Nuclear Management Company, LLC, Point Beach Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2; Exemption, 33535-33536 [E5-2915]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 109 / Wednesday, June 8, 2005 / Notices to the Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 0001, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; (2) courier, express mail, and expedited delivery services: Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; (3) Email addressed to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, HEARINGDOCKET@nrc.gov; or (4) facsimile transmission addressed to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff at 301–415–1101, verification number is 301–415–1966. A copy of the request for hearing and petition for leave to intervene must also be sent to the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, 20555– 0001, and it is requested that copies be transmitted either by means of facsimile transmission to 301–415–3725 or by email to OGCMailCenter@nrc.gov. A copy of the request for hearing and petition for leave to intervene should also be sent to the attorney for the licensee. Jonathan Rogoff, Esquire, Vice President, Counsel & Secretary, Nuclear Management Company, LLC, 700 First Street, Hudson, WI 54016. Nontimely requests and/or petitions and contentions will not be entertained absent a determination by the Commission, the presiding officer, or the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board that the petition, request and/or contentions should be granted based on a balancing of the factors specified in 10 CFR 2.309(a)(1)(i)–(viii). Detailed information about the license renewal process can be found under the Nuclear Reactors icon at https:// www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ licensing/renewal.html on the NRC’s Web site. Copies of the application and supplement to renew the operating licenses for Palisades Nuclear Plant, are available for public inspection at the Commission’s PDR, located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland 20852– 2738, and at https://www.nrc.gov/ reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/ applications.html the NRC’s Web site while the application is under review. The NRC maintains an Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC’s public documents. These documents may be accessed through the NRC’s Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ VerDate jul<14>2003 18:08 Jun 07, 2005 Jkt 205001 33535 adams.html under ADAMS accession numbers ML050940434 and ML051300128. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, may contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301– 415–4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. The staff has verified that a copy of the license renewal application and supplement are also available to local residents near the Palisades Nuclear Plant, at the South Haven Memorial Library, 314 Broadway, South Haven, MI 49090. control room or emergency control station(s) is free of fire damage * * *’’ By letter dated March 5, 2004, the licensee requested a permanent exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, appendix R, Section III.G.1.a for a repair consisting of powering a dedicated air compressor from one of two pre-planned 480 volt power sources using pre-staged power cords and connecting the air compressor to nitrogen bottle manifolds on one or both reactor units using a pre-staged pneumatic hose with quick connect fittings. The licensee stated: Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of June, 2005. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Samson S. Lee, Acting Program Director, License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. E5–2914 Filed 6–7–05; 8:45 am] The existing Safe Shutdown Analysis (SSA) for Point Beach credits a hard-piped nitrogen bottle bank to provide the first several hours of charging pump control air during hot shutdown. However, if the normal source of instrument air is not restored prior to depletion of this bottle bank, a dedicated air compressor is available to provide continued support for long term hot shutdown (and/or subsequent transition to cold shutdown) operation. This air compressor must be connected to a suitable power supply by means of electrical cables and to the charging pump backup control air manifolds by portable hoses. BILLING CODE 7590–01–P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket Nos. 50–266 and 50–301] Nuclear Management Company, LLC, Point Beach Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2; Exemption 1.0 Background Nuclear Management Company, LLC (NMC, the licensee), is the holder of Facility Operating License Nos. DPR–24 and DPR–27 which authorizes operation of the Point Beach Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2. The licenses provide, among other things, that the facility is subject to all rules, regulations, and orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) now or hereafter in effect. The facility consists of two pressurized-water reactors (PWR) located in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. 2.0 Request/Action Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, Appendix R, ‘‘Fire Protection Program for Nuclear Power Facilities Operating Prior to January 1, 1979,’’ established fire protection (FP) requirements to satisfy 10 CFR 50, appendix A, General Design Criterion 3, ‘‘Fire Protection.’’ Appendix R, Section III.G.1.a of 10 CFR Part 50 requires: ‘‘one train of systems necessary to achieve and maintain hot shutdown from either the PO 00000 Frm 00095 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 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. Section 50.12(a)(2)(ii) of 10 CFR states that special circumstances are present whenever ‘‘application of the regulation in the particular circumstances would not serve the underlying purpose of the rule or is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule. * * *’’ 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix R, Section III.G.1.a requires that, ‘‘one train of systems necessary to achieve and maintain hot shutdown conditions from either the control room or emergency control station(s) is free of fire damage.’’ Appendix R, Section III.L.1, of 10 CFR Part 50 requires that an alternative or dedicated shutdown capability shall be able to, among other things, ‘‘(c) achieve and maintain hot standby conditions for a PWR; and (d) achieve cold shutdown conditions within 72 hours.’’ NRC Inspection Report 50–266/2003–007; 50–301/2003–007, dated February 4, 2004, documents a Non-Cited Violation of Appendix R, Section III.L.1.c, in that NMC, ‘‘failed to ensure, without the need for ’hot standby repairs,’ adequate E:\FR\FM\08JNN1.SGM 08JNN1 33536 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 109 / Wednesday, June 8, 2005 / Notices control air to the speed controllers for the charging pumps during a postulated fire requiring an alternative shutdown method.’’ The installed backup nitrogen gas bottle bank (for the charging pump speed controllers) meets the requirements of the regulation, with the exception that it is of limited capacity. This means that the hot shutdown conditions could not be maintained indefinitely while relying only on the installed bottle bank. However, the 8 to 14 hour capacity of the bottle banks is ample time to extinguish the fire, achieve stable plant conditions in hot shutdown, augment staff with personnel from the emergency response organization, and connect dedicated power cabling and hoses to the dedicated compressor using the furnished plugs and quick connect fittings (i.e., no tools required). Because the bottle banks, hoses, cables, and compressor are all located in areas that would not be affected by the fires of concern, none would be damaged. The installed backup bottle banks are normally isolated from the charging pump pneumatic controls by the bottle stop-cocks, a manual valve on the bottle manifold, and an in-line manual isolation valve. These valves must be opened to bring the backup nitrogen on line. In contrast, the (staged) dedicated air compressor must be connected to its power supply by retrieving the staged cable and hose(s) from their storage locations in the same fire area (Turbine Hall), laying them out from the compressor to the selected power supply and to the affected unit’s backup bottle bank manifold, and then connecting the cable and hoses using the installed plugs and quick connect fittings before starting the compressor. Although this activity could be considered a ‘‘hot standby repair,’’ connection of these undamaged components to support continued hot shutdown conditions within 8 hours of the initiating event is reasonably achievable. This can be performed without invoking extraordinary action and without perturbing the stable plant conditions. Therefore, strict application of the interpretation proscribing any hot standby repair is not necessary to achieve and maintain hot shutdown conditions while relying only on the operating shift personnel, without undue encumbrances, and without having to resort to significant time consuming ‘‘repairs.’’ The NRC staff concludes that application of Section III.G.1.a under these circumstances is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule. The NRC staff examined the licensee’s rationale to support the exemption VerDate jul<14>2003 18:08 Jun 07, 2005 Jkt 205001 request and concluded that sufficient time (8 hours) is available to make the necessary connections to operate the backup air compressor. The NRC staff is satisfied that on-site and augmented response resources will be available to complete the repair. The appropriate equipment for this evolution is prestaged. The NRC staff considered the location of the air compressor, the transformer, the pre-staging locations and routing of the electrical cables, and the pre-staging locations and routing of the pneumatic hoses. Equipment is prestaged such that no single fire will affect permanent plant equipment and the repair equipment. The repair steps are feasible and reliable. The actions requested, hooking up power cables and connecting pneumatic fittings for the air compressor, are repairs as commonly implemented by appendix R [but would not meet the requirements of] Section III.G.1.a (achieving and maintaining hot standby). The NRC staff agrees, therefore, that an exemption is appropriate to meet the underlying purpose of Section III.G.1.a, and that the 10 CFR 50.12.(a)(2)(ii) criterion applicable to this request. 4.0 Conclusion Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a), the exemption is authorized by law, will not present an undue risk to the public health and safety, and is consistent with the common defense and security. Also, special circumstances are present. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants NMC an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, appendix R, Part III.G.1.a, for Point Beach Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2. Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that the granting of this exemption will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment (70 FR 30819). This exemption is effective upon issuance. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of June, 2005. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Ledyard B. Marsh, Director, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. E5–2915 Filed 6–7–05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P PO 00000 Frm 00096 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. 72–42] Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Incorporated; Notice of Docketing of Request for Exemption for the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 and Unit 2 Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of request for exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2) and 10 CFR 72.214. AGENCY: FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher M. Regan, Senior Project Manager, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Telephone: (301) 415–1179; fax number: (301) 415–1179; e-mail: cmr1@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) is considering a request dated May 20, 2005, from Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. (applicant or SNC) for exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2) and 10 CFR 72.214 pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, for the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant (FNP), Unit 1 and Unit 2, facility located in Houston County, Alabama. If granted, the exemption will authorize the applicant to load spent nuclear fuel in accordance with proposed Amendment 2 to Certificate of Compliance (CoC) 1014 granted to Holtec International (Holtec) for the HI–STORM 100 system. This request was docketed under 10 CFR Part 72; the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation Docket No. is 72–42. An NRC administrative review, documented in a letter to SNC dated June 2, 2005, found that the application contains sufficient information for the NRC staff to begin its technical review. Prior to issuance of the requested exemption, the Commission will have made the findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission’s regulations. These findings will be documented in a Safety Evaluation Report. The issuance of the exemption will not be approved until the NRC has reviewed the application and has concluded that granting of the request will not be inimical to the common defense and security and will not constitute an unreasonable risk to the health and safety of the public. The NRC will complete an environmental E:\FR\FM\08JNN1.SGM 08JNN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 8, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33535-33536]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-2915]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-266 and 50-301]


Nuclear Management Company, LLC, Point Beach Nuclear Plant, Units 
1 and 2; Exemption

1.0 Background

    Nuclear Management Company, LLC (NMC, the licensee), is the holder 
of Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-24 and DPR-27 which authorizes 
operation of the Point Beach Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2. The licenses 
provide, among other things, that the facility is subject to all rules, 
regulations, and orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, 
the Commission) now or hereafter in effect.
    The facility consists of two pressurized-water reactors (PWR) 
located in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin.

2.0 Request/Action

    Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, 
Appendix R, ``Fire Protection Program for Nuclear Power Facilities 
Operating Prior to January 1, 1979,'' established fire protection (FP) 
requirements to satisfy 10 CFR 50, appendix A, General Design Criterion 
3, ``Fire Protection.''
    Appendix R, Section III.G.1.a of 10 CFR Part 50 requires: ``one 
train of systems necessary to achieve and maintain hot shutdown from 
either the control room or emergency control station(s) is free of fire 
damage * * *''
    By letter dated March 5, 2004, the licensee requested a permanent 
exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, appendix R, Section 
III.G.1.a for a repair consisting of powering a dedicated air 
compressor from one of two pre-planned 480 volt power sources using 
pre-staged power cords and connecting the air compressor to nitrogen 
bottle manifolds on one or both reactor units using a pre-staged 
pneumatic hose with quick connect fittings.
    The licensee stated:

    The existing Safe Shutdown Analysis (SSA) for Point Beach 
credits a hard-piped nitrogen bottle bank to provide the first 
several hours of charging pump control air during hot shutdown. 
However, if the normal source of instrument air is not restored 
prior to depletion of this bottle bank, a dedicated air compressor 
is available to provide continued support for long term hot shutdown 
(and/or subsequent transition to cold shutdown) operation. This air 
compressor must be connected to a suitable power supply by means of 
electrical cables and to the charging pump backup control air 
manifolds by portable hoses.

