9956 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 42 / Thursday, March 4, 2010 / Notices 

of the proposed action (i.e., the ‘‘noaction’’ alternative). Denial of the 

exemption request would result in no 

change in current environmental 

impacts. If the proposed action was 

denied, the licensee would have to 

comply with the March 31, 2010, 

implementation deadline. The 

environmental impacts of the proposed 

exemption and the ‘‘no-action’’ 

alternative are similar. 

Alternative Use of Resources 

The action does not involve the use of 

any different resources than those 

considered in the Final Environmental 

Statement for GGNS dated September 

1981. 

Agencies and Persons Consulted 

In accordance with its stated policy, 

on January 19, 2010, the NRC staff 

consulted with the Mississippi State 

official, Mr. B. Smith of the Division of 

Radiological Health, regarding the 

environmental impact of the proposed 

action. The State official had no 

comments. 

Finding of No Significant Impact 

On the basis of the environmental 

assessment, the NRC concludes that the 

proposed action will not have a 

significant effect on the quality of the 

human environment. Accordingly, the 

NRC has determined not to prepare an 

environmental impact statement for the 

proposed action. 

For further details with respect to the 

proposed action, see the licensee’s letter 

dated January 14, 2010, as 

supplemented by letters dated January 

18 and February 4, 2010. Portions of the 

January 14 and February 4, 2010, 

documents contain security-related 

information and, accordingly, are not 

available to the public. A redacted 

version of the licensee’s January 14, 

2010, exemption request is provided in 

the licensee’s letter dated January 18, 

2010. Other parts of the document may 

be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at 

the NRC’s Public Document Room 

(PDR), located at One White Flint North, 

Public File Area O–1F21, 11555 

Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, 

Maryland 20852. Publicly available 

records will be accessible electronically 

from the Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading 

Room on the Internet at the NRC Web 

site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ 

adams.html. Persons who do not have 

access to ADAMS or who encounter 

problems in accessing the documents 

located in ADAMS should contact the 

NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone 

at 1–800–397–4209 or 301–415–4737, or 

send an e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day 

of February 2010. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Balwant K. Singal, 

Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing 

Branch IV, Division of Operating Reactor 

Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4524 Filed 3–3–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. 50–272, 50–311 and 50–354; 

NRC–2010–0043] 

PSEG Nuclear LLC, Hope Creek 

Generating Station and Salem Nuclear 

Generating Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2; 

Exemption 

1.0 Background 

PSEG Nuclear LLC (PSEG or the 

licensee) is the holder of Facility 

Operating License Nos. DPR–70, 

DPR–75, and NPF–57, which authorize 

operation of the Salem Nuclear 

Generating Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2 

(Salem), and Hope Creek Generating 

Station (HCGS). The licenses provide, 

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 facilities consist of two 

pressurized-water reactors, Salem Unit 

Nos. 1 and 2, and a boiling-water 

reactor, HCGS, located in Salem County, 

New Jersey. 

2.0 Request/Action 

Title 10 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (10 CFR) part 73, ‘‘Physical 

protection of plants and materials,’’ 

section 73.55, ‘‘Requirements for 

physical protection of licensed activities 

in nuclear power reactors against 

radiological sabotage,’’ published as part 

of a final rule in the Federal Register on 

March 27, 2009 (74 FR 13926), requires 

licensees to protect, with high 

assurance, against radiological sabotage 

by designing and implementing 

comprehensive site security programs. 

The final rule became effective on May 

26, 2009, and compliance with the final 

rule is required by March 31, 2010. 

The amendments to 10 CFR 73.55 

published on March 27, 2009, establish 

and update generically applicable 

security requirements similar to those 

previously imposed by Commission 

orders issued after the terrorist attacks 

of September 11, 2001, and 

implemented by licensees. In addition, 

the amendments to 10 CFR 73.55 

include additional requirements to 

further enhance site security based upon 

insights gained from implementation of 

the post September 11, 2001, security 

orders. It is from three of these new 

requirements that PSEG now seeks an 

exemption from the March 31, 2010, 

implementation date for HCGS and 

Salem. All other physical security 

requirements established by this recent 

rulemaking have already been or will be 

implemented by the licensee by March 

31, 2010. Specifically, by two letters 

dated November 3, 2009, PSEG 

requested an exemption in accordance 

with 10 CFR 73.5, ‘‘Specific 

exemptions.’’ Due to the significant 

number of engineering design packages, 

procurement needs, and installation 

activities associated with the required 

security system upgrades, the licensee 

has requested an exemption from the 

March 31, 2010, implementation date 

specified in the new rule for three 

requirements in the rule. The items 

subject to the request for exemption are 

proposed to be implemented by 

December 17, 2010. The first letter, 

PSEG letter number LR–N09–0248 

(Agencywide Documents Access and 

Management System (ADAMS) 

Accession No. ML093100223), contains 

one enclosure that was designated by 

the licensee as containing safeguards 

information and, accordingly, the 

enclosure is not available to the public. 

