Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 3 and 4; Automatic Depressurization System (ADS) and Core Makeup Tank (CMT) Design Parameters, 16146-16147 [2020-05905]
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 55 / Friday, March 20, 2020 / Notices
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; Automatic
Depressurization System (ADS) and
Core Makeup Tank (CMT) Design
Parameters
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Exemption and combined
license amendment; issuance.
AGENCY:
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 Nos.
176 and 175 to Combined Licenses
(COL), NPF–91 and NPF–92,
respectively. 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, and the
City of Dalton, Georgia (collectively
SNC); 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.
The exemption and amendment
were issued on March 11, 2020.
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 Website: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2008–0252. Address
questions about NRC dockets in
Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301–287–9127; email:
Jennifer.Borges@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 publiclyavailable documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
DATES:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:01 Mar 19, 2020
Jkt 250001
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. To begin the search, 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
designated License Amendment Request
(LAR) 19–009 and submitted by letter
dated September 30, 2019, and
supplemented by letter dated December
19, 2019 (ADAMS Accession Nos.
ML19273A953 and ML19353B752).
• 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:
Alina Schiller, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001; telephone: 301–415–8177; email:
Alina.Schiller@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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
sections 50.12, 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. ML20049A808.
Identical exemption documents
(except for referenced unit numbers and
license numbers) were issued to SNC 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.
ML20049A734 and ML20049A747,
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.
ML20049A761 and ML20049A788,
respectively. A summary of the
amendment documents is provided in
Section III of this document.
I. Introduction
II. Exemption
The NRC is issuing License
Amendment Nos. 176 and 175 to COLs
NPF–91 and NPF–92, respectively, and
is granting an exemption from Tier 1
information in the plant-specific DCD
for the AP1000. The AP1000 DCD is
incorporated by reference in Appendix
D, ‘‘Design Certification Rule for the
AP1000,’’ to part 52 of title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR).
The exemption, granted pursuant to
paragraph A.4 of section VIII,
‘‘Processes for Changes and
Departures,’’ of 10 CFR part 52,
Appendix D, allows the licensee to
depart from the Tier 1 information. With
the requested amendment, SNC sought
proposed changes to revise automatic
depressurization system (ADS) and core
makeup tank (CMT) parameters.
Specifically, the requested amendment
required changes to reflect revisions in
the design parameters of: (a) The
maximum stroke times for the ADS
Stage 1, 2, and 3 valves; (b) the
minimum effective flow areas for the
ADS Stage 2 and 3 valves; and (c) the
CMT minimum volume.
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
Reproduced below is the exemption
document issued to VEGP 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 September 30,
2019, as supplemented by letter dated
December 19, 2019, Southern Nuclear
Operating Company (SNC) requested
from the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC or Commission) an
exemption to allow departures from Tier
1 information in the certified Design
Control Document (DCD) incorporated
by reference in 10 CFR part 52,
appendix D, ‘‘Design Certification Rule
for the AP1000 Design,’’ as part of
license amendment request (LAR) 19–
009, ‘‘Automatic Depressurization
System (ADS) and Core Makeup Tank
(CMT) Design Parameters.’’
For the reasons set forth in Section 3.2
of the NRC staff’s Safety Evaluation that
supports this license amendment, which
can be found at Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System
(ADAMS) Accession Number
ML20049A808, the Commission finds
that:
A. the exemption is authorized by
law;
B. the exemption presents no undue
risk to public health and safety;
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 55 / Friday, March 20, 2020 / Notices
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
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, SNC is granted an
exemption from the certified DCD Tier
1 information, with corresponding
changes to Appendix C of the facility
Combined License, as described in the
licensee’s request dated September 30,
2019, and as supplemented by letter
dated December 19, 2019. This
exemption is related to, and necessary
for, the granting of License Amendment
No. 176 [for Unit 3, No. 175 for Unit 4],
which is being issued concurrently with
this exemption.
3. As explained in Section 5.0 of the
NRC staff’s Safety Evaluation (ADAMS
Accession No. ML20049A808), this
exemption meets the eligibility criteria
for a 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 September 30, 2019
(ADAMS Accession No. ML19273A953),
as supplemented by letter dated
December 19, 2019 (ADAMS Accession
No. ML19353B752), SNC 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
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:01 Mar 19, 2020
Jkt 250001
Register on December 3, 2019 (84 FR
66234). 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 to be prepared for
these amendments.
IV. Conclusion
Using the reasons set forth in the
combined safety evaluation, the staff
granted the exemptions and issued the
amendments that SNC requested on
September 30, 2019. The exemptions
and amendments were issued on March
11, 2020, as part of a combined package
to SNC (ADAMS Accession No.
ML20049A655).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day
of March 2020.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Victor E. Hall,
Chief, Vogtle Project Office, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2020–05905 Filed 3–19–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[NRC–2020–0076]
Volcanic Hazards Assessment for
Proposed New and Advanced Nuclear
Power Plants
16147
connection with items for inclusion in
guides currently being developed or
improvements in all published guides
are encouraged at any time.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by any of the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2020–0076. Address
questions about NRC dockets IDs in
Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301–287–9127; email:
Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For technical
questions, contact the individuals listed
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this document.
• Mail comments to: Office of
Administration, Mail Stop: TWFN–7–
A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001, ATTN: Program Management,
Announcements and Editing Staff.
