[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 14, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18450-18451]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-9291]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Public Service Electric and Gas Company; Salem Nuclear Generating
Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2; Exemption
[Docket Nos. 50-272 and 50-311]
I
Public Service Electric and Gas Company (the licensee) is the
holder of Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-70 and DPR-75 for the
Salem Nuclear Generating Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. The
license provides, among other things, that the licensee is subject to
all rules, regulations, and orders of the Commission now or hereafter
in effect.
This facility consists of two pressurized water reactors located in
Salem County, New Jersey.
II
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), section
50.71, ``Maintenance of records, making of reports,'' paragraph (e)(4)
states, in part, that ``Subsequent revisions [to the Updated Final
Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR)] must be filed annually or 6 months
after each refueling outage provided the interval between successive
updates [to the UFSAR] does not exceed 24 months.'' The two units at
the Salem plant share a common UFSAR, therefore, this rule requires the
licensee to update the same document annually or within 6 months after
each unit's refueling outage (approximately every 9 months).
III
Section 50.12(a) of 10 CFR, ``Specific exemptions,'' states that:
The Commission may, upon application by any interested person or
upon its own initiative, grant exemptions from the requirements of
the regulations of this part, which 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. (2) The Commission
will not consider granting an exemption unless special circumstances
are present.
Section 50.12(a)(2)(ii) of 10 CFR states that special circumstances
are present when ``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. * * *''
The licensee has proposed updating the unified Salem UFSAR 6 months
after each Unit 1 refueling outage, provided the interval between
successive updates does not exceed 24 months. The underlying purpose of
the rule was to relieve licensees of the burden of filing annual UFSAR
revisions while assuring that such revisions are made at least every 24
months. The Commission reduced the burden, in part, by permitting a
licensee to submit its UFSAR revisions 6 months after refueling outages
for its facility, but did not provide in the rule for multiple unit
facilities sharing a common UFSAR. Rather, the Commission stated that
``With respect to * * * multiple facilities sharing a common UFSAR,
licensees will have maximum flexibility for scheduling updates on a
case-by-case basis'' (57 FR 39355 (1992)).
The Salem units are on an 18-month fuel cycle. As noted In the NRC
Staff's Safety Evaluation, the licensee's proposed schedule for the
Salem UFSAR updates will ensure that the UFSAR will be maintained
current for both units within 24 months of the last revision. The
proposed schedule satisfies the maximum 24-month interval between UFSAR
revisions specified by 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4). The requirement to revise
the UFSAR annually or within 6 months after refueling outages for each
unit, therefore, is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of
the rule. Accordingly, the Commission has determined that special
circumstances are present as defined in 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii). The
Commission has further 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, and is otherwise in the public interest.
The Commission hereby grants the licensee an exemption from the
requirement of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4) to submit updates to the Salem UFSAR
annually or within 6 months of each unit's refueling outage. The
licensee will be required to submit updates to the Salem UFSAR within 6
months after each Salem Unit 1 refueling outage, not
[[Page 18451]]
to exceed 24 months between successive revisions.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that
granting of this exemption will have no significant effect on the
quality of the human environment (64 FR 16764).
This exemption is effective upon issuance.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of April, 1999.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 99-9291 Filed 4-13-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
