83 FR 838 - Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 3 and 4; Slab Thickness Changes between Column Lines I to J-1 and 2 to 4 at Elevation 153′-0″

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 5 (January 8, 2018)

Page Range		838-839
FR Document		2018-00055

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is granting an exemption to allow a departure from the Design Certification Rule for AP1000 Design Control Document (DCD). The Tier 1 information for which a plant-specific departure and exemption is being requested includes a change to the thickness of one floor in the auxiliary building located between Column Lines I to J-1 and Column Lines 2 to 4 at elevation 153'-0''. The NRC is issuing License Amendment Nos. 89 and 88 to Combined Licenses (COL), NPF-91 and NPF-92. The COLs were issued to Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., and Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, MEAG Power SPVM, LLC, MEAG Power SPVJ, LLC, MEAG Power SPVP, LLC, Authority of Georgia, and the City of Dalton, Georgia (the licensee); for construction and operation of the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant (VEGP) Units 3 and 4, located in Burke County, Georgia. The granting of the exemption allows the changes to Tier 1 information asked for in the amendment. Because the acceptability of the exemption was determined in part by the acceptability of the amendment, the exemption and amendment are being issued concurrently.

Federal Register, Volume 83 Issue 5 (Monday, January 8, 2018)

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 5 (Monday, January 8, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 838-839]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00055]



[[Page 838]]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 52-025 and 52-026; NRC-2008-0252]


Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., Vogtle Electric 
Generating Plant, Units 3 and 4; Slab Thickness Changes between Column 
Lines I to J-1 and 2 to 4 at Elevation 153'-0''

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Exemption and combined license amendment; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is granting an 
exemption to allow a departure from the Design Certification Rule for 
AP1000 Design Control Document (DCD). The Tier 1 information for which 
a plant-specific departure and exemption is being requested includes a 
change to the thickness of one floor in the auxiliary building located 
between Column Lines I to J-1 and Column Lines 2 to 4 at elevation 
153'-0''. The NRC is issuing License Amendment Nos. 89 and 88 to 
Combined Licenses (COL), NPF-91 and NPF-92. The COLs were issued to 
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., and Georgia Power Company, 
Oglethorpe Power Corporation, MEAG Power SPVM, LLC, MEAG Power SPVJ, 
LLC, MEAG Power SPVP, LLC, Authority of Georgia, and the City of 
Dalton, Georgia (the licensee); for construction and operation of the 
Vogtle Electric Generating Plant (VEGP) Units 3 and 4, located in Burke 
County, Georgia.
    The granting of the exemption allows the changes to Tier 1 
information asked for in the amendment. Because the acceptability of 
the exemption was determined in part by the acceptability of the 
amendment, the exemption and amendment are being issued concurrently.

DATES: The exemption and amendment were issued on October 6, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2008-0252 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2008-0252. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and 
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, 
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this 
document. The request for the amendment and exemption was submitted by 
letter dated August 30, 2016, as supplemented by letter dated February 
16, 2017 (ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML16243A373 and ML17051A004, 
respectively).
    NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents 
at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chandu Patel, Office of New Reactors, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; 
telephone: 301-415-3025; email: Chandu.Patel@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction

    The NRC is granting an exemption from paragraph B of section III, 
``Scope and Contents,'' of appendix D, ``Design Certification Rule for 
the AP1000,'' to part 52 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
(10 CFR), and issuing License Amendment Nos. 89 and 88 to COLs, NPF-91 
and NPF-92, to the licensee. The exemption is required by paragraph A.4 
of section VIII, ``Processes for Changes and Departures,'' appendix D, 
to 10 CFR part 52 to allow the licensee to depart from Tier 1 
information. With the requested amendment, the licensee sought proposed 
changes to the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report in the form of 
departures from the incorporated plant-specific DCD Tier 2* information 
and involves related changes to the VEGP Units 3 and 4 COL Appendix C 
(and corresponding plant-specific DCD Tier 1) information. Pursuant to 
the provisions of 10 CFR 52.63(b)(1), an exemption from elements of the 
design as certified in the 10 CFR part 52, appendix D, design 
certification rule is also requested for the plant-specific Tier 1 
departures.
    Part of the justification for granting the exemption was provided 
by the review of the amendment. Because the exemption is necessary in 
order to issue the requested license amendment, the NRC granted the 
exemption and issued the amendment concurrently, rather than in 
sequence. This included issuing a combined safety evaluation containing 
the NRC staff's review of both the exemption request and the license 
amendment. The exemption met all applicable regulatory criteria set 
forth in Sec. Sec.  50.12, 52.7, and section VIII.A.4 of appendix D to 
10 CFR part 52. The license amendment was found to be acceptable as 
well. The combined safety evaluation is available in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML17254A129.
    Identical exemption documents (except for referenced unit numbers 
and license numbers) were issued to the licensee for VEGP Units 3 and 4 
(COLs NPF-91 and NPF-92). The exemption documents for VEGP Units 3 and 
4 can be found in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML17254A131 and 
ML17254A132, respectively. The exemption is reproduced (with the 
exception of abbreviated titles and additional citations) in Section II 
of this document. The amendment documents for COLs NPF-91 and NPF-92 
are available in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML17254A127 and 
ML17254A128, respectively. A summary of the amendment documents is 
provided in Section III of this document.

II. Exemption

    Reproduced below is the exemption document issued to VEGP Units 3 
and Unit 4. It makes reference to the combined safety evaluation that 
provides the reasoning for the findings made by the NRC (and listed 
under Item 1) in order to grant the exemption:
    1. In a letter dated August 30, 2016, as supplemented by letter 
dated March 14, 2017, Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., 
(licensee) requested from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or 
Commission) an exemption to allow departures from Tier 1 information in 
the certified Design Control Document (DCD) incorporated by reference 
in 10 CFR part 52, appendix D, ``Design Certification Rule for AP1000 
Design,'' as part of license amendment request (LAR) 16-019, ``Slab 
Thickness Changes between Column Lines I to J-1 and 2 to 4 at Elevation 
153'-0''.''
    For the reasons set forth in Section 3.1 of the NRC staff's Safety 
Evaluation that supports this license amendment, which can be found at 
ADAMS Accession Number ML17254A129, the Commission finds that:

[[Page 839]]

    A. The exemption is authorized by law;
    B. the exemption presents no undue risk to public health and 
safety;
    C. the exemption is consistent with the common defense and 
security;
    D. special circumstances are present in that the application of the 
rule in this circumstance is not necessary to serve the underlying 
purpose of the rule;
    E. the special circumstances outweigh any decrease in safety that 
may result from the reduction in standardization caused by the 
exemption; and
    F. the exemption will not result in a significant decrease in the 
level of safety otherwise provided by the design.
    2. Accordingly, the licensee is granted an exemption from the 
certified DCD Tier 1 information, as described in the licensee's 
request dated August 30, 2016, as supplemented by letter dated March 
14, 2017. This exemption is related to, and necessary for, the granting 
of License Amendments No. 89 and 88, which is being issued concurrently 
with this exemption.
    3. As explained in Section 5 of the NRC staff's Safety Evaluation 
that supports this license amendment (ADAMS Accession Number 
ML17254A129), this exemption meets the eligibility criteria for 
categorical exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9). Therefore, 
pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact statement or 
environmental assessment needs to be prepared in connection with the 
issuance of the exemption.
    4. This exemption is effective as of the date of its issuance.

