394 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2005 / Notices 

company’s background and history. 

Therefore, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 952(a) 

and 958(a), and in accordance with 21 

CFR 1301.34, the above named company 

is granted registration as an importer of 

the basic class of controlled substance 

listed.

Dated: December 21, 2004. 

William J. Walker, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of 

Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement 

Administration.

[FR Doc. 05–59 Filed 1–3–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4410–09–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 50–312] 

Sacramento Municipal Utility District; 

Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating 

Station; Partial Exemption from 

Requirements of 10 CFR 50.719(c); 10 

CFR Part 50, Appendix A; 10 CFR Part 

50, Appendix B 

1.0 Background 

Sacramento Municipal Utility District 

(SMUD) is the licensee and holder of 

Facility Operating License No. DPR–54 

for the Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating 

Station (Rancho Seco), a permanently 

shutdown decommissioning nuclear 

plant. Although permanently shutdown, 

this facility is still subject to all rules, 

regulations, and orders of the U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). 

The Sacramento Municipal Utility 

District (SMUD) shut down Rancho 

Seco Nuclear Generating Station 

permanently on June 7, 1989, after 

approximately 15 years of operation. On 

August 29, 1989, SMUD formally 

informed the NRC that the plant was 

shut down permanently. On May 20, 

1991, SMUD submitted the Rancho Seco 

decommissioning plan and on March 

20, 1995, the NRC issued an Order 

approving the decommissioning plan 

and authorizing the decommissioning of 

Rancho Seco. 

SMUD began actively 

decommissioning Rancho Seco in 

February 1997, and completed the 

transfer of all of the spent nuclear fuel 

to the 10 CFR Part 72 licensed 

Independent Spent Fuel Storage 

Installation (ISFSI) on August 21, 2002. 

Accordingly, the only quality-related 

structures, systems, or components 

(SSCs) at the Rancho Seco 10 CFR Part 

50 licensed site are the radioactive 

sources used to calibrate the 

instrumentation used to measure 

radioactivity in gaseous and liquid 

effluents. 

Plant dismantlement is substantially 

(approximately 80%) complete and 

most of the SSCs that were safetyrelated or important-to-safety have been 

removed from the plant and shipped for 

disposal. The pressurizer was shipped 

to Envirocare for disposal in April 2004, 

removal of the steam generators is in 

progress with both steam generators 

scheduled to be shipped to Envirocare 

by spring 2005 (one by the end of 2004 

and the second in spring 2005), and 

activities in preparation for the reactor 

vessel internals segmentation are 

underway and mobilization of the 

segmentation contractor is scheduled to 

begin in early 2005. 

On September 2, 2004, SMUD filed a 

request for NRC approval of a partial 

exemption from the recordkeeping 

requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(c); 10 CFR 

50, Appendix A; and 10 CFR 50, 

Appendix B. 

2.0 Request/Action 

Pursuant to the requirements of 10 

CFR 50.71(d)(2) and 10 CFR 50.12, 

SMUD requested partial exemption to 

the recordkeeping requirements of 10 

CFR 50.71(c); 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix 

A; CFR Part 50, Appendix B. This 

exemption request was characterized as 

‘‘partial’’ because the exemption would 

apply only to the disposal of hardcopies 

of records, prior to termination of the 

Rancho Seco license, that: (1) Are 

associated with the operation, design, 

fabrication, erection, and testing of 

structures, systems, and components 

(SSCs) that are no longer quality-related 

or important to safety or have been 

removed from the plant for disposal; 

and (2) require storage in their original 

hard copy format due to practical and 

feasibility limitations associated with 

transferring them to microfilm or 

microfiche. 

Most of these records are for SSCs that 

have been removed from Rancho Seco 

and disposed of off-site. Disposal of 

these records will not adversely impact 

the ability to meet other NRC regulatory 

requirements for the retention of records 

[e.g., 10 CFR 50.54(a), (p), (q), and (bb); 

10 CFR 50.59(d); 10 CFR 50.75(g); etc.]. 

These regulatory requirements ensure 

that records from operation and 

decommissioning activities are 

maintained for safe decommissioning, 

spent nuclear fuel storage, completion 

and verification of final site survey, and 

license termination. 

