuration. 
The licensee also stated that whether or not the fence toppings are 
vertical or angled makes no difference to the protective strategy 
limiting timelines.

A. The Exemption Is Authorized by Law

    This exemption would allow the application of a 0 degree (or 
vertical/upward) fence topper bracket angle at specific locations at 
BVPS Units 1 and 2, DBNPS, and PNPP. As stated above, 10 CFR 73.5 
allows the NRC to grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR 
part 73. The fence topper bracket angle that will be applied at 
BVPS, DBNPS, and PNPP does not conform to the fence topper bracket 
angle of inward or outward, between 30 and 45 degrees that is 
explicitly defined in 10 CFR 73.2; however, the NRC staff has 
determined that the construction standard applied at each of the 
three facilities and as described in the Chapter 6, Section 6.2 of 
the BVPS, DBNPS, and PNPP Physical Security Plans does not 
negatively impact the capability of the physical protection program 
at each facility meet the requirements of 10 CFR 73.55(b). 
Therefore, granting the licensee's proposed exemption would not 
result in a violation of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 
or the Commission's regulations. Accordingly, the granting of the 
partial exemption request from the requirements of 10 CFR 73.2 is 
authorized by law.

B. The Exemption Will Not Endanger Life or Property

    The objectives of 10 CFR 73.55(e) for physical barriers and the 
construction standards for fences contained in the 10 CFR 73.2 
definition are to ensure that licensees provide physical barriers 
that are adequately designed and constructed to perform their 
intended physical protection program function. Further, all other 
construction materials and components required for a fence as 
defined in 10 CFR 73.2 are currently in place and are maintained at 
the affected FENOC facilities as stated. In addition, the level of 
protection offered by the requested bracket configuration has been 
accounted for by the licensee as part of the facility physical 
protection program. Finally, based on the above discussion, the NRC 
staff has concluded that the use of physical barriers as described 
in the BVPS, DBNPS, and PNPP security plans would provide adequate 
protection against the design basis threat of radiological sabotage, 
if effectively implemented. Therefore, the NRC staff has determined 
that this exemption would not endanger life or property.

C. The Exemption Would Not Endanger Common Defense and Security

    The partial exemption would allow the licensee to apply a fence 
topper bracket angle of 0 degrees (or vertical) at specific 
locations in lieu of the required inward or outward angle of 30 to 
45 degrees. In Section 4.0 of the submittal dated July 19, 2017, the 
licensee states that the vertical configuration of the brackets on 
and near gates, near interfaces with buildings, on corners, and near 
the IDS, of the protected area fence does not have an adverse impact 
on the site protective strategies and will continue to protect 
against the design basis threat of radiological sabotage. Because 
the vertical barbed wire will maintain the plant's physical 
security, the NRC staff finds that the underlying purpose of the 
regulation is met. The licensee is required to develop and maintain 
a physical protection program that maintains the capability to 
detect, assess, interdict, and neutralize all threats up to and 
including the design basis threat of radiological sabotage. 
Therefore, the NRC staff has determined that this exemption would 
not endanger common defense and security.

D. Exemption Is Otherwise in the Public Interest

    Based on its evaluation of licensee's request for an exemption 
to allow vertical barbed wire fence toppings in limited protected 
area sections (on and near gates, near interfaces with buildings, on 
corners, and near the IDS) as described in the licensee's submission 
dated March 16, 2018, the NRC staff has determined that the partial 
exemption would maintain the physical security of the sites and 
would not have an adverse effect on public interest. Therefore, the 
NRC staff has determined that this exemption is otherwise in the 
public interest.

E. Environmental Considerations

    In accordance with 10 CFR 51.31(a), the Commission has 
determined that the granting of this exemption will not have a 
significant effect on the quality of the human environment as 
discussed in the NRC staff's Finding of No Significant Impact and 
associated Environmental Assessment published in Federal Register on 
September 4, 2018 (83 FR 44914, 83 FR 44923, and 83

[[Page 46198]]

FR 44927), the NRC staff finds that the proposed exemption would not 
significantly affect plant safety, would not have a significant 
adverse effect on the probability of an accident occurring, and 
would not have any significant radiological and non-radiological 
impacts. Therefore, the NRC concludes that the proposed action will 
not have a significant effect on the quality of the human 
environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined not to prepare an 
environmental impact statement for the proposed action

V. Conclusion

    Accordingly, the Commission has determined that pursuant to 10 
CFR 73.5, the exemption is authorized by law, will not endanger life 
or property, is consistent with the common defense and security, and 
is otherwise in the public interest. Therefore, the Commission 
hereby grants FENOC a partial exemption from the requirements of 10 
CFR 73.2 for a fence bracket to be angled inward or outward between 
30 and 45 degrees, to allow the fence bracket angular orientation of 
0 degrees (or vertical/upward) at BVPS, DBNPS, and PNPP at only 
those locations specifically identified by the licensee in the 
supplemental response dated March 16, 2018, to NRC staff RAI No.1, 
explicitly, ``site layouts with the locations and descriptions of 
the protected area physical barrier fencing sections topped with 
vertically-oriented brackets containing barbed wire or similar 
material are provided in Figures 1, 2, and 3 for BVPS, DBNPS, and 
PNPP, respectively.'' All other construction and design requirements 
apply to the specified locations as stated in 10 CFR 73.2. 
Additionally, all construction and design requirements for a 
physical barrier as stated in 10 CFR 73.2, remain applicable to all 
other facility locations not specified in Figures 1, 2, and 3, for 
BVPS, DBNPS, and PNPP, respectively as specified in the supplemental 
response to NRC staff RAI No. 1, dated March 16, 2018.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of September, 2018.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Kathryn M. Brock,

Acting Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 2018-19848 Filed 9-11-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P