2464 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 7 / Tuesday, January 12, 2021 / Notices 

complying with the NRC’s regulations 

for fire protection programs for licensees 

that have certified that their plants have 

permanently ceased operations and that 

the fuel has been permanently removed 

from the reactor vessels. 

The staff does not, at this time, intend 

to impose the positions represented in 

the RG in a manner that would 

constitute backfitting or affect the issue 

finality of a part 52 of title 10 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations approval. 

If, in the future, the staff seeks to impose 

a position in the RG in a manner that 

constitutes backfitting or does not 

provide issue finality as described in the 

applicable issue finality provision, then 

the staff would need to address the 

backfit rule or the criteria for avoiding 

issue finality as described in the 

applicable issue finality provision. 

The staff does not, at this time, intend 

to impose the positions represented in 

the RG in a manner that would 

constitute forward fitting. If, in the 

future, the staff seeks to impose a 

position in the RG in a manner that 

constitutes forward fitting, then the staff 

would need to address the forward 

fitting criteria in Management Directive 

8.4, ‘‘Management of Backfitting, 

Forward Fitting, Issue Finality, and 

Information Requests’’ (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML18093B087). 

Dated: January 6, 2021. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Meraj Rahimi, 

Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic 

Issues Branch, Division of Engineering, Office 

of Nuclear Regulatory Research. 

[FR Doc. 2021–00334 Filed 1–11–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 52–025; NRC–2008–0252] 

Southern Nuclear Operating Company, 

Inc.; Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, 

Unit 3; Unit 3 Auxiliary Building Wall 11 

Seismic Gap Requirements 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Exemption and combined 

license amendment; issuance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is granting an 

exemption to allow a departure from the 

certification information in Tier 1 of the 

plant-specific design control document 

(DCD) and is issuing License 

Amendment No. 182 to Combined 

License (COL) NPF–91. The COL is for 

construction and operation of the Vogtle 

Electric Generating Plant (VEGP) Unit 3, 

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 August 4, 2020. 

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 

https://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2008–0252. Address 

questions about Docket IDs in 

Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges; 

telephone: 301–287–9127; email: 

Jennifer.Borges@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 

https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ 

adams.html. To begin the search, 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 

designated License Amendment Request 

(LAR) 20–001 and submitted by letter 

dated February 7, 2020, (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML20038A939). 

• Attention: The PDR, where you may 

examine and order copies of public 

documents is currently closed. You may 

submit your request to the PDR via 

email at pdr.resource@nrc.gov or call 1– 

800–397–4209 or 301–415–4737, 

between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Cayetano Santos, Office of Nuclear 

Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, Washington, 

DC 20555–0001; telephone: 301–415– 

7270; email: Cayetano.Santos@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

The NRC is issuing License 

Amendment No. 182 to COL NPF–91 

and is granting an exemption from Tier 

1 information in the plant-specific DCD 

for VEGP Unit 3. The generic AP1000 

DCD is incorporated by reference in 

appendix D, ‘‘Design Certification Rule 

for the AP1000,’’ to part 52 of title 10 

of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 

CFR). The exemption, granted pursuant 

to paragraph A.4 of section VIII, 

‘‘Processes for Changes and 

Departures,’’ of 10 CFR part 52, 

appendix D, allows the licensee to 

depart from the Tier 1 information. With 

the requested amendment, SNC sought 

proposed changes to the north-south 

minimum seismic gap requirements 

above grade between the nuclear island 

and the annex building west of Column 

Line I from elevation 141 feet through 

154 feet to accommodate as-built 

localized nonconformances. 

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 and license amendment 

requests. The exemption met all 

applicable regulatory criteria set forth in 

§§ 50.12, 52.7, and 52.63, and in 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. ML20132A078. 

The exemption document for VEGP 

Unit 3 can be found in ADAMS under 

Accession No. ML20132A077. The 

exemption is reproduced (with the 

exception of abbreviated titles and 

additional citations) in Section II of this 

document. The amendment documents 

for COL NPF–91 are available in 

ADAMS under Accession No. 

ML20132A052. A summary of the 

amendment documents is provided in 

Section III of this document. 

