[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 26 (Friday, February 7, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7335-7336]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-02382]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-321 and 50-366; NRC-2020-0043]
Southern Nuclear Operating Company: Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant,
Units 1 and 2
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Exemption; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued an
exemption in response to a December 16, 2019, request from Southern
Nuclear Operating Company to allow periodic updates of the Edwin I.
Hatch Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, Updated Final Safety Analysis
Reports by August 31 of every even-numbered year and not to exceed 24-
months between successive updates.
DATES: The exemption was issued on January 30, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0043 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 https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2020-0043. Address
questions about NRC docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301-287-9127; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individual(s) 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 https://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 ``Request for Exemption from 10
CFR50.71(e)(4) Final Safety Analysis Report Update Schedule'' is
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ADAMS ML19350C266.
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: John G. Lamb, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3100, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the exemption is attached.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day of February 2020.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John G. Lamb,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch II-1, Division of
Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
Attachment--Exemption from UFSAR Schedule for HNP, Units 1 and 2
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Docket Nos. 50-321 and 50-366
Southern Nuclear Operating Company
Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2
Exemption
I. Background
Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC, the licensee) is the
holder of Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-57 and NPF-5, for the
Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant (HNP), Units 1 and 2, respectively. The
licenses provide, among other things, that the licensee is subject
to all rules, regulations, and orders of the Commission now or
hereafter in effect.
The HNP facility consists of two boiling-water reactors located
at the licensee's site in Appling County, Georgia.
II. Request/Action
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Section
50.71, ``Maintenance of records, making of reports,'' paragraph
(e)(4) states, in part, that ``Subsequent revisions [to the Updated
Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR)] must be filed annually or 6
months after each refueling outage provided that the interval
between successive updates [to the UFSAR] does not exceed 24
months.'' By letter dated December 16, 2019 (Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML19350C266), SNC
requested that the due date for submittal of HNP, Unit 1, and HNP,
Unit 2, UFSARs be by August 31 of every even-numbered year, provided
the interval between successive updates does not exceed 24 months.
III. Discussion
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the NRC may, upon application by any
interested person or upon its own initiative, grant exemptions from
the requirements of 10 CFR part 50, including 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4)
when: (1) The exemptions are authorized by law, will not present an
undue risk to the public health or safety, and are consistent with
the common defense and security; and (2) when special circumstances
are present. Under 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2), special circumstances
include, among other things, when application of the specific
regulation in the particular circumstances would not serve, or is
not necessary to achieve, the underlying purpose of the rule.
A. The Exemption is Authorized by Law
In accordance with 10 CFR 50.12, the NRC may grant an exemption
from the requirements of 10 CFR part 50 if the exemption is
authorized by law. The exemption requested in this instance is
authorized by law, because no other
[[Page 7336]]
prohibition of law exists to preclude the activities which would be
authorized by the exemption. Additionally, even with the granting of
the exemption, the underlying purpose of the regulation will
continue to be served. The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4)
is to ensure that licensees periodically update their UFSARs to
assure that the UFSARs remain up-to-date such that they accurately
reflect the plant design and operation. The rule does not require
that licensees review all of the information contained in the UFSAR
for each periodic update. Rather, the intent of the rule is for
licensees to update only those portions of the UFSAR that have been
affected by licensee activities since the previous update. As
required by 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4), UFSAR updates shall be submitted
within 6 months after each refueling outage provided that the
intervals between successive updates do not exceed 24 months.
Submitting updates to the HNP, Units 1 and 2, UFSARs by August 31 of
even-numbered years and not exceeding 24 months between successive
updates continues to meet the intent of the regulation from the
perspective of regulatory burden reduction and maintaining UFSAR
information up-to-date. Therefore, this exemption request is
authorized by law.
B. The Exemption Presents No Undue Risk to Public Health and Safety
The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4) is to ensure that
licensees periodically update their UFSARs to assure that the UFSARs
remain up-to-date such that they accurately reflect the plant design
and operation. The NRC has determined by rule that an update
frequency not exceeding 24 months between successive updates is
acceptable for maintaining UFSAR content up-to-date. The requested
exemption provides an equivalent level of protection to the existing
requirements, because it ensures that updates to the HNP, Units 1
and 2, UFSARs are submitted with no greater than 24 months between
successive updates. The requested exemption also meets the intent of
the rule for regulatory burden reduction. Additionally, based on the
nature of the requested exemption and the fact that updates will not
exceed 24 months from the last submittal as described above, no new
accident precursors are created by the exemption; therefore, neither
the probability nor the consequences of postulated accidents are
increased. In conclusion, the requested exemption does not result in
any undue risk to the public health and safety.
