[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 198 (Thursday, October 13, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63671-63672]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-26466]
[[Page 63671]]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-285; NRC-2010-0087]
Omaha Public Power District, Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1;
Exemption
1.0 Background
Omaha Public Power District (OPPD or the licensee) is the holder of
Facility Operating License No. DPR-40 which authorizes operation of the
Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1 (FCS). The license provides, among other
things, that the facility is subject to all rules, regulations, and
orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the
Commission) now or hereafter in effect.
The facility consists of one pressurized-water reactor located in
Washington County, Nebraska.
2.0 Request/Action
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 73,
``Physical protection of plants and materials,'' Section 73.55,
``Requirements for physical protection of licensed activities in
nuclear power reactors against radiological sabotage,'' published on
March 27, 2009, effective May 26, 2009, with a full implementation date
of March 31, 2010, requires licensees to protect, with high assurance,
against radiological sabotage by designing and implementing
comprehensive site security programs. The amendments to 10 CFR 73.55
published in the Federal Register on March 27, 2009 (74 FR 13926),
establish and update generically applicable security requirements
similar to those previously imposed by Commission orders issued after
the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and implemented by
licensees. In addition, the amendments to 10 CFR 73.55 include
additional requirements to further enhance site security based upon
insights gained from implementation of the post September 11, 2001,
security orders. It is from three of these new requirements that OPPD
originally sought an exemption from the March 31, 2010, implementation
date. All other physical security requirements established by this
recent rulemaking have been implemented by the licensee.
By letter dated December 31, 2009, as supplemented by letter dated
January 21, 2010, the licensee requested an exemption in accordance
with 10 CFR 73.5, ``Specific exemptions.'' Portions of the licensee's
letters dated December 31, 2009, and January 21, 2010, contain
sensitive unclassified non-safeguards information (SUNSI) (security-
related) and, accordingly, those portions are being withheld from
public disclosure. Publicly available versions of the licensee's
letters dated December 31, 2009, and January 21, 2010 are available in
the Agencywide Documents Management and Access System (ADAMS) at
Accession Nos. ML100050032 and ML100810124, respectively. By letter
dated March 23, 2010 (ADAMS Accession No. ML100630447), the NRC granted
a previous exemption to OPPD for specific items subject to the revised
rule in 10 CFR 73.55, allowing the implementation to be deferred until
October 5, 2011.
Subsequent to issuance of the scheduler exemption and prior to
completion of the planned physical protection program upgrades, FCS
experienced sustained flooding conditions beginning in the spring and
continuing through the summer of 2011. These abnormal flooding
conditions required the cessation of all work needed to complete the
planned physical protection program upgrades at FCS and necessitated
the diversion of all available resources to perform essential emergency
operations and other compensatory measures. These actions are deemed
necessary to provide high assurance that activities involving special
nuclear material are not inimical to the common defense and security
and do not constitute an unreasonable risk to the public health and
safety.
By letter dated September 2, 2011, the licensee submitted a request
for a schedular exemption to the compliance date identified in 10 CFR
73.55(a)(1) to implement two of the original three requirements stated
in 10 CFR part 73 for FCS. Portions of the September 2, 2011, letter
contain SUNSI (security-related) and, accordingly, those portions are
withheld from public disclosure. A redacted version of the licensee's
letter dated September 2, 2011, is available in ADAMS Accession No.
ML11250A059. In its letter dated September 2, 2011, the licensee stated
that FCS will complete one of the projects by October 5, 2011, and the
new requested compliance date for the remaining two requirements is
November 5, 2013.
By e-mail dated September 28, 2011, the NRC staff requested
additional information from the licensee. The NRC request contained
SUNSI (security-related) and, accordingly, is withheld from public
disclosure. By letter dated September 30, 2011, the licensee responded
to the NRC request for additional information. Portions of the
licensee's letter dated September 30, 2011, contain SUNSI (security-
related) and, accordingly, those portions are withheld from public
disclosure. A redacted version of the licensee's letter dated September
30, 2011, is available in ADAMS Accession No. ML112760629. In its
letter dated September 30, 2011, FCS stated that interim security
measures can be, and will be taken to achieve compliance with one of
the remaining two requirements that were addressed in its letter dated
September 2, 2011, leaving only one requirement for which compliance
cannot be met. Therefore, the licensee requested a schedular exemption
for one requirement until November 5, 2013. Granting this exemption for
extending the implementation date for the one remaining item would
allow the licensee to complete the modifications for a more
conservative approach for achieving full compliance.
3.0 Discussion of Part 73 Schedule Exemptions From the October 5, 2011,
Full Implementation Date
Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.55(a)(1), ``By March 31, 2010, each nuclear
power reactor licensee, licensed under 10 CFR part 50, shall implement
the requirements of this section through its Commission-approved
Physical Security Plan, Training and Qualification Plan, Safeguards
Contingency Plan, and Cyber Security Plan referred to collectively
hereafter as `security plans.' '' Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.55(b)(1), ``the
licensee shall establish and maintain a physical protection program, to
include a security organization, which will have as its objective to
provide high assurance that activities involving special nuclear
material are not inimical to the common defense and security and do not
constitute an unreasonable risk to the public health and safety.''
Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5, the Commission may, upon application by any
interested person or upon its own initiative, grant exemptions from the
requirements of 10 CFR part 73 when the exemptions are authorized by
law and will not endanger life or property or the common defense and
security, and are otherwise in the public interest.
NRC approval of this exemption, as noted above, would allow an
extension from October 5, 2011, until November 5, 2013, of the
implementation date for one specific requirement of the new rule. As
stated above, 10 CFR 73.5 allows the NRC to grant exemptions from the
requirements of 10 CFR part 73. The NRC staff has determined that
granting of the licensee's proposed exemption will not result in a
violation of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or the
Commission's regulations. Therefore, the exemption is authorized by
law.
[[Page 63672]]
In the draft final rule sent to the Commission, the NRC staff
proposed that the requirements of the new regulation be met within 180
days. The Commission directed a change from 180 days to approximately 1
year for licensees to fully implement the new requirements. This change
was incorporated into the final rule. From this, it is clear that the
Commission wanted to provide a reasonable timeframe for licensees to
reach full compliance.
As noted in the final rule, the Commission also anticipated that
licensees would have to conduct site-specific analyses to determine
what changes were necessary to implement the rule's requirements, and
that changes could be accomplished through a variety of licensing
mechanisms, including exemptions. Since issuance of the final rule, the
Commission has rejected a request to generically extend the rule's
compliance date for all operating nuclear power plants, but noted that
the Commission's regulations provide mechanisms for individual
licensees, with good cause, to apply for relief from the compliance
date as documented in the letter from R. W. Borchardt (NRC) to M. S.
Fertel (Nuclear Energy Institute) dated June 4, 2009. The licensee's
request for an exemption is, therefore, consistent with the approach
set forth by the Commission and discussed in the NRC letter dated June
4, 2009.
FCS Schedule Exemption Request
The licensee provided detailed information in the enclosure/
attachment to its letters dated September 2 and 30, 2011, requesting an
exemption. The licensee is requesting additional time to implement one
specific requirement of the new rule due to sustained abnormal flooding
conditions throughout the spring and summer of 2011. The flooding
conditions required the cessation of all work needed to complete the
planned enhancements to FCS's physical protection program and
necessitated diversion of all available resources to perform essential
emergency operations and other compensatory measures. The length of the
extension is due to flood damage and the amount of engineering and
design, material procurement, and construction and installation
activities involved, while allowing for inclement weather. The
licensee's submittals describe a comprehensive plan to upgrade the
security capabilities of the FCS site and provide a timeline for
achieving full compliance with the new regulation. The enclosure/
attachment to the licensee's letters contain SUNSI (security-related)
regarding the site security plan, details of the specific requirement
of the regulation that the site cannot be in compliance with by the
October 5, 2011 deadline, and a timeline with critical path activities
that will bring the licensee into full compliance by November 5, 2013.
The timeline provides milestone dates for engineering, planning and
procurement, implementation, startup and testing, engineering closeout,
and project closeout. Redacted versions of the licensee's letters dated
September 2 and 30, 2011, including the enclosure/attachment, are
publicly available at ADAMS Accession Nos. ML11250A059 and ML112760629,
respectively.
Notwithstanding the schedular exemptions for this limited
requirement, the licensee will continue to be in compliance with all
other applicable physical security requirements as described in 10 CFR
73.55 and reflected in its current NRC-approved physical security
program. By November 5, 2013, FCS will be in full compliance with all
the regulatory requirements of 10 CFR 73.55, as issued on March 27,
2009.
4.0 Conclusion for Part 73 Schedule Exemption Request
The NRC staff has reviewed the licensee's submittals and concludes
that the licensee has provided adequate justification for its request
for an extension of the compliance date with regard to one specified
requirement of 10 CFR 73.55 until November 5, 2013.
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that pursuant to 10 CFR
73.5, ``Specific exemptions,'' exemption from the October 5, 2011,
compliance date is authorized by law and will not endanger life or
property or the common defense and security, and is otherwise in the
public interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants the requested
exemption.
The NRC staff has determined that the long-term benefits that will
be realized when the FCS security modifications are complete justifies
exceeding the full compliance date with regard to the specified
requirements of 10 CFR 73.55. Therefore, the NRC concludes that the
licensee's actions are in the best interest of protecting the public
health and safety through the security changes that will result from
granting this exemption.
As per the licensee's request and the NRC's regulatory authority to
grant an exemption from the October 5, 2011, deadline for the one item
specified in the enclosure/attachment to FCS's letters dated September
2 and 30, 2011, the licensee is required to be in full compliance with
10 CFR 73.55 by November 5, 2013. In achieving compliance, the licensee
is reminded that it is responsible for determining the appropriate
licensing mechanism (i.e., 10 CFR 50.54(p) or 10 CFR 50.90) for
incorporation of all necessary changes to its security plans.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, ``Finding of no significant impact,'' the
Commission has previously determined that the granting of this
exemption will not have a significant effect on the quality of the
human environment (January 3, 2011; 76 FR 187).
This exemption is effective upon issuance.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 5th day of October 2011.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michele G. Evans,
Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2011-26466 Filed 10-12-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P