[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 234 (Wednesday, December 4, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64379-64381]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-30902]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Final Memorandum of Understanding Between the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission and the State of Louisiana
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice is to advise the public of the issuance of a Final
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) and the State of Louisiana. The MOU provides the basis
for mutually agreeable procedures whereby the State of Louisiana may
utilize the NRC Emergency Response Data System (ERDS) to receive data
during an emergency at a commercial nuclear power plant in Louisiana.
Public comments were addressed in conjunction with the MOU with the
State of Michigan published in the Federal Register Vol. 57, No. 28,
February 11, 1992.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This MOU is effective October 31, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Copies of all NRC documents are available for public
inspection and copying for a fee in the NRC Public Document Room, 2120
L Street, NW. (Lower Level), Washington, DC.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John R. Jolicoeur or Eric Weinstein,
Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Telephone (301) 415-6383
or (301) 415-7559.
This attached MOU is intended to formalize and define the manner in
which the NRC will cooperate with the State of Louisiana to provide
data related to plant conditions during emergencies at commercial
nuclear power plants in Louisiana.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of November 1996.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Edward L. Jordan,
Director, Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data.
Agreement Pertaining to the Emergency Response Data System Between the
State of Louisiana and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
I. Authority
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the State of
Louisiana enter into this Agreement under the authority of Section 274i
of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.
Louisiana recognizes the Federal Government, primarily the NRC, as
having the exclusive authority and responsibility to regulate the
radiological and national security aspects of the construction and
operation of nuclear production or utilization facilities, except for
certain authority over air emissions to states by the Clean Air Act.
II. Background
A. The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Energy
[[Page 64380]]
Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended, authorize the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) to license and regulate, among other
activities, the manufacture, construction, and operation of utilization
facilities (nuclear power plants) in order to assure common defense and
security and to protect the public health and safety. Under these
statutes, the NRC is the responsible agency regulating nuclear power
plant safety.
B. NRC believes that its mission to protect the public health and
safety can be served by a policy of cooperation with State governments
and has formally adopted a policy statement on ``Cooperation with
States at Commercial Nuclear Power Plants and Other Nuclear Production
or Utilization Facilities'' (54 FR 7530, February 22, 1989). The policy
statement provides that NRC will consider state proposals to enter into
instruments of cooperation for certain programs when these programs
have provisions to ensure close cooperation with NRC. This agreement is
intended to be consistent with, and implement, the provisions of the
NRC's policy statement.
C. NRC fulfills its statutory mandate to regulate power plant
safety by, among other things, responding to emergencies at licensee's
facilities and monitoring the status and adequacy of the licensee's
responses to emergency situations.
D. Louisiana fulfills its statutory mandate for preparedness,
response, mitigation, and recovery in the event of an accident at a
nuclear power plant through the Louisiana Revised Statutes, Subtitle II
of Title 30, Chapter 6.
III. Scope
A. This Agreement defines the way in which NRC and Louisiana will
cooperate in planning and maintaining the capability to transfer
reactor plant data via the Emergency Response Data System (ERDS) during
emergencies at nuclear power plants in the State of Louisiana.
B. It is understood by the NRC and the State of Louisiana that ERDS
data will only be transmitted by a licensee during emergencies
classified at the Alert level or above, during scheduled tests, or
during exercises when available.
C. Nothing in this Agreement is intended to restrict or expand the
statutory authority of NRC, the State of Louisiana, or to affect or
otherwise alter the terms of any agreement in effect under the
authority of Section 274b of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended;
nor is anything in this Agreement intended to restrict or expand the
authority of the State of Louisiana on matters not within the scope of
this Agreement.
D. Nothing in this Agreement confers upon the State of Louisiana
authority to (1) interpret or modify NRC regulations and NRC
requirements imposed on the licensee; (2) take enforcement actions; (3)
issue confirmatory letters; (4) amend, modify, or revoke a license
issued by NRC; or (5) direct or recommend nuclear power plant employees
to take or not to take any action. Authority for all such actions is
reserved exclusively to the NRC.
IV. NRC's General Responsibilities
Under this agreement, NRC is responsible for maintaining the ERDS.