III. License Amendment Request

    By letter dated August 30, 2016, as supplemented by letter dated 
March 14, 2017 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML16243A373 and ML17007A159, 
respectively), the licensee requested that the NRC amend the COLs for 
VEGP, Units 3 and 4, COLs NPF-91 and NPF-92. The proposed amendment is 
described in Section I of this Federal Register notice.
    The Commission has determined for these amendments that the 
application complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic 
Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's rules 
and regulations. The Commission has made appropriate findings as 
required by the Act and the Commission's rules and regulations in 10 
CFR Chapter I, which are set forth in the license amendment.
    A notice of consideration of issuance of amendment to facility 
operating license or COL, as applicable, proposed no significant 
hazards consideration determination, and opportunity for a hearing in 
connection with these actions, was published in the Federal Register on 
March 28, 2017 (82 FR 15377). No comments were received during the 30-
day comment period.
    The Commission has determined that these amendments satisfy the 
criteria for categorical exclusion in accordance with 10 CFR 51.22. 
Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact 
statement or environmental assessment need be prepared for these 
amendments.

IV. Conclusion

    Using the reasons set forth in the combined safety evaluation, the 
staff granted the exemption and issued the amendment that the licensee 
requested on August 30, 2016, and supplemented by letter dated March 
14, 2017. The exemption and amendment were issued on October 6, 2017, 
as part of a combined package to the licensee (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML17254A125).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of January 2, 2018.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jennifer L. Dixon-Herrity,
Chief, Licensing Branch 4, Division of New Reactor Licensing, Office of 
New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2018-00055 Filed 1-5-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 5 / Monday, January 8, 2018 / Notices 839

A. The exemption is authorized by hearing in connection with these FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
law; actions, was published in the Federal David A. Trissell, General Counsel, at
B. the exemption presents no undue Register on March 28, 2017 (82 FR 202–789–6820.
risk to public health and safety; 15377). No comments were received SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
C. the exemption is consistent with during the 30-day comment period.
the common defense and security; The Commission has determined that Table of Contents
D. special circumstances are present these amendments satisfy the criteria for I. Introduction
in that the application of the rule in this categorical exclusion in accordance II. Overview of the Postal Service’s FY 2017
circumstance is not necessary to serve with 10 CFR 51.22. Therefore, pursuant ACR
the underlying purpose of the rule; to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental III. Procedural Steps
E. the special circumstances outweigh impact statement or environmental IV. Ordering Paragraphs
any decrease in safety that may result assessment need be prepared for these I. Introduction
from the reduction in standardization amendments.
caused by the exemption; and On December 29, 2017, the United
F. the exemption will not result in a IV. Conclusion States Postal Service (Postal Service)
significant decrease in the level of safety Using the reasons set forth in the filed with the Commission its Annual
otherwise provided by the design. combined safety evaluation, the staff Compliance Report (ACR) for fiscal year
2. Accordingly, the licensee is granted granted the exemption and issued the (FY) 2017, pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 3652.1
an exemption from the certified DCD amendment that the licensee requested Section 3652 requires submission of
Tier 1 information, as described in the on August 30, 2016, and supplemented data and information on the costs,
licensee’s request dated August 30, by letter dated March 14, 2017. The revenues, rates, and quality of service
2016, as supplemented by letter dated exemption and amendment were issued associated with postal products within
March 14, 2017. This exemption is on October 6, 2017, as part of a 90 days of the closing of each fiscal
related to, and necessary for, the combined package to the licensee year. In conformance with other
granting of License Amendments No. 89 (ADAMS Accession No. ML17254A125). statutory provisions and Commission
and 88, which is being issued Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day rules, the ACR includes the Postal
concurrently with this exemption. of January 2, 2018. Service’s FY 2017 Comprehensive
3. As explained in Section 5 of the Statement, its FY 2017 annual report to
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
NRC staff’s Safety Evaluation that the Secretary of the Treasury on the
supports this license amendment Jennifer L. Dixon-Herrity,
Competitive Products Fund, and certain
(ADAMS Accession Number Chief, Licensing Branch 4, Division of New
related Competitive Products Fund
ML17254A129), this exemption meets Reactor Licensing, Office of New Reactors.
material. See respectively, 39 U.S.C.
the eligibility criteria for categorical [FR Doc. 2018–00055 Filed 1–5–18; 8:45 am]
3652(g), 39 U.S.C. 2011(i), and 39 CFR
exclusion set forth in 10 CFR BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
3060.20–23. In line with past practice,
51.22(c)(9). Therefore, pursuant to 10 some of the material in the FY 2017
CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact ACR appears in non-public annexes.
statement or environmental assessment POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION The filing begins a review process that
needs to be prepared in connection with [Docket No. ACR2017; Order No. 4323] results in an Annual Compliance
the issuance of the exemption. Determination (ACD) issued by the
4. This exemption is effective as of the FY 2017 Annual Compliance Report Commission to determine whether
date of its issuance. Postal Service products offered during
AGENCY: Postal Regulatory Commission.
III. License Amendment Request FY 2017 were in compliance with
ACTION: Notice. applicable title 39 requirements.
By letter dated August 30, 2016, as
supplemented by letter dated March 14, SUMMARY: The Postal Service has filed II. Overview of the Postal Service’s FY
2017 (ADAMS Accession Nos. an Annual Compliance Report on the 2017 ACR
ML16243A373 and ML17007A159, costs, revenues, rates, and quality of
service associated with its products in Contents of the filing. The Postal
respectively), the licensee requested that Service’s FY 2017 ACR consists of a 77-
the NRC amend the COLs for VEGP, fiscal year 2017. Within 90 days, the
Commission must evaluate that page narrative; extensive additional
Units 3 and 4, COLs NPF–91 and NPF– material appended as separate folders
92. The proposed amendment is information and issue its determination
as to whether rates were in compliance, and identified in Attachment One; and
described in Section I of this Federal an application for non-public treatment
Register notice. and whether service standards in effect
were met. To assist in this, the of certain materials, along with
The Commission has determined for supporting rationale, filed as
these amendments that the application Commission seeks public comments on
the Postal Service’s Annual Compliance Attachment Two. The filing also
complies with the standards and includes the Comprehensive
requirements of the Atomic Energy Act Report.
Statement,2 Report to the Secretary of
of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the DATES: Comments are due: February 1,
Commission’s rules and regulations. 2018. Reply Comments are due: 1 United States Postal Service FY 2017 Annual

The Commission has made appropriate February 12, 2018. Compliance Report, December 29, 2017 (FY 2017
findings as required by the Act and the ADDRESSES: Submit comments ACR). Public portions of the Postal Service’s filing
electronically via the Commission’s are available on the Commission’s website at http://
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES

Commission’s rules and regulations in www.prc.gov.
10 CFR Chapter I, which are set forth in Filing Online system at http:// 2 In years prior to 2013, the Commission reviewed
the license amendment. www.prc.gov. Those who cannot submit the Postal Service’s reports prepared pursuant to 39
A notice of consideration of issuance comments electronically should contact U.S.C. 2803 and 39 U.S.C. 2804 (filed as the
of amendment to facility operating the person identified in the FOR FURTHER Comprehensive Statement by the Postal Service) in
its ACD. However, as it has for the past several
license or COL, as applicable, proposed INFORMATION CONTACT section by
years, the Commission intends to issue a separate
no significant hazards consideration telephone for advice on filing notice soliciting comments on the comprehensive
determination, and opportunity for a alternatives. Continued

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Document Created: 2018-01-06 02:31:55
Document Modified: 2018-01-06 02:31:55

Category		Regulatory Information
Collection		Federal Register
sudoc Class		AE 2.7: GS 4.107: AE 2.106:
Publisher		Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
Section		Notices
Action		Exemption and combined license amendment; issuance.
Dates		The exemption and amendment were issued on October 6, 2017.
Contact		Chandu Patel, Office of New Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3025; email: [email protected]
FR Citation		83 FR 838