Energy Northwest Columbia Generating Station; Exemption, 14640-14641 [2010-6718]
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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 58 / Friday, March 26, 2010 / Notices
Environmental Impacts of the
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed
action, the NRC staff considered denial
of the proposed action (i.e., the ‘‘noaction’’ alternative). Denial of the
exemption request would result in no
change in current environmental
impacts. If the proposed action was
denied, the licensee would have to
comply with the March 31, 2010,
implementation deadline. The
environmental impacts of the proposed
exemption and the ‘‘no action’’
alternative are similar.
Alternative Use of Resources
The action does not involve the use of
any different resources than those
considered in (1) The ‘‘Indian Point Unit
No. 1, Environmental Report and
Benefit Cost Analysis,’’ June 1973; (2)
The ‘‘Final Environmental Statement
Related to Operation of Indian Point
Generating Plant Unit No. 2,’’ dated
September 1972, and (3) the ‘‘Final
Environmental Statement Related to
Operation of Indian Point Generating
Plant Unit No. 3,’’ dated February 1975.
emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Agencies and Persons Consulted
In accordance with its stated policy,
on March 4, 2010, the NRC staff
consulted with the New York State
official, Alyse Peterson, of the New York
State Energy Research and Development
Authority, regarding the environmental
impact of the proposed action. The State
official had no comments.
Finding of No Significant Impact
On the basis of the environmental
assessment, the NRC concludes that the
proposed action will not have a
significant effect on the quality of the
human environment. Accordingly, the
NRC has determined not to prepare an
environmental impact statement for the
proposed action.
For further details with respect to the
proposed action, see the licensee’s letter
dated January 28, 2010. Portions of the
submittal dated January 28, 2010,
contain security-related information
and, accordingly, are withheld from
public disclosure in accordance with 10
CFR 2.390(d)(1). The licensee’s
supplemental letter dated March 8,
2010, is withheld in its entirety as
security-related information in
accordance with 10 CFR 2.390(d)(1). A
publicly available version of the letter
dated January 28, 2010, is accessible
electronically from the Agencywide
Documents Access and Management
System (ADAMS) with Accession No.
ML100340142. The publicly available
version of the document may be
examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the
VerDate Nov<24>2008
15:23 Mar 25, 2010
Jkt 220001
NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR),
located at One White Flint North, Public
File Area O–1F21, 11555 Rockville Pike
(first floor), Rockville, Maryland 20852.
Publicly available records will be
accessible electronically from the
ADAMS Public Electronic Reading
Room on the Internet at the NRC Web
site: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html.
Persons who do not have access to
ADAMS or who encounter problems in
accessing the documents located in
ADAMS should contact the NRC PDR
Reference staff by telephone at 1–800–
397–4209 or 301–415–4737, or send an
e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day
of March 2010.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John P. Boska,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing
Branch I–1, Division of Operating Reactor
Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2010–6726 Filed 3–25–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50–397; NRC–2010–0084]
Energy Northwest Columbia
Generating Station; Exemption
1.0 Background
Energy Northwest (the licensee) is the
holder of Facility Operating License No.
NPF–21 which authorizes operation of
the Columbia Generating Station (CGS).
The license provides, among other
things, that the facility is subject to the
rules, regulations, and orders of the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC,
the Commission) now or hereafter in
effect.
The facility consists of a boiling-water
reactor located in Benton County,
Washington.
2.0 Request/Action
Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), Part 73, ‘‘Physical
protection of plants and materials,’’
Section 73.55, ‘‘Requirements for
physical protection of licensed activities
in nuclear power reactors against
radiological sabotage,’’ published in the
Federal Register on March 27, 2009,
effective May 26, 2009, with a full
implementation date of March 31, 2010,
requires licensees to protect, with high
assurance, against radiological sabotage
by designing and implementing
comprehensive site security programs.
