POLICY ISSUE

NOTATION VOTE

September 27, 2005 SECY-05-0172

FOR: The Commissioners

FROM: Luis A. Reyes

Executive Director for Operations

SUBJECT: DUKE POWER COMPANY’S REQUEST TO INCORPORATE THE OCONEE

EMERGENCY OPERATIONS FACILITY INTO THE EOF SHARED BY

CATAWBA AND MCGUIRE NUCLEAR STATIONS.

PURPOSE:

To obtain Commission approval of the proposal by Duke Power Company to incorporate the

existing emergency operations facility (EOF) for the Oconee Nuclear Station into the 

Catawba/McGuire EOF in Charlotte, North Carolina (hereafter referred to as the Charlotte

EOF). 

SUMMARY:

Duke Power Company has proposed to incorporate the Oconee near-site EOF into the

Charlotte EOF. The circumstances of this proposal are as follows: (1) currently, the Charlotte

EOF is used by Catawba and McGuire, (2) the licensee intends to move the Charlotte EOF

from the Power Building to an adjacent building (Duke Energy Center), and (3) the Charlotte

EOF is 120 miles from Oconee Nuclear Station.

The greater distance involved in the proposed plan should not impede the licensee’s and the

Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) ability to perform their respective functions. The

staff believes that Region II’s familiarity with the use of common EOFs, the familiarity of the

States of North and South Carolina with the Charlotte EOF, enhancements to

telecommunications, the licensee’s commitment to accommodate up to 10 members of the 

CONTACT: Kevin Williams, NSIR/DPR

 301-415-1104
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NRC site team at the former Oconee EOF if needed, and Duke Power’s emergency response

strategies adequately compensate for any impediments posed by incorporating the Oconee

EOF into the Charlotte EOF. The staff is confident that this proposal will continue to provide

reasonable assurance that adequate protective measures can and will be implemented in the

event of a radiological emergency. 

DISCUSSION:

In 1983, Duke Power made a similar proposal to incorporate the Oconee EOF into the Charlotte

EOF. The Commission, on June 12, 1984, in response to SECY 84-89/89A denied Duke

Power’s request to except the Oconee EOF from the EOF location guidance in NUREG-0696

and incorporate it into the Charlotte EOF. The basis for the denial was the licensee did not

make provisions to interface with Federal, State, and local emergency management agencies

near the site. The licensee would have been at a remote location while Federal, State, and local

officials would have been at a location near the site. In addition, on June 24, 1985, the United

States Court of Appeals upheld the Commission’s denial of the request by Duke Power to except

the Oconee EOF from the EOF location guidance. 

The staff requested additional information from the licensee to address the changes that have

taken place since the 1984 denial to support the current request to be excepted from the

NUREG-0696 guidance. In response to the request for additional information, Duke Power

provided information (ADAMS Accession No. ML040970133) that would support a new request

to except the Oconee EOF from the EOF location guidance. The licensee provided the following

factors: (1) the State of South Carolina no longer deploys its decisionmakers to a near-site

Emergency Operations Center (EOC), (2) the State of South Carolina sends an emergency

management and a department of health liaison to co-locate with the utility decisionmakers at

the Charlotte EOF, which is closer to the State EOC, (3) Duke Power Company sends liaisons to

the State and local EOCs, (4) the NRC site team co-locates with the decisionmakers at the

Charlotte EOF, and (5) Duke Power has upgraded its telecommunications capability with State

and local decisionmakers and the NRC. Circumstances underlying the staff’s denial of Duke’s

previous request to consolidate their “near-site” EOF have changed and a review of Duke’s new

request is appropriate.

Commission approval is required for an EOF to be more than 25 miles from the Technical

Support Center (the original distance of 20 miles, specified in NUREG-0696 and Supplement 1

to NUREG-0737, was changed by the Commission in its Staff Requirements Memorandum

(SRM) dated September 18, 1996, regarding SECY-96-170, dated August 5, 1996). The

distance from the Oconee Nuclear Station to the proposed Charlotte EOF is 120 miles. The

Commission has approved two previous exceptions to the guidance and one exemption from the

regulations to have a nearsite EOF based on the licensees’ ability to interface and effectively

communicate with Federal, State, and local emergency management agencies and because

adequate protective measures could and would be implemented in the event of a radiological

emergency. 