3.0 Discussion 

NRC licensees are required to 

maintain their records according to the 

NRC regulatory recordkeeping 

requirements. Pursuant to the 

requirements of 10 CFR 50.12, ‘‘Specific 

Exemptions,’’ and 10 CFR 50.71(d)(2), 

SMUD filed a request for a partial 

exemption from the NRC regulatory 

recordkeeping requirements contained 

in 10 CFR 50.71(c), 10 CFR 50, 

Appendix A, and 10 CFR 50, Appendix 

B. The NRC recordkeeping requirements 

at issue in SMUD’s request for 

exemption are as follows.

10 CFR 50.71, ‘‘Maintenance of records, 

making of reports,’’ subpart (c) states: 

Records that are required by the regulations 

in this part, by license condition, or by 

technical specifications, must be retained for 

the period specified by the appropriate 

regulation, license condition, or technical 

specification. If a retention period is not 

otherwise specified, these records must be 

retained until the Commission terminates the 

facility license.

10 CFR 50, Appendix A, ‘‘General 

Design Criteria for Nuclear Power 

Plants,’’ establishes the necessary 

design, fabrication, construction, 

testing, and performance requirements 

for structures, systems, and components 

important to safety; that is, structures, 

systems, and components that provide 

reasonable assurance that the facility 

can be operated without undue risk to 

the health and safety of the public. 

Specifically, SMUD requests an 

exemption from Criterion 1, ‘‘Quality 

standards and records,’’ which states in 

part:

Appropriate records of the design, 

fabrication, erection, and testing of 

structures, systems, and components 

important to safety shall be maintained by or 

under the control of the nuclear power unit 

licensee throughout the life of the unit.’’

10 CFR 50, Appendix B, ‘‘Quality 

Assurance Criteria for Nuclear Power 

Plants and Fuel Reprocessing Plants,’’

establishes quality assurance 

requirements for the design, 

construction, and operation of 

structures, systems, and components 

that prevent or mitigate the 

consequences of postulated accidents 

that could cause undue risk to the 

health and safety of the public. 

Specifically, SMUD requests an 

exemption from Criterion XVII, ‘‘Quality 

Assurance Records,’’ which states:

Sufficient records shall be maintained to 

furnish evidence of activities affecting 

quality. The records shall include at least the 

following: Operating logs and the results of 

reviews, inspections, tests, audits, 

monitoring of work performance, and 

materials analyses. The records shall also 

include closely-related data such as 

qualifications of personnel, procedures, and 

equipment. Inspection and test records shall, 

as a minimum, identify the inspector or data 

recorder, the type of observation, the results, 

the acceptability, and the action taken in 

connection with any deficiencies noted. 

Records shall be identifiable and retrievable. 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2005 / Notices 395

Consistent with applicable regulatory 

requirements, the applicant shall establish 

requirements concerning record retention, 

such as duration, location, and assigned 

responsibility.

Exemption Requirements 

As stated in 10 CFR 50.12, ‘‘[t]he 

Commission may, upon application by 

any interested person or upon its own 

initiative, grant exemptions from the 

requirements of the regulations of this 

part.’’ In order to permit specific 

exemptions from the requirements of 

this part the criteria of 10 CFR 

50.12(a)(1) and the requirements of 10 

CFR 50.12(a)(2) must be met. 

10 CFR 50(a)(1) requires three criteria 

to be met before an exemption can be 

granted: first, the exemptions must be 

authorized by law; second, the 

exemption must not present an undue 

risk to the public health and safety; and 

third, it must be consistent with the 

common defense and security. In 

addition, for the Commission to 

consider granting an exemption from 

the requirements of Part 50, special 

circumstances as required by 10 CFR 

50.12(a)(2) must be present. The special 

circumstance at issue in the present 

request for exemption is 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.’’ The application of 

the three criteria in 50.12(a)(1) and the 

requirement of special circumstances in 

50.12(a)(2) are addressed below. 