The amendments to 10 CFR 73.55
published on March 27, 2009 (74 FR
PO 00000
Frm 00086
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
13926), establish and update generically
applicable security requirements similar
to those previously imposed by
Commission orders issued after the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001,
and implemented by licensees. In
addition, the amendments to 10 CFR
73.55 include additional requirements
to further enhance site security based
upon insights gained from
implementation of the post-September
11, 2001, security orders. It is from one
of these additional requirements that the
licensee now seeks an exemption from
the March 31, 2010, implementation
date. All other physical security
requirements established by this recent
rulemaking have already been or will be
implemented by the licensee by March
31, 2010.
By application dated January 27,
2010, the licensee requested an
exemption in accordance with 10 CFR
73.5, ‘‘Specific exemptions.’’ Attachment
1 to the licensee’s letter contains
security-related information and,
accordingly, those portions of the letters
are being withheld from public
disclosure. A redacted version of the
licensee’s exemption request dated
January 27, 2010, is publicly available
in the Agencywide Documents Access
and Management System (ADAMS)
Accession No. ML100481052. The
licensee has requested an exemption
from the March 31, 2010, compliance
date stating that it must accommodate a
potential manufacturing delay that
would result in a non-compliance of the
new security requirements. Specifically,
the request is to extend the
implementation date from the current
March 31, 2010, deadline to May 15,
2010. Granting this exemption for the
one item would afford the licensee
additional time to perform necessary
upgrades to meet or exceed the
regulatory requirements.
3.0 Discussion of Part 73 Schedule
Exemptions from the March 31, 2010,
Full Implementation Date
Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.55(a)(1), ‘‘By
March 31, 2010, each nuclear power
reactor licensee, licensed under 10 CFR
part 50, shall implement the
requirements of this section through its
Commission-approved Physical Security
Plan, Training and Qualification Plan,
Safeguards Contingency Plan, and Cyber
Security Plan referred to collectively
hereafter as ‘security plans.’ ’’ Pursuant
to 10 CFR 73.5, the Commission may,
upon application by any interested
person or upon its own initiative, grant
exemptions from the requirements of 10
CFR part 73 when the exemptions are
authorized by law, and will not
endanger life or property or the common
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26MRN1
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 58 / Friday, March 26, 2010 / Notices
emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES
defense and security, and are otherwise
in the public interest.
NRC approval of this exemption, as
noted above, would allow an extension
from March 31, 2010, until May 15,
2010, of the implementation date for
one specific requirement of the new
rule. As stated above, 10 CFR 73.5
allows the NRC to grant exemptions
from the requirements of 10 CFR part
73. The NRC staff has determined that
granting of the licensee’s proposed
exemption would not result in a
violation of the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended, or the Commission’s
regulations. Therefore, the exemption is
authorized by law.
In the draft final rule provided to the
Commission, the NRC staff proposed
that the requirements of the new
regulation be met within 180 days. The
Commission directed a change from 180
days to approximately 1 year for
licensees to fully implement the new
requirements. This change was
incorporated into the final rule. From
this, it is clear that the Commission
wanted to provide a reasonable
timeframe for licensees to achieve full
compliance.
As noted in the final rule, the
Commission also anticipated that
licensees would have to conduct sitespecific analyses to determine what
changes were necessary to implement
the rule’s requirements, and that
changes could be accomplished through
a variety of licensing mechanisms,
including exemptions. Since issuance of
the final rule, the Commission has
rejected a generic industry request to
extend the rule’s compliance date for all
operating nuclear power plants, but
noted that the Commission’s regulations
provide mechanisms for individual
licensees, with good cause, to apply for
relief from the compliance date, as
documented in the letter from R. W.
Borchardt (NRC) to M. S. Fertel (Nuclear
Energy Institute) dated June 4, 2009.
The licensee’s request for an exemption
is therefore consistent with the
approach set forth by the Commission
and discussed in the June 4, 2009, letter.
