30464 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 125 / Thursday, June 28, 2018 / Notices 

CFR 51.22(c)(9). Therefore, pursuant to 

10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental 

impact statement or environmental 

assessment needs to be prepared in 

connection with the issuance of the 

exemption. 

4. This exemption is effective as of the 

date of its issuance. 

III. License Amendment Request 

By letter dated September 25, 2017, as 

supplemented by letters dated 

November 16, 2017, December 18, 2017, 

and February 14, 2018, (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML17268A188, 

ML17320A808, ML17352B003 and 

ML18045A082, respectively), the 

licensee requested that the NRC amend 

the COLs for VEGP, Units 3 and 4, 

COLs, NPF–91 and NPF–92. The 

proposed amendment is described in 

Section I of this Federal Register notice. 

The Commission has determined for 

these amendments that the application 

complies with the standards and 

requirements of the Atomic Energy Act 

of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the 

Commission’s rules and regulations. 

The Commission has made appropriate 

findings as required by the Act and the 

Commission’s rules and regulations in 

10 CFR chapter I, which are set forth in 

the license amendment. 

A notice of consideration of issuance 

of amendment to facility operating 

license or COL, as applicable, proposed 

no significant hazards consideration 

determination, and opportunity for a 

hearing in connection with these 

actions, was published in the Federal 

Register on December 19, 2017 (82 FR 

60229). No comments were received 

during the 30-day comment period. 

The Commission has determined that 

these amendments satisfy the criteria for 

categorical exclusion in accordance 

with 10 CFR 51.22. Therefore, pursuant 

to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental 

impact statement or environmental 

assessment need be prepared for these 

amendments. 

IV. Conclusion 

Using the reasons set forth in the 

combined safety evaluation, the staff 

granted the exemptions and issued the 

amendments that the licensee requested 

on September 25, 2017, as 

supplemented by letters dated 

November 16, 2017, December 18, 2017, 

and February 14, 2018. 

The exemptions and amendments 

were issued on March 29, 2018, as part 

of a combined package to the licensee 

(ADAMS Accession No. ML18075A094). 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, on June 22, 

2018. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Jennifer L. Dixon-Herrity, 

Chief, Licensing Branch 4, Division of 

Licensing, Siting, and Environmental 

Analysis, Office of New Reactors. 

[FR Doc. 2018–13892 Filed 6–27–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. 52–025 and 52–026; NRC– 

2008–0252] 

Southern Nuclear Operating Company, 

Inc.; Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, 

Units 3 and 4; Changes to Containment 

Cooling and Spent Fuel Pool Makeup 

Strategies 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Exemption and combined 

license amendment; issuance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is granting an 

exemption to allow a departure from the 

certification information of Tier 1 of the 

generic design control document (DCD) 

and is issuing License Amendment Nos. 

126 and 125 to Combined Licenses 

(COLs), NPF–91 and NPF–92, 

respectively. The COLs were issued to 

Southern Nuclear Operating Company, 

Inc., and Georgia Power Company; 

Oglethorpe Power Corporation; MEAG 

Power SPVM, LLC; MEAG Power SPVJ, 

LLC; MEAG Power SPVP, LLC; and the 

City of Dalton, Georgia (the licensee), for 

construction and operation of the Vogtle 

Electric Generating Plant (VEGP) Units 

3 and 4, located in Burke County, 

Georgia. 

The granting of the exemption allows 

the changes to Tier 1 information asked 

for in the amendment. Because the 

acceptability of the exemption was 

determined in part by the acceptability 

of the amendment, the exemption and 

amendment are being issued 

concurrently. 

DATES: The exemption and amendment 

were issued on June 7, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2008–0252 when contacting the 

NRC about the availability of 

information regarding this document. 

You may obtain publicly-available 

information related to this document 

using any of the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking website: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2008–0252. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer 

Borges; 301–287–9127; email: 

Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For technical 

questions, contact the individual listed 

in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section of this document. 

