Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 4 / Thursday, January 6, 2000 / Notices 793

December 29, 1999, which are available

for public inspection at the

Commission’s Public Document Room,

the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street,

NW., Washington, DC, and accessible

electronically through the ADAMS

Public Electronic Reading Room link at

the NRC Website (http://www.nrc.gov).

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day

of December 1999.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

William F. Kane,

Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety

and Safeguards.

Samuel J. Collins,

Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation.

[FR Doc. 00–255 Filed 1–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50–237 and 50–249]

Commonwealth Edison Company

(Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Units

2 and 3); Exemption

I

Commonwealth Edison Company

(ComEd, the licensee) is the holder of

Facility Operating Licenses Nos. DPR–

19 and DPR–25 for the Dresden Nuclear

Power Station, Units 2 and 3. The

licenses provide, among other things,

that the licensee is subject to all rules,

regulations, and orders of the

Commission now or hereafter in effect.

Dresden Nuclear Power Station

consists of two boiling water reactors

located in Grundy County, Illinois.

II

Title 10 of the Code of Federal

Regulations (10 CFR), Section 50.48,

‘‘Fire protection,’’ paragraph (b) states,

in part, that ‘‘all nuclear power plants

licensed to operate prior to January 1,

1979 shall satisfy the applicable

requirements of appendix R to this part,

including specifically the requirements

of sections III.G, III.J, and III.O.’’

Appendix R, Section III.J, ‘‘Emergency

lighting,’’ requires that ‘‘Emergency

lighting units with at least an 8-hour

battery power supply shall be provided

in all areas needed for operation of safe

shutdown equipment and in access and

egress routes thereto.’’ This requirement

applies to Dresden Nuclear Power

Station, Units 2 and 3, since they were

licensed to operate prior to January 1,

1979.

III

Section 50.12(a) of 10 CFR, ‘‘Specific

exemptions,’’ states:

The Commission may, upon application by

any interested person or upon its own

initiative, grant exemptions from the

requirements of the regulations of this part,

which are—

(1) Authorized by law, will not present an

undue risk to the public health and safety,

and are consistent with the common defense

and security.

(2) The Commission will not consider

granting an exemption unless special

circumstances are present.

Section 50.12(a)(2)of 10 CFR states

that special circumstances are present

whenever ‘‘(ii) Application of the

regulation in the particular

circumstances * * * is not necessary to

achieve the underlying purpose of the

rule * * *. ’’

Equipment needed for safe shutdown

at Dresden, Units 2 and 3, is maintained

inside the main power block and several

buildings onsite. Emergency lighting is

provided inside these buildings for

areas needed for operation of safe

shutdown equipment and for access and

egress routes in accordance with 10 CFR

Part 50, Appendix R, Section III.J.

However, no emergency lighting

meeting Section III.J requirements has

been installed for outdoor routes

between the main power block, the

isolation condenser pumphouse, the

cribhouse, or at the clean demineralized

water storage tank (CDST). Because of

cost and maintenance considerations,

and after determining that application of

Section III.J was not necessary to

achieve the underlying purpose of the

rule, the licensee submitted an

exemption request with respect to

emergency lighting for these outdoor

routes and for reading the CDST level

instrument.

The requested exemption from the

requirements of Appendix R, Section

III.J, would allow the use of hand-held

portable lights, in the event that

sufficient daylight or security lighting is

not available, when transiting access

and egress routes between the main

power block, the isolation condenser

pumphouse, the cribhouse, and the

CDST, including reading the CDST level

instrument. These buildings contain

equipment relied upon in the detailed

fire plans to mitigate the consequences

of a fire that could affect the capability

to place the reactor in cold shutdown.

As stated above, emergency lighting is

maintained within these structures as

required by Appendix R, Section III.J.

However, access and egress between

these buildings, the CDST, and the main

power block requires walking outdoors.

These areas are normally lit by outdoor

lighting powered by offsite power or

emergency power from the security

diesel. However, the normally installed

outdoor and security lighting does not

meet the Appendix R requirements for

an 8-hour battery power supply.

