Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 250 / Monday, December 31, 2001 / Notices 67555

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50–416]

Entergy Operations, Inc., (Grand Gulf

Nuclear Power Station, Unit 1);

Exemption

I

Entergy Operations, Inc. (EOI or the

licensee) is the holder of Facility

Operating License No. NPF–29, which

authorizes operation of the Grand Gulf

Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (GGNS) at power

levels not to exceed 3833 megawatts

thermal.

The facility consists of one boilingwater reactor located at the licensee’s

site in Claiborne County, Mississippi.

The license provides, among other

things, that the licensee is subject to all

rules, regulations, and orders of the

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC,

the Commission) now or hereafter in

effect.

II

Section IV.F.2.b of Appendix E to

Title 10 of the Code of Federal

Regulations (10 CFR) part 50, requires

that each licensee at each site conduct

an exercise of its onsite emergency plan

every 2 years, and indicates the exercise

may be included in the fullparticipation biennial exercise required

by paragraph 2.c.

In summary, licensees are to take

actions necessary to ensure that

adequate emergency response

capabilities are maintained during the

interval between biennial exercises by

conducting drills. Appendix E, section

IV.F.2.c. to 10 CFR part 50 requires

offsite plans for each site to be exercised

biennially with full participation by

each offsite authority having a role

under the plan. During such biennial

full-participation exercises, the NRC

evaluates onsite emergency

preparedness activities, and the Federal

Emergency Management Agency

evaluates offsite emergency

preparedness activities. The licensee

successfully conducted a fullparticipation exercise for GGNS on June

23, 1999. By letter dated September 18,

2001, as supplemented by letter dated

December 3, 2001, the licensee

requested an exemption from 10 CFR

part 50, Appendix E, section IV.F.2.c.,

regarding the conduct of a fullparticipation exercise originally

scheduled for the week of September 17,

2001. Specifically, the licensee

proposed rescheduling the exercise

originally scheduled for the week of

September 17, 2001, to the week of

March 4, 2002. While the licensee

requested an exemption from the

requirements of 10 CFR part 50,

Appendix E, section IV.F.2.c., to

exercise their offsite emergency plan,

the NRC staff has determined that an

exemption from the requirements in 10

CFR part 50, Appendix E, section

IV.F.2.b., to exercise their onsite

emergency plan simultaneously with

the offsite emergency plan exercise, was

also necessary.

The Commission, pursuant to 10 CFR

50.12(a)(1), may grant exemptions from

the requirements of 10 CFR part 50 that

are authorized by law, will not present

an undue risk to public health and

safety, and are consistent with the

common defense and security. The

Commission, however, pursuant to 10

CFR 50.12(a)(2), will not consider

granting an exemption unless special

circumstances are present. Under 10

CFR 50.12(a)(2)(v), special

circumstances are present whenever the

exemption would provide only

temporary relief from the applicable

regulation and the licensee or applicant

has made good faith efforts to comply

with the regulation.

III

The licensee requests a one-time

change in the schedule for the next fullparticipation exercise for GGNS.

Subsequent full-participation exercises

for GGNS would be scheduled at no

greater than 2-year intervals in

accordance with 10 CFR part 50,

Appendix E, section IV.F.2.c.

Accordingly, the exemption would

provide only temporary relief from that

regulation, in that the licensee has

committed to conduct the exercise

during the next calendar year (2002),

and has not requested any permanent

changes in future exercise scheduling.

As a result, subsequent to the rescheduled full-participation exercise to

be conducted in 2002, the licensee is

expected to conduct another fullparticipation exercise of onsite and

offsite emergency plans in 2003.

As indicated in the licensee’s request

for an exemption, as supplemented, the

licensee had originally scheduled a fullparticipation exercise for the week of

September 17, 2001. As further set forth

in the request, however, due to the

national emergency of September 11,

2001, heightened security at GGNS

resulted in increased monitoring of

people and equipment, and additional

controls on maintenance activities.