• NRC’s Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the 

ADAMS Public Documents collection at 

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

adams.html. To begin the search, select 

‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then 

select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS 

Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS, 

please contact the NRC’s Public 

Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 

1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by 

email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The 

ADAMS accession number for each 

document referenced (if it is available in 

ADAMS) is provided the first time that 

it is mentioned in this document. The 

request for the amendments and 

exemptions were submitted by letter 

dated July 14, 2017, and is available in 

ADAMS under Accession No. 

ML17198A596. 

• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and 

purchase copies of public documents at 

the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Peter Hearn, Office of New Reactors, 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone: 

301–415–1189; email: Peter.Hearn@

nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

The NRC is granting an exemption 

from paragraph B of section III, ‘‘Scope 

and Contents,’’ of appendix D, ‘‘Design 

Certification Rule for the AP1000 

Design,’’ to part 52 of title 10 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), 

and issuing License Amendment Nos. 

126 and 125 to COLs, NPF–91 and NPF– 

92, respectively, to the licensee. The 

exemption is required by Paragraph A.4 

of Section VIII, ‘‘Processes for Changes 

and Departures,’’ Appendix D, to 10 

CFR part 52 to allow the licensee to 

depart from Tier 1 information. With the 

requested amendment, the licensee 

sought proposed changes that would 

revise Tier 1 information to change the 

inspected volume for the spent fuel pool 

and cask washdown pit with 

corresponding changes to the minimum 

volumes and reference measurement 

locations, and add an inspection for the 

minimum volume for the cask loading 

pit. 

Part of the justification for granting 

the exemption was provided by the 

review of the amendment. Because the 

exemption is necessary in order to issue 

the requested license amendment, the 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 125 / Thursday, June 28, 2018 / Notices 30465 

NRC granted the exemption and issued 

the amendment concurrently, rather 

than in sequence. This included issuing 

a combined safety evaluation containing 

the NRC staff’s review of both the 

exemption request and the license 

amendment. The exemption met all 

applicable regulatory criteria set forth in 

10 CFR 50.12, 10 CFR 52.7, and section 

VIII.A.4 of appendix D to 10 CFR part 

52. The license amendment was found 

to be acceptable as well. The combined 

safety evaluation is available in ADAMS 

under Accession No. ML18100A079. 

Identical exemption documents 

(except for referenced unit numbers and 

license numbers) were issued to the 

licensee for VEGP Units 3 and 4 (COLs 

NPF–91 and NPF–92). The exemption 

documents for VEGP Units 3 and 4 can 

be found in ADAMS under Accession 

Nos. ML18100A071 and ML18100A073, 

respectively. The exemption is 

reproduced (with the exception of 

abbreviated titles and additional 

citations) in Section II of this document. 

The amendment documents for COLs 

NPF–91 and NPF–92 are available in 

ADAMS under Accession Nos. 

ML18100A074 and ML18100A077, 

respectively. A summary of the 

amendment documents is provided in 

Section III of this document. 

II. Exemption 

Reproduced below is the exemption 

document issued to VEGP Units 3 and 

4. It makes reference to the combined 

safety evaluation that provides the 

reasoning for the findings made by the 

NRC (and listed under Item 1) in order 

to grant the exemption: 

1. In an application dated July 14, 

2017, the licensee requested from the 

NRC or Commission an exemption to 

allow departures from Tier 1 

information in the certified Design 

Control Document (DCD) incorporated 

by reference in 10 CFR part 52, 

appendix D, ‘‘Design Certification Rule 

for the AP1000 Design,’’ as part of 

license amendment request (LAR) 17– 

021, ‘‘Changes to Containment Coolant 

and Spent Fuel Makeup Strategies.’’ 

For the reasons set forth in Section 3.1 

of the NRC staff’s Safety Evaluation, 

which can be found in ADAMS under 

Accession No. ML18100A079, the 

Commission finds that: 

A. The exemption is authorized by 

law; 

B. the exemption presents no undue 

risk to public health and safety; 

C. the exemption is consistent with 

the common defense and security; 

D. special circumstances are present 

in that the application of the rule in this 

circumstance is not necessary to serve 

the underlying purpose of the rule; 

E. the special circumstances outweigh 

any decrease in safety that may result 

from the reduction in standardization 

caused by the exemption; and 

F. the exemption will not result in a 

significant decrease in the level of safety 

otherwise provided by the design. 

