Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 3 and 4; Tier 1 Editorial and Consistency Changes, 96523-96524 [2016-31720]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 251 (Friday, December 30, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 96523-96524]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-31720]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 52-025 and 52-026; NRC-2008-0252]


Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., Vogtle Electric 
Generating Plant, Units 3 and 4; 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. 56 to Combined Licenses (COL) NPF-91 and NPF-92. 
The COLs were issued to Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., and 
Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, MEAG Power SPVM, 
LLC, MEAG Power SPVJ, LLC, MEAG Power SPVP, LLC, 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 asked for 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 access information related to this document, which the NRC 
possesses and is publicly available, using any of the following 
methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2008-0252. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. 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 ``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 pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this 
document. The request for the amendment and exemption was submitted by 
letter dated June 3, 2016, and available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML16155A366.
     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: Chandu Patel, Office of New Reactors, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; 
telephone: 301-415-3025; email: Chandu.Patel@nrc.gov.

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. 56 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 proposed changes that 
would correct editorial errors in plant-specific Tier 1 information, 
with corresponding changes to the associated COL Appendix C 
information, to promote consistency with the Updated Final Safety 
Analysis Report Tier 2 information. One of the proposed changes to 
plant-specific Tier 1 information also involves a change to Updated 
Final Safety Analysis Report Tier 2 information. The proposed amendment 
also involves a proposed editorial correction to COL Paragraph 
2.D.(12)(g)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'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. ML16244A345.
    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

[[Page 96524]]

documents for VEGP Units 3 and 4 can be found in ADAMS under Accession 
Nos. ML16244A301 and ML16244A324, 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. 
ML16244A270 and ML16244A283, 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 VEGP Units 3 
and Unit 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 an application dated June 3, 2016, 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 16-008, 
``Tier 1 Editorial and Consistency Changes.''
    For the reasons set forth in Section 3 of the NRC's Safety 
Evaluation, which can be found at ADAMS Accession No. ML16244A345, 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 information, with corresponding information in COL 
Appendix C of the Facility Combined License as described in the 
licensee's request dated June 3, 2016. This exemption is related to, 
and necessary for the granting of License Amendment No. 56, which is 
being issued concurrently with this exemption.
    3. As explained in Section 5.0 of the NRC's Safety Evaluation 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML16244A345), 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 June 3, 2016, 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 of this Federal Register 
notice.
    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 COL, 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 
August 2, 2016 (81 FR 50729). No comments were received during the 30-
day comment period.
    The Commission has determined that these amendments satisfy the 
criteria for 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 
NRC granted the exemption and issued the amendment that the licensee 
requested on June 3, 2016. The exemption and amendment were issued on 
October 12, 2016 as part of a combined package to the licensee (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML16308A174).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of December 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jennifer Dixon-Herrity,
Chief, Licensing Branch 4, Division of New Reactor Licensing, Office of 
New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2016-31720 Filed 12-29-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P