[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]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P