The second letter, PSEG letter number 

LR–N09–0249 (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML093100222), including its two 

enclosures, is publicly available. The 

first enclosure is a redacted version of 

the safeguards enclosure in letter 

number LR–N09–0248 and the second 

enclosure is an environmental impact 

statement. 

Based on a discussion with the NRC 

staff, as documented in an e-mail dated 

November 12, 2009 (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML093200070), PSEG submitted a 

letter dated November 20, 2009, to 

clarify the exemption request. The 

November 20, 2009, letter contains 

safeguards information and, 

accordingly, is not publicly available. 

On December 15, 2009, the NRC staff 

held a closed meeting with PSEG to 

discuss the proposed exemption. A 

summary of the meeting was issued by 

the NRC staff on December 28, 2009 

(ADAMS Accession No. ML093500644). 

As follow-up to the meeting, PSEG 

submitted two letters, dated December 

22, 2009, that superseded the November 

3, and November 20, 2009, submittals, 

with the exception of the environmental 

impact statement. The first letter, PSEG 

letter number LR–N09–0313, contains 

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 42 / Thursday, March 4, 2010 / Notices 9957 

safeguards information and, 

accordingly, is not available to the 

public. The second letter, PSEG letter 

number LR–N09–0314 (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML093640062), is 

publicly available and contains a 

redacted version of the safeguards 

information contained in letter number 

LR–N09–0313. 

Being granted this exemption for the 

three items would allow the licensee 

additional time to complete the 

upgrades to the HCGS—Salem security 

system as required by the recent 

revisions to 10 CFR 73.55. 

3.0 Discussion of Part 73 Schedule 

Exemptions From the March 31, 2010, 

Full Implementation Date 

Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.55(a)(1), ‘‘By 

March 31, 2010, each nuclear power 

reactor licensee, licensed under 10 CFR 

Part 50, shall implement the 

requirements of this section through its 

Commission-approved Physical Security 

Plan, Training and Qualification Plan, 

Safeguards Contingency Plan, and Cyber 

Security Plan referred to collectively 

hereafter as ‘security plans.’ ’’ Pursuant 

to 10 CFR 73.5, the Commission may, 

upon application by any interested 

person or upon its own initiative, grant 

exemptions from the requirements of 10 

CFR Part 73 when the exemptions are 

authorized by law, and will not 

endanger life or property or the common 

defense and security, and are otherwise 

in the public interest. 

NRC approval of this exemption 

request would, as noted above, allow an 

extension from March 31, 2010, until 

December 17, 2010, for the three 

specific portions of the rule. The NRC 

staff has determined that granting of the 

licensee’s proposed exemption would 

not result in a violation of the Atomic 

Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or the 

Commission’s regulations. Therefore, 

NRC approval of the licensee’s 

exemption request is authorized by law. 

In the draft final rule sent to the 

Commission on July 9, 2008 (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML081780209), the NRC 

staff proposed that the requirements of 

the new regulation be met within 180 

days. The Commission directed a 

change from 180 days to approximately 

1 year for licensees to fully implement 

the new requirements. This change was 

incorporated into the final rule. From 

this, it is clear that the Commission 

wanted to provide a reasonable 

timeframe for licensees to achieve full 

compliance. 

As noted in the final rule, the 

Commission also anticipated that 

licensees would have to conduct sitespecific analyses to determine what 

changes were necessary to implement 

the rule’s requirements, and that 

changes could be accomplished through 

a variety of licensing mechanisms, 

including exemptions. Since issuance of 

the final rule, the Commission has 

rejected a generic industry request to 

extend the rule’s compliance date for all 

operating nuclear power plants, but 

noted that the Commission’s regulations 

provide mechanisms for individual 

licensees, with good cause, to apply for 

relief from the compliance date 

(Reference: June 4, 2009, letter from 

R.W. Borchardt, NRC, to M. S. Fertel, 

Nuclear Energy Institute, ADAMS 

Accession No. ML091410309). The 

licensee’s request for an exemption is 

therefore consistent with the approach 

set forth by the Commission and 

discussed in the June 4, 2009, letter. 

HCGS—Salem Schedule Exemption 

Request 

The licensee provided detailed 

information regarding the proposed 

exemption in the enclosure to its letter 

dated December 22, 2009. The enclosure 

describes a comprehensive plan to 

upgrade the HCGS—Salem security 

system to meet the new requirements in 

10 CFR Part 73. Due to the significant 

number of engineering design packages, 

procurement needs, and installation 

activities associated with the required 

security system upgrades, the licensee 

has requested an exemption from the 

March 31, 2010, implementation date 

specified in the new rule for three 

specific requirements in the rule. The 

three items subject to the request for 

exemption are proposed to be 

implemented by December 17, 2010. 