II. Exemption 

Reproduced in this notice is the 

exemption document issued to VEGP 

Unit 3. 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 February 7, 2020, 

Southern Nuclear Operating Company 

requested from the Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission an exemption to allow 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 7 / Tuesday, January 12, 2021 / Notices 2465 

departures from Tier 1 information in 

the certified DCD incorporated by 

reference in 10 CFR part 52, appendix 

D, ‘‘Design Certification Rule for the 

AP1000 Design,’’ as part of license 

amendment request (LAR) 20–001, 

‘‘Unit 3 Auxiliary Building Wall 

Seismic Gap Requirements.’’ 

For the reasons set forth in Section 3.2 

of the NRC staff’s Safety Evaluation, the 

Commission finds that: 

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, SNC is granted an 

exemption from the certified DCD Tier 

1 information, with corresponding 

changes to Appendix C of the facility 

Combined License, as described in the 

licensee’s request dated February 7, 

2020. This exemption is related to, and 

necessary for, the granting of License 

Amendment No. 182, which is being 

issued concurrently with this 

exemption. 

3. As explained in Section 6.0 of the 

NRC staff’s Safety Evaluation, 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 February 7, 2020, SNC 

requested that the NRC amend COL 

NPF–91 for VEGP Unit 3. The proposed 

amendment is described in Section I of 

this Federal Register notice. 

The Commission has determined for 

this amendment 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 the findings 

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 the COL, proposed no 

significant hazards consideration 

determination, and opportunity for a 

hearing in connection with this action, 

was published in the Federal Register 

on March 10, 2020 (85 FR 13944). No 

comments were received during the 30- 

day comment period. 

The Commission has determined that 

this amendment satisfies 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 this 

amendment. 

IV. Final No Significant Hazards 

Consideration Determination 

A request for hearing was filed on 

May 11, 2020, by the Blue Ridge 

Environmental Defense League and its 

chapter, Concerned Citizens of Shell 

Bluff (collectively ‘‘BREDL’’) (ADAMS 

Package Accession No. ML20132D299). 

Under its regulations, the Commission 

may issue and make an amendment 

immediately effective, notwithstanding 

the pendency before it of a request for 

a hearing from any person, in advance 

of the holding and completion of any 

required hearing, where it has made a 

final determination that no significant 

hazards consideration is involved. 

While the hearing request was pending 

before an Atomic Safety and Licensing 

Board (ASLB), the NRC staff issued the 

amendment on August 4, 2020, after 

making a final determination that no 

significant hazards consideration was 

involved, as discussed in Section 4.0 of 

the combined safety evaluation. 

Subsequently, the ASLB denied 

BREDL’s request for hearing and 

terminated the proceeding in its order 

LBP–20–08, dated August 10, 2020 

(ADAMS Accession No. ML20223A385). 

On September 4, 2020, BREDL appealed 

the ASLB decision (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML20248J166). On December 22, 

2020, the Commission affirmed the 

ASLB’s decision (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML20357A101). 

V. Conclusion 

For the reasons set forth in the 

combined safety evaluation, the staff 

granted the exemption and issued the 

amendment that SNC requested on 

February 7, 2020. The exemption and 

amendment were issued on August 4, 

2020, as part of a combined package to 

SNC (ADAMS Package Accession No. 

ML20132A032). 

Dated: January 7, 2021. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Omar R. Lopez-Santiago, 

Chief, Vogtle Project Office, Office of Nuclear 

Reactor Regulation. 

[FR Doc. 2021–00410 Filed 1–11–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[NRC–2020–0221] 

Information Collection: NRC Form 483, 

‘‘Registration Certificate—In Vitro 

Testing with Byproduct Material Under 

General License’’ 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of submission to the 

Office of Management and Budget; 

request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) has recently 

submitted a request for renewal of an 

existing collection of information to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for review. The information 

collection is entitled, NRC Form 483, 

‘‘Registration Certificate—In Vitro 

Testing with Byproduct Material Under 

General License.’’ 

DATES: Submit comments by February 

11, 2021. Comments received after this 

date will be considered if it is practical 

to do so, but the Commission is able to 

ensure consideration only for comments 

received on or before this date. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to https://www.reginfo.gov/ 

public/do/PRAMain. Find this 

particular information collection by 

selecting ‘‘Currently under Review— 

Open for Public Comments’’ or by using 

the search function. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David Cullison, NRC Clearance Officer, 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone: 

301–415–2084; email: 

Infocollects.Resource@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and 

Submitting Comments 

A. Obtaining Information 

Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2020– 

0221 when contacting the NRC about 

the availability of information for this 

action. You may obtain publicly 

available information related to this 

action by any of the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and search 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES