Arizona Public Service Company; Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1, 2, and 3, 18400-18402 [2022-06619]
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 61 / Wednesday, March 30, 2022 / Notices
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Dated: March 25, 2022.
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Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2022–06725 Filed 3–29–22; 8:45 am]
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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Advisory Committee for
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Jkt 256001
BILLING CODE 7555–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. STN 50–528, STN 50–529, and
STN 50–530; NRC–2022–0058]
Arizona Public Service Company; Palo
Verde Nuclear Generating Station,
Units 1, 2, and 3
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is issuing an
exemption in response to a January 14,
2022, request from Arizona Public
Service Company (the licensee), as
supplemented by letter dated February
22, 2022. The licensee requested an
exemption from NRC regulations to
remove the diverse auxiliary feedwater
actuation system using the risk-
SUMMARY:
BILLING CODE 7555–01–P
17:14 Mar 29, 2022
[FR Doc. 2022–06641 Filed 3–29–22; 8:45 am]
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Exemption; issuance.
[FR Doc. 2022–06822 Filed 3–28–22; 4:15 pm]
VerDate Sep<11>2014
Dated: March 24, 2022.
Crystal Robinson,
Committee Management Officer.
AGENCY:
Chris Blair,
Executive Assistant to the National Science
Board Office.
In accordance with the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–
463, as amended), the National Science
Foundation (NSF) announces the
following meeting:
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Committee for Cyberinfrastructure
(25150).
Date and Time: April 28, 2022; 10
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informed process for evaluations for
Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station,
Units 1, 2, and 3.
The exemption was issued on
March 23, 2022.
DATES:
Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2022–0058 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:
ADDRESSES:
• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2022–0058. Address
questions about Docket IDs in
Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301–415–0624; email:
Stacy.Schumann@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
‘‘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 request for
the exemption was submitted by letter
dated January 14, 2022, as
supplemented by letter dated February
22, 2022, and are available in ADAMS
under Accession Nos. ML22014A415
and ML22053A212, respectively.
• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and
purchase copies of public documents,
by appointment, at the NRC’s PDR,
Room P1 B35, One White Flint North,
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland 20852. To make an
appointment to visit the PDR, please
send an email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov
or call 1–800–397–4209 or 301–415–
4737, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
(ET), Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
Siva
P. Lingam, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001; telephone: 301–415–1564, email:
Siva.Lingam@nrc.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
the exemption is attached.
Dated: March 24, 2022.
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The text of
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 61 / Wednesday, March 30, 2022 / Notices
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Siva P. Lingam,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch IV,
Division of Operating Reactor Licensing,
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
Attachment: Exemption
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
Docket Nos. STN 50–528, STN 50–529,
and STN 50–530
Arizona Public Service Company, Palo
Verde Nuclear Generating Station,
Units 1, 2, and 3 Exemption
I. Background
Arizona Public Service Company
(APS, the licensee) is the holder of
Renewed Facility Operating License
Nos. NPF–41, NPF–51, and NPF–74,
which authorize operation of Palo Verde
Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1, 2,
and 3 (Palo Verde), respectively. 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)
now or hereafter in effect. The facility
consists of pressurized-water reactors
(PWRs) located in Maricopa County,
Arizona.
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II. Request/Action
By application dated January 14,
2022, as supplemented by letter dated
February 22, 2022 (Agencywide
Documents Access and Management
System (ADAMS) Accession Nos.
ML22014A415 and ML22053A212,
respectively), APS, pursuant to Title 10
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10
CFR) Section 50.12, ‘‘Specific
exemptions,’’ requested an exemption
from certain requirements of 10 CFR
50.62, ‘‘Requirements for reduction of
risk from anticipated transients without
scram (ATWS) events for light-watercooled nuclear power plants,’’ for Palo
Verde. Specifically, the proposed
exemption request would permit Palo
Verde Units 1, 2, and 3 to eliminate the
specific requirement of 10 CFR
50.62(c)(1) to provide equipment that is
diverse from the reactor trip system to
automatically initiate the auxiliary (or
emergency) feedwater system under
conditions indicative of an ATWS. The
Palo Verde diverse auxiliary feedwater
actuation system (DAFAS) fulfills this
requirement in 10 CFR 50.62(c)(1), and
APS has requested approval to allow
elimination of DAFAS from the current
licensing basis for Units 1, 2, and 3
consistent with the proposed
exemption. Palo Verde will continue to
comply with the additional requirement
in 10 CFR 50.62(c)(1) to provide a
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17:14 Mar 29, 2022
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diverse turbine trip under ATWS
conditions.
