122 FERC ¶ 61,254 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION 

18 CFR Part 40 

Docket No. RM08-3-000 

Mandatory Reliability Standard for Nuclear Plant Interface Coordination 

(March 20, 2008) 

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 215 of the Federal Power Act, the Commission 

proposes to approve the Nuclear Plant Interface Coordination Reliability Standard 

developed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). The 

proposed Reliability Standard requires a nuclear power plant operator and its suppliers of 

back-up power and related transmission and distribution services to coordinate 

concerning nuclear licensing requirements for safe nuclear plant operation and shutdown 

and system operating limits. The Commission also proposes to accept four related 

definitions for addition to the NERC Glossary of Terms and to direct various changes to 

proposed violation risk factors, which measure the potential impact of violations of the 

Reliability Standard on the reliability of the Bulk-Power System. The proposed rule 

would benefit the Reliable Operation of the Bulk-Power System by facilitating the 

provision of off-site power to ensure reliable and safe nuclear power plant operation and 

shutdown. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 2 - 

DATES: Comments are due [30 days after publication in the FEDERAL REGISTER]. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may submit comments, identified by Docket No. 

RM08-3-000, by any of the following methods: 

• eFiling: Comments may be filed electronically via the eFiling link on the 

Commission's web site at www.ferc.gov. Documents created electronically using 

word processing software should be filed in the native application or print-to-PDF 

format and not in a scanned format. This will enhance document retrieval for both 

the Commission and the public. The Commission accepts most standard word 

processing formats and commenters may attach additional files with supporting 

information in certain other file formats. Attachments that exist only in paper 

form may be scanned. Commenters filing electronically should not make a paper 

filing. Service of rulemaking comments is not required. 

• Mail/Hand Delivery: Commenters that are not able to file electronically must mail 

or hand deliver an original and 14 copies of their comments to: Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street, NE, 

Washington, DC 20426. 

Instructions: For detailed instructions on submitting comments and additional 

information on the rulemaking process, see the Comment Procedures Section of this 

document 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 3 - 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Richard M. Wartchow (Legal Information) 

Office of the General Counsel 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

888 First Street, N.E. 

Washington, D.C. 20426 

(202) 502-8744 

Christy Walsh (Legal Information) 

Office of the General Counsel 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

888 First Street, N.E. 

Washington, D.C. 20426 

(202) 502-6523 

Robert Snow (Technical Information) 

Office of Electric Reliability 

Division of Reliability Standards 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

888 First Street, N.E. 

Washington, D.C. 20426 

(202) 502-6716 

Kevin Thundiyil (Technical Information) 

Office of Electric Reliability 

Division of Reliability Standards 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

888 First Street, N.E. 

Washington, D.C. 20426 

(202) 502-6490 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION 

Mandatory Reliability Standard for Nuclear Plant 

Interface Coordination 

Docket No. RM08-3-000 

NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING 

(March 20, 2008) 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 Paragraph Numbers

I. Background .................................................................................................................... 2.

A. EPAct 2005 and Mandatory Reliability Standards .................................................. 2.

1. NERC’s Proposed Nuclear Reliability Standard.................................................. 4.

2. Proposed NERC Glossary Definitions .............................................................. 10.

3. Nuclear Reliability Standard Requirements ....................................................... 11.

4. Nuclear Reliability Standard Development........................................................ 15.

II. Discussion................................................................................................................... 17.

A. Applicability .......................................................................................................... 18.

1. Notification of Parties to Interface Agreements ................................................ 20.

2. Transmission Entities ........................................................................................ 22.

3. Agreement on NPIRs.......................................................................................... 31.

B. Scope of Agreements ............................................................................................. 38.

1. Generally............................................................................................................. 39.

2. Revisions to Interface Agreements to Reflect Interim Changes ....................... 40.

C. Coordination........................................................................................................... 43.

D. Proposed Terms for Addition to the NERC Glossary ........................................... 46.

E. Violation Risk Factors ............................................................................................ 48.

F. Violation Severity Levels ....................................................................................... 60.

III. Information Collection Statement ............................................................................. 63.

IV. Environmental Analysis ............................................................................................ 73.

V. Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis........................................................................... 74.

VI. Comment Procedures ................................................................................................ 77.

VII. Document Availability............................................................................................. 81.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION 

Mandatory Reliability Standard for Nuclear Plant 

Interface Coordination 

Docket No. RM08-3-000 

NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING 

(March 20, 2008) 

1. Pursuant to section 215 of the Federal Power Act (FPA), the Commission 

proposes to approve the Nuclear Plant Interface Coordination Reliability Standard (NUC001-1) developed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). The 

proposed Reliability Standard requires a nuclear power plant operator and its suppliers of 

back-up power and transmission and distribution services1

 to coordinate concerning 

nuclear licensing requirements for safe nuclear plant operation and shutdown and system 

operating limits (SOLs). The Commission also proposes to accept four related 

definitions for addition to the NERC Glossary of Terms2

 and to direct various changes to 

proposed violation risk factors, which measure the potential impact of violations of the 

Reliability Standard on the reliability of the Bulk-Power System. The proposed rule 

 1

 The Reliability Standard defines those suppliers who provide such generation, 

transmission and distribution services pursuant to agreements under the Nuclear 

Reliability Standard as “transmission entities,” as discussed below. 

2

 See the NERC Glossary of Terms Used in Reliability Standards (as revised) 

(Glossary), originally filed in Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power 

System, NERC Request for Approval of Reliability Standards, Docket No. RM06-16-000 

(Apr. 4, 2006), and affirmed by Order No. 693, 72 FR 16416 (Apr. 4, 2007), FERC Stats. 

and Regs. ¶ 31,242 (2007), order on reh’g, Order No. 693-A, 72 FR 40717 (July 25, 

2007), 120 FERC ¶ 61,053 (2007). 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 3 - 

would benefit the Reliable Operation of the Bulk-Power System by facilitating the 

provision of off-site power to ensure reliable and safe nuclear power plant operation and 

shutdown.3

 

I. Background

A. EPAct 2005 and Mandatory Reliability Standards

2. On August 8, 2005, the Electricity Modernization Act of 2005 was enacted as 

Title XII, Subtitle A, of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005).4

 EPAct 2005 

added section 215 to the FPA, requiring the Commission-certified Electric Reliability 

Organization (ERO) to develop mandatory and enforceable Reliability Standards, subject 

to Commission review and approval. Once approved, the Reliability Standards may be 

enforced by the ERO, subject to Commission oversight, or by the Commission 

independently.5

3. On February 3, 2006, the Commission issued Order No. 672, implementing 

section 215.6

 Pursuant to Order No. 672, the Commission certified NERC as the ERO.7 

 3

 The Commission is not proposing any new or modified text to its regulations. 

Rather, as set forth in 18 CFR Part 40, a proposed Reliability Standard will not become 

effective until approved by the Commission, and the Electric Reliability Organization 

(ERO) must post on its website each effective Reliability Standard. 

4

 Energy Policy Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-58, Title XII, Subtitle A, 119 Stat. 

594, 941 (2005), 16 U.S.C. 824o (2000 & Supp. V 2005). 

5

 16 U.S.C. 824o(e)(3). 

6

 Rules Concerning Certification of the Electric Reliability Organization; and 

Procedures for the Establishment, Approval, and Enforcement of Electric Reliability 

Standards, Order No. 672, 71 FR 8662 (Feb. 17, 2006), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,204, 

order on reh’g, Order No. 672-A, 71 FR 19814 (Apr. 18, 2006), FERC Stats. & Regs. 

¶ 31,212 (2006). 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 4 - 

The ERO is required to develop Reliability Standards, subject to Commission review and 

approval, applicable to users, owners and operators of the Bulk-Power System, as set 

forth in each Reliability Standard. 

1. NERC’s Proposed Nuclear Reliability Standard

4. On November 19, 2007, NERC filed its petition for Commission approval of the 

Nuclear Plant Interface Coordination Reliability Standard, designated NUC-001-1 

(November 19, 2007 Petition). NERC supplemented the filing on December 11, 2007 

(December 11, 2007 Supplement) to propose four related NERC Glossary terms: 

“Nuclear Plant Generator Operator,” “Nuclear Plant Off-site Power Supply (Off-site 

Power),” “Nuclear Plant Licensing Requirements (NPLRs),” and “Nuclear Plant Interface 

Requirements (NPIRs).” The November 19, 2007 Petition states that the proposed 

Reliability Standard addresses the coordination of interface requirements for two 

domains: (i) Bulk-Power System planning and operations; and (ii) nuclear power plant 

licensing requirements for off-site power necessary to enable safe nuclear plant operation 

and shutdown. 

