ML20011F137
| ML20011F137 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 02/22/1990 |
| From: | Murley T Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Davis A, Ebneter S, Russell W NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I), NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II), NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III) |
| References | |
| FOIA-94-167 NUDOCS 9003010243 | |
| Download: ML20011F137 (7) | |
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UNITED STATES
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i FEB 2 21990 i
i MEMORANDUM FOR: William T. Russell, Regional Administrator, Region I Stewart D. Ebneter, Regional Administrator, Region 11 A. Bert Davis, Regional Administrater, Region 111 Robert D. Martin, Regional Administrator Region IV John B. Martin, Regional Administrator, Region V l
FROM:
Thomas E. Murley, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
SUBJECT:
TEMPORARY WAIVERS OF COMPLIANCE This memorandum supersedes EGM 85-05B " Relief from Technical Specification LCOs" i
issued jointly by NRR and IE dated February 27, 1987. The purpose of this revi-sion is to reaffirm that there are two paths for waiving) compliance with technical specification limiting conditions for operation (TS LCOs or other license condi-tions that would otherwise unnecessarily require shutdown or delay startup absent some relief.
In case one, the Regions have the lead for waiving compliance for certain changes of short duration.
In case two, NRR has the lead.
In both cases, i
a violation of requirements may occur but the NRC is exercising discretion to t
temporarily waive compliance, i
Background
A licensee may depart from its technical specifications (TSs), pursuant to the yl',
provisions of 10 CFR 50.54(x), without prior NRC approval, in an emergency when it must act immediately to protect the public health and safety. However, situa-tions occur occasionally for which waiving compliance from regulatory require-ments may be appropriate, and which are not addressed by the provisions of 10 CFR 50.54(x).
In these situations strict compliance with the plant's TSs without some immediate waiver of compliance from the NRC would cause a licensee i
to initiate an unnecessary plant action.
Examples include cases where a required plant shutdown could subject the plant to problems / challenges that operating at steady state conditions would not.
Provided that the licensee has not abused
'the emergency provisions of 10 CFR 50.91 by failing to apply for an amendment in a timely manner, it is appropriate that the NRC have a procedure for expedi-tious action under these limited circumstances.
It is emphasized that any decision of this nature will not be exercised unless fk the NRC is clearly satisfied that such action is consistent with protecting the 90g public health and safety. Careful regulatory scrutiny must be given to any i
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Slosson, NRR 49-21401
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r Regional Administrators M 2 21990 request for. waiver of compliance for circumstances involving negligence missing a required surveillance) or poor planning (e.g., a necessary repa(e.g.,
ir part not available) or misinterpretation of a technical specification, or some similar avoidable situation. Such instances may be indicative of a more per-vasive problem with the plant or its management and should be identified and conveyed to the licensee via existing procedures such as SALP. However, given that plant safety has not been unduly compromised, denying a temporary waiver of compliance and thereby subjecting the plant to an unnecessary transient or delaying plant startup may not be in the best interest of public health and safety.
Regional Waiver of Compliance A Regional waiver of compliance is a vehicle for a Regional office to grant relief from TS LCOs in certain limited circumstances when the relief is tem-porary (not to exceed 7 days except in unusual circumstances) and nonrecurring such that a permanent license amendment would not be appropriate. The intent of such a waiver is to promote safety by not imposing unnecessary actions on an operating plant and to permit a reactor startup which would otherwise be precluded by TS under those circumstances where the proposed course of action involves minimal or no safety reduction. Some examples of circumstances for which a Region may waive compliance include (1) relief of a short duration from the limits of a function specified in an LCO, (2) extension of an action state-ment time limit, or (3) extension of a surveillance interval or a one-time change in a surveillance requirement if the extension is for a short duration.
In each of these situations, the licersee will adhere to the existing T5 upon expiration of the waiver.
The authority to exercise Regional waivers of compliance is granted to the Regional Administrator, who may delegate the authority to the Regional Division Director for Reactor Projects, based on a written request (or in some cases an oral request followed by a written request) from a licensee.
Before waiving compliance, the Region shall consult with and receive the concurrence from the appropriate Assistant Director for Projects, NRR.
Whenever a Regional waiver of compliance is exercised, the circumstances (including a description of com-pensatory measure (s) and an evaluation of the request by the staff) must be documented in a letter to the licensee from the Regional Administrator or his/
her designated official.
The letter shall specify the period of time for which the waiver of compliance is in effect and shall normally be issued within 1 working day of the receipt of the licensee's written request. Copies of the letter should be placed in the public document rooms (PDRs) and sent to the Director, NRR; the appropriate Director, NRR Projects Division; and the Director, Office of Enforcement. A copy should also be sent to the Technical Assistant, Division of Reactor Projects - 1/11, NRR, who will maintain a file of all temporary waivers of compliance.
In limited instances, a waiver may be requested and granted orally, followed by written documentation of the waiver.
This is discussed further under Licensee's Request.
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Regional Administrators 22 %
Regional waivers of compliance should not be exercised repeatedly for the same sets of circumstances for the same licensee. Additionally if a waiver is requested for a time period exceeding 7 days (except in unusual circum-stances), an emergency or exigency technical specification change should be processed and the waiver should be handled as discussed below.
MRR Waiver of Compliance An NRR waiver of compliance is a vehicle for NRR to grant relief until an emergency or exigency amendment can be processed. An NRR waiver of compliance may be appropriate when license conditions including TS LCO's would require immediate but inappropriate action under the circumstanc?s by the licensee or would preclude or interrupt plant startup.