III. Discussion
The regulation in 10 CFR 50.62(c)(1)
states:
Each pressurized water reactor must have
equipment from sensor output to final
actuation device, that is diverse from the
reactor trip system, to automatically initiate
the auxiliary (or emergency) feedwater
system and initiate a turbine trip under
conditions indicative of an ATWS. This
equipment must be designed to perform its
function in a reliable manner and be
independent (from sensor output to the final
actuation device) from the existing reactor
trip system.
The regulation in 10 CFR 50.62(c)(1)
specifically includes the requirement to
provide equipment that is diverse from
the reactor trip system to automatically
initiate the auxiliary (or emergency)
feedwater system under the conditions
of an ATWS. The Palo Verde DAFAS
fulfills this requirement. Therefore, the
proposed removal of the DAFAS from
the Palo Verde licensing basis requires
an exemption from this section of the
regulations.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the NRC
may, upon application by any interested
person or upon its own initiative, grant
exemptions from requirements of 10
CFR part 50 when: (1) The exemptions
are authorized by law, will not present
an undue risk to the public health and
safety, and are consistent with the
common defense and security, and (2)
special circumstances, as defined in 10
CFR 50.12(a)(2), are present. The
licensee’s submittal identifies in
particular that the special circumstance
associated with this exemption request
is that continuing to maintain the
DAFAS in the licensing basis for Palo
Verde Units 1, 2, and 3 represents an
undue hardship in accordance with 10
CFR 50.12(a)(2)(iii) due to DAFAS’
obsolescence.
A. The Exemption Is Authorized by Law
The NRC has the authority under 10
CFR 50.12 to grant exemptions from the
requirements of 10 CFR part 50 upon
demonstration of proper justification.
The licensee has requested a partial
exemption to the requirement in 10 CFR
50.62(c)(1) to provide equipment to
automatically initiate the auxiliary (or
emergency) feedwater system under
ATWS conditions that is diverse from
the reactor trip system. The licensee
will continue to meet all other
requirements in 10 CFR 50.62(c)(1). As
discussed below, the NRC staff
determined that special circumstances
exist, which support granting the
proposed exemption. Furthermore,
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18401
granting the exemption would not result
in a violation of the Atomic Energy Act
of 1954, as amended, or the NRC’s
regulations. Therefore, the exemption is
authorized by law.
B. The Exemption Presents No Undue
Risk to Public Health and Safety
The NRC staff has concluded in the
safety evaluation associated with this
exemption under ADAMS Accession
No. ML22054A005 (Enclosure 2) that
the exemption represents low risk, is of
minimal safety impact, and that
adequate defense-in-depth and safety
margins are preserved. DAFAS is not
credited in the Palo Verde UFSAR
Chapters 6 and 15 accident analyses for
actuating AFS to remove residual heat.
AFAS is the credited means for
initiating AFS in the UFSAR analyses as
well as in the Palo Verde PRA model
and will be unaffected by the proposed
removal of DAFAS. In addition, the
NRC staff has concluded that it is
acceptable for the licensee to credit
existing operator manual actions within
the emergency operating procedures to
initiate AFS under ATWS conditions as
defense-in-depth in support of the
requested exemption. Thus, granting
this exemption request will not pose
undue risk to public health and safety.
C. The Exemption Is Consistent With the
Common Defense and Security
The proposed exemption will allow
the removal of DAFAS from the
licensing basis for Palo Verde Units 1,
2, and 3 as a diverse automatic actuation
of AFS under ATWS conditions
satisfying partial requirements of 10
CFR 50.62(c)(1). The NRC staff has
reviewed the exemption request in the
SE associated with this exemption. The
NRC concluded in the associated SE
that the licensee’s submittal
demonstrates that the reactor protection
system, the engineered safety features
actuation system (ESFAS) and AFAS,
and the supplemental protection system
(SPS) are designed and maintained with
high reliability to preclude ATWS
conditions and are monitored under 10
CFR 50.65, ‘‘Requirements for
monitoring the effectiveness of
maintenance at nuclear power plants.’’
The NRC staff also concluded that
adequate defense-in-depth and safety
margins will be preserved with the
removal of DAFAS from the licensing
basis for Palo Verde Units 1, 2, and 3.