5. The Nuclear Reliability Standard applies to nuclear plant generator operators 

(generally nuclear power plant owners and operators, including licensees) and 

“transmission entities,” defined in the Reliability Standard as including a nuclear plant’s 

suppliers of off-site power and related transmission and distribution services. To account 

for the variations in nuclear plant design and grid interconnection characteristics, the 

 7

 North American Electric Reliability Corp., 116 FERC ¶ 61,062, order on reh’g & 

compliance, 117 FERC ¶ 61,126 (2006). 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 5 - 

Reliability Standard defines transmission entities as “all entities that are responsible for 

providing services related to Nuclear Plant Interface Requirements (NPIRs),” and lists 

eleven types of functional entities that could provide services related to NPIRs.8

 

6. According to NERC, nuclear plant generator operators and transmission entities 

operate according to separate, established reliability and safety procedures. NERC states 

that the proposed Reliability Standard requires a nuclear plant generator operator to 

coordinate operations and planning with its transmission entities by developing 

procedures that reflect nuclear plant licensing requirements and SOLs,9

 including 

interconnection reliability operating limits (IROLs), affecting nuclear plant operations.10 

The proposed Nuclear Reliability Standard requires nuclear plant generator operators and 

transmission entities, including off-site power suppliers, to develop expectations and 

procedures for coordinating operations to meet the nuclear plant licensing requirements, 

 8

 The list of functional entities consists of transmission operators, transmission 

owners, transmission planners, transmission service providers, balancing authorities, 

reliability coordinators, planning authorities, distribution providers, load-serving entities, 

generator owners and generator operators. Additional applicability issues are discussed 

in a separate section below. 

9

 The NERC glossary defines system operating limit or SOL as “the value . . . that 

satisfies the most limiting of the prescribed operating criteria for a specified system 

configuration to ensure operation within acceptable reliability criteria. . . .” 18 CFR Part 

40, Facilities Design, Connections and Maintenance Mandatory Reliability Standards, 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 72 FR 46413 (Aug. 20, 2007), FERC Stats. and Regs. 

¶ 32,622, at P 19 (2007) (Aug. 13, 2007). 

10 The NERC glossary defines IROL as a “system operating limit that, if violated, 

could lead to instability, uncontrolled separation, or Cascading Outages that adversely 

impact the reliability of the bulk electric system.” 18 CFR Part 40, Facilities Design, 

Connections and Maintenance Mandatory Reliability Standards, Order No. 705, 73 FR 

1770 (Jan. 9, 2008), 121 FERC ¶ 61,296, at P 118 (2007) (Dec. 27, 2007). 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 6 - 

SOLs and IROLs and to execute agreements, called interface agreements, reflecting those 

expectations and procedures. The resulting operations and planning requirements 

developed in the agreements to address the nuclear plant licensing requirements, SOLs 

and IROLs are called NPIRs.11 NERC states that Requirements R3 through R8, which 

state that the interface agreement parties will address the NPIRs in planning, operations 

and facility upgrade and outage coordination, provide additional specificity on these 

expectations. 

7. NERC’s November 19, 2007 Petition notes that nuclear plant generator operators 

must already fulfill nuclear licensing requirements for off-site power.12 NERC states 

 11 See NUC-001-1, Requirement R2 and the proposed NERC Glossary term, 

Nuclear Plant Interface Requirements. 

12 See also the U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force, Final Report on the 

August 14, 2003 Blackout in the United States and Canada: Causes and 

Recommendations, at 112 (April 2004) (Blackout Report), for a description of Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission (NRC) oversight; available at 

http://www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/blackout.asp : 

The NRC, which regulates U.S. commercial nuclear power 

plants, has regulatory requirements for offsite power systems. 

These requirements address the number of offsite power 

sources and the ability to withstand certain transients. Offsite 

power is the normal source of alternating current (AC) power 

to the safety systems in the plants when the plant main 

generator is not in operation. The requirements also are 

designed to protect safety systems from potentially damaging 

variations (in voltage and frequency) in the supplied power. 

For loss of offsite power events, the NRC requires emergency 

generation (typically emergency diesel generators) to provide 

AC power to safety systems. In addition, the NRC provides 

oversight of the safety aspects of offsite power issues through 

its inspection program, by monitoring operating experience, 

and by performing technical studies. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 7 - 

that, while various forms of agreements exist to meet the nuclear power plant general 

design criterion for off-site power, NUC-001-1 places a new, mandatory and enforceable 

obligation under section 215 of the FPA on both nuclear plant generator operators and 

transmission entities. NUC-001-1 requires these entities to inform one another of limits 

and requirements on their systems and to enter into agreements to coordinate and operate 

their systems to address nuclear plant licensing requirements and related system limits. 

8. The nuclear plant licensing requirements addressed in the proposed Reliability 

Standard include requirements for off-site power to enable safe operation and shutdown 

during an electric system or plant event, and requirements for avoiding nuclear safety 

issues as a result of changes in electric system conditions during a disturbance, transient 

or normal conditions. NERC cites general design criterion 17 for nuclear power plants, 

which requires nuclear plant generator operators to obtain off-site electric power that will 

provide sufficient capacity to permit safety systems to function, assure that reactor 

coolant design limits are not exceeded, prevent core cooling, and maintain containment 

integrity and other vital functions.13

9. NERC states that NUC-001-1, in combination with the nuclear license general 

design criteria requirements, achieves the vital public interest of assuring safe nuclear 

power generation. According to NERC, the Reliability Standard is beneficial to nuclear 

plant generator operators because it will assist them in meeting nuclear plant licensing 

requirements to safely produce nuclear power. It is also beneficial to Bulk-Power System 

 13 NERC November 19, 2007 Petition at 22-23, citing the NRC regulations, 

10 CFR Part 50, Appendix A — General Design Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 8 - 

users, due to the significant support that nuclear plants provide to the Reliable Operation 

of the Bulk-Power System. This Reliability Standard was assigned to a new rulemaking 

proceeding, Docket No. RM08-3-000, and is the subject of the current Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR).14 

2. Proposed NERC Glossary Definitions 

10. NERC proposes in its December 11, 2007 Supplement to add the following four 

terms to the NERC Glossary:15 

Nuclear Plant Generator Operator: Any Generator Operator or Generator 

Owner that is a [n]uclear [p]lant [l]icensee responsible for operation of a 

nuclear facility licensed to produce commercial power. 

Nuclear Plant Off-site Power Supply or Off-site Power: The electric power 

supply provided from the electric system to the nuclear power plant 

distribution system as required per the nuclear power plant license. 

Nuclear Plant Licensing Requirements (NPLRs): Requirements included in 

the design basis of the nuclear plant and statutorily mandated for the 

operation of the plant, including nuclear power plant licensing requirements 

for: 1) Off-site power supply to enable safe shutdown of the plant during an 

electric system or plant event; and 2) Avoiding preventable challenges to 

nuclear safety as a result of an electric system disturbance, transient, or 

condition.[16] 

 14 The Nuclear Reliability Standard is attached in Appendix A to this NOPR and is 

available on the Commission’s eLibrary document retrieval system in Docket No. RM08-

3-000 and also on NERC’s website, http://www.nerc.com. 

15 The Commission reviews and approves revisions to the NERC Glossary, 

directing modifications where necessary. See, e.g., Order No. 693 at P 1893-98. 

16 The proposed Reliability Standard incorporates a regional difference that 

provides an alternative definition of nuclear plant licensing requirements that applies to 

units located in Canada. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 9 - 

Nuclear Plant Interface Requirements (NPIRs): The requirements, based 

on NPLRs and Bulk Electric System requirements, that have been mutually 

agreed to by the Nuclear Plant Generator Operator and the applicable 

[t]ransmission [e]ntities. 

3. Nuclear Reliability Standard Requirements

11. NERC’s November 19, 2007 Petition summarizes the Nuclear Reliability 

Standard’s nine compliance Requirements. Requirement R1 states that a nuclear plant 

generator operator shall provide proposed NPIRs to its transmission entities. 

Requirement R2 states that a nuclear plant generator operator and its transmission entities 

shall execute one or more agreements “that include mutually agreed to NPIRs” and 

document how the nuclear plant generator operator and the applicable transmission 

entities shall address and implement these NPIRs as further described in Requirement R9. 

12. Requirements R3 through R8 dictate various operating and planning obligations 

that the nuclear plant generator operator and transmission entities shall meet per the 

interface agreements. Requirement R3 states that the transmission entities shall 

incorporate NPIR information into planning analyses and communicate the study results 

to the nuclear plant generator operator. Requirement R4 directs transmission entities to 

incorporate the NPIRs into operating analyses and meet the resulting operating targets or 

inform the nuclear plant generator operator when the transmission entity loses the ability 

to assess its performance. Requirement R5 places an obligation on the nuclear plant 

generator operator to operate its facilities in accordance with the interface agreements. 

Requirement R6 provides that a nuclear plant generator operator and its transmission 

entities shall coordinate outages and maintenance activities that affect the NPIRs 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 10 - 

(additional details concerning operations and maintenance coordination are set forth in 

Requirement R9.3). Requirements R7 and R8 oblige a nuclear plant generator operator 

and its transmission entities, respectively, to inform each other under their interface 

agreement of actual or proposed facility changes affecting the NPIRs. 

13. Requirement R9, including sub-Requirements R9.1.1 through R9.4.4, outline 

certain administrative, technical, operations and maintenance, and communications and 

training provisions that must be included in an interface agreement. Provisions 

concerning technical requirements and analysis direct the interface agreement parties to 

(1) identify limits, configurations and operating scenarios included in the NPIRs 

(Requirement R9.2.1); (2) identify essential facilities, components and configuration 

restrictions (Requirement R9.2.2); and (3) describe planning and operational analyses, 

including scope and timing, to support the NPIRs (Requirement R9.2.3). 