C. The Exemption is Consistent With the Common Defense and Security
The requested exemption from 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4) would allow SNC
to submit its periodic updates to the HNP, Units 1 and 2, UFSARs by
August 31 of even-numbered years, and not to exceed 24 months from
the last submittal. Neither the regulation nor the proposed
exemption has any relation to security issues. Therefore, the common
defense and security is not impacted by the exemption.
D. Special Circumstances
Special circumstances, in accordance with 10 CFR
50.12(a)(2)(ii), are present whenever application of the regulation
in the particular circumstances would not serve the underlying
purpose of the rule or is not necessary to achieve the underlying
purpose of the rule. The rule change promulgated in August 1992 (57
FR 39358; August 31, 1992) was intended to provide a reduction in
regulatory burden by providing licensees with the option to submit
UFSAR updates once per refueling outage, not to exceed 24 months
between successive updates, instead of annually. HNP is a two-unit
plant, with different refueling outage schedules, and each unit has
its own UFSAR. However, the Unit 1 UFSAR extensively references the
Unit 2 UFSAR. Therefore, the Unit 1 UFSAR cannot stand alone and the
two UFSARs effectively function as a common UFSAR, such that a
single schedule for UFSAR updates is appropriate. Therefore, special
circumstances exist under 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii) in that application
of the requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4) in these particular
circumstances would not serve the underlying purpose of the rule and
is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule.
E. Environmental Considerations
With respect to its impact on the quality of the human
environment, the NRC has determined that the issuance of the
exemption discussed herein meets the eligibility criteria for
categorical exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25). Under 10 CFR
51.22(c)(25), the granting of an exemption from the requirements of
any regulation of 10 CFR chapter I (which includes 10 CFR
50.71(e)(4)) is an action that qualifies for a categorical
exclusion.
The NRC staff's determination that all of the criteria for this
categorical exclusion are met is as follows:
I. 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(i): There is no significant hazards
consideration.
Staff Analysis: The criteria for determining whether an action
involves a significant hazards consideration are found in 10 CFR
50.92. The proposed action involves only a schedule change regarding
the submission of an update to the UFSAR. Therefore, there are no
significant hazard considerations because granting the exemption
would not:
(1) Involve a significant increase in the probability or
consequences of an accident previously evaluated; or
(2) Create the possibility of a new or different kind of
accident from any accident previously evaluated; or
(3) Involve a significant reduction in a margin of safety.
II. 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(ii): There is no significant change in
the types or significant increase in the amounts of any effluents
that may be released offsite.
Staff Analysis: The proposed action involves only a schedule
change, which is administrative in nature, and does not involve any
changes in the types or significant increase in the amounts of any
effluents that may be released offsite.
III. 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(iii): There is no significant increase
in individual or cumulative public or occupational radiation
exposure.
Staff Analysis: Since the proposed action involves only a
schedule change, which is administrative in nature, it does not
contribute to any significant increase in occupational or public
radiation exposure.
IV. 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(iv): There is no significant
construction impact.
Staff Analysis: Since the proposed action involves only a
schedule change, which is administrative in nature, it does not
involve any construction impact.
V. 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(v): There is no significant increase in
the potential for or consequences from radiological accidents.
Staff Analysis: The proposed action involves only a schedule
change, which is administrative in nature and does not impact the
potential for or consequences from accidents.
VI. 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(vi): The requirements from which the
exemption is sought involve scheduling requirements and other
requirements of an administrative, managerial, or organizational
nature.
Staff Analysis: The proposed action involves scheduling
requirements and other requirements of an administrative,
managerial, or organizational nature because it is associated with
the submittal schedule requirements contained in 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4),
which stipulate that revisions to the UFSAR must be filed annually
or 6 months after each refueling outage provided the interval
between successive updates does not exceed 24 months.
Based on the above, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed
exemption meets the eligibility criteria for the categorical
exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25). Therefore, in accordance
with 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact statement or
environmental assessment need be prepared in connection with the
NRC's issuance of this exemption.
IV. Conclusions
Accordingly, the NRC has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
50.12, the exemption is authorized by law, will not present an undue
risk to the public health and safety, and is consistent with the
common defense and security. Also, special circumstances, pursuant
to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii), are present. Therefore, the NRC hereby
grants SNC an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4)
to allow SNC to file its periodic updates to the HNP, Units 1 and 2,
UFSAR by August 31 of even-numbered years, and not to exceed 24
months from the last submittal.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of January, 2020.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Craig G. Erlanger,
Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2020-02382 Filed 2-6-20; 8:45 am]
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