The licensee will continue to meet all
other requirements in 10 CFR
50.62(c)(1). Further, the exemption does
not involve security requirements and
does not create a security risk.
Therefore, the exemption is consistent
with the common defense and security.
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 61 / Wednesday, March 30, 2022 / Notices
D. Special Circumstances
The licensee has asserted that
continuing to maintain DAFAS in the
plant licensing basis represents an
undue hardship in accordance with 10
CFR 50.12(a)(2)(iii) due to its
obsolescence. DAFAS is no longer
supported by the vendor and spare parts
are not readily available for the system.
Significant engineering resources are
required to reverse-engineer parts and
frequent fiber optic communications
problems often affect DAFAS system
reliability. DAFAS operates on a
vendor-supplied proprietary platform
that is unique to Palo Verde. The vendor
is no longer in business and Palo Verde
can no longer obtain the Modicon
programmable logic controllers,
displays and associated equipment to
maintain DAFAS. Since these
replacement parts can no longer be
obtained through generally available
sources, the licensee has established
that maintaining or replacing DAFAS in
the given circumstances is a hardship.
Furthermore, the Statement of
Considerations associated with 10 CFR
50.62(c)(1) (49 FR 26038, dated June 26,
1984) state that the installation of
diverse equipment to trip the turbine
and initiate auxiliary feedwater have
only a marginally favorable value/
impact for Combustion Engineering
plants such as Palo Verde. The NRC
staff has concluded that the licensee has
demonstrated that removal of DAFAS
from the Palo Verde licensing basis
represents low risk and only a minimal
safety impact. Therefore, the
maintaining or replacing of DAFAS in
the given circumstances is an undue
hardship on the licensee. For these
reasons, granting an exemption to allow
removal of DAFAS from the Palo Verde
licensing basis supports the claimed
special circumstance of undue hardship.
E. Supplemental Information
For more technical details, refer to the
SE associated with this exemption
under ADAMS Accession No.
ML22054A005 (Enclosure 2).
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F. Environmental Considerations
The NRC staff determined in the
associated SE that the exemption
discussed herein meets the eligibility
criteria for the categorical exclusion set
forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9) because the
granting of this exemption involves: (i)
No significant hazards consideration,
(ii) no significant change in the types or
a significant increase in the amounts of
any effluents that may be released
offsite, and (iii) no significant increase
in individual or cumulative
occupational radiation exposure.
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17:14 Mar 29, 2022
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Therefore, in accordance with 10 CFR
51.22(b), no environmental impact
statement or environmental assessment
need be prepared in connection with the
NRC’s consideration of this exemption
request.
IV. Conclusions
Accordingly, the Commission has
determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
50.12, 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 APS an
exemption from the specific
requirement of 10 CFR 50.62(c)(1) to
provide equipment that is diverse from
the reactor trip system to automatically
initiate the auxiliary (or emergency)
feedwater system under conditions
indicative of an ATWS. As stated above,
APS will continue to meet all other
requirements of 10 CFR 50.62(c)(1) at
Palo Verde Units 1, 2, and 3.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day
of March 2022.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
/RA/
Gregory F. Suber,
Deputy Director, Division of Operating
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2022–06619 Filed 3–29–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY
CORPORATION
Proposed Submission of Information
Collection for OMB Review; Comment
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Copies of the collection of
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 61 (Wednesday, March 30, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18400-18402]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-06619]
=======================================================================
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. STN 50-528, STN 50-529, and STN 50-530; NRC-2022-0058]
Arizona Public Service Company; Palo Verde Nuclear Generating
Station, Units 1, 2, and 3
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Exemption; issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an
exemption in response to a January 14, 2022, request from Arizona
Public Service Company (the licensee), as supplemented by letter dated
February 22, 2022. The licensee requested an exemption from NRC
regulations to remove the diverse auxiliary feedwater actuation system
using the risk-informed process for evaluations for Palo Verde Nuclear
Generating Station, Units 1, 2, and 3.
DATES: The exemption was issued on March 23, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0058 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-2022-0058. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301-415-0624; 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 request for the exemption was
submitted by letter dated January 14, 2022, as supplemented by letter
dated February 22, 2022, and are available in ADAMS under Accession
Nos. ML22014A415 and ML22053A212, respectively.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between
8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (ET), Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Siva P. Lingam, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-1564, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the exemption is attached.
