[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 204 (Friday, October 21, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65542-65544]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-27279]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-238; NRC-2011-0222]
N.S. Savannah; Exemption From Certain Security Requirements
1.0 Background
The U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime
[[Page 65543]]
Administration (MARAD) is the licensee and holder of Facility Operating
License No. NS-1 issued for the N.S. Savannah (NSS) currently located
in the Port of Baltimore, Maryland. The NSS was the world's first
nuclear powered merchant ship. The NSS was operated in experimental and
commercial demonstration service throughout the 1960s.
The ship was removed from service in 1970. In August 1971, the
reactor was defueled. The fuel was stored in a ``spent fuel pool''
inside MARAD's Refueling Facility, located at the Todd Shipyard in
Galveston, Texas. The refueling facility was licensed by the state of
Texas under an agreement with the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). On
November 3, 1972, all 36 Core I spent fuel elements were returned to
the AEC and transferred by the AEC for reprocessing at its Savannah
River Site in South Carolina.
On May 19, 1976, the operating license for the NSS was amended to a
possession-only license.
2.0 Action
Section 50.54(p)(1) of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR) states, in part, ``The licensee shall prepare and maintain
safeguards contingency plan procedures in accordance with Appendix C of
Part 73 of this chapter for affecting the actions and decisions
contained in the Responsibility Matrix of the safeguards contingency
plan.''
Part 73 of 10 CFR, ``Physical Protection of Plant and Materials,''
provides in part in section 73.1(a), ``This part prescribes
requirements for the establishment and maintenance of a physical
protection system which will have capabilities for the protection of
special nuclear material at fixed sites and in transit and of plants in
which special nuclear material is used.'' In Section 73.55, entitled
``Requirements for physical protection of licensed activities in
nuclear power reactors against radiological sabotage,'' paragraph
(b)(1) states, ``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.''
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission)
revised 10 CFR 73.55, in part to include the preceding language,
through the issuance of a final rule on March 27, 2009 (74 FR 13970).
The revised regulation stated that it was applicable to all Part 50
licensees. The NRC became aware that some Part 50 licensees with
facilities in decommissioning status did not recognize the
applicability of this regulation to their facility. Accordingly, the
NRC informed licensees with facilities in decommissioning status and
other stakeholders that the requirements of 10 CFR 73.55 were
applicable to all Part 50 licensees. By letter dated August 2, 2010,
the NRC informed MARAD of the applicability of the revised rule and
stated that it would have to evaluate the applicability of the
regulation to its facility and either make appropriate changes or
request an exemption.
By letter dated November 8, 2010, MARAD responded to the NRC's
letter and requested exemptions from the security requirements in 10
CFR part 73 and 10 CFR 50.54(p).
3.0 Discussion
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the Commission may, upon application by
any interested person or upon its own initiative, grant exemptions from
the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, when (1) the exemptions are
authorized by law, will not present an undue risk to public health or
safety, and are consistent with the common defense and security; and
(2) when special circumstances are present. Special circumstances are
present when, for example, application of the regulation in the
particular circumstances would not serve the underlying purpose of the
rule or when compliance would result in costs significantly in excess
of those incurred by others similarly situated. Also, pursuant to 10
CFR 73.5, ``Specific exemptions,'' the Commission may, upon application
of any interested person or upon its own initiative, grant exemptions
from the regulations in Part 73 as it determines are authorized by law
and will not endanger life or property or the common defense and
security, and are otherwise in the public interest.
The purpose of the security requirements of 10 CFR part 73, as
applicable to a 10 CFR part 50 licensed facility, is to prescribe
requirements for a facility that possesses and utilizes SNM. By the end
of 1972, all spent fuel at the NSS had been returned to the AEC for
reprocessing. Since the license defines the facility as the reactor and
associated components located aboard the ship, the removal of the spent
Core I fuel from the ship is equivalent to removing all SNM from the
NRC licensed site other than that contained in plant systems as
residual contamination.