14. The operations and maintenance coordination provisions mandate that the 

interface agreements provide for coordination of operations and maintenance of electrical 

facilities at the interface between the electrical system and the nuclear plant and power 

supply systems, including off-site power (Requirements R9.3.1 - .3). Further, an 

interface agreement must coordinate responses to unusual conditions on the grid such as 

loss of ability to monitor grid performance, loss of off-site power, use of special 

protection systems, and underfrequency and undervoltage load shedding programs 

(Requirements R9.3.4, R9.3.5, and R9.3.7). Requirement R9.3.6 requires coordination of 

physical and cyber security systems. The interface agreements also must adopt terms and 

protocols for communications between the nuclear plant generator operator and 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 11 - 

transmission entities, coordination and communication during atypical operating 

conditions or emergency events, investigation and resolution of the causes of unplanned 

events, compliance with regulatory information requirements, and personnel training 

relating to NPIRs (Requirements R9.4.1-.5) and dispute resolution procedures 

(Requirement R9.1.3). 

4. Nuclear Reliability Standard Development

15. NERC reports that in October 2004 it received a Standard Authorization Request 

(SAR) for NUC-001-1 from the Nuclear Energy Institute Grid Reliability Task Force. 

The NERC Standards Committee approved the SAR in May 2005 and authorized 

development of the Reliability Standard. After more than 50 stakeholders, including 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff, provided comments on the draft, the 

NERC Nuclear Reliability Standard drafting team finalized the proposed Reliability 

Standard and set it for vote. NERC reports that, while the first ballot in March 2007 

indicated approval by 77 percent of the weighted segment votes, negative ballots with 

comments triggered a recirculation ballot. NERC describes the negative comments as 

being largely concerned with two issues: (1) whether the term “transmission entities” is 

too ambiguous to be enforceable; and (2) whether the proposed Reliability Standard 

makes SOL determinations and Bulk-Power System integrity procedures subservient to 

nuclear plant licensing requirements. NERC reports the drafting team’s responses to 

these comments on “transmission entities” and SOL coordination. The drafting team 

supported its proposal for identifying transmission entities by stating that the proposed 

generic treatment was appropriate because it reflected the variety of potential interactions 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 12 - 

between a given nuclear plant generator operator and grid operators with nuclear plant 

interconnections. According to NERC, the drafting team indicated that the specific 

entities covered by the proposed Reliability Standard would be determined through the 

NUC-001-1 implementation plan. NERC states that the drafting team responded to 

criticisms that SOL coordination was not adequately supported by pointing out that the 

nuclear plant generator operators and transmission entities will develop NPIRs under 

NUC-001-1 through a collaborative process that permits both groups to identify and 

address both nuclear requirements and Bulk-Power System limits in the resulting 

agreements. 

16. With these responses, the proposed Reliability Standard passed in a recirculation 

ballot with an 80 percent weighted segment approval and a 96 percent quorum. The 

NERC Board of Trustees adopted the proposed Reliability Standard on May 2, 2007. To 

provide time for nuclear plant generator operators and transmission entities to identify 

NPIRs and negotiate and execute interface agreements, NERC proposes that NUC-001-1 

become effective in the United States on the first day of the calendar quarter falling 15 

months after Commission approval. 

II. Discussion

17. The Commission proposes to approve the Reliability Standard, NUC-001-1, 

effective as proposed by NERC, but seeks comment on several specific issues concerning 

the applicability of the Reliability Standard, coordination among transmission entities, 

and the scope of nuclear plant interface agreements. The Commission is not taking any 

action on the regional difference, because it applies outside of the United States and is not 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 13 - 

applicable to any facilities within the Commission’s jurisdiction.17 Further, the 

Commission proposes to order several modifications to the violation risk factors for the 

Reliability Standard and approve the proposed violation severity levels until they are 

superseded in an upcoming proceeding, as discussed below. The Commission also 

proposes to approve the proposed Glossary terms. 

A. Applicability 

18. Reliability Standard NUC-001-1 applies to nuclear plant generator operators and 

transmission entities, including off-site power suppliers and entities that provide 

distribution and transmission services that affect plant operations. NERC states that the 

Reliability Standard meets the criteria that it apply to users, owners and operators of the 

Bulk-Power System because NUC-001-1 will apply to transmission entities that are 

responsible for providing services relating to NPIRs. According to NERC, these 

transmission entities can affect the safety and reliability of the nuclear plant and BulkPower System, for instance in the case of a distribution service provider that supplies offsite power from a low-voltage, local distribution system. Therefore, these entities are 

subject to the Reliability Standard Requirements and may be registered under the NERC 

compliance registry process. 

19. While the Commission does not at this time propose to modify the Reliability 

Standard, this NOPR seeks comment on several issues concerning: (1) a nuclear plant 

 17 NERC proposes to adopt as a regional difference for Canada a separate 

definition of Nuclear Plant Licensing Requirements that does not reference regulatory 

requirements for off-site power supply for safe plant shutdown because Canada does not 

have regulatory standards for off-site power comparable to those established by the NRC. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 14 - 

generator operator’s role in notifying applicable transmission entities that they may be 

responsible for NPIRs, (2) when NUC-001-1 becomes applicable to transmission entities; 

and (3) the applicability of NERC’s compliance procedures when potential parties to 

interface agreements fail to reach agreement. The Commission presents its understanding 

of these applicability issues and seeks comment as discussed below. 

1. Notification of Parties to Interface Agreements 

20. Requirement R1 provides: “The Nuclear Plant Generator Operator shall provide 

the proposed NPIRs in writing to the applicable transmission entities and shall verify 

receipt.” Thus, it is the responsibility of a nuclear plant generator operator to notify its 

appropriate transmission entities that they are responsible for meeting the provisions of 

NUC-001-1. In response, a nuclear plant generator operator and its transmission entities 

are expected to negotiate and execute interface agreements “that include mutually agreed 

to NPIRs.” 

Commission Proposal

21. The Commission understands Requirement R1 to provide that, if a nuclear plant 

generator operator fails to provide all appropriate NPIRs to an applicable transmission 

entity, the nuclear plant generator operator will not be in compliance with the Reliability 

Standard. However, the Commission also understands that the impact of such an 

implication is limited, because a nuclear plant generator operator will know, as a result of 

the NRC licensing approval and review processes, which applicable entities to contact 

and what services are needed to meet NRC licensing requirements. Thus, it is unlikely 

that a nuclear plant generator operator would fail to obtain appropriate services and 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 15 - 

contact the necessary off-site power suppliers and transmission entities. With this 

understanding, the Commission preliminarily finds that the Requirement R1 obligation 

on a nuclear plant generator operator to contact transmission entities that will be subject 

to NUC-001-1 is appropriate. 

2. Transmission Entities 

22. The proposed Reliability Standard includes the term “transmission entities,” 

defined in the Applicability section of NUC-001-1 as “all entities that are responsible for 

providing services related to Nuclear Plant Interface Requirements (NPIRs).” NERC 

explains that each of the functional entities listed as transmission entities is defined as a 

user, owner, or operator of the Bulk-Power System. NERC notes that entities defined as 

transmission entities, such as distribution providers, are transmission entities by virtue of 

their involvement with a nuclear plant, by agreeing to meet an NPIR.18 NERC states that 

a distribution provider that supplies backup power to a nuclear plant from a local, lower 

voltage distribution system to meet the plant’s licensing requirements for offsite power 

will be considered a transmission entity, because the distribution provider can impact the 

safety and reliability of the nuclear plant and the Bulk-Power System.19 In particular, the 

November 19, 2007 Petition states: 

Because the relationship of each nuclear plant generator 

operator with its provider of transmission-related services is 

unique, it will be important and necessary for the registration 

process to identify on a plant-by-plant basis the specific 

 18 See NERC November 19, 2007 Petition at 12. 

19 Id. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 16 - 

transmission entities required to identify NPIRs and develop 

the requisite agreement. Once the agreement becomes final, 

all applicable nuclear plant generator operator and 

transmission entities for each agreement will be identified by 

name and specific function. The respective Regional Entity 

will then be responsible for ensuring that each nuclear plant 

generator operator and transmission entities identified in the 

agreement(s) is registered on the NERC Compliance Registry 

for the applicable function(s). NERC will work with the 

Regional Entities to ensure that all nuclear plant generator 

operators and transmission entities included in the agreements 

that result from the NPIRs are listed in the Compliance 

Registry for this specific reliability standard.[20] 

23. NERC explains that the term “transmission entities” is used to refer to all the 

entities that may provide services to meet NPIRs for the 104 various nuclear plants 

subject to NUC-001-1 Requirements. NERC adopted this approach to applicability 

because, due to the unique characteristics of the interconnection of each nuclear facility 

with its transmission grid, it is not possible to specify in advance and on a generic basis 

which functional entities operating near a given nuclear plant would be responsible for 

meeting the Requirements of NUC-001-1. 

