13482 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 58 / Friday, March 27, 2009 / Notices 

hours for reporting and 17,726 hours for 

recordkeeping)]. 

7. Abstract: 10 CFR part 40 establishes 

requirements for licenses for the receipt, 

possession, use and transfer of 

radioactive source and byproduct 

material. NRC Form 484 is used to 

report certain groundwater monitoring 

data required by 10 CFR part 40 for 

uranium recovery licensees. The 

application, reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements are 

necessary to permit the NRC to make a 

determination on whether the 

possession, use, and transfer of source 

and byproduct material is in 

conformance with the Commission’s 

regulations for protection of public 

health and safety. 

Submit, by May 26, 2009, comments 

that address the following questions: 

1. Is the proposed collection of 

information necessary for the NRC to 

properly perform its functions? Does the 

information have practical utility? 

2. Is the burden estimate accurate? 

3. Is there a way to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected? 

4. How can the burden of the 

information collection be minimized, 

including the use of automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology? 

A copy of the draft supporting 

statement may be viewed free of charge 

at the NRC Public Document Room, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Room O–1 F21, Rockville, 

Maryland 20852. OMB clearance 

requests are available at the NRC 

worldwide Web site: http:// 

www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doccomment/omb/index.html. The 

document will be available on the NRC 

home page site for 60 days after the 

signature date of this notice. Comments 

submitted in writing or in electronic 

form will be made available for public 

inspection. Because your comments will 

not be edited to remove any identifying 

or contact information, the NRC 

cautions you against including any 

information in your submission that you 

do not want to be publicly disclosed. 

Comments submitted should reference 

Docket No. NRC–2009–0133. You may 

submit your comments by any of the 

following methods. Electronic 

comments: Go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov and search for 

Docket No. NRC–2009–0133. Mail 

comments to NRC Clearance Officer, 

Gregory Trussell (T–5 F53), U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001. Questions 

about the information collection 

requirements may be directed to the 

NRC Clearance Officer, Gregory Trussell 

(T–5 F53), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 

0001, by telephone at 301–415–6445, or 

by e-mail to 

INFOCOLLECTS.Resource@NRC.GOV. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day 

of March, 2009. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Gregory Trussell, 

NRC Clearance Officer, Office of Information 

Services. 

[FR Doc. E9–6847 Filed 3–26–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 50–271; NRC–2009–0121] 

Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.; 

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power 

Station; Exemption 

1.0 Background 

Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. 

(Entergy or the licensee) is the holder of 

Facility Operating License No. DPR–28, 

which authorizes operation of the 

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station 

(VY). The license provides, among other 

things, that the facility is subject to all 

rules, regulations, and orders of the 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC 

or the Commission) now or hereafter in 

effect. 

The facility consists of a boiling-water 

reactor located in Windham County, 

Vermont. 

2.0 Request/Action 

Title 10 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (10 CFR), Part 50, Section 

50.48, requires that nuclear power 

plants that were licensed before January 

1, 1979, of which VY is one, must 

satisfy the requirements of 10 CFR Part 

50, Appendix R, Section III.G.2, which 

requires to have a minimum of 20 feet 

separation between redundant cable 

trays. 

In an NRC letter dated December 1, 

1986, the NRC granted the licensee the 

exemption from the provisions of 10 

CFR Part 50, Appendix R, Section 

III.G.2, which in part permitted a 

reduction in minimum separation 

distance between cable trays in the 

northwest corner of Fire Zone RB–3 of 

the reactor building to 18 feet. VY has 

identified that the actual minimum 

physical separation distance between 

the cable trays is actually 17 feet–7.5 

inches. 

In summary, the letter dated July 11, 

2008, Agencywide Documents Access 

and Management System (ADAMS) 

accession number ML082030154, as 

supplemented on November 20, 2008, 

ADAMS accession number 

ML083370180, Entergy on behalf of VY, 

requested a revision to the exemption 

from the provisions of 10 CFR Part 50, 

Appendix R, Section III.G.2, dated 

December 1, 1986 (ML011620492), 

which in part permitted a reduction in 

minimum separation distance between 

cable trays in the northwest corner of 

Fire Zone RB–3 of the Reactor Building 

to 18 feet. VY has requested a revision 

of the existing exemption to permit the 

actual minimum separation distance of 

17 feet–7.5 inches. 

