10836 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 45 / Tuesday, March 9, 2010 / Notices 

No changes to the National Pollution 

Discharge Elimination System permit 

are needed. No effects on the aquatic or 

terrestrial habitat in the vicinity of the 

plant, or to threatened, endangered, or 

protected species under the Endangered 

Species Act, or impacts to essential fish 

habitat covered by the MagnusonSteven’s Act are expected. There are no 

impacts to the air or ambient air quality. 

There are no impacts to historical and 

cultural resources. There would be no 

impact to socioeconomic resources. 

Therefore, no changes to or different 

types of non-radiological environmental 

impacts are expected as a result of the 

proposed exemption. 

Accordingly, the NRC concludes that 

there are no significant environmental 

impacts associated with the proposed 

action. In addition, in promulgating its 

revisions to 10 CFR part 73, the 

Commission prepared an environmental 

assessment and published a finding of 

no significant impact [Part 73, Power 

Reactor Security Requirements, 74 FR 

13926 (March 27, 2009)]. 

The NRC staff’s safety evaluation will 

be provided in the exemption that will 

be issued as part of the letter to the 

licensee approving the exemption to the 

regulation, if granted. 

Environmental Impacts of the 

Alternatives to the Proposed Action 

As an alternative to the proposed 

actions, the NRC staff considered denial 

of the proposed actions (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 the FCS dated August 

1972, as supplemented through the 

‘‘Generic Environmental Impact 

Statement for License Renewal of 

Nuclear Plants: Fort Calhoun Station 

Unit 1—Final Report (NUREG–1437, 

Supplement 12).’’ 

Agencies and Persons Consulted 

In accordance with its stated policy, 

on February 4, 2010, the NRC staff 

consulted with the Nebraska State 

official, Julia Schmitt, of the Department 

of Health and Human Services 

Regulation and Licensure, 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 December 31, 2009, as 

supplemented by letter dated January 

21, 2010. The January 21, 2010, 

submittal and portions of the December 

31, 2009, submittal contain securityrelated information and, accordingly, 

are exempt from public disclosure. 

Other parts of the December 31, 2009, 

document may be examined, and/or 

copied for a fee, at the NRC’s Public 

Document Room (PDR), located at One 

White Flint North, Room O–1 F21, 

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 2nd day 

of March 2010. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Lynnea Wilkins, 

Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch IV, 

Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4940 Filed 3–8–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. 50–334 And 50–412; NRC– 

2010–0049] 

Firstenergy Nuclear Operating 

Company, Firstenergy Nuclear 

Generation Corp., Ohio Edison 

Company, the Toledo Edison 

Company, Beaver Valley Power 

Station, Unit Nos. 1 And 2; Exemption 

1.0 Background 

FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating 

Company (licensee) is the holder of 

Facility Operating License Nos. DPR–66 

and NPF–73, which authorizes 

operation of the Beaver Valley Power 

Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2 (BVPS–1 and 

2). The license provides, among other 

things, that the facility is subject to all 

rules, regulations, and orders of the 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, 

the Commission) now or hereafter in 

effect. The facility consists of two 

pressurized-water reactors located in 

Beaver County, Pennsylvania. 

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 plans. 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 one 

of these new requirements that BVPS– 

1 and 2 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 

23, 2009, the licensee requested an 

exemption in accordance with 10 CFR 

73.5, ‘‘Specific exemptions.’’ The 

licensee’s letters contain security 

information and, accordingly, those 

portions are not available to the public. 

The licensee has requested an 

exemption from the March 31, 2010, 

compliance date stating that a number 

of issues will present a significant 

challenge to timely completion of the 

project related to a specific requirement 

in 10 CFR Part 73. The request is to 

extend the compliance date for one 

specific requirement from the current 

March 31, 2010, deadline to December 

17, 2010. Being granted this exemption 

for the extension would allow the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 45 / Tuesday, March 9, 2010 / Notices 10837 

licensee to design the necessary 

modifications, procure equipment and 

material, and implement upgrades to 

meet the noted regulatory requirement. 

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, as 

noted above, would allow an extension 

from March 31, 2010, to December 17, 

2010, for the implementation date for 

one specific requirement of the new 

rule. 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 NRC 

approval of the licensee’s exemption 

request is authorized by law. 

In the draft final rule provided to the 

Commission (SECY–08–0099 dated 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 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 site 

specific 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). 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. 

BVPS–1 and 2 Schedule Exemption 

Request 

The licensee provided detailed 

information in its letter dated November 

30, 2009, as supplemented December 

23, 2009, requesting an exemption. It 

describes a comprehensive plan to 

design the necessary modifications, 

procure equipment and material, and 

implement upgrades to comply with a 

specific aspect of 10 CFR 73.55 and 

provides a timeline for achieving full 

compliance with the new regulation. 

The submittals contain security 

information regarding the site security 

plan, details of the specific requirement 

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 would allow 

the licensee to achieve full compliance 

by December 17, 2010. The timeline 

provides dates indicating (1) when 

various phases of the project begin and 

end (i.e., design, field construction), (2) 

outages scheduled for each unit, and (3) 

when critical equipment will be 

ordered, installed, tested and become 

operational. 

The licensee currently maintains a 

security program acceptable to the NRC 

and the new 10 CFR Part 73 security 

measures that will be implemented by 

March 31, 2010, will continue to 

provide acceptable physical protection 

of BVPS–1 and 2 during the requested 

extension period. 

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 NRC 

approved physical security program. By 

December 17, 2010, BVPS–1 and 2 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 NRC 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 the 

specified requirement 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 BVPS–1 and 2 equipment 

installation is complete justifies 

extending the full compliance date with 

regard to the specified requirement of 10 

CFR 73.55. The security measures, 

BVPS–1 and 2 need 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, it is concluded 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 

requirement specified in the licensee’s 

letter dated November 30, 2009, as 

supplemented December 23, 2009, the 

licensee is required to be in full 

compliance 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 6736; dated 

February 10, 2010. 

This exemption is effective upon 

issuance. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 1st day 

of March 2010. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Joseph G. Giitter, 

Director, Division of Operating Reactor 

Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4944 Filed 3–8–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 


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