In the Matter of Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3); Confirmatory Order Modifying License (Effective Immediately), 6290-6292 [E6-1626]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 7, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6290-6292]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-1626]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-247 and 50-286; License Nos. DPR-26 and DPR-64; EA-05-
190]


In the Matter of Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Indian Point 
Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3); Confirmatory Order Modifying 
License (Effective Immediately)

I

    Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Licensee) is the holder of 
Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-26 and DPR-64 issued by the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to 10 CFR part 50. 
The licenses authorize the operation of Indian Point Nuclear Generating 
Unit Nos. 2 and 3, in accordance with the conditions specified therein. 
The facilities are located on the Licensee's site in Buchanan, New 
York.

II

    The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Act) (see 42 U.S.C. 2210 et seq.) 
was enacted on August 8, 2005. Section 651(b) of the Act states:

For any licensed nuclear power plants located where there is a 
permanent population, as determined by the 2000 decennial census, in 
excess of 15,000,000 within a 50-mile radius of the power plant, not 
later than 18 months after enactment of this Act, the Commission 
shall require that backup power to be available for the emergency 
notification system of the power plant, including the emergency 
siren warning system, if the alternating current supply within the 
10-mile emergency planning zone of the power plant is lost.

Public Law 109-58, 119 Stat 594. Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit 
Nos. 2 and 3 meet the criteria of the Act.
    Adequate backup power for the emergency notification system (ENS), 
as required by section 651(b) of the Act, requires that: (a) The backup 
power supply for the Public Alerting System (PAS) must meet commonly-
applicable standards, such as National Fire Protection Association 
(NFPA) Standard 1221, Standard for the Installation, Maintenance, and 
Use of Emergency Communications Systems (2002) and Underwriters 
Laboratory (UL) 2017, section 58.2; (b) each PAS and PAS Alerting 
Appliance (PASAA) must receive adequate power to perform their intended 
functions such that backup power is sufficient to allow operation in 
standby mode for a minimum of 24 hours and in alert mode for a minimum 
of 15 minutes; (c) batteries used for backup power must recharge to at 
least 80 percent of their capacity in no less than 24 hours; (d) except 
for those

[[Page 6291]]

components that are in facilities staffed on a continuous basis (24 
hours per day, 7 days per week) or otherwise monitored on a continuous 
basis, immediate automatic indication of a loss of power must be 
provided to the Licensee and appropriate government agencies; and (e) 
except for those components that are in facilities staffed on a 
continuous basis (24 hours per day, 7 days per week) or otherwise 
monitored on a continuous basis, an automatic notification of an 
unplanned loss of power must be made to the Licensee in sufficient time 
to take compensatory action before the backup power supply can not meet 
the requirements of section IV, part II. A. 2.

III

    In order to carry out the statutory mandate discussed above, the 
Commission has determined that the operating licenses for Indian Point 
Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3 must be modified to include 
provisions with respect to the measures identified in section II of 
this Order. The requirements needed to effectuate the foregoing are set 
forth in section IV below. On January 31, 2006, the Licensee consented 
to the license modifications set forth in Section IV below. The 
Licensee further agreed in its letter dated January 31, 2006, that it 
has waived its right to a hearing on this Order, and, therefore, that 
the terms of the Order are effective upon issuance.
    I find that the license modifications set forth in section IV are 
acceptable and necessary, and conclude that with these provisions the 
Licensee will be in compliance with the intent of the Act. Based on the 
above and Licensee's consent, this Order is immediately effective upon 
issuance.

