Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 171 / Friday, September 4, 2009 / Notices 45885 

improve regulatory efficiency. A 

description of current risk-informed 

initiatives may be found in (1) recent 

updates to the NRC staff’s Risk-Informed 

and Performance-Based Plan (RPP) 

formerly known as the Risk-Informed 

Regulation Implementation Plan, and (2) 

the agency Internet site at http:// 

www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/riskinformed.html. 

One significant activity undertaken in 

response to the policy statement is the 

use of PRA to support decisions to 

modify an individual plant’s licensing 

basis (LB). This regulatory guide 

provides guidance on the use of PRA 

findings and risk insights to support 

licensee requests for changes to a plant’s 

LB, as in requests for license 

amendments and technical specification 

changes under Title 10 of the Code of 

Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Sections 

50.90, ‘‘Application for Amendment of 

License, Construction Permit, or Early 

Site Permit,’’ through 50.92, ‘‘Issuance 

of Amendment.’’ It does not address 

licensee-initiated changes to the LB that 

do NOT require NRC review and 

approval (e.g., changes to the facility as 

described in the final safety analysis 

report (FSAR), the subject of 10 CFR 

50.59, ‘‘Changes, Tests, and 

Experiments’’). 

II. Further Information 

The NRC staff is soliciting comments 

on DG–1226. Comments may be 

accompanied by relevant information or 

supporting data and should mention 

DG–1226 in the subject line. Comments 

submitted in writing or in electronic 

form will be made available to the 

public in their entirety through the 

NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access 

and Management System (ADAMS). 

Because your comments will not be 

edited to remove any identifying or 

contact information, the NRC cautions 

you against including any information 

in your submission that you do not want 

to be publicly disclosed. 

The NRC requests that any party 

soliciting or aggregating comments 

received from other persons for 

submission to the NRC inform those 

persons that the NRC will not edit their 

comments to remove any identifying or 

contact information, and therefore, they 

should not include any information in 

their comments that they do not want 

publicly disclosed. You may submit 

comments by any of the following 

methods: 

1. Mail comments to: Rulemaking and 

Directives Branch, Mail Stop: TWB–05– 

B01M, Office of Administration, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001. 

2. Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for documents filed under Docket ID 

[NRC–2009–0385]. Address questions 

about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher, 

301–492–3668; e-mail 

Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. 

3. Fax comments to: Rulemaking and 

Directives Branch, Office of 

Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission at (301) 492–3446. 

Requests for technical information 

about DG–1226 may be directed to the 

NRC contact, Donald Helton at (301) 

251–7594 or e-mail to 

Donald.Helton@nrc.gov. 

Comments would be most helpful if 

received by November 3, 2009. 

Comments received after that date will 

be considered if it is practical to do so, 

but the NRC is able to ensure 

consideration only for comments 

received on or before this date. 

Although a time limit is given, 

comments and suggestions in 

connection with items for inclusion in 

guides currently being developed or 

improvements in all published guides 

are encouraged at any time. 

Electronic copies of DG–1226 are 

available through the NRC’s public Web 

site under Draft Regulatory Guides in 

the ‘‘Regulatory Guides’’ collection of 

the NRC’s Electronic Reading Room at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/. Electronic copies are also 

available in ADAMS (http:// 

www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html), 

under Accession No. ML091200100. 

In addition, regulatory guides are 

available for inspection at the NRC’s 

Public Document Room (PDR) located at 

11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 

Maryland. The PDR’s mailing address is 

USNRC PDR, Washington, DC 20555– 

0001. The PDR can also be reached by 

telephone at (301) 415–4737 or (800) 

397–4205, by fax at (301) 415–3548, and 

by e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. 

Regulatory guides are not 

copyrighted, and Commission approval 

is not required to reproduce them. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25 day 

of August 2009. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Andrea D. Valentin, 

Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, 

Division of Engineering, Office of Nuclear 

Regulatory Research. 

[FR Doc. E9–21470 Filed 9–3–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. 50–348 and 50–364; NRC– 

2009–0375] 

Southern Nuclear Operating Company; 

Alabama Power Company; Joseph M. 