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. Section 50.12(a)(2)(ii) of 
10 CFR states that special circumstances are present whenever 
``application of the regulation in the particular circumstances would 
not serve the underlying purpose of the rule or is not necessary to 
achieve the underlying purpose of the rule. * * *''
    10 CFR Part 50, Appendix R, Section III.G.1.a requires that, ``one 
train of systems necessary to achieve and maintain hot shutdown 
conditions from either the control room or emergency control station(s) 
is free of fire damage.'' Appendix R, Section III.L.1, of 10 CFR Part 
50 requires that an alternative or dedicated shutdown capability shall 
be able to, among other things, ``(c) achieve and maintain hot standby 
conditions for a PWR; and (d) achieve cold shutdown conditions within 
72 hours.'' NRC Inspection Report 50-266/2003-007; 50-301/2003-007, 
dated February 4, 2004, documents a Non-Cited Violation of Appendix R, 
Section III.L.1.c, in that NMC, ``failed to ensure, without the need 
for 'hot standby repairs,' adequate

[[Page 33536]]

control air to the speed controllers for the charging pumps during a 
postulated fire requiring an alternative shutdown method.'' The 
installed backup nitrogen gas bottle bank (for the charging pump speed 
controllers) meets the requirements of the regulation, with the 
exception that it is of limited capacity. This means that the hot 
shutdown conditions could not be maintained indefinitely while relying 
only on the installed bottle bank. However, the 8 to 14 hour capacity 
of the bottle banks is ample time to extinguish the fire, achieve 
stable plant conditions in hot shutdown, augment staff with personnel 
from the emergency response organization, and connect dedicated power 
cabling and hoses to the dedicated compressor using the furnished plugs 
and quick connect fittings (i.e., no tools required).
    Because the bottle banks, hoses, cables, and compressor are all 
located in areas that would not be affected by the fires of concern, 
none would be damaged. The installed backup bottle banks are normally 
isolated from the charging pump pneumatic controls by the bottle stop-
cocks, a manual valve on the bottle manifold, and an in-line manual 
isolation valve. These valves must be opened to bring the backup 
nitrogen on line. In contrast, the (staged) dedicated air compressor 
must be connected to its power supply by retrieving the staged cable 
and hose(s) from their storage locations in the same fire area (Turbine 
Hall), laying them out from the compressor to the selected power supply 
and to the affected unit's backup bottle bank manifold, and then 
connecting the cable and hoses using the installed plugs and quick 
connect fittings before starting the compressor.
    Although this activity could be considered a ``hot standby 
repair,'' connection of these undamaged components to support continued 
hot shutdown conditions within 8 hours of the initiating event is 
reasonably achievable. This can be performed without invoking 
extraordinary action and without perturbing the stable plant 
conditions. Therefore, strict application of the interpretation 
proscribing any hot standby repair is not necessary to achieve and 
maintain hot shutdown conditions while relying only on the operating 
shift personnel, without undue encumbrances, and without having to 
resort to significant time consuming ``repairs.'' The NRC staff 
concludes that application of Section III.G.1.a under these 
circumstances is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the 
rule.
    The NRC staff examined the licensee's rationale to support the 
exemption request and concluded that sufficient time (8 hours) is 
available to make the necessary connections to operate the backup air 
compressor. The NRC staff is satisfied that on-site and augmented 
response resources will be available to complete the repair. The 
appropriate equipment for this evolution is pre-staged. The NRC staff 
considered the location of the air compressor, the transformer, the 
pre-staging locations and routing of the electrical cables, and the 
pre-staging locations and routing of the pneumatic hoses. Equipment is 
pre-staged such that no single fire will affect permanent plant 
equipment and the repair equipment. The repair steps are feasible and 
reliable. The actions requested, hooking up power cables and connecting 
pneumatic fittings for the air compressor, are repairs as commonly 
implemented by appendix R [but would not meet the requirements of] 
Section III.G.1.a (achieving and maintaining hot standby). The NRC 
staff agrees, therefore, that an exemption is appropriate to meet the 
underlying purpose of Section III.G.1.a, and that the 10 CFR 
50.12.(a)(2)(ii) criterion applicable to this request.

4.0 Conclusion

    Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 
50.12(a), the exemption is authorized by law, will not present an undue 
risk to the public health and safety, and is consistent with the common 
defense and security. Also, special circumstances are present. 
Therefore, the Commission hereby grants NMC an exemption from the 
requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, appendix R, Part III.G.1.a, for Point 
Beach Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that the 
granting of this exemption will not have a significant effect on the 
quality of the human environment (70 FR 30819).
    This exemption is effective upon issuance.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of June, 2005.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Ledyard B. Marsh,
 Director, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E5-2915 Filed 6-7-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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