IV

    Accordingly, pursuant to sections 104b, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182 and 
186 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, section 651(b) of the 
Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-58, 119 Stat 594), and the 
Commission's regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR part 50, It is 
hereby ordered, Effective Immediately, that License Nos. DPR-26 and 
DPR-64 Are Modified as Follows:
    I. The Licensee shall provide and maintain a backup power supply 
for the ENS for the Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3, 
facilities. The ENS is the primary prompt notification system used to 
alert the public of an event at a nuclear power plant.
    II. The Licensee shall implement II.A, II.B, and II.C.1-3 by 
January 30, 2007. The backup power system for the ENS shall be declared 
operable by January 30, 2007. The backup power supply for the ENS shall 
include, as a minimum:
    A.1. A backup power supply for the PAS and each PASAA which shall 
provide adequate power for each component to perform their design 
function. These functions include the following as examples: sound 
output, rotation, speech intelligibility, or brightness as applicable. 
This criterion includes the associated activation, control, monitoring, 
and testing components for the backup power supply to the ENS 
including, but not limited to: radio transceivers, testing circuits, 
sensors to monitor critical operating parameters of the PAS and PASAA.
    The Licensee is required to meet all applicable standards, such as 
NFPA Standard 1221, Standard for the Installation, Maintenance, and Use 
of Emergency Communications Systems (2002) and UL 2017, Section 58.2;
    2. The backup power supply for each PAS and PASAA shall be designed 
for operation in standby mode, including, but not limited to: radio 
transceivers, testing circuits, sensors fully operational and providing 
polling data to the activation, control, monitoring, and test system 
for at least 24 hours without AC supply power from the local electric 
distribution grid. The backup power supply then shall be capable of 
performing its intended function, without recharge, by operating the 
PAS and PASAA in its alerting mode at its full design capability for a 
period of at least 15 minutes. This sequence shall be assumed to occur 
at the most unfavorable environmental conditions including, but not 
limited to, temperature, wind, and precipitation specified for PAS and 
PASAA operation and assume that the batteries are approaching the end 
of their design life (i.e., the ensuing recharge cycle will bring the 
batteries back to the minimum state that defines their design life).
    3. In defining battery design life, automatic charging shall be 
sized such that batteries in the backup power are fully recharged to at 
least 80 percent of their maximum rated capacity from the fully 
discharged state in a period of not more than 24 hours.
    4. Battery design life and replacement frequency shall comply with 
vendor(s) recommendations.
    5. Except for those components that are in facilities staffed on a 
continuous basis (24 hours per day, 7 days per week) or otherwise 
monitored on a continuous basis, there shall be a feedback system(s) 
that provides immediate automatic indication of a loss of power to the 
Licensee and the appropriate government agencies, and an automatic 
notification of an unplanned loss of power must be made to the Licensee 
in sufficient time to take compensatory action before the backup power 
supply can not meet the requirements of section IV, part II. A. 2.
    6. The Licensee shall implement a preventative maintenance and 
testing program of the ENS including, but not limited to: the equipment 
that activates and monitors the system, equipment that provides backup 
power, and the alerting device to ensure the ENS system performs to its 
design specifications.
    B.1. The Licensee shall implement any new Department of Homeland 
Security (DHS) guidance pertaining to backup power for ENS that may 
affect the system requirements outlined in this Order that is issued 
prior to obtaining DHS approval of the alerting system design. The 
Licensee shall not implement any DHS guidance that reduces the 
effectiveness of the ENS as provided for in this Order without prior 
NRC approval.
    2. The Licensee shall document the evaluation of lessons learned 
from any evaluation of the current alert and notification system (ANS) 
and address resolution of identified concerns when designing the backup 
power system and such consideration shall be included in the design 
report.
    3. The final PAS design must be submitted to DHS for approval prior 
to May 1, 2006.
    C.1. Within 60 days of the issuance of this Order, the Licensee 
shall submit a response to this Order to the NRC Document Control Desk 
providing a schedule of planned activities associated with the 
implementation of the Order including interactions with the Putnam, 
Rockland, Westchester, and Orange Counties, the State of New York, and 
DHS. In addition, the Licensee shall provide a progress report on or 
shortly before June 30, 2006.
    2. The Licensee shall submit a proposed revision to its emergency 
response plan to incorporate the implementation of items A.1-A.6, B.1-
B.3, and C.4-C.5. This plan shall be submitted to the NRC for review 
and approval within 120 days from the issuance of the Order.
    3. Prior to declaring the ENS operable, the Licensee shall, in 
accordance with a test plan submitted to and approved by the NRC in 
conjunction with the design submittal, demonstrate satisfactory 
performance of all (100%) of the ENS components including the ability 
of the backup power supply to meet its design requirements.