Some examples of circumstances for which NRR may exercise a waiver of compliance include (1) a change in an element specified in a limiting condition for operation until such time as the element can be revised by an emergency or exigency license amendment, (2) extension of an action statement time limit for which an emergency or exigency license amend-ment will be processed to make the extension a permanent change to the TS, (3) an extension of a surveillance interval or change to a surveillance require-ment that will be incorporated as a subsequent change to the TS by an emergency or exigency license amendment, and (4) a case in which a licensee has submitted a timely proposed TS change that would alleviate an LCO situation, but the change has not yet been approved by NRC and it will now be processed as an emergency or exigency license amendment with suitable additional justification by the licensee.
The authority to exercise an NRR waiver of compliance is granted to the appro-priate Assistant Director for Projects iii NRR, based upon a written request (or in some cases, an oral request followed by a written request) from a licensee.
Before granting an NRR waiver of compliance, the Assistant Director for Projects, NRR shall consult with and receive concurrence from the responsible Regional Division Director for Reactor Projects. Whenever this waiver is exercised, the circumstances (including a description of' compensatory measure (s), and an evalu-ation of the request by the NRC) must be documented in a letter to the licensee from the appropriate Assistant Director for Projects, NRR. The letter is to specify the period of time for which the waiver of compliance is in effect.
The letter should normally be sent within 1 working day of receipt of the licensee's written request.
Copies of the letter should be placed in the public document rooms (PDRs) and sent to the appropriate Regional Administrator; the Director, NRR; and the Director, Office of Enforcement. A copy should also be sent to the Technical Assistant, Division of Reactor Projects - I/II, NRR, who will maintain a file of all temporary waivers of compliance.
In limited instances, a waiver of compliance may be requested and granted orally followed by written documenta-i tion of the waiver.
This is discussed further under Licensee Request.
Following issuance of the waiver of compliance, the NRC staff should proceed to expeditiously process the emergency or exigency TS amendment in accordance with existing NRR procedures.
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- .-I Regional Administrators.
FEB 2 21990 Licensee's Reouest Whether a waiver of compliance is to be considered by(1) a discussion of the the Region or by NRR, the licensee shall prepare a written request includin requirements for which a waiver is requested, (2)g:a discussion of circumstances surrounding the situation including the need for prompt action, and a descrip.
tion of why the situation could not have been avoided. (3) a discussion of compensatory actions (if any), (4) a preliminary evaluation of the safety significance and potential consequences of the proposed request, (5) a discus-sion which justifies the duration of the request, (6) the basis for the licensee's conclusion that the request does not involve a significant hazards consideration, and (7) the basis for the licensee's con lusion that the request does not involve irreversible environmental consequence The licensee's request should normally be sent by electronic mail to the Assistant Director for Projects, NRR or the Regional Administrator.
However, if circumstances do not permit time for electronic mail, the licensee may make the request orally and read or describe the above information to the NRC. The licensee's oral request shall be followed promptly (usually within 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br />) by written documentation describing its rationale for the request.
If the request is oral (to be followed with a written request), the NRC must have sufficient informa-tion to reach the same conclusions as if it received a written submittal.
The followup written request must confirm the information vhich NRC relied upon in arriving at its conclusion in granting the relief. The NRC must not act on the written or oral request until the licensee has confirmed that the action has been reviewed and approved by the Plant Operations Review Committee (p0RC), or its equivalent, i
Termination of Waiver If NRC decides to terminate a waiver of compliance for anj reason, the licensee must take steps to achieve the required plant status and implement the existing TS-required actions immediately upon oral notification of the termination by i
the appropriate Project Director, NRR or appropriate Regional Division Director.
For example, assuming a 7-day action statement of which 3 days have passed, the licensee does not have 7 days to initiate the required steps since time will already have elapsed during the waiver period.
In that case, the TS-required action is to be taken within 4 days. Alternatively, the licensee should promptly initiate an orderly shutdown or other required TS actions if the action statement has lapsed during the discretionary period. However, assuming such action is taken, the NRC should not normally take enforcement action if the action statement lapsed during the period and the waiver was subsequently terminated.
Summary The Regions may temporarily waive compliance to permit a licensee to not be in literal compliance with TS's in certain circumstances in which a license amend-ment is not appropriate because of the nonrecurring, short duration nature of
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the event. NRR may temporarily waive compliance when a license amendment is appropriate but an emergency or exigency amendment cannot be processed before the time limit for the action statement expires.
?v,.. 2 FEB 2 2190 Regional Administrators -
If a TS will be exceeded before a decision can be made to exercise a waiver of compliance, or if it is decided not to exercise a waiver of compliance, the licensee must take the action required by the TS (except as provided in 10 CFR 50.54(x)). A waiver of compliance is a discretionary action available to the NRC staff that need not be exercised unless the staff is clearly satisfied that the exercise of such action is consistent with the public health and safety.
Notwithstanding the decision to waive compliance, enforcement action is to be considered in accordance with the enforcement policy for violations that led up to the situation that merited the waiver of compliance, j
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, a N,> G n a s A I
[ omas E. Murley, Dire /ttor
('O fice of Nuclear Reactor Regulati r
cc: See r. ext page b
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i FEB 2 2 890 Regional Administrators 5
If a TS will be exceeded before a decision can'be made to exercise a waiver of compliance, or if it is decided not to exercise a waiver of compliance, the licensee must take the action required by the TS (except as provided in 10 CFR 50.54(x)).
A waiver of compliance is a discretionary action available to the NRC staff that need not be exercised unless the staff is clearly satisfied that the exercise of such action is consistent with the public health and safety.
Notwithstanding the decision to waive compliance, enforcement action is to be considered in accordance with the enforcement policy for violations that led up to the situation that merited the waiver of compliance.
i Original signed by James H. Sn!ezek -
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/ Thomas E. Murley, Director y
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation cc: See next page I
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