[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 53 (Monday, March 22, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15272-15273]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05833]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-373 and 50-374; NRC-2021-0070]


Exelon Generation Company, LLC; LaSalle County Station, 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 a 
temporary exemption in response to a February 20, 2021 request from 
Exelon Generation Company, LLC (Exelon, the licensee) from requirements 
regarding pre-access drug and alcohol testing to maintain authorization 
for individuals assigned work activities necessary for the timely 
completion of a refueling and maintenance outage at LaSalle County 
Station, Units 1 and 2 (LSCS).

DATES: The exemption was issued on February 22, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0070 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-2021-0070. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; 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 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]. For the convenience of the reader, 
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are 
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
     Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of public documents, is currently closed. You may submit your request 
to the PDR via email at [email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 
301-415-4737, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bhalchandra K. Vaidya, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-1324, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion

    By application dated February 20, 2021, as supplemented by letter 
dated February 21, 2021, the NRC received from Exelon a request for a 
temporary exemption from certain requirements of part 26 of title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Fitness for Duty 
Programs,'' for LSCS.
    The NRC's regulations at 10 CFR part 26 include the fitness-for-
duty (FFD) requirements concerning pre-access testing for granting FFD 
authorization to an individual who either has never held FFD 
authorization or whose last period of FFD authorization was terminated 
favorably and no potentially disqualifying FFD information has been 
discovered or disclosed that was not previously reviewed and resolved 
by a licensee under the requirements of this part. Sections 26.65(d) 
and 26.65(e) of the NRC's regulations describe the requirements for FFD 
authorization reinstatement after an interruption of more than 30 days 
and after an interruption of 30 or fewer days, respectively. In 
particular, 10 CFR 26.65(d)(1)(ii) and 26.65(e)(2)(iii)(B) require the 
licensee to verify that the

[[Page 15273]]

drug test results are negative within 5 business days of specimen 
collection or administratively withdraw FFD authorization until the 
drug test results are received.
    According to the application, during the week of February 15, 2021, 
severe winter weather caused substantial service disruptions at the 
FedEx[supreg] Express shipping service hub in Memphis, Tennessee. The 
weather delayed shipments and delivery of drug and alcohol test 
specimens for approximately 435 outage workers granted temporary access 
to LSCS. This delay could result in FFD authorization being removed for 
these individuals and Exelon's inability to timely restore LSCS to the 
electrical grid to serve the public and the Nation's economic 
infrastructure. To avoid this possibility, Exelon requested a temporary 
exemption from 10 CFR 26.65(d)(1)(ii) and 26.65(e)(2)(iii)(B) to allow 
for extending the 5 business days requirement to 15 business days.
    Upon review, the NRC determined that pursuant to 10 CFR 26.9, the 
requested exemption is authorized by law, will not endanger life or 
property or the common defense and security, and is otherwise in the 
public interest. Therefore, the NRC granted the licensee's request to 
temporarily exempt LSCS from the requirements in 10 CFR 26.65(d)(1)(ii) 
and 10 CFR 26.65(e)(2)(iii)(B). The exemption was effective upon 
issuance and remained in effect for the specimen shipments then in 
transit and any subsequent shipments made through February 26, 2021, to 
allow time to arrange alternative shipping, if possible.

II. Availability of Documents

    The table in this notice provides the facility name, docket 
numbers, document descriptions, and ADAMS accession numbers related to 
the issued exemption. Additional details on the issued exemption, 
including the exemption request submitted by the licensee and the NRC's 
decision, are provided in the documents listed in the table in this 
notice. For additional directions on accessing information in ADAMS, 
see the ADDRESSES section of this document.

  LaSalle County Station, Units 1 and 2, Docket Nos. 50-373 and 50-374
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             Document description                 ADAMS accession No.
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LaSalle County Station, Units 1 and 2--        ML21051A006
 Request for Exemption from Pre-Access Drug
 and Alcohol Testing Requirements in 10 CFR
 26.65, dated February 20, 2021.
LaSalle County Station, Units 1 and 2--        ML21052A001
 Response to Request for Additional
 Information Regarding Request for Exemption
 from Pre-Access Drug and Alcohol Testing
 Requirements in 10 CFR 26.65, dated February
 21, 2021.
LaSalle County Station, Units 1 and 2--        ML21053A001
 Approval of Exemption from Certain
 Requirements of 10 CFR part 26, ``Fitness
 for Duty Programs,'' dated February 22, 2021.
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    Dated: March 16, 2021.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Bhalchandra K. Vaidya,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch III, Division of Operating 
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2021-05833 Filed 3-19-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P