24. NERC indicates that the particular transmission entities subject to the Reliability 

Standard will be determined as they are identified by the nuclear plant generator operator 

as providing services related to NPIRs, pursuant to Requirement R1. According to 

NERC, once a nuclear plant generator operator and its applicable transmission entities 

execute one or more interface agreements, a Regional Entity shall ensure that the 

transmission entities that are parties to the interface agreement are listed in the 

 20 NERC November 19, 2007 Petition at 12-13. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 17 - 

compliance registry and add to it any interface agreement parties that are subject to NUC001-1 but that were not previously identified in the NERC compliance registry process.21 

Commission Proposal 

25. The Commission proposes to accept the identification and registration process set 

forth in the November 19, 2007 Petition to determine applicability for NUC-001-1. This 

proposed acceptance comes with the Commission’s understanding that NERC will use its 

authority under the compliance registry process to register all users, owners and operators 

of the Bulk-Power System that provide transmission or generating services relating to 

off-site power supply or delivery.22 

26. Certain auxiliary power suppliers and transmission service providers may serve 

nuclear power plants through facilities that fall outside of the current Regional Entity 

definitions of bulk electric system that NERC uses to establish the applicability of the 

Reliability Standards. For instance, some nuclear power plants may obtain auxiliary 

power through lower voltage facilities that are not included in the Regional Entity’s 

definition of bulk electric system. Other nuclear power plants may retain alternate 

sources of auxiliary power provided through lower voltage facilities operated by a small 

 21 See Order No. 693 at P 92-96 (approving NERC compliance registry process) 

and NERC, “Statement of Compliance Registry Criteria (Revision 3),” filed with its 

Supplemental Information Filing, Docket No. RM06-16-000 (Feb. 6, 2007) (describing 

NERC procedures to identify and register owners, operators and users of the Bulk-Power 

System, including organizations performing functions listed in the definition of 

transmission entities, generators that are material to the Reliable Operation of the BulkPower System, and organizations that “should be subject to the Reliability Standards”). 

22 See NERC November 19, 2007 Petition at 12. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 18 - 

utility or cooperative that is not included in a Regional Entity’s definition of bulk electric 

system. The Commission understands that NERC and the Regional Entities will register 

these and other service providers that provide interconnection and/or auxiliary power 

facilities vital to nuclear plant operation through NERC’s authority to register an owner 

or operator of an otherwise exempt facility that is needed for Bulk-Power System 

reliability, on a facility-by-facility basis.23 Once registered, the transmission entity 

providing such services to a nuclear generating plant may be subject to other Reliability 

Standards applicable to the functional class within the NERC functional model for which 

the transmission entity has been registered, as deemed appropriate through the 

registration process. With this understanding, the Commission proposes to accept the 

scope of the definition of transmission entities as appropriate. 

27. In addition, the Commission seeks clarification from the ERO, and public 

comment, on several concerns regarding the implementation of the Reliability Standard 

and the registration of transmission entities. 

28. First, the Commission asks NERC to clarify its statement in the November 19, 

2007 Petition that the registry process will identify on a plant-by-plant basis the specific 

transmission entities that provide services relating to NPIRs. Specifically, does NERC 

intend, for entities that are not otherwise registered, to limit registration to those facilities 

that provide such services? How does this relate to the definition of bulk electric system? 

For example, when identifying “on a plant-by-plant basis the specific transmission 

 23 See Order No. 693 at P 101; NERC Statement of Compliance Registry, 

Revision 3.1 at 8. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 19 - 

entities required to identify NPIRs and develop the requisite agreement,”24 would the 

“plant” be identified as a critical facility that is included in the bulk electric system?25 

29. Second, the Commission understands the Nuclear Reliability Standard is not 

enforceable against an entity, other than a nuclear plant generator operator, until it 

executes an interface agreement. Upon execution, such an entity becomes a 

“transmission entity” subject to the Nuclear Reliability Standard and other Reliability 

Standards as noted above. The Commission requests comment on this understanding. 

30. Third, the Commission has concerns regarding the implementation of NUC-001-1 

in the context of a single entity that both operates a nuclear plant and is responsible to 

provide services related to NPIRs, as may be the case with an integrated utility. In that 

situation, a single entity would be both the nuclear plant generator operator and the 

transmission entity. The Commission seeks clarification from the ERO, and public 

comment, on whether an agreement or arrangement would be required in a situation 

where one entity both operates the nuclear plant and provide services related to NPIRs. If 

an agreement or arrangement is required, who would execute it, e.g., different functional 

units or divisions within the same entity? Would such an agreement or arrangement be 

accessible during a compliance audit? If an agreement is not required in this situation, 

 24 November 19, 2007 Petition at 12. 

25 See Order No. 693 at P 101 (holding generally, in the context of a specific 

Reliability Standard that identifies a threshold, that “despite the existence of a voltage or 

demand threshold for a particular Reliability Standard, the ERO or Regional Entity 

should be permitted to include an otherwise exempt facility on a facility-by-facility basis 

if it determines that the facility is needed for Bulk-Power System reliability”). 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 20 - 

will there be reasonable assurance of adequate coordination between the nuclear plant 

operator and other units within the entity that are responsible to provide services related 

NPIRs? 

3. Agreement on NPIRs

31. Other than Requirement R1, NUC-001-1 utilizes a consensus approach, in that the 

NPIRs contained in an interface agreement must be “mutually agreed to.” The proposed 

NERC Glossary term NPIR is defined, “The requirements, based on NPLRs [nuclear 

plant licensing requirements] and Bulk-Electric System requirements, that have been 

mutually agreed to by the nuclear plant generator operator and the applicable 

Transmission Entities” [emphasis added]. This emphasis on agreement is reflected in 

Requirement R2, which states that the interface agreements shall include “mutually 

agreed to NPIRs.” Requirement R2 also provides that the interface agreements shall 

document how the interface agreement parties will address and implement the NPIRs, 

and states that the resulting interface agreement “may include mutually agreed upon 

procedures or protocols.” 

32. According to NERC, the proposed Reliability Standard was initially drafted such 

that the nuclear power generator operators might unilaterally identify or change the 

NPIRs as then defined without mutual collaboration and agreement with the transmission 

entity. NERC states that this approach could have created limitations on the Bulk-Power 

System solely as a result of the NPIR declaration and resultant obligation of the 

transmission entity to operate the Bulk-Power System in accordance with these modified 

NPIRs. The standard drafting team responded to these initial comments and created the 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 21 - 

term “Nuclear Plant Licensing Requirements” for subsequent drafts. The term NPIR was 

also modified to reflect the requirements based on Nuclear Plant Licensing Requirements 

and Bulk-Power System requirements that have been mutually agreed to by the nuclear 

plant generator operator and the applicable transmission entity. According to NERC, 

these changes ensured that the transmission entities actively participated in the 

establishment of NPIRs and mitigated the potential for transmission limitations caused by 

unilateral decisions by the nuclear plant generator operators.26 Additionally, in defining 

NPIRs and documenting them in the required agreements per Requirement R2, the 

transmission entities can safeguard against the acceptance of NPIRs not expressly tied to 

licensing requirements that could impose a constraint to grid operation and limit available 

transmission capability. 

33. Also, NERC reports that the drafting team replied to comments that the proposed 

Reliability Standard subordinates SOLs and Bulk-Power System integrity to nuclear 

licensing requirements by noting that the NPIRs are to be developed through mutual 

collaboration. Therefore, the consensus approach provides parties to an interface 

agreement with the obligation and expectation to identify NPIRs and develop responses. 

Commission Proposal

34. The Commission proposes to find this consensus approach an acceptable and 

appropriate means to resolve concerns with the differing operational requirements faced 

by nuclear plant generator operators and transmission entities, as well as the variety of 

 26 November 19, 2007 Petition at 27. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 22 - 

issues that could arise among them. However, the Commission seeks clarification of 

what compliance options are available under the Reliability Standard when nuclear plant 

generator operators and transmission entities fail to reach agreement. 

35. The Commission notes that NPIRs are comprised of two distinct types of 

operational limits: (1) nuclear plant licensing requirements representing nuclear plant 

system limits, and (2) SOLs and IROLs representing transmission system limits. Each of 

these types of operational limits is determined through processes outside of NUC-001-1. 

Nuclear plant licensing requirements are developed through the NRC licensing 

procedures, and SOLs and IROLs are determined in accordance with methodologies 

required by the Facilities Design, Connection and Maintenance Reliability Standards.27 

36. The Commission is concerned with the possibility that nuclear plant generator 

operators and transmission entities may fail to come to agreement while attempting to 

draft an interface agreement. The Commission therefore asks NERC to clarify what 

compliance options are available when a nuclear plant generator operator and a 

designated transmission entity fail to come to agreement over a proposed NPIR or a 

suitable approach to resolve any failure to agree.28 

 27 Consequently, although the NPIRs are “mutually agreed to,” the Commission 

understands that the parties to the interface agreement may not alter by agreement the 

specific determinations of the limits contained in the nuclear plant licensing 

requirements, SOLs and IROLs that are established elsewhere. 

28 Requirement R9.1.4 states that an interface agreement must include a dispute 

resolution mechanism, which would apply to disagreements after the agreement is signed. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 23 - 

37. It appears that, prior to executing an interface agreement, no compliance registry 

process would be triggered and no agreed-to NPIRs would exist to support the remaining 

Requirements of the Reliability Standard. The Commission seeks clarification from 

NERC, and public comment, on a circumstance involving an off-site power supplier or 

other potential transmission entity that disagrees with the nuclear plant generator operator 

that it should execute an interface agreement. In such circumstance, how would NERC 

resolve the impasse? Also, would NERC proceed to register such an entity (if not 

previously registered) without an executed interface agreement? 

B. Scope of Agreements 

38. Although the Requirements of NUC-001-1 dictate that interface agreements 

contain various contractual terms and provide for various studies and procedures, the 

Reliability Standard does not describe specific substantive terms to be included in the 

agreements. NERC states that the Nuclear Reliability Standard drafting team adopted 

this consensus approach to coordinating nuclear plant and transmission grid operations to 

provide a platform for coordination at the interface that allows both nuclear plant 

generator operators and transmission entities to respect their main system drivers. NERC 

explains that the time and effort needed to coordinate nuclear and transmission system 

requirements in advance and on a generic basis was deemed to be prohibitive and the 

results of such an exercise deemed questionable. Therefore, according to NERC, the 

Nuclear Reliability Standard drafting team decided to focus on the interface agreement as 

the historical model for coordination. The interface agreement model, by its nature, 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 24 - 

places the obligation on nuclear plant generator operators and transmission entities to 

coordinate differing operational requirements by consensus. 