Specific Exemption Is Authorized by 

Law 

The partial exemption from the 

recordkeeping requirements of 10 CFR 

50.71(c); 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix A; 

and 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, as 

requested for the hard copy records 

described above is authorized by law. 

Specifically, 10 CFR 50.71(d)(2) allows 

for the granting of specific exemptions 

to the record retention requirements 

specified in the regulations. 

NRC regulation 10 CFR 50.71(d)(2) 

states, in part:

the retention period specified in the 

regulations in this part for such records shall 

apply unless the Commission, pursuant to 

§ 50.12 of this part, has granted a specific 

exemption from the record retention 

requirements specified in the regulations in 

this part.

Based on 10 CFR 50.71(d)(2), since 

the specific exemption requirements of 

10 CFR 50.12 are satisfied as described 

below, the exemption from the 

recordkeeping requirements of 10 CFR 

50.71(c); 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix A; 

and 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B is 

authorized by law. 

Specific Exemption Will Not Present an 

Undue Risk to the Public Health and 

Safety 

With all of the spent nuclear fuel 

transferred to the Rancho Seco ISFSI, 

there is insufficient radioactive material 

remaining on the Rancho Seco 10 CFR 

Part 50 licensed site to pose any 

significant potential risk to the public 

health and safety under any credible 

event scenario. This provides additional 

assurance that the partial exemption for 

the specified hard copy records will not 

present any reasonable possibility of 

undue risk to the public health and 

safety. 

In two letters dated February 5, 2002, 

the NRC granted Amendment Nos. 129 

and 130 to the Rancho Seco Operating 

License (Possession Only). These 

amendments deleted definitions, LCOs, 

surveillance requirements, and 

administrative requirements from the 10 

CFR Part 50 Technical Specifications on 

the basis that all of the spent nuclear 

fuel was transferred to the Rancho Seco 

ISFSI. In a letter dated October 10, 2002, 

the NRC issued an exemption from 10 

CFR Part 50 security requirements and 

Amendment No. 131 to the Rancho Seco 

Operating License to reflect this security 

exemption. Hence, the NRC has already 

concurred with the conclusion that 

granting regulatory exemptions will 

have no reasonable possibility of 

presenting any undue risk to the public 

health and safety. 

The partial exemption from the 

recordkeeping requirements of 10 CFR 

50.71(c); 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix A; 

and 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, for the 

hard copy records described above is 

administrative in nature and will have 

no impact on any remaining 

decommissioning activities or on 

radiological effluents. The exemption 

will merely advance the schedule for 

destruction of the specified hard copy 

records. Considering the content of 

these records, the elimination of these 

records on an advanced timetable will 

have no reasonable possibility of 

presenting any undue risk to the public 

health and safety. 

Specific Exemption Consistent With the 

Common Defense and Security 

The partial exemption from the 

recordkeeping requirements of 10 CFR 

50.71(c); 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix A; 

and 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, for the 

types of hard copy records described 

above is consistent with the common 

defense and security as defined in the 

Atomic Energy Act (42 U.S.C. 2014, 

Definitions) and in 10 CFR 50.2 

‘‘Definitions.’’ The partial exemption 

requested does not impact remaining 

decommissioning activities and does 

not involve information or activities that 

could potentially impact the common 

defense and security of the United 

States.

Rather, the exemption requested is 

administrative in nature and would 

merely advance the current schedule for 

destruction of the specified hard copy 

records. Considering the content of 

these records, the elimination of these 

records on an advanced timetable has 

no reasonable possibility of having any 

impact on national defense or security. 

Therefore, the partial exemption from 

the recordkeeping requirements of 10 

CFR 50.71(c); 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix 

A; and 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, for 

the types of hard copy records described 

above is consistent with the common 

defense and security. 