CGS Schedule Exemption Request
The licensee provided detailed
information in the Attachments to its
letter dated January 27, 2010, requesting
an exemption. The licensee is
requesting additional time to perform
necessary upgrades to the CGS security
system due to manufacturing delays of
one item at the vendor. The licensee
describes a comprehensive plan to
perform upgrades to the security
capabilities of its CGS site and provides
a timeline for achieving full compliance
with the new regulation. Attachment 1
VerDate Nov<24>2008
15:23 Mar 25, 2010
Jkt 220001
to the licensee’s letter contains securityrelated information regarding the site
security plan, details of the specific
requirement of the regulation for which
the site cannot be in compliance by the
March 31, 2010 deadline, justification
for the exemption request, a description
of the required changes to the site’s
security configuration, and a timeline
with the activities that would bring
enable the licensee to achieve full
compliance by May 15, 2010. The
timeline provides dates indicating when
the critical equipment will be received,
installed, and become operational.
Redacted versions of the licensee’s
exemption request are included in
Attachments 2 and 3 to its January 27,
2010 letter and are publicly available in
ADAMS Accession No. ML100481052.
Notwithstanding the schedule
exemptions for these limited
requirements, the licensee will continue
to be in compliance with all other
applicable physical security
requirements as described in 10 CFR
73.55 and reflected in its current NRCapproved physical security program. By
May 15, 2010, CGS will be in full
compliance with the regulatory
requirements of 10 CFR 73.55, as issued
on March 27, 2009.
4.0 Conclusion for Part 73 Schedule
Exemption Request
The staff has reviewed the licensee’s
submittal and concludes that the
licensee has justified its request for an
extension of the compliance date to May
15, 2010 with regard to one specified
requirement of 10 CFR 73.55.
Accordingly, the Commission has
determined that pursuant to 10 CFR
73.5, ‘‘Specific exemptions,’’ an
exemption from the March 31, 2010,
compliance date is authorized by law
and will not endanger life or property or
the common defense and security, and
is otherwise in the public interest.
Therefore, the Commission hereby
grants the requested exemption.
The long-term benefits that will be
realized when the CGS modifications
are complete justify extending the full
compliance date in the case of this
particular licensee. The security
measure for which CGS needs
additional time to complete is a new
requirement imposed by March 27, 2009
amendments to 10 CFR 73.55, and is in
addition to those required by the
security orders issued in response to the
events of September 11, 2001.
Therefore, the NRC concludes that the
licensee’s actions are in the best interest
of protecting the public health and
safety through the security changes that
will result from granting this exemption.
PO 00000
Frm 00087
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
14641
As per the licensee’s request and the
NRC’s regulatory authority to grant an
exemption from the March 31, 2010,
deadline for the one item specified in
the Attachments to the licensee’s letter
dated January 27, 2010, the licensee is
required to be in full compliance with
10 CFR 73.55 by May 15, 2010. In
achieving compliance, the licensee is
reminded that it is responsible for
determining the appropriate licensing
mechanism (i.e., 10 CFR 50.54(p) or 10
CFR 50.90) for incorporation of all
necessary changes to its security plans.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, ‘‘Finding of
no significant impact,’’ the Commission
has previously determined that the
granting of this exemption will not have
a significant effect on the quality of the
human environment [75 FR 10834;
March 9, 2010].
This exemption is effective upon
issuance.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day
of March 2010.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Allen G. Howe,
Acting Director, Division of Operating Reactor
Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2010–6718 Filed 3–25–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50–443; NRC–2010–0108]
NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC, et al.*;
Seabrook Station, Unit No. 1;
Exemption
1.0
Background
NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC, (the
licensee) is the holder of Facility
Operating License No. NPF–86, which
authorizes operation of the Seabrook
Station Unit No. 1 (Seabrook). The
license provides, 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 one
pressurized water reactor located in
Seabrook, New Hampshire.