1. Generally

39. Based on the existence of workable interface agreements that are already in place 

to meet existing nuclear licensing requirements, the Commission understands that the 

studies, analysis and plant requirements are developed in the licensing process, prior to 

the NRC’s grant of a license or authority for continued operations. Thus, the required 

studies and licensing requirements to be addressed are typically established prior to the 

development of the interface agreements. In light of this process, the Commission 

proposes to find that the level of detail provided in the proposed Reliability Standard 

Requirements to define substantive provisions of the interface agreements is appropriate. 

However, the Commission has concerns about the interpretation of particular 

Requirements of NUC-001-1 on the development of the interface agreements, as 

described below. 

2. Revisions to Interface Agreements to Reflect Interim Changes 

40. Several of the Requirements direct the parties to interface agreements to include 

provisions to address changes to the nuclear plant or transmission grid characteristics. 

For example, Requirements R8 and R9 require nuclear plant generator operators and 

transmission entities to incorporate provisions in the interface agreements to inform one 

another of actual and proposed changes to their facilities that may impact their ability to 

meet the NPIRs. Furthermore, the Reliability Standard obligates the parties to interface 

agreements to incorporate provisions to review and update the agreement “at least every 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 25 - 

three years” under Requirement R9.1.3 and to address mitigation actions needed to avoid 

violating NPIRs under Requirement R9.3.4. 

Commission Proposal 

41. The Commission is concerned that an interface agreement may not be updated for 

significant system changes outside of the three-year review process. However, the 

Commission does not at this time expect revisions to the Reliability Standard to be 

necessary to address its concern. The Commission, therefore, proposes to find acceptable 

the provisions for revision to interface agreements, but seeks comment on whether NUC001-1 adequately provides for revisions to reflect interim changes. 

42. The Commission notes that the Requirements of NUC-001-1 describe a minimum 

set of elements that must be included in an interface agreement. The Commission 

understands that the NRC requires a nuclear plant generator operator to have 

operationally feasible solutions in place prior to authorizing plant start up or continued 

operation following licensing review procedures. As operating solutions are worked out 

in advance, the Commission would prefer that the updated operational procedures be 

reflected in the interface agreements prior to being implemented upon plant start up or 

reauthorization, or shortly thereafter. The Commission therefore seeks comment whether 

it is feasible for the nuclear plant interface agreements to provide for negotiation and 

amendments to address emerging transmission and generating system limits and revised 

nuclear plant licensing requirements prior to, or contemporaneously with, implementing 

operations solutions. At this time, the Commission anticipates that such an approach 

would not require revision to the Reliability Standard itself, and that such provision could 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 26 - 

be made to implement the standard contractual practice requiring negotiation and revision 

whenever external circumstances represent a material change to the original assumptions 

that forms the basis of the agreement. The Commission views such a provision as being 

consistent with Requirement R9.1.3, providing for review and update of an agreement “at 

least every three years,” and Requirement R9.3.4, providing for review and updates to 

address mitigation actions needed to avoid violating NPIRs. 

C. Coordination

43. Requirements R7 and R8 require communication between nuclear plant generator 

operators and transmission entities regarding significant changes in design, configuration, 

operation or limits of their facilities: 

Requirement R7: Per the Agreements developed in accordance with this 

standard, the Nuclear Plant Generator Operator shall inform the applicable 

Transmission Entities of actual or proposed changes to nuclear plant 

design, configuration, operations, limits, protection systems, or capabilities 

that may impact the ability of the electric system to meet the NPIRs. 

Requirement R8: Per the Agreements developed in accordance with this 

standard, the applicable Transmission Entities shall inform the Nuclear 

Plant Generator Operator of actual or proposed changes to electric system 

design, configuration, operations, limits, protection systems, or capabilities 

that may impact the ability of the electric system to meet the NPIRs. 

44. Furthermore, Requirement R6 obligates interface agreement parties to coordinate 

outages and maintenance activities; Requirement R9.3.6 requires coordination of physical 

and cyber-security protections; and Requirement R9.3.7 requires coordination of special 

protection systems and load shedding. Thus, these Requirements provide for 

communication between a nuclear plant generator operator and its individual 

transmission entities, as well as the reverse for communication from the transmission 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 27 - 

entities to the nuclear plant generator operator. However, these Requirements do not 

explicitly provide for communication and coordination among the various transmission 

entities that is necessary to facilitate the provision of generation and transmission services 

to support the nuclear power plant operations. 

Commission Proposal

45. The NUC-001-1 Requirements cited above explicitly provide for bilateral 

coordination between the nuclear plant generator operator and each individual 

transmission entity. However, the Reliability Standard does not explicitly require 

communication and coordination among the transmission entities necessary to meet the 

NPIRs. The Commission understands that the historical practice is for the interface 

agreement to provide for all necessary coordination, typically by obligating control area 

operators to communicate with neighboring entities, including Regional Transmission 

Organization-type grid operators and other interconnected utilities and load serving 

entities, when necessary. The Commission anticipates that, pursuant to the Requirements 

of the proposed Reliability Standard, the parties to nuclear plant interface agreements will 

continue to provide for coordination among transmission entities, in order to comply with 

NUC-001-1 Requirement R9.3.1 obligations to provide for coordination of interface 

facilities. Interface agreement parties may continue to designate former integrated 

control area operators when appropriate or may revise their approach, reflecting changes 

under restructuring to grid operations when necessary, consistent with coordination 

responsibilities provided for in existing Reliability Standards. Consistent with this 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 28 - 

understanding, the Commission proposes to accept the coordination provisions as 

requiring all appropriate coordination among transmission entities. 

D. Proposed Terms for Addition to the NERC Glossary 

46. In its November 19, 2007 Petition, NERC submitted and requested approval of 

additional terms that relate to the Nuclear Reliability Standard to be added to the NERC 

Glossary. The NERC Glossary initially became effective on April 1, 2005 and is updated 

whenever a new or revised Reliability Standard is approved that includes a new term or 

definition. 

Commission Proposal

47. Earlier in this NOPR,29 the Commission sought comment on implications of the 

phrase “mutually agreed to” in the NPIR definition. The Commission does not propose 

any revisions to the Glossary terms at this time, however, it is possible that comments 

received in response to this NOPR may raise unforeseen issues. With this understanding, 

the Commission proposes to approve the additional terms for the NERC Glossary. 

E. Violation Risk Factors

48. As part of its compliance and enforcement program, NERC plans to assign a 

lower, medium or high violation risk factor to each Requirement of each mandatory 

Reliability Standard to associate a violation of the Requirement with its potential impact 

on the reliability of the Bulk-Power System. Violation risk factors are defined as 

follows: 

 29 See section II(A)(3), above, discussing “Agreement on NPIRs.” 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 29 - 

High Risk Requirement: (a) is a requirement that, if violated, could directly 

cause or contribute to Bulk-Power System instability, separation, or a 

cascading sequence of failures, or could place the Bulk-Power System at an 

unacceptable risk of instability, separation, or cascading failures; or (b) is a 

requirement in a planning time frame that, if violated, could, under 

emergency, abnormal, or restorative conditions anticipated by the 

preparations, directly cause or contribute to Bulk-Power System instability, 

separation, or a cascading sequence of failures, or could place the BulkPower System at an unacceptable risk of instability, separation, or 

cascading failures, or could hinder restoration to a normal condition. 

Medium Risk Requirement: (a) is a requirement that, if violated, could 

directly affect the electrical state or the capability of the Bulk-Power 

System, or the ability to effectively monitor and control the Bulk-Power 

System, but is unlikely to lead to Bulk-Power System instability, 

separation, or cascading failures; or (b) is a requirement in a planning time 

frame that, if violated, could, under emergency, abnormal, or restorative 

conditions anticipated by the preparations, directly affect the electrical state 

or capability of the Bulk-Power System, or the ability to effectively 

monitor, control, or restore the Bulk-Power System, but is unlikely, under 

emergency, abnormal, or restoration conditions anticipated by the 

preparations, to lead to Bulk-Power System instability, separation, or 

cascading failures, nor to hinder restoration to a normal condition. 

Lower Risk Requirement: is administrative in nature and (a) is a 

requirement that, if violated, would not be expected to affect the electrical 

state or capability of the Bulk-Power System, or the ability to effectively 

monitor and control the Bulk-Power System; or (b) is a requirement in a 

planning time frame that, if violated, would not, under the emergency, 

abnormal, or restorative conditions anticipated by the preparations, be 

expected to affect the electrical state or capability of the Bulk-Power 

System, or the ability to effectively monitor, control, or restore the BulkPower System.[30] 

49. In its November 19, 2007 Petition, NERC identifies violation risk factors for each 

Requirement of proposed Reliability Standard NUC-001-1. NERC proposes either a 

 30 North American Electric Reliability Corp., 119 FERC ¶ 61,145, at P 9 (2007) 

(Violation Risk Factor Order). 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 30 - 

lower or medium violation risk factor for each Requirement of NUC-001-1.31 NERC 

requests that the Commission approve the violation risk factors when it takes action on 

the Nuclear Reliability Standard. 

