[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 141 (Thursday, July 23, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39599-39600]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-19636]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-213]


Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company; Haddam Neck Plant; 
Exemption

I

    Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company (CYAPCO or the licensee), 
is the holder of Facility Operating License No. DPR-61, which 
authorizes operation of Haddam Neck Plant (HNP). The license provides, 
among other things, that the facility is subject to all rules, 
regulations, and orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the 
Commission) now or hereafter in effect. The facility is a pressurized-
water reactor located on the licensee's site in Middlesex County, 
Connecticut. On December 5, 1996, the licensee informed the Commission 
by letter that it had decided to permanently cease operations at the 
HNP and that all fuel had been permanently removed from the reactor. In 
accordance with 10 CFR 50.82(a)(2), the certifications in the letter 
modified the facility operating license to permanently withdraw 
CYAPCO's authority to operate the reactor or to load fuel into the 
reactor vessel.

[[Page 39600]]

II

    It is stated in 10 CFR 73.55, ``Requirements for physical 
protection of licensed activities in nuclear power reactors against 
radiological sabotage,'' paragraph (a), that ``The licensee shall 
establish and maintain an onsite physical protection system and 
security organization which will have as its objective to provide high 
assurance that activities involving special nuclear material are not 
inimical to the common defense and security and do not constitute an 
unreasonable risk to the public health and safety.''
    By letter dated June 19, 1997, the licensee requested three 
exemptions from certain requirements of 10 CFR 73.55. Specifically, two 
of these exemptions are being granted at this time as follows: (1) 10 
CFR 73.55(c)(1)--devitalization of vital areas and (2) 10 CFR 
73.55(h)(3)--reduction of the security shift staffing. The proposed 
exemptiom is a preliminary step toward enabling CYAPCO to revise the 
Haddam Neck Security Plan under 10 CFR 50.54(p) to implement a defueled 
security plan that was developed to protect against radiological 
sabotage at a permanently shutdown reactor facility with all fuel 
stored in the spent fuel storage pool.

III

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5, ``Specific exemptions,'' the Commission 
may, upon application of any interested person or upon its own 
initiative, grant such exemptions in this part as it determines are 
authorized by law and will not endanger life or property or the common 
defense and security, and are otherwise in the public interest. The 
Code of Federal Regulations at 10 CFR 73.55 allows the Commission to 
authorize a licensee to provide alternative measures for protection 
against radiological sabotage, as long as the licensee demonstrates 
that the proposed measures meet the general performance requirements of 
the regulation and that the overall level of system performance 
provides protection against radiological sabotage equivalent to that 
stated in the regulation.
    The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 73.55 is to give reasonable 
assurance that adequate security measures can be taken in the event of 
an act of radiological sabotage. Because of its permanently shutdown 
and defueled condition, HNP presents a reduced radiological risk from 
that posed by an operating unit. With more than 500 days of 
radiological and heat decay since the plant was shut down on July 22, 
1996, the potential source term of gaseous and volatile radionuclides 
associated with the remaining design-basis accidents and radiological 
sabotage has decreased substantially.

IV

    For the foregoing reasons, the Commission has determined that the 
proposed alternative measures for protection against radiological 
sabotage meet the assurance objective and general performance 
requirements of 10 CFR 73.55 for a permanently shut-down reactor site 
that has placed all of its fuel in the spent fuel pool. In addition, 
the staff has determined that the overall level of the proposed 
system's performance, as limited by this exemption, would not result in 
a reduction in the physical protection capabilities for the protection 
of special nuclear material or of the HNP facility. Specifically, a 
limited exemption is being granted for two specific areas in which the 
licensee is authorized to modify the existing security plan commitments 
commensurate with the security threats associated with a permanently 
shutdown and defueled site: (1) devitalization of vital areas and (2) 
reduction of security shift staffing.
    Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 
73.5, this exemption is authorized by law, will not endanger life or 
property or the common defense and security, and is otherwise in the 
public interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants CYAPCO a 
limited exemption as described above from those requirements of 10 CFR 
73.55 at HNP in its permanently defueled condition.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that this 
exemption will not have a significant effect on the quality of the 
human environment (63 FR 36969, July 8, 1998).
    This exemption is effective upon issuance.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 15th day of July 1998.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 98-19636 Filed 7-22-98; 8:45 am]
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