2. Accordingly, the licensee is granted 

an exemption from the certified DCD 

Tier 1 information, as described in the 

licensee’s request dated July 14, 2017. 

This exemption is related to, and 

necessary for, the granting of License 

Amendment Nos. 126 (Unit 3) and 125 

(Unit 4), which is being issued 

concurrently with this exemption. 

3. As explained in Section 5.0 of the 

NRC staff’s Safety Evaluation (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML18100A079), this 

exemption meets the eligibility criteria 

for categorical exclusion set forth in 10 

CFR 51.22(c)(9). Therefore, pursuant to 

10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental 

impact statement or environmental 

assessment needs to be prepared in 

connection with the issuance of the 

exemption. 

This exemption is effective as of the 

date of its issuance. 

III. License Amendment Request 

By letter dated July 14, 2017 (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML17198A596), the 

licensee requested that the NRC amend 

the COLs for VEGP Units 3 and 4, COLs 

NPF–91 and NPF–92. The proposed 

amendments are described in Section I 

of this document. 

The Commission has determined for 

these amendments that the application 

complies with the standards and 

requirements of the Atomic Energy Act 

of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the 

Commission’s rules and regulations. 

The Commission has made appropriate 

findings as required by the Act and the 

Commission’s rules and regulations in 

10 CFR chapter I, which are set forth in 

the license amendment. 

A notice of consideration of issuance 

of amendment to facility operating 

license or COL, as applicable, proposed 

no significant hazards consideration 

determination, and opportunity for a 

hearing in connection with these 

actions, was published in the Federal 

Register on November 22, 2017 (82 FR 

55654). No comments were received 

during the 30-day comment period. 

The Commission has determined that 

these amendments satisfy the criteria for 

categorical exclusion in accordance 

with 10 CFR 51.22. Therefore, pursuant 

to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental 

impact statement or environmental 

assessment need be prepared for these 

amendments. 

IV. Conclusion 

Using the reasons set forth in the 

combined safety evaluation, the staff 

granted the exemption and issued the 

amendment that the licensee requested 

on July 14, 2017. The exemption and 

amendment were issued on June 7, 

2018, as part of a combined package to 

the licensee (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML18100A069). 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd 

day of June, 2018. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Paul B. Kallan, 

Acting Branch Chief, Licensing Branch 4, 

Division of Licensing, Siting, and 

Environmental Analysis, Office of New 

Reactors. 

[FR Doc. 2018–13860 Filed 6–27–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[NRC–2018–0127; Docket Nos. 50–259, 50– 

260, 50–296, and 72–052; Docket Nos. 50– 

327, 50–328, and 72–034; Docket Nos. 50– 

390, 50–391, and 72–1048] 

Tennessee Valley Authority, Browns 

Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3, 

and Independent Spent Fuel Storage 

Installation; Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, 

Units 1 and 2, and Independent Spent 

Fuel Storage Installation; Watts Bar 

Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, and 

Independent Spent Fuel Storage 

Installation 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: License amendment request; 

opportunity to comment, request a 

hearing, and petition for leave to 

intervene. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is considering 

issuance of amendments to Renewed 

Facility Operating License Nos. DPR–33, 

DPR–52, and DPR–68 for the Browns 

Ferry Nuclear Plant (Browns Ferry), 

Units 1, 2, and 3, respectively; Renewed 

Facility Operating License Nos. DPR–77 

and DPR–79 for the Sequoyah Nuclear 

Plant (Sequoyah), Units 1 and 2, 

respectively; and Facility Operating 

License Nos. NPF–90 and NPF–96 for 

the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (Watts Bar), 

Units 1 and 2, respectively. The 

proposed amendments would revise the 

implementation date for the NRCapproved license amendments to 

upgrade the Emergency Action Level 

(EAL) schemes for Browns Ferry, Units 

1, 2, and 3; Sequoyah, Units 1 and 2; 

and Watts Bar, Units 1 and 2. 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1