The staff has requested that licensees who want to establish a common EOF demonstrate the

ability to respond to a multi-site event. The staff observed a dual-site drill on March 23, 2005,

involving Catawba and Oconee. The staff observed the licensee’s notification process, staffing,

communication, technical support, dose assessment, protective action recommendation

process, coordination with offsite officials, and overall command and control. The licensee
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demonstrated the capability to effectively respond to a dual-site emergency event. EOF staffing

was in accordance with the licensee’s procedures. The offsite agencies received timely and

accurate information, and adequate protective measures were recommended to protect the

public health and safety. In addition, the staff observed the Joint Information Centers for

Oconee and Duke Power’s Corporate Offices. The observation team for the dual-site drill,

conducted on March 23, 2005, consisted of the staff that observed the dual-site drills for

Southern Nuclear Company and TMI, and additional Regional and Headquarters personnel.

The staff considered the following factors in conducting the evaluation of Duke Power’s proposal

to incorporate the Oconee near-site EOF with the Charlotte EOF.

Functions: 

In accordance with NUREG-0696, an EOF must have facilities for the following functions:

1. management of overall licensee response effort

2. coordination of radiological and environmental assessment

3. determination of protective actions

4. coordination of emergency response activities with Federal, State, and local agencies

The proposal meets the functional requirements for an EOF. The Charlotte EOF provides for

the continued capability to perform functions in a manner that is equivalent to the current

Oconee EOF.

Staffing and Training: Duke Power has established a Common EOF multi-site event staffing

table (see Attachment); this results in 16 additional staff members reporting to support an

emergency at an additional Duke Power site. The EOF Director has overall command and

control with an Assistant Director, Accident Assessment Manager, Radiological Assessment

Manager, Dose Assessors, and Operations Interface for each affected site. If an emergency

event occurs at more than one site, the emergency response staff will respond to the Charlotte

EOF for the respective sites. In addition, staffing of the Charlotte EOF will occur within 75

minutes of an Alert or higher emergency declaration. The licensee committed to conducting a

drill once every six years involving more than one Duke Power Company site.

For an emergency event at Oconee, the Charlotte EOF will be staffed by personnel from Duke

Energy Corporation’s General Office and Catawba/McGuire. Personnel who respond to the

Charlotte EOF will be trained on the Oconee emergency plan and their specific emergency

response organization (ERO) position. This allows the former Oconee EOF responders to be

added to the pool of available Oconee TSC responders.

Location: The licensee’s proposal results in an EOF that is 120 miles from the Oconee Nuclear

Station. Although this distance is more than 25 miles from the plant, the location of the

proposed EOF continues to provide functionality and availability characteristics for meeting the

licensee’s functions and responsibilities by performing all the functions of the current EOF. The

remote location allows the Charlotte EOF to function unaffected by any potential release of

radioactive material resulting from an emergency event at Oconee. 

It should be noted that the licensee intends to relocate the Charlotte EOF from the Power

Building to the adjacent Duke Energy Center by the end of 2005. The staff does not expect that
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this will result in any significant functional changes. The equipment in the Power Building for the

acquisition, display, and evaluation of radiological, meteorological, and plant systems data will

be relocated to the Duke Energy Center. Once moved, the equipment will be tested for

operability. The licensee anticipates that the backup power capability in the Duke Energy Center

will be an enhancement over the current Power Building. 

Size: The Power Building is approximately 6382 total square feet of which 5246 square feet is

actual work space. The Charlotte EOF staffing for an emergency event is 51 people (30

licensee employees, 9 state government, and 12 NRC). The response to a multi-site event will

add 16 additional staff members and will continue to meet the size requirements of NUREG0696, Section 4.4. The Duke Energy Building is approximately 7414 square feet.

