[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 250 (Monday, December 31, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67555-67556]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-32058]



[[Page 67555]]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-416]


Entergy Operations, Inc., (Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Station, Unit 
1); Exemption

I

    Entergy Operations, Inc. (EOI or the licensee) is the holder of 
Facility Operating License No. NPF-29, which authorizes operation of 
the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (GGNS) at power levels not to 
exceed 3833 megawatts thermal.
    The facility consists of one boiling-water reactor located at the 
licensee's site in Claiborne County, Mississippi. The license provides, 
among other things, that the licensee is subject to all rules, 
regulations, and orders of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the 
Commission) now or hereafter in effect.

II

    Section IV.F.2.b of Appendix E to Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) part 50, requires that each licensee at each site 
conduct an exercise of its onsite emergency plan every 2 years, and 
indicates the exercise may be included in the full-participation 
biennial exercise required by paragraph 2.c.
    In summary, licensees are to take actions necessary to ensure that 
adequate emergency response capabilities are maintained during the 
interval between biennial exercises by conducting drills. Appendix E, 
section IV.F.2.c. to 10 CFR part 50 requires offsite plans for each 
site to be exercised biennially with full participation by each offsite 
authority having a role under the plan. During such biennial full-
participation exercises, the NRC evaluates onsite emergency 
preparedness activities, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
evaluates offsite emergency preparedness activities. The licensee 
successfully conducted a full-participation exercise for GGNS on June 
23, 1999. By letter dated September 18, 2001, as supplemented by letter 
dated December 3, 2001, the licensee requested an exemption from 10 CFR 
part 50, Appendix E, section IV.F.2.c., regarding the conduct of a 
full-participation exercise originally scheduled for the week of 
September 17, 2001. Specifically, the licensee proposed rescheduling 
the exercise originally scheduled for the week of September 17, 2001, 
to the week of March 4, 2002. While the licensee requested an exemption 
from the requirements of 10 CFR part 50, Appendix E, section IV.F.2.c., 
to exercise their offsite emergency plan, the NRC staff has determined 
that an exemption from the requirements in 10 CFR part 50, Appendix E, 
section IV.F.2.b., to exercise their onsite emergency plan 
simultaneously with the offsite emergency plan exercise, was also 
necessary.
    The Commission, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(1), may grant 
exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 50 that are authorized 
by law, will not present an undue risk to public health and safety, and 
are consistent with the common defense and security. The Commission, 
however, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2), will not consider granting an 
exemption unless special circumstances are present. Under 10 CFR 
50.12(a)(2)(v), special circumstances are present whenever the 
exemption would provide only temporary relief from the applicable 
regulation and the licensee or applicant has made good faith efforts to 
comply with the regulation.

III

    The licensee requests a one-time change in the schedule for the 
next full-participation exercise for GGNS. Subsequent full-
participation exercises for GGNS would be scheduled at no greater than 
2-year intervals in accordance with 10 CFR part 50, Appendix E, section 
IV.F.2.c. Accordingly, the exemption would provide only temporary 
relief from that regulation, in that the licensee has committed to 
conduct the exercise during the next calendar year (2002), and has not 
requested any permanent changes in future exercise scheduling. As a 
result, subsequent to the re-scheduled full-participation exercise to 
be conducted in 2002, the licensee is expected to conduct another full-
participation exercise of onsite and offsite emergency plans in 2003.
    As indicated in the licensee's request for an exemption, as 
supplemented, the licensee had originally scheduled a full-
participation exercise for the week of September 17, 2001. As further 
set forth in the request, however, due to the national emergency of 
September 11, 2001, heightened security at GGNS resulted in increased 
monitoring of people and equipment, and additional controls on 
maintenance activities. Conducting an emergency preparedness exercise 
during that period of heightened security would have increased the 
security risk, because exercise activities may have presented an 
unwarranted distraction of nuclear security officers as well as local 
law enforcement officials. Conducting the full participation exercise 
at that time could also have created undue public alarm with the 
potential to create a public safety concern. These circumstances 
resulting in the licensee's request for exemption were beyond the 
licensee's control. Accordingly, the licensee made a good faith effort 
to comply with the schedule requirements of 10 CFR part 50, Appendix E, 
for full-participation emergency plan exercises.
    The staff examined the licensee's rationale to support the 
exemption request, and concluded that granting the exemption would meet 
the underlying purpose of 10 CFR part 50, because the exemption would 
provide only temporary relief from the applicable regulation and the 
licensee made a good faith effort to comply with the regulation. 
Furthermore, the exemption would result in benefit to the public health 
and safety. The national emergency of September 11, 2001, and the 
subsequent recovery and security responses required that licensee, 
State, and local resources, expected to be available for the previously 
scheduled biennial exercise, be applied to agency missions. Offsite 
agencies were not able to dedicate the appropriate level of resources, 
as it would have detracted from their response to the security needs at 
that time. Postponement of the exercise resulted in a benefit to public 
health and safety that compensated for any decrease in public health 
and safety that may have resulted from delaying the exercise. 
Additionally, since the June 23, 1999, full-participation exercise, the 
licensee has maintained emergency preparedness by conducting ten 
emergency preparedness drills, each requiring the full activation of 
all GGNS emergency facilities, which is a compensating measure 
contributing to justification of the exemption. The exemption only 
provides temporary relief from the applicable regulation, in that the 
licensee has committed to conduct the exercise during the next calendar 
year (2002), and has not requested any permanent changes in future 
exercise scheduling.
    Based upon consideration of the public health and safety, schedule, 
and resource issues resulting from the national emergency of September 
11, 2001, the staff concludes that the request for exemption is 
acceptable. However, in this period of continued heightened security 
concerns regarding nuclear plant vulnerability it is prudent to conduct 
the exercise as soon as practical to demonstrate and maintain 
readiness.

[[Page 67556]]

    The safety evaluation may be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at 
the NRC's Public Document Room, located at One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publically available 
records will be accessible electronically from the ADAMS Public Library 
component on the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov (the Public 
Electronic Reading Room).

IV

    Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 
50.12(a), 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. Also, special circumstances are present pursuant 
to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(v), in that the exemption would provide only 
temporary relief from the applicable regulations, and the licensee has 
made good faith efforts to comply with the regulations. Therefore, the 
Commission hereby grants EOI, specifically for GGNS, a one-time 
scheduler exemption from the requirements to conduct an exercise of its 
onsite and offsite emergency plans every 2 years with full-
participation by each offsite authority having a role under the plan as 
required by 10 CFR part 50, Appendix E, sections IV.F.2.b. and c. To 
allow flexibility, should it be necessary, the exemption is granted to 
permit conduct of the full-participation exercise before the end of the 
third quarter of 2002, with the understanding that it should be 
conducted as close as practical to the licensee's proposed date of the 
week of March 4, 2002.
    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 (66 FR 64480).
    This exemption is effective upon issuance.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of December, 2001.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Ledyard B. Marsh,
Acting Director, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 01-32058 Filed 12-28-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P