The enclosure to the licensee’s letter 

dated December 22, 2009, details the 

specific portions of the regulation for 

which the site cannot be in compliance 

by the March 31, 2010, implementation 

date, along with justifications for each 

of the proposed non-compliances. The 

enclosure also provides a milestone 

schedule with the activities necessary to 

bring the licensee into full compliance 

with 10 CFR 73.55 by December 17, 

2010. 

Notwithstanding the schedular 

exemptions for these limited 

requirements, the licensee will continue 

to be in compliance with all other 

applicable physical security 

requirements as described in 10 CFR 

73.55 and reflected in its current NRCapproved physical security program. By 

December 17, 2010, HCGS and Salem 

will be in full compliance with all the 

regulatory requirements of 10 CFR 

73.55, as issued on March 27, 2009. 

4.0 Conclusion for Part 73 Schedule 

Exemption Request 

The staff has reviewed the licensee’s 

submittals and concludes that the 

licensee has provided adequate 

justification for its request for an 

extension of the compliance date to 

December 17, 2010, with regard to three 

specified requirements of 10 CFR 73.55. 

Accordingly, the Commission has 

determined that pursuant to 10 CFR 

73.5, ‘‘Specific exemptions,’’ an 

exemption from the March 31, 2010, 

compliance date is authorized by law 

and will not endanger life or property or 

the common defense and security, and 

is otherwise in the public interest. 

Therefore, the Commission hereby 

grants the requested exemption. 

The NRC staff has determined that the 

long-term benefits that will be realized 

when the security upgrades are 

complete justifies extending the March 

31, 2010, full compliance date for the 

three items in the licensee’s exemption 

request. The security measures that the 

licensee needs additional time to 

implement are new requirements 

imposed by March 27, 2009, 

amendments to 10 CFR 73.55, and are 

in addition to those required by the 

security orders issued in response to the 

events of September 11, 2001. 

Therefore, the NRC staff concludes that 

the licensee’s actions are in the best 

interest of protecting the public health 

and safety through the security changes 

that will result from granting this 

exemption. 

As per the licensee’s request and the 

NRC’s regulatory authority to grant an 

exemption from the March 31, 2010, 

implementation deadline for the three 

items specified in the enclosure to 

PSEG’s letter dated December 22, 2009, 

the licensee is required to be in full 

compliance with 10 CFR 73.55 by 

December 17, 2010. In achieving 

compliance, the licensee is reminded 

that it is responsible for determining the 

appropriate licensing mechanism (i.e., 

10 CFR 50.54(p) or 10 CFR 50.90) for 

incorporation of all necessary changes 

to its security plans. 

Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, ‘‘Finding of 

no significant impact,’’ the Commission 

has previously determined that the 

granting of this exemption will not have 

a significant effect on the quality of the 

human environment (75 FR 6223; dated 

February 8, 2010). 

This exemption is effective upon 

issuance. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day 

of February 2010. 

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9958 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 42 / Thursday, March 4, 2010 / Notices 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Allen G. Howe, 

Acting Director, Division of Operating Reactor 

Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4527 Filed 3–3–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 50–400; NRC–2010–0020] 

Carolina Power & Light Company, 

Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant, 

Unit 1; Exemption 

1.0 Background 

Carolina Power & Light Company (the 

licensee), now doing business as 

Progress Energy Carolinas, Inc. (PEC), is 

the holder of Renewed Facility 

Operating License No. NPF–63, which 

authorizes operation of the Shearon 

Harris Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 1 

(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 New Hill, North Carolina. 

2.0 Request/Action 

Title 10 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (10 CFR) part 73, ‘‘Physical 

Protection of Plants and Materials,’’ 

section 73.55, ‘‘Requirements for 

physical protection of licensed activities 

in nuclear power reactors against 

radiological sabotage,’’ published March 

27, 2009, effective May 26, 2009, with 

a full implementation date of March 31, 

2010, requires licensees to protect, with 

high assurance, against radiological 

sabotage by designing and 

implementing comprehensive site 

security programs. The amendments to 

10 CFR 73.55 published on March 27, 

2009, establish and update generically 

applicable security requirements similar 

to those previously imposed by the 

Commission orders issued after the 

terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, 

and implemented by licensees. In 

addition, the amendments to 10 CFR 

73.55 include additional requirements 

to further enhance site security based 

upon insights gained from 

implementation of the post-September 

11, 2001, security orders. It is from three 

of these new requirements that HNP 

now seeks an exemption from the March 

31, 2010, implementation date. All other 

physical security requirements 

established by this recent rulemaking 

have already been or will be 

implemented by the licensee by March 

31, 2010. 

By letter dated November 30, 2009, as 

supplemented by letter dated December 

16, 2009, the licensee requested an 

exemption in accordance with 10 CFR 

73.5, ‘‘Specific Exemptions.’’ 

Attachment 1 to the licensee’s 

November 30, 2009, letter, as well as the 

December 16, 2009, letter in its entirety, 

contain security-related information 

and, accordingly, are not available to the 

public. The licensee has requested an 

exemption from the March 31, 2010, 

compliance date stating that it must 

complete a number of significant 

physical modifications to the current 

site security configuration before all 

requirements of 10 CFR part 73 can be 

met. Specifically, the request is to 

extend the compliance date for one 

requirement from the current March 31, 

2010, deadline to July 30, 2010, and to 

extend the compliance date for two 

additional requirements to December 

15, 2010. Being granted this exemption 

for the three items would allow the 

licensee to complete the modifications 

designed to update aging equipment and 

incorporate state-of-the-art technology 

to meet the regulatory requirements. 

3.0 Discussion of Part 73 Schedule 

Exemptions From the March 31, 2010, 

Full Implementation Date 

The regulation in 10 CFR 73.55(a)(1) 

states: ‘‘By March 31, 2010, each nuclear 

power reactor licensee, licensed under 

10 CFR part 50, shall implement the 

requirements of this section through its 

Commission-approved Physical Security 

Plan, Training and Qualification Plan, 

Safeguards Contingency Plan, and Cyber 

Security Plan referred to collectively 

hereafter as ‘‘security plans.’ ’’ Pursuant 

to 10 CFR 73.5, the Commission may, 

upon application by any interested 

person or upon its own initiative, grant 

exemptions from the requirements of 10 

CFR part 73 when the exemptions are 

authorized by law, and will not 

endanger life or property or the common 

defense and security, and are otherwise 

in the public interest. 

NRC approval of this exemption, as 

noted above, would allow an extension 

from March 31, 2010, until July 30, 

2010, for one requirement, and 

December 15, 2010, for two other 

requirements. As stated above, 10 CFR 

73.5 allows the NRC to grant 

exemptions from the requirements of 10 

CFR 73. The NRC staff has determined 

that granting the licensee’s proposed 

exemption would not result in a 

violation of the Atomic Energy Act of 

1954, as amended, or the Commission’s 

regulations. Therefore, the exemption is 

authorized by law. 

In the draft final rule provided to the 

Commission on July 9, 2008, the NRC 

staff proposed that the requirements of 

the new regulation be met within 180 

days. The Commission directed a 

change from 180 days to approximately 

1 year for licensees to fully implement 

the new requirements. This change was 

incorporated into the final rule. From 

this, it is clear that the Commission 

desires to provide a reasonable 

timeframe for licensees to achieve full 

compliance. 

As noted in the final rule, the 

Commission also anticipated that 

licensees would have to conduct sitespecific analyses in order to determine 

what changes were necessary to 

implement the rule’s requirements, and 

that changes could be accomplished 

through a variety of licensing 

mechanisms, including exemptions. 

Since issuance of the final rule, the 

Commission has rejected a generic 

industry request to extend the rule’s 

compliance date for all operating 

nuclear power plants, but noted that the 

Commission’s regulations provide 

mechanisms for individual licensees, 

with good cause, to apply for relief from 

the compliance date (Reference: June 4, 

2009 letter from R. W. Borchardt, NRC, 

to M. S. Fertel, Nuclear Energy 

Institute). The licensee’s request for an 

exemption is therefore consistent with 

the approach set forth by the 

Commission and discussed in the June 

4, 2009 letter. 

Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant, 

Unit 1, Schedule Exemption Request 

The licensee provided detailed 

information in Attachment 1 of its 

November 30, 2009, letter requesting an 

exemption. It describes a 

comprehensive plan to install additional 

intrusion detection equipment, relocate 

certain security assets, and upgrade 

other security related systems at the 

HNP site, as well as providing a 

timeline for achieving full compliance 

with the new regulation. Attachment 1 

contains security-related information 

regarding the site security plan, details 

of the specific requirements of the 

regulation for which the site cannot be 

in compliance by the March 31, 2010, 

deadline and why, the required changes 

to the site’s security configuration, and 

a timeline with critical path activities 

that will enable the licensee to achieve 

full compliance by July 30, 2010, and 

December 15, 2010, respectively. The 

timeline provides dates indicating 

when: (1) The design work will be 

completed for the projects that will 

bring each of the three remaining areas 

into compliance; (2) construction will 

begin on various phases of the projects 

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