Communications: The licensee has committed to provide the same level of communications that

exists at its current near-site EOF: commercial telephones, decision lines (to discuss protective

action recommendations), radios, a Private Branch Exchange (to bypass local telephone

switching), Duke telephone system, Selective Signals (State and county notification), fax

machines, and the Federal Telecommunications Services lines for NRC use. The licensee will

be adding two telephone extensions for the Oconee decision line, one for the EOF Director and

the other line for the South Carolina State Liaison. A control station will be added in order for the

Charlotte EOF to direct the Oconee Field Monitoring teams. 

The licensee intends to upgrade its communication system with the State and local emergency

management officials and intra-facility communication with the implementation of WEBEOC. 

WEBEOC is a web-based tool that brings real-time emergency information to the Emergency

Operations Centers. Currently, the licensee intends to use WEBEOC for transferring plant

status and for making its emergency event notification to States and local emergency

management officials. WEBEOC should be in place by the end of November 2005.

Potential Overloading of Charlotte EOF: The addition of the Oconee near-site EOF into the

Charlotte EOF increases the potential to respond to an emergency event at more than one site. 

The licensee has revised its procedures and emergency plan to reflect the capability to augment

its EOF staff for multiple emergency events at the Catawba, McGuire, and Oconee sites. The

licensee has added 16 additional personnel to respond to an emergency event at more than one

location. In the unlikely event of a multi-site accident, Duke Energy will mobilize its entire EOF

staff, using its ERO notification system and an “all call” approach, where the licensee calls the

entire ERO to respond. 

Impact on NRC’s Incident Response and NRC Resources: Region II’s incident response staff

has been participating in drills and exercises with common EOFs for more than 15 years and

has not encountered problems and does not foresee problems with the proposed incorporation

of the Oconee EOF into the Charlotte EOF. Region II currently responds to the Charlotte EOF

for any emergency event for Catawba and McGuire. The Region has demonstrated the

capability to direct the incident response staff to respond to more than one location during an

event while maintaining effective internal and external communications. If the NRC site team

determines they need to relocate from the Charlotte EOF to be near the site, the licensee has

committed to maintain the former near-site EOF in Clemson, SC, or an equivalent facility, that

will be available to accommodate the NRC. This includes furniture, commercial and federal

telephones, electricity, and heating and ventilation at the former near-site EOF. 
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Region II has experience with the following common EOFs: Tennessee Valley Authority

(Browns Ferry, Sequoyah, and Watts Bar) and Duke Power (Catawba and McGuire). In

addition, Southern Nuclear Company recently established a common EOF for Farley, Hatch, and

Vogtle. 

State and Local Agreement: The licensee included in its proposal letters of concurrence from

the State and local emergency management officials in South Carolina. During the dual-site

drill, the NRC staff interviewed Senior emergency management officials from North and 

South Carolina with respect to the incorporation of the Oconee EOF into the Charlotte EOF. The

State officials are supportive of the move and thought it would enhance the response effort. 

Duke Power currently has provisions at the Charlotte EOF to accommodate State emergency

management agencies and local representatives. The States of North and South Carolina send

representatives to the Charlotte EOF. The local emergency management agencies do not

normally send representatives to the EOF. Duke Power sends liaisons to the State and local

emergency management agencies. 

The States of North and South Carolina participated in the dual-site drill conducted by Duke

Power. The representative from South Carolina said during the critique of the dual-site drill that

operations in this manner will simplify their response effort since they will now report to one

location and the Charlotte EOF is closer to their office. Both States stated they were pleased

with the information flow and that working with the other state helped with the emergency

response effort.

JOINT INFORMATION CENTER OPERATION: The Joint Information Center (JIC) for Oconee

will remain near the site in order to address any media concerns. The State of South Carolina

sends its Public Information Team to the JIC. In addition, Duke Power activates its Corporate

JIC in response to any type of emergency situation. This Corporate JIC works with the Oconee

JIC to provide information to its customers, the public, news media, its employees, industry,

local, State, and Federal officials. This Corporate JIC responds to approximately eight events

per year.

RESOURCES:

The staffs’ effort on this activity was anticipated and budgeted. The Commission’s decision on

the staff’s recommendation does not impact resources.

CONCLUSION:

The licensee has adequately addressed the previous NRC concerns which led to the 1984

denial of the proposal to incorporate the Oconee EOF into the Charlotte EOF. The Charlotte

EOF meets the functional requirements for a near-site EOF. The Charlotte EOF would continue

to protect the public health and safety and promote the common defense and security. The

Charlotte EOF would establish one central Duke Power voice for communication and

coordination with Federal, State, and local emergency management agencies for any Duke

Power emergency event. The Charlotte EOF could provide additional capabilities in response to

a security event as the licensee can effectively mobilize and manage its resources and

communicate effectively with the site, Federal, State, and local emergency management. If

necessary, the licensee has committed to maintain the former near-site EOF in Clemson, SC, or

an equivalent facility to accommodate the NRC. In addition, maintaining the JIC near-site should
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allow the licensee to promptly address any media concerns. The licensee has also committed to

conduct a drill once every six years involving more than one Duke Power Company site.

The NRC staff has determined that emergency response, communication, and coordination is

not adversely affected by the incorporation of Oconee into the Charlotte EOF. 

Therefore, the staff concludes that the incorporation of the Oconee EOF into the Charlotte EOF

will effectively and efficiently support the Duke Power emergency response capability. This is

consistent with the defense in depth doctrine and provides reasonable assurance that protective

measures can and will be implemented in the event of a radiological emergency at the Oconee

nuclear plant. 

RECOMMENDATIONS:

The NRC staff recommends that the Commission approve the proposal to incorporate the

Oconee Nuclear Station’s EOF into the Charlotte EOF.

COORDINATION:

The Office of the General Counsel has reviewed this Commission paper and has no legal

objection to its content. The paper was coordinated with the Office of the Chief Financial Officer

for resource implications. 

/RA/

Luis A. Reyes

 Executive Director

 for Operations

Attachment: As stated 
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allow the licensee to promptly address any media concerns. The licensee has also committed to

conduct a drill once every six years involving more than one Duke Power Company site.

The NRC staff has determined that emergency response, communication, and coordination is

not adversely affected by the incorporation of Oconee into the Charlotte EOF. 

Therefore, the staff concludes that the incorporation of the Oconee EOF into the Charlotte EOF

will effectively and efficiently support the Duke Power emergency response capability. This is

consistent with the defense in depth doctrine and provides reasonable assurance that protective

measures can and will be implemented in the event of a radiological emergency at the Oconee

nuclear plant. 

RECOMMENDATIONS:

The NRC staff recommends that the Commission approve the proposal to incorporate the

Oconee Nuclear Station’s EOF into the Charlotte EOF.

COORDINATION:

The Office of the General Counsel has reviewed this Commission paper and has no legal

objection to its content. The paper was coordinated with the Office of the Chief Financial Officer

for resource implications. 

/RA/

Luis A. Reyes

 Executive Director

 for Operations

Attachment: As stated 

ADAMS Accession: ML051880303 *See previous concurrence

OFFICE EPD/NSIR Tech Editor EPD/NSIR EPD/NSIR EPD/NSIR EPD/NSIR

NAME KWilliams* PKleene* DBarss* EWeiss* NMamish* ELeeds*

DATE 7/7/2005 7/11/2005 7/19/2005 7/20/2005 7/ 28/2005 7/29/2005

OFFICE Rgn.II/DRS* PMDA* OCFO* OGC* NLO

w/comments

OD/NSIR* EDO

NAME LMiller for

BBonser via

e-mail

MCohen LBarnett for

JFunches

AFernandez MWeber for

RZimmerman

LReyes

DATE 7/8/2005 8/1/2005 8/5/2005 8/25/2005 8/30/2005 9/27/2005

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
Attachment