2.0
Request/Action
Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR) Part 73, ‘‘Physical
* NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC is authorized to
act as agent for the: Hudson Light & Power
Department, Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale
Electric Company, and Taunton Municipal Light
Plant and has exclusive responsibility and control
over the physical construction, operation and
maintenance of the facility.
E:\FR\FM\26MRN1.SGM
26MRN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 58 (Friday, March 26, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14640-14641]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-6718]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-397; NRC-2010-0084]
Energy Northwest Columbia Generating Station; Exemption
1.0 Background
Energy Northwest (the licensee) is the holder of Facility Operating
License No. NPF-21 which authorizes operation of the Columbia
Generating Station (CGS). The license provides, among other things,
that the facility is subject to the rules, regulations, and orders of
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) now or
hereafter in effect.
The facility consists of a boiling-water reactor located in Benton
County, Washington.
2.0 Request/Action
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Part 73,
``Physical protection of plants and materials,'' Section 73.55,
``Requirements for physical protection of licensed activities in
nuclear power reactors against radiological sabotage,'' published in
the Federal Register on March 27, 2009, effective May 26, 2009, with a
full implementation date of March 31, 2010, requires licensees to
protect, with high assurance, against radiological sabotage by
designing and implementing comprehensive site security programs. The
amendments to 10 CFR 73.55 published on March 27, 2009 (74 FR 13926),
establish and update generically applicable security requirements
similar to those previously imposed by Commission orders issued after
the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and implemented by
licensees. In addition, the amendments to 10 CFR 73.55 include
additional requirements to further enhance site security based upon
insights gained from implementation of the post-September 11, 2001,
security orders. It is from one of these additional requirements that
the licensee now seeks an exemption from the March 31, 2010,
implementation date. All other physical security requirements
established by this recent rulemaking have already been or will be
implemented by the licensee by March 31, 2010.
By application dated January 27, 2010, the licensee requested an
exemption in accordance with 10 CFR 73.5, ``Specific exemptions.''
Attachment 1 to the licensee's letter contains security-related
information and, accordingly, those portions of the letters are being
withheld from public disclosure. A redacted version of the licensee's
exemption request dated January 27, 2010, is publicly available in the
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No.
ML100481052. The licensee has requested an exemption from the March 31,
2010, compliance date stating that it must accommodate a potential
manufacturing delay that would result in a non-compliance of the new
security requirements. Specifically, the request is to extend the
implementation date from the current March 31, 2010, deadline to May
15, 2010. Granting this exemption for the one item would afford the
licensee additional time to perform necessary upgrades to meet or
exceed the regulatory requirements.
3.0 Discussion of Part 73 Schedule Exemptions from the March 31, 2010,
Full Implementation Date
Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.55(a)(1), ``By March 31, 2010, each nuclear
power reactor licensee, licensed under 10 CFR part 50, shall implement
the requirements of this section through its Commission-approved
Physical Security Plan, Training and Qualification Plan, Safeguards
Contingency Plan, and Cyber Security Plan referred to collectively
hereafter as `security plans.' '' Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5, the
Commission may, upon application by any interested person or upon its
own initiative, grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part
73 when the exemptions are authorized by law, and will not endanger
life or property or the common
[[Page 14641]]
defense and security, and are otherwise in the public interest.
NRC approval of this exemption, as noted above, would allow an
extension from March 31, 2010, until May 15, 2010, of the
implementation date for one specific requirement of the new rule. As
stated above, 10 CFR 73.5 allows the NRC to grant exemptions from the
requirements of 10 CFR part 73. The NRC staff has determined that
granting of the licensee's proposed exemption would not result in a
violation of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or the
Commission's regulations. Therefore, the exemption is authorized by
law.
In the draft final rule provided to the Commission, the NRC staff
proposed that the requirements of the new regulation be met within 180
days. The Commission directed a change from 180 days to approximately 1
year for licensees to fully implement the new requirements. This change
was incorporated into the final rule. From this, it is clear that the
Commission wanted to provide a reasonable timeframe for licensees to
achieve full compliance.
