[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 52 (Monday, March 18, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9843-9844]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-04958]
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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, Reactor Coolant System Flow Coastdown
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. 155 and 154 to Combined Licenses (COL), NPF-91
and NPF-92. The COLs were issued to Southern Nuclear Operating Company,
Inc., Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, MEAG Power
SPVM, LLC, MEAG Power SPVJ, LLC, MEAG Power SPVP, LLC, and the City of
Dalton, Georgia (collectively SNC); 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 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 exemption and amendment were issued on February 25, 2019.
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 docket IDs to Krupskaya Castellon; telephone: 301-
287-9221; 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 ``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 August 31, 2018
(ADAMS Accession No. ML18243A459).
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: Peter Hearn, Office of New Reactors,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001;
telephone: 301-415-1189; 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. 155 and 154 to COLs, NPF-
91 and NPF-92, to SNC. 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 SNC to depart from Tier 1 information. With the
requested amendment, SNC sought proposed changes that would revise the
initial test program in the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report Tier 2
information. The
[[Page 9844]]
proposed amendment also involves DCD Tier 2* and Tier 2 information and
related changes to the VEGP Units 3 and 4 COL and plant-specific Tier 1
information, with corresponding changes to the associated COL Appendix
C information.
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 sections 50.12, 10 CFR 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. ML19038A458.
Identical exemption documents (except for referenced unit numbers
and license numbers) were issued to SNC 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. ML19038A452 and ML19038A453,
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. ML19038A454 and ML19038A456,
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 August 31, 2018, the Southern Nuclear
Operating Company (SNC) requested from the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC or Commission) an exemption to allow departures from
Tier 1 information in the certified DCD incorporated by reference in
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 52, appendix
D, ``Design Certification Rule for the AP1000 Design,'' as part of
license amendment request (LAR) 18-025, ``Reactor Coolant System (RCS)
Flow Coastdown.''
For the reasons set forth in Section 3.2 of the NRC staff's Safety
Evaluation, which can be found at Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System (ADAMS) Accession Number ML19038A458, 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, SNC 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 SNC's request dated August
31, 2018. This exemption is related to, and necessary for, the granting
of License Amendment No. 155 [for Unit 3, 154 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 Number ML19038A458) 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 August 31, 2018 (ADAMS Accession No. ML18243A459),
SNC requested that the NRC amend the COLs for VEGP, Units 3 and 4, COL
Nos. 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 October 23, 2018 (83 FR 53515). 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 exemption and issued the amendment that SNC requested
on August 31, 2018. The exemptions and amendments were issued on
February 25, 2019, as part of a combined package to SNC (ADAMS Package
Accession No. ML19038A450).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day of March 2019.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jennifer L. Dixon-Herrity,
Chief, Licensing Branch 2, Division of Licensing, Siting, and
Environmental Analysis, Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2019-04958 Filed 3-15-19; 8:45 am]
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