Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 170 / Thursday, September 2, 2010 / Notices 53985 

1On May 19, 2010, a Board that previously was 

established to adjudicate the contested portion of 

this proceeding granted summary disposition in 

favor of applicant, Southern Nuclear Operating 

Company, on the only admitted contention. 

Because that decision was not appealed to the 

Commission, and because the Commission did not 

take sua sponte review, the contested proceeding 

was terminated and the prior Board was divested 

of jurisdiction, thus necessitating the establishment 

of the instant Board to consider the August 12, 2010 

submission. See Commission Order (Aug. 25, 2010) 

at 1 (unpublished); Licensing Board Memorandum 

(Referring Request to Admit New Contention to the 

Commission) (Aug. 17, 2010) at 2–3 (unpublished). 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. 52–025–COL and 52–026– 

COL; ASLBP No.10–903–01–COL–BD02] 

Southern Nuclear Operating Company 

Establishment of Atomic Safety And 

Licensing Board 

Pursuant to delegation by the 

Commission dated December 29, 1972, 

published in the Federal Register, 37 FR 

28,710 (1972), and the Commission’s 

regulations, see 10 CFR 2.104, 2.300, 

2.303, 2.309, 2.311, 2.318, and 2.321, 

notice is hereby given that an Atomic 

Safety and Licensing Board (Board) is 

being established to preside over the 

following proceeding: 

Southern Nuclear Operating Company; 

(Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 

3 and 4) 

This proceeding arises from the 

August 12, 2010 submission of a request 

for admission of a new contention to 

challenge the application of Southern 

Nuclear Operating Company’s 

application for a combined license for 

Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 3 

and 4, to be located in Burke County, 

Georgia. The request was submitted by 

the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense 

League, the Center for a Sustainable 

Coast, and Georgia Women’s Action for 

New Directions for Clean Energy.1

The Board is comprised of the 

following administrative judges: G. Paul 

Bollwerk, III, Chairman, Atomic Safety 

and Licensing Board Panel, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, Washington, 

DC 20555–0001. 

Nicholas G. Trikouros, Atomic Safety 

and Licensing Board Panel, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, Washington, 

DC 20555–0001. 

James F. Jackson, Atomic Safety and 

Licensing Board Panel, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, Washington, 

DC 20555–0001. 

All correspondence, documents, and 

other materials shall be filed in 

accordance with the NRC E-Filing rule, 

which the NRC promulgated in August 

2007 (72 FR 49,139). 

Issued at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th 

day of August 2010. 

E. Roy Hawkens, 

Chief Administrative Judge, Atomic Safety 

and Licensing Board Panel. 

[FR Doc. 2010–21940 Filed 9–1–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. STN 50–530; NRC–2010–0281] 

Arizona Public Service Company, et 

al., Palo Verde Nuclear Generating 

Station, Unit 3; Temporary Exemption 

1.0 Background 

Arizona Public Service Company 

(APS, the licensee) is the holder of 

Facility Operating License No. NPF–74, 

which authorizes operation of the Palo 

Verde Nuclear Generating Station 

(PVNGS), Unit 3. The license provides, 

among other things, that the facility is 

subject to all rules, regulations, and 

orders of the Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC, the Commission) 

now or hereafter in effect. 

The facility consists of a pressurizedwater reactor located in Maricopa 

County, Arizona. 

2.0 Request/Action 

Pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of 

Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Section 

50.12, ‘‘Specific exemptions,’’ APS has, 

by letter dated November 2, 2009, and 

supplemented by letter dated May 12, 

2010 (Agencywide Documents Access 

and Management System (ADAMS) 

Accession Nos. ML093160596 and 

ML101410262, respectively), requested 

a temporary exemption from 10 CFR 

50.46, ‘‘Acceptance criteria for 

emergency core cooling systems for 

light-water nuclear power reactors,’’ and 

Appendix K to 10 CFR part 50, ‘‘ECCS 

Evaluation Models,’’ (Appendix K). The 

regulations in 10 CFR 50.46 contain 

acceptance criteria for the emergency 

core cooling system (ECCS) for reactors 

fueled with zircaloy or ZIRLO cladding. 

In addition, Appendix K to 10 CFR part 

50 requires that the Baker-Just equation 

be used to predict the rates of energy 

release, hydrogen concentration, and 

cladding oxidation from the metal-water 

reaction. The temporary exemption 

request relates solely to the specific 

types of cladding material specified in 

these regulations. As written, the 

regulations presume the use of zircaloy 

or ZIRLO fuel rod cladding. Thus, an 

exemption from the requirements of 10 

CFR 50.46 and Appendix K is needed to 

irradiate lead fuel assemblies (LFAs) 

comprised of different cladding alloys at 

PVNGS, Unit 3. 

The temporary exemption requested 

by the licensee would allow up to eight 

LFAs manufactured by Westinghouse 

Electric Company LLC (Westinghouse) 

with fuel rods clad with Optimized 

ZIRLOTM to be inserted into the PVNGS, 

Unit 3, core during the fall 2010 

refueling outage. The temporary 

exemption would allow the LFAs to be 

used for up to three operating cycles 

(Cycles 16, 17, and 18). 

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. Under 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2), 

special circumstances include, among 

other things, when application of the 

specific regulation in the particular 

circumstance would not serve, or is not 

necessary to achieve, the underlying 

purpose of the rule. 

Authorized by Law 

This exemption would allow up to 

eight LFAs with Optimized ZIRLOTM

cladding to be inserted into the PVNGS, 

Unit 3 reactor core during the fall 2010 

refueling outage. It would also allow the 

LFAs to be used for up to three 

operating cycles (Cycles 16, 17, and 18). 

The Optimized ZIRLOTM cladding is of 

a slightly different material composition 

than the zircaloy or ZIRLO cladding 

explicitly identified in 10 CFR 50.46, 

and implicitly assumed in 10 CFR part 

50, Appendix K, for light water reactor 

fuel. However, the fundamental 

requirements regarding ECCS 

performance can still be satisfied by the 

LFAs with the Optimized ZIRLOTM

cladding. 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 Commission’s 

regulations. Therefore, the exemption is 

authorized by law. 

No Undue Risk to Public Health and 

Safety 

The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 

50.46 is to establish acceptance criteria 

for ECCS performance. Westinghouse 

topical reports WCAP–16500–P–A, 

Revision 0, ‘‘CE [Combustion 

Engineering] 16x16 Next Generation 

Fuel Core Reference Report,’’ dated 


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