As noted in the final rule, the Commission also anticipated that
licensees would have to conduct site-specific analyses to determine
what changes were necessary to implement the rule's requirements, and
that changes could be accomplished through a variety of licensing
mechanisms, including exemptions. Since issuance of the final rule, the
Commission has rejected a generic industry request to extend the rule's
compliance date for all operating nuclear power plants, but noted that
the Commission's regulations provide mechanisms for individual
licensees, with good cause, to apply for relief from the compliance
date, as documented in the letter from R. W. Borchardt (NRC) to M. S.
Fertel (Nuclear Energy Institute) dated June 4, 2009. The licensee's
request for an exemption is therefore consistent with the approach set
forth by the Commission and discussed in the June 4, 2009, letter.
CGS Schedule Exemption Request
The licensee provided detailed information in the Attachments to
its letter dated January 27, 2010, requesting an exemption. The
licensee is requesting additional time to perform necessary upgrades to
the CGS security system due to manufacturing delays of one item at the
vendor. The licensee describes a comprehensive plan to perform upgrades
to the security capabilities of its CGS site and provides a timeline
for achieving full compliance with the new regulation. Attachment 1 to
the licensee's letter contains security-related information regarding
the site security plan, details of the specific requirement of the
regulation for which the site cannot be in compliance by the March 31,
2010 deadline, justification for the exemption request, a description
of the required changes to the site's security configuration, and a
timeline with the activities that would bring enable the licensee to
achieve full compliance by May 15, 2010. The timeline provides dates
indicating when the critical equipment will be received, installed, and
become operational. Redacted versions of the licensee's exemption
request are included in Attachments 2 and 3 to its January 27, 2010
letter and are publicly available in ADAMS Accession No. ML100481052.
Notwithstanding the schedule exemptions for these limited
requirements, the licensee will continue to be in compliance with all
other applicable physical security requirements as described in 10 CFR
73.55 and reflected in its current NRC-approved physical security
program. By May 15, 2010, CGS will be in full compliance with the
regulatory requirements of 10 CFR 73.55, as issued on March 27, 2009.
4.0 Conclusion for Part 73 Schedule Exemption Request
The staff has reviewed the licensee's submittal and concludes that
the licensee has justified its request for an extension of the
compliance date to May 15, 2010 with regard to one specified
requirement of 10 CFR 73.55.
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that pursuant to 10 CFR
73.5, ``Specific exemptions,'' an exemption from the March 31, 2010,
compliance date is authorized by law and will not endanger life or
property or the common defense and security, and is otherwise in the
public interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants the requested
exemption.
The long-term benefits that will be realized when the CGS
modifications are complete justify extending the full compliance date
in the case of this particular licensee. The security measure for which
CGS needs additional time to complete is a new requirement imposed by
March 27, 2009 amendments to 10 CFR 73.55, and is in addition to those
required by the security orders issued in response to the events of
September 11, 2001. Therefore, the NRC concludes that the licensee's
actions are in the best interest of protecting the public health and
safety through the security changes that will result from granting this
exemption.
As per the licensee's request and the NRC's regulatory authority to
grant an exemption from the March 31, 2010, deadline for the one item
specified in the Attachments to the licensee's letter dated January 27,
2010, the licensee is required to be in full compliance with 10 CFR
73.55 by May 15, 2010. In achieving compliance, the licensee is
reminded that it is responsible for determining the appropriate
licensing mechanism (i.e., 10 CFR 50.54(p) or 10 CFR 50.90) for
incorporation of all necessary changes to its security plans.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, ``Finding of no significant impact,'' the
Commission has previously determined that the granting of this
exemption will not have a significant effect on the quality of the
human environment [75 FR 10834; March 9, 2010].
This exemption is effective upon issuance.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of March 2010.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Allen G. Howe,
Acting Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2010-6718 Filed 3-25-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