ERDS is a system designed to receive, store, and retransmit data from
in-plant data systems at nuclear power plants during emergencies. The
NRC will provide user access to ERDS data to one user terminal for the
State of Louisiana during emergencies at nuclear power plants which
have implemented an ERDS interface and for which any portion of the
plant's 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) lies within the State of
Louisiana. The NRC agrees to provide unique software already available
to NRC (not commercially available) that was developed under NRC
contract for configuring an ERDS workstation.
V. State of Louisiana General Responsibilities
A. Louisiana (through its lead radiological agency) will, in
cooperation with the NRC, establish a capability to receive ERDS data.
To this end, Louisiana will provide the necessary computer hardware and
commercially licensed software required for ERDS data transfer to
users.
B. Louisiana agrees not to use ERDS to access data from nuclear
power plants for which a portion of the 10 mile Emergency Planning Zone
does not fall within its State boundary.
C. For the purpose of minimizing the impact on plant operators,
clarification of ERDS data will be pursued through the NRC.
VI. Implementation--Louisiana and the NRC agree to work in concert to
assure that the following communications and information exchange
protocol regarding the NRC ERDS are followed:
A. Louisiana and the NRC agree in good faith to make available to
each other information within the intent and scope of this Agreement.
B. NRC and Louisiana agree to meet, as necessary, to exchange
information on matters of common concern pertinent to this Agreement.
Unless otherwise agreed, such meetings will be held in the NRC
Operations Center. The affected utilities will be kept informed of
pertinent information covered by this Agreement.
C. To preclude the premature public release of sensitive
information, NRC and Louisiana will protect sensitive information to
the extent permitted by the Federal Freedom of Information Act, the
State of Louisiana Public Record Act (Louisiana Revised Statute 44), 10
CFR 2.790, and other applicable authority.
D. NRC will conduct periodic tests of licensee ERDS data links. A
copy of the test schedule will be provided to the Louisiana Radiation
Protection Division (State of Louisiana's lead radiological agency) by
the NRC. The Louisiana Radiation Protection Division may test its
ability to access ERDS data during these scheduled tests, or may
schedule independent tests of the State link with the NRC.
E. NRC will provide access to ERDS for emergency exercises with
reactor units capable of transmitting exercise data to ERDS. For
exercises in which the NRC is not participating, the Louisiana
Radiation Protection Division will coordinate with NRC in advance to
ensure ERDS availability. NRC reserves the right to preempt ERDS use
for any exercise in progress in the event of an actual event at any
licensed nuclear power plant.
VII. Contacts
A. The principal senior management contacts for this Agreement will
be the Director, Incident Response Division, Office for Analysis and
Evaluation of Operational Data, and the Administrator, Louisiana
Radiation Protection Division. These individuals may designate
appropriate staff representatives for the purpose of administering this
Agreement.
B. Identification of these contacts is not intended to restrict
communication between NRC and the Louisiana Radiation Division staff
members on technical and other day-to-day activities.
VIII. Resolution of Disagreements
A. If disagreements arise about matters within the scope of this
Agreement, NRC and Louisiana will work together to resolve these
differences.
B. Resolution of differences between the State and NRC staff over
issues arising out of this Agreement will be the initial responsibility
of the NRC Incident Response Division management.
C. Differences which cannot be resolved in accordance with Sections
[[Page 64381]]
VIII.A and VIII.B will be reviewed and resolved by the Director, Office
for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data.
D. The NRC's General Counsel has the final authority to provide
legal interpretation of the Commission's regulations.
IX. Effective Date
This Agreement will take effect after it has been signed by both
parties.
X. Duration
A formal review, not less than 1 year after the effective date,
will be performed by the NRC to evaluate implementation of the
Agreement and resolve any problems identified. This Agreement will be
subject to periodic reviews and may be amended or modified upon written
agreement by both parties, and may be terminated upon 30 days written
notice by either party.
XI. Separability
If any provision(s) of this Agreement, or the application of any
provision(s) to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the
remainder of this Agreement and the application of such provisions to
other persons or circumstances will not be affected.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
James M. Taylor,
Executive Director for Operations.
For the State of Louisiana.
Dated: October 31, 1996.
Gus Von Bodungen,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Air Quality and Radiation Protection,
Department of Environmental Quality.
[FR Doc. 96-30902 Filed 12-3-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M