Conducting an emergency preparedness

exercise during that period of

heightened security would have

increased the security risk, because

exercise activities may have presented

an unwarranted distraction of nuclear

security officers as well as local law

enforcement officials. Conducting the

full participation exercise at that time

could also have created undue public

alarm with the potential to create a

public safety concern. These

circumstances resulting in the licensee’s

request for exemption were beyond the

licensee’s control. Accordingly, the

licensee made a good faith effort to

comply with the schedule requirements

of 10 CFR part 50, Appendix E, for fullparticipation emergency plan exercises.

The staff examined the licensee’s

rationale to support the exemption

request, and concluded that granting the

exemption would meet the underlying

purpose of 10 CFR part 50, because the

exemption would provide only

temporary relief from the applicable

regulation and the licensee made a good

faith effort to comply with the

regulation. Furthermore, the exemption

would result in benefit to the public

health and safety. The national

emergency of September 11, 2001, and

the subsequent recovery and security

responses required that licensee, State,

and local resources, expected to be

available for the previously scheduled

biennial exercise, be applied to agency

missions. Offsite agencies were not able

to dedicate the appropriate level of

resources, as it would have detracted

from their response to the security

needs at that time. Postponement of the

exercise resulted in a benefit to public

health and safety that compensated for

any decrease in public health and safety

that may have resulted from delaying

the exercise. Additionally, since the

June 23, 1999, full-participation

exercise, the licensee has maintained

emergency preparedness by conducting

ten emergency preparedness drills, each

requiring the full activation of all GGNS

emergency facilities, which is a

compensating measure contributing to

justification of the exemption. The

exemption only provides temporary

relief from the applicable regulation, in

that the licensee has committed to

conduct the exercise during the next

calendar year (2002), and has not

requested any permanent changes in

future exercise scheduling.

Based upon consideration of the

public health and safety, schedule, and

resource issues resulting from the

national emergency of September 11,

2001, the staff concludes that the

request for exemption is acceptable.

However, in this period of continued

heightened security concerns regarding

nuclear plant vulnerability it is prudent

to conduct the exercise as soon as

practical to demonstrate and maintain

readiness.

67556 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 250 / Monday, December 31, 2001 / Notices

The safety evaluation may be

examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the

NRC’s Public Document Room, located

at One White Flint North, 11555

Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville,

Maryland. Publically available records

will be accessible electronically from

the ADAMS Public Library component

on the NRC Web site, http://

www.nrc.gov (the Public Electronic

Reading Room).

IV

Accordingly, the Commission has

determined 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. Also, special

circumstances are present pursuant to

10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(v), in that the

exemption would provide only

temporary relief from the applicable

regulations, and the licensee has made

good faith efforts to comply with the

regulations. Therefore, the Commission

hereby grants EOI, specifically for

GGNS, a one-time scheduler exemption

from the requirements to conduct an

exercise of its onsite and offsite

emergency plans every 2 years with fullparticipation by each offsite authority

having a role under the plan as required

by 10 CFR part 50, Appendix E, sections

IV.F.2.b. and c. To allow flexibility,

should it be necessary, the exemption is

granted to permit conduct of the fullparticipation exercise before the end of

the third quarter of 2002, with the

understanding that it should be

conducted as close as practical to the

licensee’s proposed date of the week of

March 4, 2002.

Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the

Commission has determined that the

granting of this exemption will have no

significant impact on the quality of the

human environment (66 FR 64480).

This exemption is effective upon

issuance.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day

of December, 2001.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Ledyard B. Marsh,

Acting Director, Division of Licensing Project

Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation.

[FR Doc. 01–32058 Filed 12–28–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

Docket No. 71–0122, Approval No. 0122,EA–

01–164]

In the Matter of J.L. Shepherd &

Associates San Fernando, CA;

Confirmatory Order Relaxing Order

(Effective Immediately)

I

J. L. Shepherd & Associates (JLS&A or

Approval Holder) was the holder of

Quality Assurance (QA) Program

Approval for Radioactive Material

Packages No. 0122 (Approval No. 0122),

issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC or Commission)

pursuant to 10 CFR part 71, subpart H.