[[Page 6292]]

    4. After declaring the ENS operable, the Licensee shall conduct 
periodic testing to demonstrate reliable ENS system performance.
    5. The results from testing as discussed in paragraph C.4 shall be 
reported, in writing, to the NRC Document Control Desk, with a copy to 
the Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, documenting the results of 
each test, until there are 3 consecutive tests testing the operability 
of all ENS components used during an actual activation), conducted no 
sooner than 25 days and no more than 45 days from the previous test 
with a 97% overall entire emergency planning zone success rate with no 
individual county failure rate greater than 10%. A false negative 
report from a feedback system will constitute a siren failure for the 
purposes of this test.
    III. The Licensee shall submit a written report to the NRC Document 
Control Desk, with a copy to the Director of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, when the ENS is declared operable.
    IV. The Licensee shall submit a written report to the NRC Document 
Control Desk and provide a copy to the Director of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation when it has achieved full compliance with the requirements 
contained in this Order.
    V. The Licensee may use the criteria contained in 10 CFR 50.54(q) 
to make changes to the requirements contained in this Order without 
prior NRC approval provided that they do not reduce the effectiveness 
of the Order requirements or the approved emergency plan. The Licensee 
shall notify, in writing, the NRC Document Control Desk, with a copy to 
the Director, Division of Preparedness and Response, Office of Nuclear 
Security and Incident Response, 30 days in advance of implementing such 
a change. For other changes, the Licensee may submit a request, in 
writing, to the NRC Document Control Desk, with a copy to the Director, 
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, to relax or rescind any of the 
above requirements upon a showing of good cause by the Licensee.

V

    Any person adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order, other 
than the Licensee, may request a hearing within 20 days of its 
issuance. Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to 
extending the time to request a hearing. A request for extension of 
time must be made in writing to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, 
and include a statement of good cause for the extension. Any request 
for a hearing shall be submitted to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Chief, Rulemakings and Adjudications 
Staff, Washington, DC 20555. Copies of the hearing request shall also 
be sent to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555; to the Assistant 
General Counsel for Materials Litigation and Enforcement at the same 
address; to the Regional Administrator, NRC Region I, U.S. NRC Region 
I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, PA 19406-1415; and to the 
Licensee, Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., 440 Hamilton Avenue, White 
Plains, NY 10601. Because of continuing disruptions in delivery of mail 
to United States Government offices, it is requested that answers and 
requests for hearing or for time extensions be transmitted to the 
Secretary of the Commission either by means of facsimile transmission 
to 301-415-1101, or by e-mail to hearingdocket@nrc.gov, and also to the 
Office of the General Counsel either by means of facsimile transmission 
to 301-415-3725 or by e-mail to OGCMailCenter@nrc.gov. If a person 
other than the Licensee requests a hearing, that person shall set forth 
with particularity the manner in which his interest is adversely 
affected by this Order and shall address the criteria set forth in 10 
CFR 2.309.
    If the hearing is requested by a person whose interest is adversely 
affected, the Commission will issue an Order designating the time and 
place of any hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered 
at such hearing shall be whether this Confirmatory Order should be 
sustained.
    In the absence of any request for hearing or written approval of an 
extension of time in which to request a hearing, the provisions 
specified in section IV above shall be final 20 days from the date of 
this Order without further order or proceedings. If an extension of 
time for requesting a hearing has been approved, the provisions 
specified in section IV shall be final when the extension expires if a 
hearing request has not been received. An Answer or a Request for 
Hearing Shall Not Stay the Immediate Effectiveness of this Order.

    For The Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

    Dated this 31st day of January 2006.
J.E. Dyer,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
 [FR Doc. E6-1626 Filed 2-6-06; 8:45 am]
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