3.0 Discussion 

Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the 

Commission may, upon application by 

any interested person or upon its own 

initiative, grant exemptions from the 

requirements of 10 CFR Part 50 when (1) 

the exemptions are authorized by law, 

will not present an undue risk to public 

health or safety, and are consistent with 

the common defense and security; and 

(2) when special circumstances are 

present. One of these special 

circumstances, described in 10 CFR 

50.12(a)(2)(ii), is that the application of 

the regulation is not necessary to 

achieve the underlying purpose of the 

rule. 

The underlying purpose of Subsection 

III.G.2 of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix R, 

is to ensure that one of the redundant 

trains necessary to achieve and maintain 

hot shutdown conditions remains free of 

fire damage in the event of a fire. 

The NRC staff reviewed the licensee’s 

evaluation in support of the subject 

exemption request and concludes that 

the further reduction in minimum 

separation distance is sufficient to 

maintain an adequate level of safety to 

meet the requirements of 10 CFR 

50.12(a)(2)(ii) in that the application of 

the regulation is not necessary to 

achieve the underlying purpose of the 

rule. 

Authorized by Law 

This exemption would permit a 

reduced minimum separation distance 

of 17 feet–7.5 inches, instead of ‘‘more 

than 20 feet’’ between cable trays in Fire 

Zone RB–3, elevation 252 feet, provided 

all other passive and active forms of 

protection (e.g., lack of combustible fuel 

loading or fire hazards, fire detectors 

and automatic fire suppression system) 

are provided and maintained in 

accordance with III.G.2. As stated above, 

10 CFR 50.12 allows the NRC to grant 

exemptions from the requirements of 10 

CFR Part 50. The NRC staff has 

determined that granting of the 

licensee’s proposed exemption will not 

result in a violation of the Atomic 

Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or the 

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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 58 / Friday, March 27, 2009 / Notices 13483 

Commission’s regulations. Therefore, 

the exemption is authorized by law. 

No Undue Risk to Public Health and 

Safety 

One of the underlying purposes of 10 

CFR Part 50, Appendix R Section III.G 

is to protect safe shutdown capability. 

This is done by ensuring that one train 

of systems necessary to achieve and 

maintain hot shutdown conditions from 

either the control room or emergency 

control station(s) is free of fire damage. 

III.G.2 provides the following means to 

ensure that a redundant train of safe 

shutdown equipment is free of fire 

damage, where redundant trains are 

located in the same fire area: 

a. Separation of cables and equipment 

by a fire barrier having a 3-hour rating, 

b. Separation of cables and equipment 

by a horizontal distance of more than 20 

feet with no intervening combustibles or 

fire hazards and with fire detectors and 

an automatic fire suppression system in 

the fire area, or 

c. Enclosure of cables and equipment 

in a fire barrier having a 1-hour rating 

and with fire detectors and an automatic 

fire suppression system in the fire area. 

Entergy has indicated that the cable 

trays will be separated by a minimum 

distance of 17 feet–7.5 inches for a 

horizontal distance of approximately 10 

feet and that the remaining length of 

cable trays will be separated by more 

than 17 feet–7.5 inches. Entergy has also 

indicated that transient combustibles 

and hot work controls have been 

enhanced since the exemption was 

originally granted. This was 

accomplished by designating Fire Zone 

RB–3 as a ‘‘Level 2’’ combustible control 

area, which limits combustibles to 

moderate quantities and hot work 

requires prior review and approval of a 

fire protection engineer. 

Additionally, Entergy has stated that 

a pre-action automatic sprinkler system 

is provided beneath the lowest level of 

cable trays and above the top level of 

cable trays in Fire Zone RB–3 and that 

manual suppression equipment is 

provided throughout Fire Zone RB–3 in 

the form of accessible fire hose stations 

and portable fire extinguishers. A fire 

detection system is provided in the form 

of Ionization-type smoke detectors. 

