[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 233 (Tuesday, December 5, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62272-62273]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-29538]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-266 and 50-301]
Wisconsin Electric Power Company; (Point Beach Nuclear Plant,
Units 1 and 2); Exemption
I
Wisconsin Electric Power Company (WEPCo, the licensee) is the
holder of Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-24 and DPR-27 which
authorize operation of the Point Beach Nuclear Plant (PBNP), Unit Nos.
1 and 2. The units are pressurized water reactors (PWR) located in
Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. The licenses provide, among other things,
that the facilities are subject to all rules, regulations, and orders
of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) now or hereafter
in effect.
II
Section 50.54(q) of 10 CFR Part 50 requires a licensee authorized
to operate a nuclear power reactor to follow and maintain in effect
Emergency Plans that meet the standards of 10 CFR 50.47(b) and the
requirements of Appendix E to 10 CFR Part 50. Section IV.F.2.b of
Appendix E requires that each licensee annually exercise its Emergency
Plan.
The NRC may grant exemptions from the requirements of the
regulations which, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, are (1) 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) present
special circumstances. Special circumstances exist when the application
of the regulation in the particular circumstances would not serve the
underlying purpose of the rule or is not necessary to achieve the
underlying purpose of the rule [10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii)]. The underlying
purpose of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E Section IV.F.2.b is to
demonstrate that the state of emergency preparedness provides
reasonable assurance that adequate protective measures can and will be
taken in the event of a radiological emergency.
III
By letters dated October 6, 1995 and November 3, 1995, the licensee
requested a one-time exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.47
and Appendix E to conduct an annual exercise of the Point Beach
Emergency Plan in 1995. The Point Beach utility-only annual emergency
exercise is currently scheduled for December 13, 1995. The licensee
requested an exemption from the annual exercise requirement for 1995
based on: (1) their continued excellent performance in the area of
emergency preparedness, (2) their conduct, earlier in the year, of a
comprehensive drill involving major elements of the emergency plan, and
(3) the potential for the 1995 exercise to have a negative impact on
dry cask fuel storage activities.
The Point Beach Nuclear Plant, in conjunction with the State of
Wisconsin, and Manitowoc and Kewaunee counties, conducted a full
participation emergency preparedness exercise on December 6, 1994.
Offsite emergency response activities were evaluated by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the onsite emergency response
activities were evaluated by the NRC. The NRC's evaluation is
documented in NRC Inspection Report Nos. 50-266/94023 and 50-301/94023,
dated December 16, 1994. The report states that no violations or
deviations were identified and overall performance during the exercise
was good. The licensee has implemented actions to correct the one
exercise weakness, concerning offsite monitoring team vehicle
readiness, identified during the December 6, 1994, exercise. The
licensee has received an ``excellent'' rating on the last two
Systematic Assessment of Licensee Performance reports in the area of
emergency preparedness (Inspection Report Nos: 266/93001; 301/93001,
dated July 16, 1993, and 266/94001; 301/94001 dated October 21, 1994).
The licensee performed an emergency drill on August 29, 1995,
involving major elements of the Point Beach Emergency Plan. All
emergency response facilities were activated for the drill and
communications were made to the State. The licensee performed a
thorough critique of the drill to identify strengths, deficiencies,
weaknesses, and areas for improvement. No deficiencies, three
weaknesses, and several areas for improvement were identified during
the drill. The licensee has a program for correcting the weaknesses and
for implementing actions to address the areas for improvement. The
licensee plans to correct weaknesses identified during the drill prior
to the 1996 full-participation exercise.
Appendix E to Part 50 requires that licensees shall enable any
State or local government located within the plume exposure pathway
emergency planning zone (EPZ) to participate in annual exercises when
requested by such State or local government. The licensee has discussed
the request for exemption from the 1995 annual emergency preparedness
exercise with the State and local governments within the EPZ. The State
and local governments within the EPZ have informed the licensee that
[[Page 62273]]
they do not regard the exemption as a missed opportunity for them to
exercise their emergency plan. The State and local governments within
the Point Beach EPZ participated in the October 11, 1995, exercise at
the nearby Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant. The licensee's next emergency
preparedness exercise is scheduled for August 1996 and will include the
participation of State and local government emergency response
organizations.
The licensee states that the 1995 exercise, as planned, is
anticipated to have a negative impact on the licensee's oversight of
the storage of spent fuel in an independent spent fuel storage
installation at the Point Beach Nuclear Plant. The licensee had hoped
to load their first dry storage container prior to mid-September.
However, due to various reasons, they are now planning to load the
first container in early December following the Point Beach Unit 2
refueling outage which is scheduled to be completed by the end of
November. The licensee states that it is prudent to load a dry storage
container as soon as possible in order to minimize the time that Point
Beach will not have the capacity for a full-core offload. In addition,
the licensee states that emergency response personnel who would be
involved in the emergency exercise will be involved in oversight of the
process for loading the storage containers.
IV.
Based upon a review of the licensee's request for an exemption for
the requirement to conduct an exercise of the Point Beach Nuclear Plant
Emergency Plan in 1995, the NRC staff finds that performance of the
1995 utility-only annual exercise is not needed to achieve the
underlying purpose of the regulation, that is, to demonstrate that the
state of emergency preparedness provides reasonable assurance that
adequate protective measures can and will be taken in the event of a
radiological emergency. The licensee has demonstrated excellent
performance in the emergency preparedness area. The integrated
emergency preparedness drill in August of 1995 provided a good test of
the emergency preparedness program. The licensee performed a thorough
critique of the drill and no deficiencies were identified during the
drill. The licensee plans to correct weaknesses which were identified
during the drill prior to the 1996 full-participation exercise.
The Commission has determined, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 50.12, that
this exemption as described in Section II above 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. Furthermore, the
Commission has determined that special circumstances as provided in 10
CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii) are present in that application of the regulation
in the particular circumstances is not necessary to achieve the
underlying purpose of the rule.
The Commission hereby grants a one-time exemption from the
requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, Section IV.F.2.b, for
annually exercising the onsite Emergency Plan at the Point Beach
Nuclear Plant in the year 1995.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that the
granting of this exemption will have no significant impact on the
quality of the human environment (60 FR 58685).
This exemption is effective upon issuance.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jack W. Roe,
Director, Division of Reactor Projects III/IV, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 95-29538 Filed 12-4-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