Under the proposed exemption, in the

worst-case scenarios that postulate a fire

concurrent with a loss of offsite power,

the hand-held, battery-powered,

portable lighting units currently

maintained on site near the main

control room would be used by the

operations staff to allow transit between

buildings and reading the CDST level

instrument as required by the fire plans

and operations procedures. The transit

routes through these areas are along

normally traveled and paved plant

roadways that are maintained clear of

obstructions and are provided snow

removal. The portable lighting units

provide an adequate level of

illumination for transit and reading the

CDST level instrument.

The hand-held, battery-powered,

portable lighting units are

administratively controlled and

dedicated for operator use to perform

safe shutdown activities during and

following plant fires. These portable

lighting units are verified to be

functional in quarterly surveillance.

The underlying purpose of 10 CFR

Part 50, Appendix R, Section III.J, is to

provide adequate illumination to assure

the capability of performing all

necessary safe shutdown functions, as

well as to assure personnel movement to

and from the equipment and

components that must be manually

operated by plant personnel to effect

safe shutdown during emergencies. In

addition, the illumination must have a

capability to allow sufficient time for

normal lighting to be restored.

The availability of hand-held, batterypowered portable lights would serve the

underlying purpose of the rule with

respect to transit between the main

power block, the isolation condenser

pumphouse, the cribhouse, and the

CDST, in that the use of such hand-held

lights would provide adequate

illumination to permit access to and

egress from buildings containing safe

shutdown equipment and components

and reading the CDST level instrument.

In addition, such hand-held lights

would be available for use during an 8-

hour period as required by the

regulation.

The implementation of outdoor

battery powered lighting units would

result in expenditure of engineering,

construction, and plant resources for

their installation, maintenance, and

operation. The associated costs would

include engineering and installation of

additional lighting units and supporting

structures and increase surveillance and

794 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 4 / Thursday, January 6, 2000 / Notices

maintenance of the additional lighting

units.

On the basis of its evaluation, the staff

concludes that with the availability of

hand-held battery-powered portable

lights for use during transit between site

structures described above and for

reading the CDST level instrument, the

installation of emergency lighting units

with at least an 8-hour battery supply

for these transit routes and the CDST

level instrument is not necessary to

achieve the underlying purpose of

Section III.J of Appendix R to 10 CFR

Part 50. Thus, special circumstances are

present as defined in 10 CFR

50.12(a)(2)(ii). The staff has further

determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR

50.12, the requested 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.

Accordingly, the licensee’s request for

an exemption from the requirements of

Section III.J to 10 CFR Part 50 to allow

the use of alternate means of lighting for

access and egress routes between the

main power block, the isolation

condenser pumphouse, the cribhouse,

the CDST, and for reading the CDST

level instrument at Dresden, Units 2 and

3, is acceptable to the staff.

In consideration of the foregoing, the

Commission hereby grants the licensee

an exemption from the requirements of

10 CFR Part 50, Appendix R, Section

III.J, to provide emergency lighting units

with at least an 8-hour battery power

supply in all areas needed for operation

of safe shutdown equipment and in

access and egress routes thereto, for

access and egress routes between the

main power block, the isolation

condenser pumphouse, the cribhouse,

the CDST, and for reading the CDST

level instrument at Dresden, Units 2 and

3, to the extent alternative means of

lighting as described herein are

available.

Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the

Commission has determined that

granting of this exemption will have no

significant effect on the quality of the

human environment (64 FR 72701).

This exemption is effective upon

issuance.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day

of December 1999.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Suzanne C. Black,

Acting Director, Division of Licensing Project

Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation.

[FR Doc. 00–254 Filed 1–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50–346]

FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating

Company, Davis-Besse Nuclear Power

Station, Unit 1; Environmental

Assessment and Finding of No

Significant Impact

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (the Commission) is

considering the issuance of exemptions

from the provisions of: (1) 10 CFR 50.44,

‘‘Standards for Combustible Gas Control

System in Light-Water-Cooled Power

Reactors,’’ which states requirements to

control the hydrogen generated by

Zircaloy or ZIRLO fuel cladding after a

postulated loss-of-coolant accident

(LOCA); (2) 10 CFR 50.46, ‘‘Acceptance

Criteria for Emergency Core Cooling

Systems for Light-Water Nuclear Power

Reactors,’’ which requires the calculated

emergency core cooling system (ECCS)

performance for reactors with Zircaloy

or ZIRLO fuel cladding to meet certain

criteria; and (3) Appendix K to 10 CFR

Part 50, ‘‘ECCS Evaluation Models,’’

which presumes the use of Zircaloy or

ZIRLO fuel cladding when doing

calculations for energy release, cladding

oxidation and hydrogen generation after

a postulated LOCA, for Facility

Operating License No. NPF–3, issued to

the FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating

Company (the licensee), for operation of

the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station,

Unit 1, located in Ottawa County, Ohio.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

The licensee has requested

exemptions from 10 CFR 50.44, 10 CFR

50.46 and 10 CFR 50 Appendix K

regarding the proposed use of M5

advanced alloy for fuel assemblies. The

proposed action would allow the

licensee to use fuel assemblies with fuel

rod cladding that falls outside of the

definition of Zircaloy and ZIRLO in the

cited regulations. These assemblies

would be loaded into the Davis-Besse

reactor during the refueling outage in

the spring of 2000. The proposed action

is in accordance with the licensee’s

application for exemption dated

September 15, 1998.

Need for the Proposed Action

10 CFR 50.46(a)(1)(i) and Appendix K

to 10 CFR Part 50 require the

demonstration of adequate ECCS

performance for light-water reactors that

contain fuel consisting of uranium oxide

pellets enclosed in Zircaloy or ZIRLO

tubes. In addition, 10 CFR 50.44(a)

addresses requirements to control

hydrogen generated by Zircaloy or

ZIRLO fuel after a postulated LOCA.

Each of these three regulations, either

implicitly or explicitly, assume that

either Zircaloy or ZIRLO is used as the

fuel rod cladding material. In order to

accommodate the high fuel rod burnups

that are required for modern fuel

management and core designs,

Framatome Technologies, Inc.

developed the M5 advanced fuel rod

cladding and fuel assembly structural

material. M5 is an alloy comprised

primarily of zirconium (∼99 percent)

and niobium (∼1 percent) that has

demonstrated superior corrosion

resistance and reduced irradiation

induced growth relative to both

standard and low-tin Zircaloy. However,

since the chemical composition of the

M5 advanced alloy differs from the

specifications of either Zircaloy or

ZIRLO, use of the M5 advanced alloy

falls outside of the strict interpretation

of these regulations. Therefore, approval

of these exemptions is needed to permit

the use of the M5 advanced alloy as a

fuel rod cladding material at the DavisBesse Nuclear Power Station.

10 CFR 50.12 permits the Nuclear

Regulatory Commission to grant

exemptions which are authorized by

law, will not present an undue risk to

the health and safety of the public, and

are consistent with the common defense

and security, provided that special

circumstances are present. Pursuant to

10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii), the Commission

believes that special circumstances exist

since application of the rule in this case

would not achieve the underlying

purpose of the rule. The underlying

purpose of 10 CFR 50.46 and Appendix

K to 10 CFR Part 50 is to establish

requirements for emergency core

cooling systems. The underlying

purpose of 10 CFR 50.44 is to control

hydrogen generated by the metal/water

reaction after a postulated LOCA,

regardless of fuel cladding material. The

licensee addressed the safety impact of

using M5 fuel in its amendment

application dated September 8, 1998.

The staff has evaluated this impact

and has concluded that use of the M5

advanced alloy as a fuel rod cladding

material remains bounded by the

original design basis for the Davis-Besse

facility. Therefore, since the underlying

purposes of 10 CFR 50.44, 10 CFR 50.46,

and 10 CFR 50 Appendix K are achieved

through the use of the M5 advanced

alloy as a fuel rod cladding material, the

special circumstances required by 10

CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii) for the granting of

exemptions are met.