[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 71 (Tuesday, April 14, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20018-20020]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-08566]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 52-025 and 52-026; NRC-2008-0252]
Vogtle Electric Generating Station, Units 3 and 4; Southern
Nuclear Operating Company; Tier 1 Editorial and Consistency Changes
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 No. 30 to Combined Licenses (COLs), NPF-91 and NPF-
92. The COLs were issued to Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.,
and Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Municipal
Electric Authority of Georgia, and the City of Dalton, Georgia (the
licensee); 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.
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 Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2008-0252. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
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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 ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and
then 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 a document is referenced. The
request for the amendment and exemption was submitted by letter dated
July 29, 2014 (ADAMS Accession No. ML14210A646) and supplemented by
letter dated November 5, 2014 (ADAMS Accession No. ML14309A586).
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: Ruth Reyes, Office of New Reactors,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001;
telephone: 301-415-3249; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is granting an exemption 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 No. 30 to COLs, NPF-91 and NPF-
92, to the licensee. The exemption is required by Paragraph A.4 of
Section VIII, ``Processes for Changes and Departures,'' appendix D to
10 CFR part 52 to allow the licensee to depart from Tier 1 information.
With the requested amendment, the licensee sought changes to COL
Appendix C and corresponding plant-specific Tier 1 information to
correct editorial errors and/or consistency errors (e.g.,
inconsistencies between Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR)
(Tier 2) and Tier 1 information, and inconsistencies between
information from different locations within Tier 1).
Part of the justification for granting the exemption was provided
by the review of the amendment. Because the exemption is necessary in
order to issue the requested license amendment, the NRC granted the
exemption and issued the amendment 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 exemption met all applicable regulatory criteria set
forth in 10 CFR 50.12, 10 CFR 52.7, and Section VIII.A.4 of appendix D
to 10 CFR part 52. The license amendment was found to be acceptable as
well. The combined safety evaluation is available in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML14350B104.
Identical exemption documents (except for referenced unit numbers
and license numbers) were issued to the licensee 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. ML14351A256 and
ML14351A271, 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. ML14351A250 and
ML14351A252, 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 Vogtle Units 3
and 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 July 29, 2014, and as supplemented by the
letter dated November 5, 2014, the licensee requested from the
Commission an exemption to allow departures from Tier 1 information in
the certified DCD incorporated by reference in 10 CFR part 52, appendix
D as part of license amendment request 14-002, ``Tier 1 Editorial and
Consistency Changes.''
For the reasons set forth in Section 3.1 of the NRC staff's Safety
Evaluation, which can be found in ADAMS under Accession No.
ML14350B104, 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, the licensee is granted an exemption from the
certified DCD Tier 1 Figures 2.2.4-1, 3.3-1 through 10, 3.3-11A, 3.3-
11B, and 3.3-12 through 14; Tables: 2.2.2-3, 2.2.3-4, 2.2.3-6, 2.2.4-1,
2.2.4-4, 2.2.5-5, 2.3.2-1, 2.3.2-2, 2.3.6-1, 2.3.6-4, 2.3.10-1, 2.3.10-
4, 2.3.14-2, 2.6.3-3, 2.6.3-4, 3.3-1, 3.3-6, 2.1.3-4, 2.5.1-2 and 3.7-
2; and Sections 2.6.3 and 3.3, as described in the licensee's request
dated July 29, 2014, and supplemented on November 5, 2014. This
exemption is related to, and necessary for the granting of License
Amendment No. 30, 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 ML14350B104), 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 July 29, 2014, and supplemented by letter dated
November 5, 2014, the licensee requested that the NRC amend the COLs
for VEGP, Units 3 and 4, COLs NPF-91 and NPF-92. The proposed amendment
is described in Section I, above.
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 September 30, 2014 (79 FR 58812). The November 5, 2014,
supplement had no effect on the no significant hazards consideration
determination, and no comments were received during the 60-day comment
period.
The Commission has determined that these amendments satisfy the
criteria for
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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 the licensee
requested on July 29, 2014, as supplemented by letter dated November 5,
2014. The exemption and amendment were issued on February 13, 2015 as
part of a combined package to the licensee (ADAMS Accession No.
ML14350B012).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of April 2015.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Chandu P. Patel,
Acting Chief, Licensing Branch 4, Division of New Reactor Licensing,
Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2015-08566 Filed 4-13-15; 8:45 am]
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