50. In the Violation Risk Factor Order, the Commission addressed violation risk 

factors filed by NERC for Version 0 and Version 1 Reliability Standards. In that order, 

the Commission used five guidelines for evaluating the validity of each violation risk 

factor assignment: (1) consistency with the conclusions of the Blackout Report, 

(2) consistency within a Reliability Standard, (3) consistency among Reliability 

Standards with similar Requirements, (4) consistency with NERC’s proposed definition 

of the violation risk factor level, and (5) assignment of violation risk factor levels to those 

Requirements in certain Reliability Standards that co-mingle a higher risk reliability 

objective and a lower risk reliability objective.32 

Commission Proposal

51. The Commission proposes to direct NERC to raise violation risk factors for 

several Requirements, as discussed below. The Commission generally views a 

Reliability Standard that ensures safe and reliable nuclear power plant operation and 

shutdown as meriting violation risk factors of medium or high, rather than lower, due to 

the reliability benefits of nuclear power and the impact of separating a plant from the 

 31 NERC proposes a lower violation risk factor for Requirements R1, R2, and R9 

and a medium violation risk factor for Requirements R3 through R8. 

32 For a complete discussion of each factor, see the Violation Risk Factor Order at 

P 19-36. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 31 - 

grid. While it is true that many of the Requirements are administrative in nature, these 

same Requirements provide for the development of procedures to ensure the safe and 

reliable operation of the grid, and responses to potential emergency conditions. If the 

Requirements are not met, the procedures will not be in place to address changing or 

emergency conditions or provide for safe operation and shutdown of a nuclear power 

plant. In short, the Requirements co-mingle the administrative tasks with the more 

critical reliability objective of ensuring safe nuclear power plant operation and shutdown. 

The Commission understands that NERC will apply the violation risk factor for the main 

Requirement to any violation of a sub-Requirement, unless separate violation risk factors 

are assigned to the Requirement and the sub-Requirement. The Commission discusses 

individual Requirements of NUC-001-1 and proposes changes, below. 

a. Requirement R2

52. The Commission proposes to direct NERC to raise the violation risk factor for 

Requirement R2 from lower to medium and seeks comment on this proposal. 

Requirement R2 places an obligation on a nuclear plant generator operator and 

transmission entities that agree to provide services relating to NPIRs to have an interface 

agreement in place to document how nuclear licensing requirements and transmission 

system limits will be addressed. Thus, the Requirement co-mingles the administrative 

element of having an executed agreement in place with the operational element of 

determining how the parties to the interface agreement will address nuclear plant 

licensing requirements and SOLs in order to provide for safe nuclear plant operation and 

shutdown. The operational requirements established in the interface agreements include 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 32 - 

requirements for off-site power to enable safe operation and shutdown during an electric 

system or plant event and requirements for avoiding nuclear safety issues as a result of 

changes in electric system conditions during a disturbance, transient or normal 

conditions. Therefore, because a violation of Requirement R2 “could, under emergency, 

abnormal, or restorative conditions anticipated by the preparations, directly affect the 

electrical state or capability of the Bulk-Power System,” a medium violation risk factor is 

appropriate for this Requirement. 

b. Requirement R4

53. The Commission proposes to direct NERC to raise the violation risk factors for 

sub-Requirements R4.2 and R4.3 to high, and seeks comment on its proposal. NERC 

proposes a medium violation risk factor for sub-Requirement R4.1, R4.2, and R4.3, 

which state that transmission entities shall incorporate the NPIRs into operating analyses, 

operate to meet the NPIRs and inform the nuclear plant generator operator when it loses 

the ability to assess its performance to meet the NPIRs. 

54. Requirement R4.2 states that transmission entities shall operate their electric 

systems to meet the NPIRs established in the interface agreements. According to NERC, 

the NPIRs form the basis under which nuclear plant generator operators and transmission 

entities will “coordinate planning, assessment, analysis, and operation of the bulk power 

system to ensure safe nuclear plant operations and shutdowns.” Therefore, under 

emergency, abnormal, or restorative conditions a violation of Requirement R4.2 could 

directly cause or contribute to Bulk-Power System instability, separation, or a cascading 

sequence of failures, or could place the Bulk-Power System at an unacceptable risk of 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 33 - 

instability, separation, or cascading failures.33 For these reasons, the Commission 

believes that a high violation risk factor is appropriate for Requirement R4.2. 

55. Under Requirement R4.3, when the transmission entities have lost the ability to 

monitor the system to ensure that NPIRs are met, they must inform the nuclear plant 

generator operators. The Commission believes that, if a nuclear plant generator operator 

is unaware of the fact that a transmission entity can no longer guarantee that NPIRs are 

met, the nuclear plant generator operator’s ability to respond to, or anticipate, 

emergencies and changing system conditions will be impaired. Such an event could 

increase the likelihood that the plant is separated from the transmission system, causing 

significant degradation in Bulk-Power System reliability, characterized by instability, 

uncontrolled islanding and cascading. Therefore, the Commission proposes to direct 

NERC to raise the violation risk factor for Requirements R4.2 and R4.3 from medium to 

high, and requests comment on this proposal. 

c. Requirement R5

56. The Commission proposes to direct NERC to raise the violation risk factor for 

Requirement R5 from medium to high, and seeks comment on its proposal. Requirement 

R5 states that a nuclear plant generator operator shall operate its system consistent with 

the interface agreement developed under NUC-001-1. Due to the size of nuclear power 

 33 See also the NERC November 19, 2007 Petition at 20: “The proposed 

reliability standard also acknowledges that the obligation to public safety relative to 

nuclear plant operation establishes a unique set of requirements that other generating 

facilities are not subjected to. In order to protect the common good, the applicable 

transmission entities must respect these unique requirements that maintain and/or restore 

offsite power adequate to supply minimum nuclear safety requirements.” 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 34 - 

plants, the separation of a nuclear power plant from the grid may significantly affect grid 

operations. Not all nuclear power plant service interruptions are initiated by incidents 

occurring off the nuclear power plant system. For instance, if a nuclear power plant 

breaker opens, separating a turbine from the grid, the resulting lack of power could cause 

degraded voltage near the plant. As a result, the transmission system may be unable to 

deliver off-site power to the plant, causing the entire plant to separate from the grid.34 

Due to the possibility for a violation of Requirement R5 to directly affect the reliability of 

the system, the Commission proposes to direct NERC to raise the violation risk factor for 

this Requirement from medium to high. 

d. Requirements R7 and R8

57. The Commission proposes to direct NERC to raise the violation risk factors for 

Requirements R7 and R8 from medium to high, and seeks comment on its proposal. 

Requirements R7 and R8 state that a nuclear plant generator operator and its transmission 

entities must inform each other of actual or proposed changes to their facilities that affect 

their ability to meet NPIRs. The information to be exchanged, such as “limits” and 

“protection systems,” is relevant for a transmission entity to determine its system 

capability and configuration, which affect the ability of a plant to remain connected to the 

Bulk-Power System. Due to the safety implications of nuclear generation, a transmission 

entity must plan and operate to meet a nuclear power plant’s operating requirements, 

 34 Nuclear power plants are large, typically consisting of two large turbines on the 

order of 1,000 MW or more, so disruptions within the nuclear plant system can have 

significant reciprocal impacts on the interconnected system. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 35 - 

which are more stringent than for other generators. To permit the necessary planning and 

system operations, a nuclear plant generator operator and its applicable transmission 

entities must exchange information relating to proposed and actual system changes. If 

transmission entities and nuclear plant generator operators do not provide information 

concerning system changes to each other, their planning and operating analyses may not 

be based on accurate data. As a result, unanticipated events could result in the nuclear 

plant disconnecting from the Bulk-Power System, placing the Bulk-Power System at risk 

for cascading outages. 

58. The Blackout Report highlighted the importance of coordinated planning and 

operations between the Bulk-Power System and nuclear power plants, stating “[a]s the 

design and operation of the electricity grid is taken into account when evaluating the 

safety analysis of nuclear power plants, changes to the electricity grid must be evaluated 

for the impact on plant safety.”35 To account for the potential impact on safety and the 

integrity of the transmission system, the Commission proposes to direct NERC to raise 

the violation risk factors for Requirements R7 and R8 from medium to high. 

e. Requirement R9 

59. The Commission proposes to direct NERC to raise the violation risk factor for 

Requirement R9 from lower to medium, and seeks comment on its proposal. According 

to NERC, Requirement R9 sets forth the specific administrative, technical, operations, 

maintenance, coordination, communications, and training elements that a nuclear plant 

 35 Blackout Report at 129. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 36 - 

generator operator and its transmission entities must include in their interface agreement. 

Thus, similar to Requirement R2, Requirement R9 co-mingles the administrative element 

of incorporating the various elements into the interface agreement with the operational 

element of determining how the parties to the interface agreement will address the 

administrative, technical, operations, maintenance, coordination, communications, and 

training issues in order to provide for safe nuclear plant operation and shutdown. A 

violation of Requirement R9 may mean that the necessary operational or emergency 

planning elements are not in place, resulting in an inability to resolve system conditions 

in an emergency. Therefore, a violation of Requirement R9 “could, under emergency, 

abnormal, or restorative conditions anticipated by the preparations, directly affect the 

electrical state or capability of the Bulk-Power System.” Consequently, the Commission 

proposes to find that a medium violation risk factor is appropriate for Requirement R9. 

