64896 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 236 / Tuesday, December 9, 1997 / Notices

The licensee requested the exemption

pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12. This

regulation allows the Commission to

grant exemptions from the requirements

of 10 CFR part 50 which are

‘‘[a]uthorized by law, will not present

an undue risk to the public health and

safety, and are consistent with the

common defense and security.’’

However, the ‘‘Commission will not

consider granting an exemption unless

special circumstances are present.’’

Section 50.12(a)(2) lists the criteria for

qualifying as a special circumstance. On

the basis of the information submitted

by the licensee, the NRC staff evaluated

the licensee’s request against 10 CFR

50.12(a)(2)(ii), which states

‘‘[a]pplication of the regulation in the

particular circumstances would not

serve the underlying purpose of the rule

or is not necessary to achieve the

underlying purpose of the rule.’’

III

The underlying purpose of the

requirement to perform Type B and

Type C testing at intervals not to exceed

2 years is to protect the public by

assuring that leakage through the

primary reactor containment does not

exceed allowable values. The licensee’s

facility is currently in an extended

outage. During this outage, primary

containment integrity is not required to

be maintained. The primary

containment, along with the emergency

core cooling system, was designed to

limit the offsite doses to values less than

those specified in 10 CFR Part 100 in

the event of a break in the primary

system piping. Thus, containment

integrity is required whenever the

potential for loss of the primary reactor

system integrity could result in

significant offsite doses. Concern about

such a condition exists whenever the

reactor is critical and above atmospheric

pressure. In this case, MNPS1 has been

shut down for an extended period of

time and primary containment integrity

is not required. Primary containment

integrity will not be required until

MNPS1 restarts (currently scheduled for

June 1998). As long as MNPS1 remains

shut down, containment integrity is not

required and, therefore, testing for

containment integrity is not required to

adequately protect the public. The

public will continue to be adequately

protected as long as the Type B and

Type C testing is satisfactorily

completed prior to restarting from

RF015.

IV

On the basis of the above discussion,

the staff finds that the licensee’s request

for exemption is authorized by law, will

not present an undue risk to the public

health and safety, and is consistent with

the common defense and security as

specified in 10 CFR 50.12(a)(1).

Additionally, the staff finds that

application of the regulations in this

particular circumstance would not

serve, nor is it necessary to achieve, the

underlying purpose of the rule.

Therefore, the licensee’s requested

scheduler exemption from the 2-year

testing requirements of Sections

III.D.2.(a) and III.D.3 of Option A of

Appendix J to 10 CFR part 50 is granted.

V

Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the

Commission has determined that

granting this exemption will not have a

significant impact on the environment

(62 FR 63736).

This exemption is effective upon

issuance and shall expire when

containment integrity is required for

startup from the current refueling

outage.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day

of December 1997.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Roy P. Zimmerman,

Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation

[FR Doc. 97–32162 Filed 12–8–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING: Nuclear

Regulatory Commission.

DATE: Weeks of December 8, 15, 22, and

29, 1997.

PLACE: Commissioners’ Conference

Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,

Maryland.

STATUS: Public and Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:

Week of December 8

Thursday, December 11

2:00 p.m.—Affirmation Session (public

meeting)

a. Final Rule—Deliberate Misconduct

by Unlicensed Persons

b. Order Denying a Motion to Quash

Six Subpoenas Issued by the Office

of Investigations (Contact: Bob

McOsker, 301–415–1651)

2:05 p.m.—Briefing on Investigative

Matters (Closed—Ex. 5 & 7)

Friday, December 12

9:00 a.m.—Meeting with Northeast

Nuclear on Millstone (Public

meeting) (Contact: Bill Travers,

301–415–1200)

Week of December 15—Tentative

Wednesday, December 17

2:00 p.m.—Briefing on Integration and

Evaluation of Results from Recent

Lessons-Learned Reviews

(including 50.09 Process

Improvements) (public meeting)

(Contact: Eileen McKenna, 301–

415–2189)

3:30 p.m.—Affirmation Session (public

meeting) (if needed)

Thursday, December 18

10:00 a.m.—Meeting with Advisory

Committee on Nuclear Waste

(ACNW) (public meeting) (Contact:

John Larkins, 301–415–7360)

Week of December 22—Tentative

There are no meetings the week of

December 22.

Week of December 29—Tentative

There are no meetings the week of

December 29.

*The schedule for commission

meetings is subject to change on short

notice. To verify the status of meetings

call (recording)—(301) 415–1292.

Contact person for more information:

Bill Hill (301) 415–1661.

The NRC Commission Meeting

Schedule can be found on the Internet

at:

http://www.nrc.gov/SECY/smj/

schedule.htm

This notice is distributed by mail to

several hundred subscribers; if you no

longer wish to receive it, or would like

to be added to it, please contact the

Office of the Secretary, Attn: Operations

Branch, Washington, D.C. 20555 (301–

415–1661).

In addition, distribution of this

meeting notice over the Internet system

is available. If you are interested in

receiving this Commission meeting

schedule electronically, please send an

electronic message to wmh@nrc.gov or

dkw@nrc.gov.

Dated: December 4, 1997.

William M. Hill, Jr.,

SECY, Tracking Officer, Office of the

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–32274 Filed 12–5–97; 10:27 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–M