[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 180 (Monday, September 17, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48068-48069]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-23150]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-400]


Carolina Power & Light Company; Shearon Harris Nuclear Power 
Plant; Exemption

1.0  Background

    Carolina Power & Light Company, (CP&L, the licensee) is the holder 
of Facility Operating License No. NPF-63, which authorizes operation of 
the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant (HNP). The license provides, 
among other things, that the facility is subject to all rules, 
regulations, and orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, 
the Commission) now or hereafter in effect.
    The facility consists of one pressurized water reactor located in 
Wake and Chatham Counties, North Carolina.

2.0  Request/Action

    Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 
Sec. 55.59(a)(1) requires that each licensed operator successfully 
complete a requalification program developed by the licensee that has 
been approved by the Commission. This program is to be conducted for a 
continuous period not to exceed 24 months in duration and upon its 
conclusion must be promptly followed by a successive requalification 
program. In addition, pursuant to 10 CFR 55.59(a)(2), each licensed 
operator must also pass a comprehensive requalification written 
examination and an annual operating test.
    By letter dated January 9, 2001, as supplemented on May 7, 2001, 
the licensee requested an exemption under 10 CFR 55.11 from the 
requirements of 10 CFR 55.59(a)(1) and (a)(2). The exemption requested 
will extend the current HNP requalification program from December 31, 
2001, to March 31, 2002. The requested exemption would constitute a 
one-time extension of the requalification program duration.

3.0  Discussion

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 55.11, the Commission may, upon application by 
an interested person, or upon its own initiative, grant such exemptions 
from the requirements of the regulations in this part as it determines 
are authorized by law and will not endanger life or property and are 
otherwise in the public interest.
    The Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 55.11, 
granting an exemption to the licensee from the requirements in 10 CFR 
55.59(a)(1) and (a)(2) is authorized by law, will not endanger life or 
property, and is in the public interest. To require the licensee's 
operators and staff to support the comprehensive examination and 
operating tests schedule during the 24-month requalification cycle 
could have a detrimental effect on the public interest because it would 
remove qualified operators from extended shutdown for refueling, steam 
generator replacement, and power uprate modifications, which could 
interfere with the current HNP schedule. Further, this one-time 
exemption will provide additional operator support during plant 
shutdown conditions, which would provide a safety enhancement during 
plant shutdown operations, post-modification and maintenance testing. 
The affected licensed operators will continue to demonstrate and 
possess the required levels of knowledge, skills, and abilities needed 
to safely operate the plant throughout the transitional period via 
continuation of the current satisfactory licensed operator 
requalification program.

4.0  Conclusion

    Accordingly, the Commission hereby grants the licensee an exemption 
on a one-time only basis from the requirements of 10 CFR 55.59(a)(1) 
and (a)(2) to allow the current HNP requalification program to be 
extended beyond the 24 months, but not to exceed 27 months and to 
expire on March 31, 2002. Upon completion of the

[[Page 48069]]

examinations on March 31, 2002, the follow-on cycle will end on March 
31, 2004. Future requalification cycles will run from April 1 to March 
31.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that the 
granting of this exemption will not have a significant effect on the 
quality of the human environment (66 FR 38328).
    This exemption is effective upon issuance and expires on March 8, 
2003.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 10th day of September 2001.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Bruce A. Boger,
Director, Division of Inspection Program Management, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 01-23150 Filed 9-14-01; 8:45 am]
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