Should NERC wish to assign a lower violation risk factor to any of the purely 

administrative sub-Requirements of Requirement R9, it may propose appropriate 

differentiation in its comments. 

F. Violation Severity Levels

60. For each Requirement of a Reliability Standard, NERC states that it will also 

define up to four violation severity levels – lower, moderate, high and severe – as 

measurements of the degree to which the Requirement was violated. For a specific 

violation of a particular Requirement, NERC or the Regional Entity will establish the 

initial value range for the base penalty amount by finding the intersection of the 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 37 - 

applicable violation risk factor and violation severity level in the Base Penalty Amount 

Table in Appendix A of the Sanction Guidelines.36 

61. In its November 19, 2007 Petition, NERC proposes violation severity levels that 

apply generally to all violations of the Requirements of NUC-001-1, rather than to 

specific Requirements and sub-Requirements. However, NERC submitted proposed 

violation severity levels for each Requirement and sub-Requirement of NUC-001-1 that 

supersede those from the November 19, 2007 Petition pursuant to its March 3, 2008 

compliance filing in Docket No. RR08-4-000.37 

Commission Proposal

62. Because NERC has recently filed new Requirement and sub-Requirement-specific 

violation severity levels in Docket No. RR08-4-000, the Commission intends to address 

all issues relating to NUC-001-1 violation severity levels in that proceeding. In the 

interim, should the review process in Docket No. RR08-4-000 not approve revised 

violation risk factors before the NUC-001-1 effective date, the Commission proposes to 

approve the interim violation severity levels proposed in this proceeding, until acceptance 

of the superseding violation severity levels. The Commission notes that the proposed 

violation severity levels for NUC-001-1 resemble the levels of non-compliance that will 

 36 See North American Electric Reliability Corp., 119 FERC ¶ 61,248, at P 74 

(2007) (directing NERC to develop up to four violation severity levels (lower, moderate, 

high, and severe) as measurements of the degree of a violation for each requirement and 

sub-requirement of a Reliability Standard and submit a compliance filing by March 1, 

2008). 

37 The updated NUC-001-1 violation severity levels are provided in NERC’s 

March 4, 2008 filing of revised Exhibit A in Docket No. RR08-4-000. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 38 - 

also be replaced by NERC’s compliance filing in Docket No. RR08-4-000 because they 

describe violation severity levels for groups of Requirements in the Reliability Standard 

rather than on a per-Requirement and sub-Requirement basis. Because NERC’s proposed 

violation severity levels do not specifically refer to each Requirement and subRequirement in NUC-001-1, the Commission is concerned that, if the new violation risk 

factors are not approved by the time NUC-001-1 takes effect, Regional Entities may have 

difficulty using NERC’s Base Penalty Amount Table to compute penalties for violations 

of all Requirements and sub-Requirements.38 While the Commission believes that the 

proposed effective date for NUC-001-1 provides ample time to address the violation 

severity levels filed in Docket No. RR08-4-000, the Commission proposes to treat the 

proposed, undifferentiated violation severity levels for NUC-001-1 consistent with the 

treatment adopted for levels of non-compliance, until Requirement and sub-Requirementspecific violation severity levels are in place.39 

III. Information Collection Statement

63. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations require approval of 

certain information collection requirements imposed by agency rules.40 Upon approval of 

a collection(s) of information, OMB will assign an OMB control number and an 

expiration date. Respondents subject to the filing requirements of this rule will not be 

penalized for failing to respond to these collections of information unless the collections 

 38 See North American Electric Reliability Corp., 119 FERC ¶ 61,248 at P 78-80. 

39 See id. P 79. 

40 5 CFR 1320.11. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 39 - 

of information display a valid OMB control number. The Paperwork Reduction Act 

(PRA)41 requires each federal agency to seek and obtain OMB approval before 

undertaking a collection of information directed to ten or more persons, or continuing a 

collection for which OMB approval and validity of the control number are about to 

expire.42 The PRA defines the phrase “collection of information” to be the “obtaining, 

causing to be obtained, soliciting, or requiring the disclosure to third parties or the public, 

of facts or opinions by or for an agency, regardless of form or format, calling for either— 

(i) answers to identical questions posed to, or identical 

reporting or recordkeeping requirements imposed on ten or 

more persons, other than agencies, instrumentalities, or 

employees of the United States; or (ii) answers to questions 

posed to agencies, instrumentalities, or employees of the 

United States which are to be used for general statistical 

purposes.”43 

64. This NOPR proposes to approve the new Reliability Standard developed by NERC 

as the ERO. Section 215 of the FPA authorizes the ERO to develop and enforce 

Reliability Standards that provide for an adequate level of reliability of the Bulk-Power 

System. Pursuant to the statute, the ERO must submit each Reliability Standard that it 

proposes to be made effective to the Commission for approval.44 

65. Proposed Reliability Standard NUC-001-1 does not require responsible entities to 

file information with the Commission. Nor, with the exception of a three year self-

 41 44 U.S.C. 3501-20. 

42 44 U.S.C. 3502(3)(A)(i), 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(3). 

43 44 U.S.C. 3502(3)(A). 

44 See 16 U.S.C. 824o(d). 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 40 - 

certification of compliance, does the Reliability Standard require responsible entities to 

file information with the ERO or Regional Entities. However, the Reliability Standard 

does require responsible entities to develop and maintain certain information for a 

specified period of time, subject to inspection by the ERO or Regional Entities. 

66. Reliability Standard NUC-001-1 requires nuclear plant generator operators and 

entities that provide generation, transmission and distribution services relating to off-site 

power (these entities are defined as “transmission entities”) to enter into interface 

agreements with nuclear plant generator operators that will govern certain 

communication, training, operational and planning elements for use in addressing 

generation and transmission system limits and nuclear licensing requirements. The 

Commission understands that most entities subject to this Reliability Standard already 

have such agreements in place. The responsible entities are also required to retain 

evidence that they executed such an agreement and incorporated its terms into systems 

planning and operations. Further, each nuclear plant generator operator and transmission 

entity must self-certify its compliance to the compliance monitor once every three years. 

67. The Commission is submitting these reporting and recordkeeping requirements to 

OMB for its review and approval under section 3507(d) of the PRA. Comments are 

solicited on the Commission’s need for this information, whether the information will 

have practical utility, the accuracy of provided burden estimates, ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected, and any suggested methods 

for minimizing the respondent’s burden, including the use of automated information 

techniques. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 41 - 

68. Our estimate below regarding the number of respondents is based on the NERC 

compliance registry as of April 2007 and NERC’s November 19, 2007 Petition that is the 

subject of this proceeding. In its Petition, NERC states that 104 nuclear power plants are 

subject to the proposed Reliability Standard. These plants are run by approximately 30 

different utilities and are located on 65 different sites. Each plant must contract with 

transmission entities to obtain off-site power, and coordinate distribution and 

transmission services for such power. 

69. The proposed Reliability Standard identifies eleven categories of functional 

entities that could be a transmission entity when providing covered services, including 

transmission operators, transmission owners, transmission planners, transmission service 

providers, balancing authorities, reliability coordinators, planning authorities, distribution 

providers, load-serving entities, generator owners and generator operators. NERC’s 

compliance registry indicates that there is a significant amount of overlap among the 

entities that perform these functions. Therefore, in some instances, a single entity may be 

registered under several of these functions. The November 19, 2007 Petition includes 

NERC drafting team comments which report, “In many cases, agreements are not twoparty [agreements] – they are often multi-party agreements involving RTO/ISO 

Protocols, transmission and generation owners and others.”45 Therefore, this analysis 

attempts to account for the overlap of services to be provided by entities responsible for 

 45 NERC Nuclear Reliability Standard drafting team, “Consideration of 

Comments, Draft 2 – SAR on Nuclear Plant Offsite Power Reliability,” p. 2 of 25 

(May 23, 2005), filed in November 19, 2007 Petition, Exhibit B, Record of Development 

of Proposed Reliability Standard. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 42 - 

the various roles identified in the Reliability Standard, as well as the fact that certain 

plants may need to coordinate with multiple entities. 

70. Under NUC-001-1, the 104 nuclear power plants must coordinate with off-site 

power suppliers and related transmission and/or distribution service providers. The 

Nuclear Reliability Standard drafting team reports in its responses to SAR comments, 

“Nuclear plant generators and most nuclear offsite power supplies interconnect with the 

bulk electric system at transmission system voltage levels. While backup station service 

for some plants may be provided via distribution lines, these cases are the exception, not 

the rule.”46 Assuming conservatively, that not more than half of the nuclear power plants 

call for multi-party coordination and those that do involve all the types of parties listed by 

the drafting team, the Commission estimates that 52 nuclear plants will execute bi-lateral 

interface agreements and 52 nuclear plants will execute multi-lateral interface agreements 

with approximately four other parties. Thus, the Commission estimates that the 104 

nuclear plants will enter into agreements with an additional 260 parties to bilateral and 

multi-party agreements, providing 364 as the total number of entities required to comply 

with the information “reporting” or development requirements of the proposed Reliability 

Standard.47 

 46 NERC Nuclear Reliability Standard drafting team, “Consideration of Comments 

on 2nd Draft of Nuclear Off-site Power Supply Standard,” p. 54 of 60 (Feb. 7, 2007), 

filed in November 19, 2007 Petition, Exhibit B, Record of Development of Proposed 

Reliability Standard. 

47 Because it is assumed that each plant operator must ensure that appropriate 

agreements are in place for each plant, this analysis assesses the workload by measuring 

the work for 104 plants, rather than for the 30 nuclear plant operators. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 43 - 

71. Burden Estimate: The Public Reporting burden for the requirements contained in 

the NOPR is as follows: 

Data Collection No. of 

Respondents 

No. of 

Responses 

Hours Per 

Respondent 

Total Annual 

Hours 

FERC-725F

Reporting: 

80 

Reporting: 

8,320 

Nuclear Plant 

Owners or 

Operators 

104 1 

Recordkeeping: 

40 

Recordkeeping: 

4,160 

Reporting: 

80 

Reporting: 

10,400 

Investor-Owned 

Utilities 

130 1 

Recordkeeping: 

40 

Recordkeeping: 

5,200 

Reporting: 

80 

Reporting: 

10,400 

Large 

Municipals, 

Cooperatives 

and other 

agencies 

130 1 

Recordkeeping: 

40 

Recordkeeping: 

5,200 

Total 364 43,680 

Total Hours: (Reporting 29,120 hours + Recordkeeping 14,560 hours) = 43,680 hours. 

(FTE=Full Time Equivalent or 2,080 hours) 

Total Annual hours for Collection: Reporting + Recordkeeping = 43,680 hours. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 44 - 

Information Collection Costs: The Commission seeks comments on the costs to comply 

with these requirements. It has projected the average annualized cost to be the total 

annual hours (Reporting) 29,120 times $120 = $3,494,400. 

Recordkeeping = @ $40/hour = $ 582,400, with labor calculated as file/record 

clerk @ $17 an hour + supervisory @ $23 an hour. 

Total costs = $4,076,800. 

The Commission believes that this estimate may be conservative because most if not all 

of the applicable entities currently have agreements in place to provide for coordination 

between a nuclear plant generator operator and its local transmission, distribution and 

off-site power suppliers. Furthermore, multiple plants are located on certain sites, and 

one entity may operate multiple plants, providing for potential economies in updating, 

drafting and executing the interface agreements. 

Title: FERC-725F, Mandatory Reliability Standard for Nuclear Plant Interface 

Coordination 

Action: Proposed Collection of Information 

OMB Control No: [To be determined.]

Respondents: Business or other for profit, and/or not for profit institutions. 

Frequency of Responses: One time to initially comply with the rule, and then on 

occasion as needed to revise or modify. In addition, annual and three-year selfcertification requirements will apply. 

Necessity of the Information: The Nuclear Reliability Standard, if adopted, would 

implement the Congressional mandate of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to develop 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 45 - 

mandatory and enforceable Reliability Standards to better ensure the reliability of the 

nation’s Bulk-Power System. Specifically, the proposed Reliability Standard would 

ensure that system operating limits or SOLs used in the reliability planning and operation 

of the Bulk-Power System are coordinated with nuclear licensing requirements in order to 

ensure the safe operation and shut down of nuclear power plants. 

Internal review: The Commission has reviewed the requirements pertaining to the 

proposed Reliability Standard for the Bulk-Power System and determined that the 

proposed requirements are necessary to meet the statutory provisions of the Energy 

Policy Act of 2005. These requirements conform to the Commission’s plan for efficient 

information collection, communication and management within the energy industry. The 

Commission has assured itself, by means of internal review, that there is specific, 

objective support for the burden estimates associated with the information requirements. 

72. Interested persons may obtain information on the reporting requirements by 

contacting: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE, Washington, 

DC 20426 [Attention: Michael Miller, Office of the Executive Director, Phone: 

(202) 502-8415, fax: (202) 273-0873, e-mail: michael.miller@ferc.gov]. Comments on 

the requirements of the proposed rule may also be sent to the Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, D.C. 20503 

[Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission], e-mail: 

oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 46 - 

IV. Environmental Analysis

73. The Commission is required to prepare an Environmental Assessment or an 

Environmental Impact Statement for any action that may have a significant adverse effect 

on the human environment.48 The Commission has categorically excluded certain actions 

from this requirement as not having a significant effect on the human environment. The 

actions proposed here fall within the categorical exclusion in the Commission's 

regulations for rules that are clarifying, corrective or procedural, for information 

gathering, analysis, and dissemination.49 Accordingly, neither an environmental impact 

statement nor environmental assessment is required. 

V. Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis

74. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA)50 generally requires a description 

and analysis of final rules that will have significant economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. Most of the entities, i.e., planning authorities, reliability 

coordinators, transmission planners and transmission operators, to which the 

requirements of this rule would apply do not fall within the definition of small entities.51 

 48 Order No. 486, Regulations Implementing the National Environmental Policy 

Act, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 30,783 (1987). 

49 18 CFR 380.4(a)(5). 

50 5 U.S.C. 601-12. 

51 The RFA definition of “small entity” refers to the definition provided in the 

Small Business Act, which defines a “small business concern” as a business that is 

independently owned and operated and that is not dominant in its field of operation. See

15 U.S.C. 632 (2000). According to the SBA, a small electric utility is defined as one 

that has a total electric output of less than four million MWh in the preceding year. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 47 - 

75. As indicated above, based on available information regarding NERC’s compliance 

registry, approximately 364 entities, including owners and operators of 104 nuclear 

power plants, will be responsible for compliance with the new Reliability Standard. It is 

estimated that one-third of the responsible entities, about 130 entities, would be 

municipal and cooperative organizations. In addition to generator owners and operators 

and distribution service providers, the proposed Reliability Standard would apply to 

planning authorities, transmission planners, transmission operators and reliability 

coordinators, which tend to be larger entities. Thus, the Commission believes that only a 

portion, approximately 30 to 40 of the municipal and cooperative organizations to which 

the proposed Reliability Standard would apply, qualify as small entities.52 The 

Commission does not consider this a substantial number of all municipal and cooperative 

organizations. Moreover, as discussed above, the proposed Reliability Standard will not 

be a burden on the industry since most if not all of the applicable entities currently 

coordinate operations and planning with nuclear plant generator operators and the 

proposed Reliability Standard will simply provide a common framework for agreements 

 52 According to the DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), there were 

3,284 electric utility companies in the United States in 2005, and 3,029 of these electric 

utilities qualify as small entities under the SBA definition. Among these 3,284 electric 

utility companies are: (1) 883 cooperatives of which 852 are small entity cooperatives; 

(2) 1,862 municipal utilities, of which 1842 are small entity municipal utilities; (3) 127 

political subdivisions, of which 114 are small entity political subdivisions; and (4) 219 

privately owned utilities, of which 104 could be considered small entity private utilities. 

See Energy Information Administration Database, Form EIA-861, Dept. of Energy 

(2005), available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/page/eia861.html. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 48 - 

governing such coordination and many of the entities already have agreements in place to 

meet prior NRC requirements. Accordingly, the Commission certifies that the proposed 

Reliability Standard will not have a significant adverse impact on a substantial number of 

small entities. 

76. Based on this understanding, the Commission certifies that this rule will not have a 

significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Accordingly, no 

regulatory flexibility analysis is required. 

VI. Comment Procedures

77. The Commission invites interested persons to submit comments on the matters and 

issues proposed in this notice to be adopted, including any related matters or alternative 

proposals that commenters may wish to discuss. Comments are due [Insert 30 days from 

publication in the FEDERAL REGISTER]. Comments must refer to Docket No. 

RM08-3-000, and must include the commenter's name, the organization they represent, if 

applicable, and their address in their comments. 

78. The Commission encourages comments to be filed electronically via the eFiling 

link on the Commission's web site at http://www.ferc.gov. The Commission accepts 

most standard word processing formats. Documents created electronically using word 

processing software should be filed in native applications or print-to-PDF format and not 

in a scanned format. Commenters filing electronically do not need to make a paper 

filing. 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 49 - 

79. Commenters that are not able to file comments electronically must send an 

original and 14 copies of their comments to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426. 

80. All comments will be placed in the Commission's public files and may be viewed, 

printed, or downloaded remotely as described in the Document Availability section 

below. Commenters on this proposal are not required to serve copies of their comments 

on other commenters. 

VII. Document Availability

81. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the Federal Register, the 

Commission provides all interested persons an opportunity to view and/or print the 

contents of this document via the Internet through FERC's Home Page 

(http://www.ferc.gov) and in FERC's Public Reference Room during normal business 

hours (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time) at 888 First Street, NE, Room 2A, 

Washington, DC 20426. 

82. From FERC's Home Page on the Internet, this information is available on 

eLibrary. The full text of this document is available on eLibrary in PDF and Microsoft 

Word format for viewing, printing, and/or downloading. To access this document in 

eLibrary, type the docket number excluding the last three digits of this document in the 

docket number field. 

83. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the FERC’s website during normal 

business hours from FERC Online Support at (202) 502-6652 (toll free at (866) 208- 
Docket No. RM08-3-000 - 50 - 

3676) or email at ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or the Public Reference Room at (202) 

502-8371, TTY (202) 502-8659. E-mail the Public Reference Room at 

public.referenceroom@ferc.gov. 

List of subjects in 18 CFR Part 40 

Electric power; Reporting and recordkeeping requirements 

By direction of the Commission. 

( S E A L ) 

Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr., 

Deputy Secretary. 
Appendix A: RM08-3-000, Nuclear Reliability Standard - 51 - 
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