Dated: March 24, 2022.
[[Page 18401]]
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Siva P. Lingam,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch IV, Division of Operating
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
Attachment: Exemption
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Docket Nos. STN 50-528, STN 50-529, and STN 50-530
Arizona Public Service Company, Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station,
Units 1, 2, and 3 Exemption
I. Background
Arizona Public Service Company (APS, the licensee) is the holder of
Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-41, NPF-51, and NPF-74,
which authorize operation of Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station,
Units 1, 2, and 3 (Palo Verde), respectively. 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)
now or hereafter in effect. The facility consists of pressurized-water
reactors (PWRs) located in Maricopa County, Arizona.
II. Request/Action
By application dated January 14, 2022, as supplemented by letter
dated February 22, 2022 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management
System (ADAMS) Accession Nos. ML22014A415 and ML22053A212,
respectively), APS, pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR) Section 50.12, ``Specific exemptions,'' requested
an exemption from certain requirements of 10 CFR 50.62, ``Requirements
for reduction of risk from anticipated transients without scram (ATWS)
events for light-water-cooled nuclear power plants,'' for Palo Verde.
Specifically, the proposed exemption request would permit Palo Verde
Units 1, 2, and 3 to eliminate the specific requirement of 10 CFR
50.62(c)(1) to provide equipment that is diverse from the reactor trip
system to automatically initiate the auxiliary (or emergency) feedwater
system under conditions indicative of an ATWS. The Palo Verde diverse
auxiliary feedwater actuation system (DAFAS) fulfills this requirement
in 10 CFR 50.62(c)(1), and APS has requested approval to allow
elimination of DAFAS from the current licensing basis for Units 1, 2,
and 3 consistent with the proposed exemption. Palo Verde will continue
to comply with the additional requirement in 10 CFR 50.62(c)(1) to
provide a diverse turbine trip under ATWS conditions.
III. Discussion
The regulation in 10 CFR 50.62(c)(1) states:
Each pressurized water reactor must have equipment from sensor
output to final actuation device, that is diverse from the reactor
trip system, to automatically initiate the auxiliary (or emergency)
feedwater system and initiate a turbine trip under conditions
indicative of an ATWS. This equipment must be designed to perform
its function in a reliable manner and be independent (from sensor
output to the final actuation device) from the existing reactor trip
system.
The regulation in 10 CFR 50.62(c)(1) specifically includes the
requirement to provide equipment that is diverse from the reactor trip
system to automatically initiate the auxiliary (or emergency) feedwater
system under the conditions of an ATWS. The Palo Verde DAFAS fulfills
this requirement. Therefore, the proposed removal of the DAFAS from the
Palo Verde licensing basis requires an exemption from this section of
the regulations.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the NRC may, upon application by any
interested person or upon its own initiative, grant exemptions from
requirements of 10 CFR part 50 when: (1) The exemptions are authorized
by law, will not present an undue risk to the public health and safety,
and are consistent with the common defense and security, and (2)
special circumstances, as defined in 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2), are present.
The licensee's submittal identifies in particular that the special
circumstance associated with this exemption request is that continuing
to maintain the DAFAS in the licensing basis for Palo Verde Units 1, 2,
and 3 represents an undue hardship in accordance with 10 CFR
50.12(a)(2)(iii) due to DAFAS' obsolescence.
A. The Exemption Is Authorized by Law
The NRC has the authority under 10 CFR 50.12 to grant exemptions
from the requirements of 10 CFR part 50 upon demonstration of proper
justification. The licensee has requested a partial exemption to the
requirement in 10 CFR 50.62(c)(1) to provide equipment to automatically
initiate the auxiliary (or emergency) feedwater system under ATWS
conditions that is diverse from the reactor trip system. The licensee
will continue to meet all other requirements in 10 CFR 50.62(c)(1). As
discussed below, the NRC staff determined that special circumstances
exist, which support granting the proposed exemption. Furthermore,
granting the exemption would not result in a violation of the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or the NRC's regulations. Therefore,
the exemption is authorized by law.
B. The Exemption Presents No Undue Risk to Public Health and Safety
The NRC staff has concluded in the safety evaluation associated
with this exemption under ADAMS Accession No. ML22054A005 (Enclosure 2)
that the exemption represents low risk, is of minimal safety impact,
and that adequate defense-in-depth and safety margins are preserved.
DAFAS is not credited in the Palo Verde UFSAR Chapters 6 and 15
accident analyses for actuating AFS to remove residual heat. AFAS is
the credited means for initiating AFS in the UFSAR analyses as well as
in the Palo Verde PRA model and will be unaffected by the proposed
removal of DAFAS. In addition, the NRC staff has concluded that it is
acceptable for the licensee to credit existing operator manual actions
within the emergency operating procedures to initiate AFS under ATWS
conditions as defense-in-depth in support of the requested exemption.
Thus, granting this exemption request will not pose undue risk to
public health and safety.
C. The Exemption Is Consistent With the Common Defense and Security
The proposed exemption will allow the removal of DAFAS from the
licensing basis for Palo Verde Units 1, 2, and 3 as a diverse automatic
actuation of AFS under ATWS conditions satisfying partial requirements
of 10 CFR 50.62(c)(1). The NRC staff has reviewed the exemption request
in the SE associated with this exemption. The NRC concluded in the
associated SE that the licensee's submittal demonstrates that the
reactor protection system, the engineered safety features actuation
system (ESFAS) and AFAS, and the supplemental protection system (SPS)
are designed and maintained with high reliability to preclude ATWS
conditions and are monitored under 10 CFR 50.65, ``Requirements for
monitoring the effectiveness of maintenance at nuclear power plants.''
The NRC staff also concluded that adequate defense-in-depth and safety
margins will be preserved with the removal of DAFAS from the licensing
basis for Palo Verde Units 1, 2, and 3. The licensee will continue to
meet all other requirements in 10 CFR 50.62(c)(1). Further, the
exemption does not involve security requirements and does not create a
security risk. Therefore, the exemption is consistent with the common
defense and security.
[[Page 18402]]
D. Special Circumstances
The licensee has asserted that continuing to maintain DAFAS in the
plant licensing basis represents an undue hardship in accordance with
10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(iii) due to its obsolescence. DAFAS is no longer
supported by the vendor and spare parts are not readily available for
the system. Significant engineering resources are required to reverse-
engineer parts and frequent fiber optic communications problems often
affect DAFAS system reliability. DAFAS operates on a vendor-supplied
proprietary platform that is unique to Palo Verde. The vendor is no
longer in business and Palo Verde can no longer obtain the Modicon
programmable logic controllers, displays and associated equipment to
maintain DAFAS. Since these replacement parts can no longer be obtained
through generally available sources, the licensee has established that
maintaining or replacing DAFAS in the given circumstances is a
hardship. Furthermore, the Statement of Considerations associated with
10 CFR 50.62(c)(1) (49 FR 26038, dated June 26, 1984) state that the
installation of diverse equipment to trip the turbine and initiate
auxiliary feedwater have only a marginally favorable value/impact for
Combustion Engineering plants such as Palo Verde. The NRC staff has
concluded that the licensee has demonstrated that removal of DAFAS from
the Palo Verde licensing basis represents low risk and only a minimal
safety impact. Therefore, the maintaining or replacing of DAFAS in the
given circumstances is an undue hardship on the licensee. For these
reasons, granting an exemption to allow removal of DAFAS from the Palo
Verde licensing basis supports the claimed special circumstance of
undue hardship.
E. Supplemental Information
For more technical details, refer to the SE associated with this
exemption under ADAMS Accession No. ML22054A005 (Enclosure 2).
F. Environmental Considerations
The NRC staff determined in the associated SE that the exemption
discussed herein meets the eligibility criteria for the categorical
exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9) because the granting of this
exemption involves: (i) No significant hazards consideration, (ii) no
significant change in the types or a significant increase in the
amounts of any effluents that may be released offsite, and (iii) no
significant increase in individual or cumulative occupational radiation
exposure. Therefore, in accordance with 10 CFR 51.22(b), no
environmental impact statement or environmental assessment need be
prepared in connection with the NRC's consideration of this exemption
request.
IV. Conclusions
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
50.12, 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 APS an exemption from the
specific requirement of 10 CFR 50.62(c)(1) to provide equipment that is
diverse from the reactor trip system to automatically initiate the
auxiliary (or emergency) feedwater system under conditions indicative
of an ATWS. As stated above, APS will continue to meet all other
requirements of 10 CFR 50.62(c)(1) at Palo Verde Units 1, 2, and 3.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day of March 2022.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
/RA/
Gregory F. Suber,
Deputy Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2022-06619 Filed 3-29-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