The approval was previously issued

pursuant to the QA requirements of 10

CFR section 71.101. QA activities

authorized by Approval No. 0122

include: design, procurement,

fabrication, assembly, testing,

modification, maintenance, repair, and

use of transportation packages subject to

the provisions of 10 CFR part 71.

Approval No. 0122 was originally

issued January 17, 1980. Revision No. 6

was issued December 6, 2001, with an

expiration date on November 30, 2006.

In addition to having a QA program

approved by the NRC to satisfy the

provisions of 10 CFR part 71, subpart H,

to transport or deliver for transport

licensed material in a package, JLS&A is

required by 10 CFR part 71, subpart C,

to have and comply with the package’s

Certificate of Compliance (CoC) issued

by the NRC. Based on the JLS&A failure

to comply with 10 CFR part 71, QA

Program Approval No. 0122 was

withdrawn by an immediately effective

NRC Order, dated July 3, 2001.

II

By letter dated August 17, 2001,

JLS&A responded to the U. S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission’s July 2001

Order. In a August 16, 2001, response,

appended to the August 17, 2001, letter,

JLS&A requested that provisions of the

Order be relaxed based on a showing of

good cause. Specifically, JLS&A

requested interim relief from the July

2001 Order based on JLS&A’s proposed

Near-Term Corrective Action Plan

(NTCAP), to allow 68 shipments to 16

customers, in Department of

Transportation specification packaging

designated as 20WC. The NRC staff

reviewed JLS&A’s relief request to

determine, among other things, whether

the requested relief would be consistent

with assurances that public health and

safety are maintained. As a result the

NRC issued a Confirmatory Order

Relaxing Order dated September 19,

2001, which relaxed the July 3, 2001,

Order to grant interim relief to allow 68

shipments to 16 customers in 20WC

packages in accordance with JLS&A’s

NTCAP, through March 2002, provided

certain commitments were completed.

A condition of the September 19,

2001,Order was that JLS&A hold all

shipments until NRC has completed an

inspection which confirms JLS&A’s

satisfactory completion of the identified

commitments. Subsequent to

certifications under oath and affirmation

from both J. L. Shepherd and the

independent auditor that the conditions

of the Confirmatory Order have been

completed, the NRC conducted an

inspection at the JLS&A facility on

November 13–15, 2001. As a result of

the inspection findings, the inspection

team authorized JLS&A to commence

the shipments in accordance with the

Confirmatory Order. By letter dated

November 20, 2001, NRC staff provided

a written confirmation of the inspection

teams authorization.

III

By letters dated December 7 and 11,

2001, JLS&A again requested that

provisions of the July 3, 2001, Order be

relaxed based on a showing of good

cause. Specifically, JLS&A requested

interim relief to ship an irradiator to

Surry Nuclear Power Station and return

the replaced unit to JLS&A’s facility in

California. JLS&A’s proposed to use the

NTCAP specified in the September 19,

2001, Confirmatory Order to allow these

two shipments in the Department of

Transportation specification packaging

designated as 20WC. These shipments

are necessary for Surry Power Station to

continue to provide adequate quality

control on instrumentation used for all

required radiation surveys in support of

plant operations. Therefore, the two

shipments are in the best interest of

public health and safety.

With respect to the substantive

concerns identified by the staff in the

July 2001 Order, on December 7 and 11,

2001, JLS&A agreed to take the

following corrective actions listed

below, before it makes any of the

proposed shipments to or from Surry

Power Station in accordance with the

NTCAP:

1. a. JLS&A will use the implementing

procedures for the 1995 QA program

plan, as revised, and the NTCAP to

complete an inspection of the 20WC

packages involved in the Surry

shipment. The inspection will confirm

that the packages are in conformance

with 49 CFR 178.362, ‘‘Specification

20WC Wooden Protective Jacket.’’ Each

inspection will include, at a minimum,