The remaining radioactive material of concern (i.e., reactor
vessel, piping systems, and ship structures) for the NSS is in a form
that does not pose a risk of removal (i.e., an intact reactor pressure
vessel) and is well dispersed and is not easily aggregated into
significant quantities. With the removal of the fuel containing SNM,
the potential for radiological sabotage or diversion of SNM at the 10
CFR part 50 licensed site was eliminated. Therefore, the continued
application of the fixed site physical protection requirements of 10
CFR part 73 to the NSS would no longer be necessary to achieve the
underlying purpose of the rule. Additionally, as has been noted at
other decommissioning nuclear power facilities, with the removal of the
spent nuclear fuel from the site, the 10 CFR part 50 licensed site
would be comparable to a source and byproduct licensee that uses
general industrial security (i.e. locks and barriers) to protect the
public health and safety. The continued application of fixed site
physical protection requirements of 10 CFR part 73 would cause the
licensee to expend significantly more funds for security requirements
than other source and byproduct facilities that use general industrial
security. Therefore, compliance with the fixed site physical protection
requirements of 10 CFR Part 73 would result in costs significantly in
excess of those incurred by others similarly situated. Based on the
above, the NRC has determined that the removal of the fuel containing
SNM at the 10 CFR part 50 licensed site constitutes special
circumstances. The possession and responsibility for the security of
the SNM was transferred to the AEC and is no longer the responsibility
of the licensee. Therefore, protection of the SNM is no longer a
requirement of the licensee's 10 CFR part 50 license. With no SNM to
protect, there is no need for the physical protection requirements of
10 CFR part 73, which includes a safeguards contingency plan or
procedures, physical security plan, guard training and qualification
plan, and cyber security plan for the NSS, 10 CFR part 50 licensed
site. The requirements for protection of safeguards information,
physical protection of SNM in transit, and records and reports remain
applicable.
4.0 Conclusion
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
50.12(a), an exemption is authorized by law, will not present an undue
risk to the public health and safety, and is consistent with the common
defense
[[Page 65544]]
and security based on the continued maintenance of appropriate security
requirements for the remaining SNM contained in plant systems as
residual contamination. Additionally, special circumstances are present
based on the removal of the spent nuclear fuel from the 10 CFR part 50
licensed site. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants MARAD an
exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.54(p) for the NSS.
The Commission has also determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5,
an exemption is authorized by law, will not endanger life or property
or the common defense and security, and is otherwise in the public
interest based on the security requirements for the spent fuel
containing SNM no longer being the responsibility of the licensee.
Therefore, the Commission hereby grants MARAD an exemption from the
fixed site physical protection requirements of 10 CFR Part 73 for the
NSS. The fixed site physical protection requirements of 10 CFR Part 73
are delineated in Sec. Sec. 73.20, 74.40, 73.45, 73.46, 73.50, 73.51,
73.54, 73.55, 73.56, 73.57, 73.58, 73.59, 73.60, 73.61, 73.67, Appendix
B and Appendix C. The requirements for protection of safeguards
information, physical protection of SNM in transit, and records and
reports, contained in these or other sections of Part 73 continue to
apply. To the extent that the licensee's request for an exemption from
10 CFR part 73 included requirements other than the fixed site physical
protection requirements, that request is denied.
Part of this licensing action meets the categorical exclusion
provision in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25), as part of this action is an
exemption from the requirements of the Commission's regulations and (i)
there is no significant hazards consideration; (ii) there is no
significant change in the types or significant increase in the amounts
of any effluents that may be released offsite; (iii) there is no
significant increase in individual or cumulative public or occupational
radiation exposure; (iv) there is no significant construction impact;
(v) there is no significant increase in the potential for or
consequences from radiological accidents; and (vi) the requirements
from which an exemption is sought involve safeguard plans. Therefore,
this part of the action does not require either an environmental
assessment or an environmental impact statement.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.21, 51.32, and 51.35, an environmental
assessment and finding of no significant impact related to the part of
this exemption not dealing with safeguards plans (i.e.; transportation
of SNM, interaction with emergency planning, and background checks) was
published in the Federal Register on September 23, 2011 (76 FR 59174).
Based upon the environmental assessment, the Commission has determined
that issuance of this exemption will not have a significant effect on
the quality of the human environment.
These exemptions are effective immediately.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of October 2011.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Keith I. McConnell,
Deputy Director, Decommissioning and Uranium Recovery Licensing
Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection,
Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management
Programs.
[FR Doc. 2011-27279 Filed 10-20-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P