Special Circumstances 

The current status of Rancho Seco 

facility, 80% dismantled and all 

irradiated fuel transferred to the ISFSI, 

constitutes special circumstances which 

will allow the NRC to consider granting 

the partial exemption requested. 

Consistent with 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii), 

applying the recordkeeping 

requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(c), 10 CFR 

Part 50, Appendix A, and 10 CFR Part 

50, Appendix B to the continued storage 

of the hard copy records described 

previously is not necessary to achieve 

the underlying purpose of the rules. 

The underlying purpose of the subject 

recordkeeping regulations is to ensure 

that the NRC staff has access to 

information that, in the event of an 

accident, incident, or condition that 

could impact public health and safety, 

would assist in the recovery from such 

an event and could also help prevent 

future events or conditions that could 

adversely impact public health and 

safety. Additionally, the NRC staff 

would access the records as part of the 

normal inspection process related to the 

subject SSCs. 

Given the current status of Rancho 

Seco decommissioning, the records that 

would be subject to early destruction 

would not provide the NRC with 

information that would be pertinent or 

useful. The types of records that would 

fall under the exemption would include 

hard copy radiographs, vendor 

equipment technical manuals, and 

recorder charts associated with 

operating nuclear power plant SSCs that 

had been classified as important to 

safety during power operations, but that 

are no longer classified as important to 

safety, are no longer operational, or have 

396 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 2 / Tuesday, January 4, 2005 / Notices 

removed from the Rancho Seco site for 

disposal. 

With the majority of the primary and 

secondary systems removed for 

disposal, the Rancho Seco site no longer 

houses ‘‘a nuclear power reactor and 

associated equipment necessary for 

electric power generation.’’ Thus, with 

respect to the underlying intent of the 

recordkeeping rules cited above, Rancho 

Seco is not able to generate electricity 

and is no longer a nuclear power unit 

as defined in 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix 

A. 

In addition, with all the spent nuclear 

fuel having been transferred to the 

ISFSI, there is not sufficient radioactive 

material inventory remaining on the 10 

CFR Part 50 licensed site to pose any 

significant potential risk to the public 

health and safety. Thus, there are no 

longer any ‘‘structures, systems, and 

components required to provide 

reasonable assurance the facility can be 

operated without undue risk to the 

health and safety of the public.’’ This 

provides additional assurance that, with 

respect to the underlying intent of the 

recordkeeping rules, Rancho Seco is no 

longer a nuclear power unit as defined 

in 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix A. 

Based on the above, application of the 

subject recordkeeping requirements to 

the Rancho Seco hard copy records 

specified above is not required to 

achieve the underlying purpose of the 

rule. Thus, special circumstances are 

present which the NRC may consider, 

pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii), to 

grant the requested exemption. 

4.0 Conclusion 

The staff agrees that 10 CFR 

50.71(d)(2) allows the Commission to 

grant specific exemptions to the record 

retention requirements specified in 

regulations provided the requirements 

of 10 CFR 50.12 are satisfied. 

The staff agrees that the requested 

partial exemption from the 

recordkeeping requirements of 10 CFR 

50.71(c); 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix A; 

10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, will not 

present an undue risk to the public 

health and safety. The destruction of the 

identified hard copy records will not 

impact remaining decommissioning 

activities; plant operations, 

configuration, and/or radiological 

effluents; operational and/or installed 

SSCs that are quality-related or 

important to safety; or nuclear security. 

The staff agrees that the destruction of 

the identified hard copy records is 

administrative in nature and does not 

involve information or activities that 

could potentially impact the common 

defense and security of the United 

States. 

The staff agrees that the purpose for 

the recordkeeping regulations is to 

ensure that the NRC Staff has access to 

information that, in the event of any 

accident, incident, or condition that 

could impact public health and safety, 

would assist in the protection of public 

health and safety during recovery from 

the given accident, incident, or 

condition, and also could help prevent 

future events or conditions adversely 

impacting public health and safety. 