According to Entergy, the fire 

protection systems are functionally 

unchanged from what was previously 

included in the December 1, 1986, 

evaluation. The licensee has indicated 

that 1-hour 3M Interam fire barriers 

were installed to protect certain 

raceways in the northwest corner of 

elevation 252 feet however; no credit for 

the barriers has been requested as part 

of this exemption. 

Based on the above, the exemption to 

allow the reduced minimum separation 

distance of 17 feet–7.5 inches in lieu of 

the 20 feet dimension specified in 

III.G.2 a, b, and c, does not increase the 

probability of postulated accidents or 

undue risk. Based on the combination of 

a lack of combustible fuel loading and 

ignition sources, room configuration 

and the separation distance of 17 feet– 

7.5 inches, the overall level of 

protection and defense in depth has 

been shown to meet or exceed the intent 

of the requirements included in III.G.2 

and equivalent with regard to safe 

shutdown capability following a fire. 

Therefore, there is no additional risk to 

public health and safety. 

Consistent With Common Defense and 

Security 

The proposed exemption would 

permit a reduced minimum separation 

distance between cable trays in a select 

area in lieu of meeting the separation 

requirements specified in III.G.2. This 

change has no relation to security 

issues. Therefore, the common defense 

and security is not impacted by this 

exemption. 

Special Circumstances 

Special circumstances, in accordance 

with 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii), are present 

whenever application of the regulation 

in the particular circumstances is not 

necessary to achieve the underlying 

purpose of the rule. Part of the 

underlying purpose of 10 CFR Part 50, 

Appendix R Section III.G is to assure 

safe shutdown capability. Entergy states 

that the active and passive fire 

protection features that were included 

in the original exemption remain 

functionally unchanged. This review 

determined that the reduction in 

minimum separation distance does not 

adversely affect the level of safety at the 

plant given the physical configuration of 

the cable trays, existing suppression and 

detection systems and the lack of 

combustible fuel loading in the area. 

The combination of these safeguards is 

sufficient to maintain safe shutdown 

capability in the event of a fire even at 

the reduced separation distance of 17 

feet–7.5 inches. Since the underlying 

purpose of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix R 

Section III.G to protect safe shutdown 

capability is achieved, the special 

circumstances required by 10 CFR 

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

exemption from 10 CFR Part 50, 

Appendix R Section III.G.2 exist. 

4.0 Conclusion 

Accordingly, the Commission has 

determined that special circumstances 

are present and that, pursuant to 10 CFR 

50.12(a), the 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 levels intended by the rule 

for Nuclear Power Plants. Therefore, the 

Commission hereby grants Entergy an 

exemption from the requirements of 

III.G.2 b of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix R, 

which is required by 10 CFR 50.48(b) for 

plants licensed to operate before January 

1, 1979, to VY. 

Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the 

Commission has determined that the 

granting of this exemption will not have 

a significant effect on the quality of the 

human environment (74 FR 11612). 

This exemption is effective upon 

issuance. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day 

of March 2009. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Robert A. Nelson, 

Acting Director, Division of Operating Reactor 

Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation. 

[FR Doc. E9–6845 Filed 3–26–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[NRC–2009–0138] 

Proposed Generic Communication; 

Pre-Licensing Construction Activities 

at Proposed Uranium Recovery 

Facilities 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of opportunity for public 

comment. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is proposing to issue 

a regulatory issue summary (RIS) to 

present its interpretation of the 

regulations governing the 

commencement of construction found 

in 10 CFR 40.32(e). This Federal 

Register notice is available through the 

NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access 

and Management System (ADAMS) 

under accession number ML083470668. 

DATES: Comment period expires April 

27, 2009. Comments submitted after this 

date will be considered if it is practical 

to do so, but assurance of consideration 

cannot be given except for comments 

received on or before this date. 

ADDRESSES: Submit written 

comments to the Chief, Uranium 

Recovery Licensing Branch, Division of 

Waste Management and Environmental 

Protection, Office of Federal and State 

Materials and Environmental 

Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES