[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 148 (Tuesday, August 3, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42152-42153]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-19856]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. STN 50-456 and STN 50-457]
In the Matter of Commonwealth Edison Company (Braidwood Station,
Units 1 and 2); Exemption
I
Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd, the licensee) is the holder of
Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-72 and NPF-77 for the Braidwood
Station, Units 1 and 2. The licenses provide, among other things, that
the licensee is subject to all rules, regulations, and orders of the
Commission now or hereafter in effect.
Braidwood Station consists of two pressurized water reactors
located in Will County, Illinois.
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.'' Byron, Units 1 and
2, and Braidwood, Units 1 and 2, share a common FSAR. Therefore, this
rule requires the licensee to update the same document annually or
within 6
[[Page 42153]]
months after each unit's refueling outage.
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 ``[a]pplication 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 Byron/Braidwood UFSAR no later than
24 months from the date of the previous UFSAR revision submittal. 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 ``[w]ith 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)).
As noted In the NRC staff's Safety Evaluation, the licensee's
proposed schedule for the Braidwood/Byron UFSAR updates will ensure
that the UFSAR will be maintained current for all 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 Braidwood/
Byron UFSAR annually or within 6 months of each unit's refueling
outage. The licensee will be required to submit updates to the
Braidwood/Byron UFSAR within 24 months of the previous UFSAR revision
submittal.
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 39177).
This exemption is effective upon issuance.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of July, 1999.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John A. Zwolinski,
Director, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 99-19856 Filed 8-2-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