For additional direction on obtaining
information and submitting comments,
see ‘‘Obtaining Information and
Submitting Comments’’ in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of
this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jenise Thompson, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301–
415–1811, email: Jenise.Thompson@
nrc.gov; and Edward O’Donnell, Office
of Nuclear Regulatory Research,
telephone: 301–415–3317, email:
Edward.ODonnell@nrc.gov. Both are
staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001.
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request
for comment.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is issuing for public
comment draft regulatory guide (DG),
DG–4028, ‘‘Volcanic Hazards
Assessment for Proposed Nuclear Power
Reactor Sites.’’ This DG proposes new
guidance for facilitating NRC staff
reviews of volcanic hazard assessments
performed by applicants to support the
siting and licensing of new nuclear
power reactors. The DG also provides
applicants with the methods and
approaches the NRC staff considers
acceptable for the assessment of
volcanic hazards in license applications.
DATES: Submit comments by May 19,
2020. Comments received after this date
will be considered if it is practical to do
so, but the NRC is able to ensure
consideration only for comments
received on or before this date.
Although a time limit is given,
comments and suggestions in
Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2020–
0076 when contacting the NRC about
the availability of information for this
action. You may obtain publiclyavailable information related to this
action by any of the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2020–0076.
• NRC’s Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. To begin the search, 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 DG–4028 is available in
ADAMS under Accession No.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00101
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
I. Obtaining Information and
Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
E:\FR\FM\20MRN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 55 (Friday, March 20, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16146-16147]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-05905]
[[Page 16146]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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; Automatic Depressurization System
(ADS) and Core Makeup Tank (CMT) Design Parameters
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Exemption and combined license amendment; issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Nos. 176 and 175 to Combined Licenses (COL), NPF-91
and NPF-92, respectively. 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, and the City of Dalton, Georgia (collectively SNC); 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.
DATES: The exemption and amendment were issued on March 11, 2020.
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 Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2008-0252. Address
questions about NRC dockets in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301-287-9127; email: [email protected]. 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 ``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 it is mentioned in this document. The request for the
amendment and exemption was designated License Amendment Request (LAR)
19-009 and submitted by letter dated September 30, 2019, and
supplemented by letter dated December 19, 2019 (ADAMS Accession Nos.
ML19273A953 and ML19353B752).
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: Alina Schiller, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-8177; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is issuing License Amendment Nos. 176 and 175 to COLs NPF-
91 and NPF-92, respectively, and is granting an exemption from Tier 1
information in the plant-specific DCD for the AP1000. The AP1000 DCD is
incorporated by reference in Appendix D, ``Design Certification Rule
for the AP1000,'' to part 52 of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR). The exemption, granted pursuant to paragraph A.4
of section VIII, ``Processes for Changes and Departures,'' of 10 CFR
part 52, Appendix D, allows the licensee to depart from the Tier 1
information. With the requested amendment, SNC sought proposed changes
to revise automatic depressurization system (ADS) and core makeup tank
(CMT) parameters. Specifically, the requested amendment required
changes to reflect revisions in the design parameters of: (a) The
maximum stroke times for the ADS Stage 1, 2, and 3 valves; (b) the
minimum effective flow areas for the ADS Stage 2 and 3 valves; and (c)
the CMT minimum volume.
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 sections 50.12, 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. ML20049A808.
Identical exemption documents (except for referenced unit numbers
and license numbers) were issued to SNC 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. ML20049A734 and ML20049A747,
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. ML20049A761 and ML20049A788,
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 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 September 30, 2019, as supplemented by letter
dated December 19, 2019, Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC)
requested from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) an
exemption to allow departures from Tier 1 information in the certified
Design Control Document (DCD) incorporated by reference in 10 CFR part
52, appendix D, ``Design Certification Rule for the AP1000 Design,'' as
part of license amendment request (LAR) 19-009, ``Automatic
Depressurization System (ADS) and Core Makeup Tank (CMT) Design
Parameters.''
For the reasons set forth in Section 3.2 of the NRC staff's Safety
Evaluation that supports this license amendment, which can be found at
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession
Number ML20049A808, the Commission finds that:
A. the exemption is authorized by law;
B. the exemption presents no undue risk to public health and
safety;
[[Page 16147]]
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, SNC is granted an exemption from the certified DCD
Tier 1 information, with corresponding changes to Appendix C of the
facility Combined License, as described in the licensee's request dated
September 30, 2019, and as supplemented by letter dated December 19,
2019. This exemption is related to, and necessary for, the granting of
License Amendment No. 176 [for Unit 3, No. 175 for Unit 4], which is
being issued concurrently with this exemption.
3. As explained in Section 5.0 of the NRC staff's Safety Evaluation
(ADAMS Accession No. ML20049A808), this exemption meets the eligibility
criteria for a 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 September 30, 2019 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML19273A953), as supplemented by letter dated December 19, 2019 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML19353B752), SNC 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
December 3, 2019 (84 FR 66234). 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 to be prepared for these
amendments.
IV. Conclusion
Using the reasons set forth in the combined safety evaluation, the
staff granted the exemptions and issued the amendments that SNC
requested on September 30, 2019. The exemptions and amendments were
issued on March 11, 2020, as part of a combined package to SNC (ADAMS
Accession No. ML20049A655).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of March 2020.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Victor E. Hall,
Chief, Vogtle Project Office, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2020-05905 Filed 3-19-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