Further, since most of the Rancho Seco 

SSCs that were safety-related or 

important-to-safety have been removed 

from the plant and shipped for disposal, 

the staff agrees that the records 

identified in the partial exemption 

would not provide the NRC with useful 

information during an investigation of 

an accident or incident. 

Therefore, the Commission grants 

SMUD the requested partial exemption 

to the recordkeeping requirements of 10 

CFR 50.71(c); 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix 

A; 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, as 

described in the September 2, 2004, 

letter. 

Pursuant to 10 CFR Part 51, the 

Commission has determined that the 

granting of this exemption will not have 

a significant effect on the quality of the 

human environment as documented in 

Federal Register (69 FR 67371, Nov. 17, 

2004). 

This exemption is effective upon 

issuance.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 23rd day 

of December, 2004. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Daniel M. Gillen, 

Deputy Director, Decommissioning 

Directorate, Division of Waste Management 

and Environmental Protection, Office of 

Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.

[FR Doc. 05–23 Filed 1–3–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 72–30] 

Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company, 

Maine Yankee Independent Spent Fuel 

Storage Installation, Issuance of 

Environmental Assessment and 

Finding of No Significant Impact 

I. Introduction 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is considering 

issuance of exemptions to Maine 

Yankee Atomic Power Company (the 

licensee), pursuant to title 10 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 

72.7, from specific provisions of 10 CFR 

72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(2)(i), 

72.212(b)(7), and 72.214. The licensee is 

storing spent nuclear fuel under the 

general licensing provisions of 10 CFR 

part 72 in the NAC–UMS Universal 

Storage System at an independent spent 

fuel storage installation (ISFSI) located 

at the Maine Yankee Atomic Power 

Station in Wiscasset, Maine. The 

requested exemptions would allow the 

licensee to deviate from requirements of 

the NAC–UMS Certificate of 

Compliance (CoC) No. 1015, 

Amendment 2, Appendix A, Technical 

Specifications for the NAC–UMS

System, Section A 5.1, Training 

Program, and Section A 5.5, Radioactive 

Effluent Control Program. Specifically, 

the exemptions would relieve the 

licensee from the requirements to: (1) 

Develop training modules under its 

systematic approach to training (SAT) 

that include comprehensive instructions 

for the operation and maintenance of 

the ISFSI, except for the NAC–UMS

Universal Storage System; and (2) 

submit an annual report pursuant to 10 

CFR 72.44(d)(3). 

II. Environmental Assessment (EA) 

Identification of Proposed Action: The 

proposed action is to exempt the 

licensee from regulatory requirements to 

develop certain training and submit an 

annual report. By letter dated February 

25, 2004, as supplemented June 8, 2004, 

the licensee requested exemptions from 

certain regulatory requirements of 10 

CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(2)(i), 

72.212(b)(7), and 72.214 which require 

a general licensee to store spent fuel in 

an NRC-certified spent fuel storage cask 

under the terms and conditions set forth 

in the CoC. The proposed exemptions 

would allow the licensee to deviate 

from the requirements in CoC No. 1015, 

Amendment 2, Appendix A, Technical 

Specifications for the NAC–UMS

System, Section A 5.1, Training 

Program, and Section A 5.5, Radioactive 

Effluent Control Program. 

CoC No. 1015, Amendment 2, 

Appendix A, Technical Specifications 

for the NAC–UMS System, Section A 

5.1, Training Program, requires that a 

training program for the NAC–UMS

Universal Storage System be developed 

under the general licensee’s SAT. 

Further, the training modules must 

include comprehensive instructions for 

the operation and maintenance of both 

the NAC–UMS Universal Storage 

System and the ISFSI. In addition, CoC 

No. 1015, Amendment 2, Appendix A, 

Technical Specifications for the NAC–

UMS System, Section A 5.5, Radioactive 

Effluent Control Program, Item c. 

requires an annual report to be 

submitted pursuant to 10 CFR 

72.44(d)(3). By exempting the licensee