Farley Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2; 

Exemption 

1.0 Background 

Southern Nuclear Operating Company 

(SNC, the licensee) is the holder of 

Facility Operating License Numbers 

NPF–2 and NPF–8, which authorize 

operation of the Joseph M. Farley 

Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2 (FNP). 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 facility consists of two 

pressurized water reactors located in 

Houston County, Alabama. 

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. 

By letter dated June 9, 2009, as 

supplemented by letter dated July 31, 

2009 the licensee requested an 

exemption in accordance with 10 CFR 

73.5, ‘‘Specific exemptions.’’ The 

licensee’s June 9, 2009, letter and 

certain portions of its July 31, 2009 

letter contain proprietary and safeguards 

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 

modifications to the current site security 

configuration before all requirements 

can be met. Specifically, the request is 

for three requirements that would be in 

place by December 15, 2010, versus the 

March 31, 2010 deadline. Being granted 

this exemption for the three items will 

allow the licensee to complete the 

modifications designed to update aging 

equipment and incorporate state-of-theart technology to meet or exceed 

regulatory requirements. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
45886 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 171 / Friday, September 4, 2009 / Notices 

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 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. This exemption 

would, as noted above, allow an 

extension from March 31, 2010, until 

December 15, 2010, to allow for 

temporary noncompliance with the new 

rule in three specified areas. The NRC 

staff has determined that granting of the 

licensee’s proposed exemption will 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 sent to the 

Commission, 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 reach 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 request to generically 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. 

Farley Schedule Exemption Request 

The licensee provided detailed 

information in Enclosure 1 of its 

supplemental submittal to the SNC June 

9, 2009, letter requesting an exemption. 

It describes a comprehensive plan to 

expand the protected area (PA) by 

approximately 100 percent with 

upgrades to the security capabilities of 

its Farley site and provides a timeline 

for achieving full compliance with the 

new regulation. Enclosure 1 contains 

proprietary information regarding the 

site security plan, details of specific 

portions of the regulation where 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 bring the 

licensee into full compliance by 

December 15, 2010. The timeline 

provides dates indicating when (1) 

construction will begin on various 

phases of the project (i.e., new roads, 

buildings, and fences), (2) outages are 

scheduled for each unit, and (3) critical 

equipment will be ordered, installed, 

tested and become operational. 

As described in its submittals, the 

licensee will maintain the current PA 

until the site modifications are 

completely implemented by December 

15, 2010. Enclosure 2 to the July 31, 

2009, submittal includes safeguards 

(SGI) information that describes 

compensatory measures the licensee 

will incorporate into the Joseph M. 

Farley Nuclear Plant Site Security Plan 

by the compliance date of March 31, 

2010, which will supplement the 

protective measures already in place to 

maintain high assurance against 

radiological sabotage. The licensee 

indicated that with the incorporation of 

the extended protected area (PA) by 

December 15, 2010, the Farley Nuclear 

Plant will be in full compliance with 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 justified its request for an 

extension of the compliance date with 

regard to three specified requirements of 

10 CFR 73.55 until December 15, 2010. 

The Commission has determined that 

pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5, ‘‘Specific 

exemptions,’’ 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. The licensee has 

compensatory measures as described in 

Enclosure 2 to its supplemental letter of 

July 31, 2009, that the staff finds 

acceptable. The basis for this 

determination is that the current site 

protective strategy has been approved 

by the NRC staff as providing high 

assurance for the protection of the 

facility and public from the effects of 

radiological sabotage. As a condition of 

the Commission’s approval, these 

compensatory measures must be in 

place by March 31, 2010, and 

incorporated into the site security plan 

in accordance with 10 CFR 50.54(p)(2) 

or 10 CFR 50.90, as determined by the 

licensee to be appropriate. 

The long-term benefits that will be 

realized when the PA expansion is 

complete justifies exceeding the full 

compliance date in the case of this 

particular licensee. 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 to the March 31, 2010 

deadline for the three items specified in 

Enclosure 1 of SNC letter dated July 31, 

2009, the licensee is required to be in 

full compliance with 10 CFR 73.55 by 

December 15, 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, ‘‘Find 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 dated August 26, 

2009 (74 FR 43169). 

This exemption is effective upon 

issuance. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day 

of August 2009. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Joseph G. Giitter, 

Director, Division of Operating Reactor 

Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation. 

[FR Doc. E9–21456 Filed 9–3–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES