ML20046B503
| ML20046B503 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 06/24/1993 |
| From: | Rathbun D NRC OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS (OCA) |
| To: | Lehman R, Lieberman J, Sharp P HOUSE OF REP., HOUSE OF REP., ENERGY & COMMERCE, SENATE, ENVIRONMENT & PUBLIC WORKS |
| References | |
| FRN-58FR34539, RULE-PR-50 NUDOCS 9308040299 | |
| Download: ML20046B503 (3) | |
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June 24, '993 The Honorable Joseph Lieberman, Che:cman Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Regulation Committee on Environment and Public Works Unitea States Senate Washington, DC 20510
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The NRC has sent to the Office of the Federal Reaister for publication the enclosed proposed amendment to the Commission's rules in 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E.
Experience has shown that the requirements in 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, Section IV.F.3 on full or partial participation by State or local governments in the biennial (offsite) exercise are unnecessarily complicated.
Additionally, the Commission believes that the interval for an ingestion exposure pathway exercise should be changed from 5 to 6 years, and that the requirement that all states within the plume exposure pathway EPZ for a given site fully participate in an offsite exercise for that site at least once every 7 years should be deleted.
These emergency planning exercise revisions will make NRC regulations consistent with FEMA's exercise requirements.
The Commission is issuing the proposed amendment for public comment.
Sincerely,
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' Dennis K. Rathbun, Director Office of Congressional Affairs cc:
Senator Alan K. Simpson
Enclosure:
Federal Reaister Notice 9308040299 930624
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The Honorable Philip Sharp, Chairman Subcommittee on Energy and Power Committee on Energy and Commerce United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 l
Dear Mr. Chairman:
.The NRC has sent to the Office of the Federal Reaister for publication the i
enclosed proposed amendment to the Commission's rules.in 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E.
Experience has shown that the requirements in 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, Section IV.F.3 on full-or partial participation by State or local governments in the biennial (offsite) exercise are unnecessarily complicated.
Additionally, the Commission believes that the. interval for an ingestion exposure pathway exercise should be changed from 5 to 6 years, and that the requirement that all states within the plume exposure pathway EPZ for.a given site fully participate in-an offsite exercise for that site at 13ast once i
every 7 years should be deleted.
j These emergency planning exercise revisions will make.NRC regulati3ns.
consistent with FEMA's exercise requirements.
The Commission is issuing the proposed amendment 1for public comment.
i Sincerely,
/. 7 Dennis K. Rathbun, Director Office of Congressional Affairs 5 cc: Representative Michael Bilirakis
Enclosure:
Feder61 Reaister Notice f l i i ) k
p *tauq% J l' ' UNITED STATES T {r.E NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ' f WASHINGTON. D.C. 20555 %; v.....f 1 June 24, 1993 The Honorable Richard H. Lehman, Chairman Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Committee on Natural Resources United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The NRC has sent to the Office of the Federal Reaister for publication the enclosed proposed amendment to the Commission's rules in 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E. Experience has shown that the requirements in 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, Section IV.F.3 on full or partial participation by State or local governments in the biennial (offsite) exercise are unnecessarily complicated. Additionally, the Commission believes that the interval for an ingestion exposure pathway exercise should be changed from 5 to 6 years, and that the requirement that all states within the plume exposure pathway EPZ for a given site fully participate in an offsite exercise for that site at least once every 7 years should be deleted. These emergency planning exercise revisions will make NRC regulations consistent with FEMA's exercise requirements. The Commission is issuing the proposed amendment for public comment. Sincerely, Je f 1'o' Dennis K. Rathbun, Director Office of Congressional Affairs cc: Representative Barbara Vucanovich
Enclosure:
Federal Reaister Notice
?.: [7590-01-P] NUCLEAR REGUl^. TORY COMMISSION 10 CFR Part 50 RIN: 3150 - AD40 [ Production and Utilization Facilities; j Emergency Planning and Preparedness - Exercise Requirements l 1 AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Proposed rule. i
SUMMARY
- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to revise its emergency planning regulations. The proposed rule would update and clarify q
ambiguities that have surfaced in the implementation of the Commission's emergency planning exercise requirements. l DATES: The comment period expires (75 days after publication in the Federal Reaister). Comments received after this date will be considered if practical i to do so, but only those comments received on or before this date can be j ) assured of consideration. ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to the Secretary of the Commission, Attention: Docketing and Service Branch, U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ( i
F, i i Washington, DC 20555, or may be hand-delivered to One White Flint North, i 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, between 7:45 am and 4:15 pm Federal workdays. Copies of comments received may be examined at the Commission's Public Document Room at 2120 L Street NW, (Lower Level) l Washington, DC. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael T. Jamgochian, Office of Nuclear 4 Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, telephone (301-492-3918). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: i f BACKGROUND On August 19,1980, (45 FR 55402) the NRC published a final rule that revised its emergency planning regulations. The final rule became effective t on f4vember 3, 1980. On July 6, 1984 (49 FR 27733), the NRC amended its emergency planning regulations to relax the frequency of participation by State and local governmental authorities in emergency preparedness exercises at nuclear power reactor sites. The amendments were based on the NRC's experience gained in observing and evaluating emergency preparedness exercises since 1980. Further experience has shown that the requirements in 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, Section IV.F.3 on full or partial participation by State or f local governments in the biennial (offsite) exercise are unnecessarily complicated. Additionally, the Commission believes that the interval for an ingestion exposure pathway exercise should be changed from 5 to 6 years, and 2
[, that the regulation be deleted that requires all states within the plume exposure pathway emergency planning zone (EPZ) for a given site fully participate in an offsite exercise for that site at least once every 7 years. The Commission finds that the current regulation has resulted in a relatively complicated description of the requirements for exercise participation by State and local governments who have offsite planning responsibility for more than one nuclear power plant. This proposed rule would simplify and clarify this requirement. In addition, Appendix E would be revised to reflect that the interval for an ingestion exposure pathway exercise be changed from at least once every 5 years to at least once-every 6 years (FEMA's ingestion pathway exercise requirement is at least once every 6 years). The change in the interval would match the biennial frequency required for exercises of offsite plans. Further, Appendix E also would be revised to eliminate the 7 year return frequency requirement because it has proven to be unnecessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule as well as being burdensome to states which are within the plume exposure pathway for multiple sites (FEMA does not have a return frequency requirement). Both changes would assure compatibility with FEMA requirements and thus avoid confusion among licensees and State governments. Notwithstanding elimination of the 7 year return frequency requirement, the Commission believes that offsite authorities should rotate their full participation in exercises among sites if they are within the plume exposure pathway for more than one site. The Commission codified the 7 year return frequency in the July 6,1984 3 e - -
.a. a (49 FR 27733) amendment to the emergency planning reg;alations. This amendment provides that at least once every 7 years, all states within the plume j exposure pathway EPZ of a given site must fully participate in an offsite exercise for that site. In so doing the Commission noted that "the final rule is not totally consistent with FEMA's final regulation (44 CFR Part 350). This inconsistency lies in the area of return frequency of multiple-site states as previously discussed. The FEMA position on return frequency is a significant departure from the NRC's proposed regulation of July 21, 1983 (48 FR33307). The Commission believes that more study is needed before deletion of the return frequency requirement can be justified." The Commission now believes that sufficient experience has been gained in the observation and evaluation of emergency preparedness exercises at nuclear power reactor sites to conclude that the 7 year return frequency can be deleted. l The Commission has found that multi-site states, when not fully participating in an exercise at a specific site will usually partially participate at a significant level of activity every 2 years at that specific site in order to support the participation of the appropriate local i governments. The Commission has found that this level of exercise participation provides adequate emergency response training for. State and local governments. Additionally, a provision still exists in the regulation which permits State or local government participation in the licensee's annual-1 i exercise. A State or local government may consider its response capability to ] i be less than optimal because of an unusually large personnel turnover or j 4
because there have been limited responses to real emergencies in the community. The regulation still requires the licensees to provide for State or local government participation if they indicate such a desire. This proposed revision would not have any adverse impact on public health and safety because State emergency response personnel continuously respond to actual emergencies and experience has shown that states through a combination of full and partial participation exercises maintain an adequate level of response capability. A formal requirement for a state to return to a specific site every 7 years to participate in an exercise has proven to be unnecessary. This rulemaking would delete that unnecessary,_ unwarranted and burdensome requirement. Lastly, the proposed revision would delete past due dates [see Section F(2) (a)] because they are now meaningless. The NRC staff consulted with the FEMA staff during the development of this proposed rule. SUBMISSION OF COMMENTS IN ELECTRONIC FORM Commenters are encouraged to submit, in addition to the original paper copy, a copy of the letter in electronic form on 5.25 or 3.5 inch computer diskette: IBM PC/ DOS or MS/ DOS format. Data files should be provided in Wordperfect format or unformatted ASCII code. The format and version should be identified on the diskette's external label. 5
~ t l Finding of No Significant Environmental Impact: Availability The Commission has determined under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and the Commission's regulations in Subpart A of 10 CFR Part 51, that this rule, if adopted, would not be a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment; and therefore, an environmental impact statement is not required. The proposed rule would-l update and cl' rify the emergency planning regulations relating to exercises. o it does not involve any modification to any plant or revise the need for or l the standards for emergency plans, and there is no adverse effect on the quality of-the environment. The environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact on which this determination is based are available for i inspection at the NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L Street, NW, (Lower Level) Washington, DC, 20037. Single copies are available without charge upon written request from NRC Distribution Section, Office of Information Resources Management, USNRC, Washington, DC 20555. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement i i l This proposed rule does not contain a new or amended infonnation collection requirement subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing requirements were approved by the Office of Management and Budget approval number 3150-0011. i 6 1 i I
c - Regulatory Analysis The Commission has prepared a regulatory analysis on this proposed regulation. The analysis examines the costs and benefits of-the alternatives considered by the Commission. The analysis is available for inspection in the 1 NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L St., NW., (Lower Level) Washington, DC 20037. Single copies of the analysis may be obtained from Michael-Jamgochian, Office ) of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Telephone: (301) 492-3918. l Backfit Analysis i - This proposed rule would not impose any new requirements on production l or utilization facilities. The proposed rule would delete the requirement that all states within the plume exposure _ pathway EPZ for a.given. site fully participate in an offsite' exercise for that specific site at least every 7 years. It also relaxes the requirement to perform an ingestion exposure pathway exercise from every 5 years to every 6 years. These changes would + permit, but do not require,. licensees to change their emergency plans and procedures. Therefore, these changes are not considered backfits as de' fined in 10 CFR 50.109 (a)(1). Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification The proposed rule would not have a significant impact on a substantial I number of small entities. The proposed rule would update and clarify I 7 l
4 ambiguities in the emergency planning regulations relating to exercises. Nuclear power plant licensees do not fall within the definition of small business in Section 3 of the Small Business Act,15 U.S.C. 632, the Small Business Size Standards of the Small Business Administration in 13 CFR Part 121, or the Commission's Size Standards published at 56 FR 56671-(November 6, 1991). Therefore, in accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, l 5 U.S.C. 605(b), the Commission hereby certifies that the proposed rule, if promulgated, will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities and that, therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis need not be prepared. List of Subjects. l Antitrust, Classified information, Criminal penalty, Fire protection, Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nuclear power plants and reactors, Penalty, Radiation protection, Reactor siting criteria, t' reporting and recordkeeping requirements. For the reasons set out in the preamole, and under the authority of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended, and 5 U.S.C. 553, the NRC is proposing to adopt the following l amendments to 10 CFR Part 50. i l l 8 i
PART 50 - DOMESTIC LICENSING OF PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION FACILITIES i 1. The authority citation for Part 50 continues to read as follows: i Authority: Secs. 102, 103, 104, 105, 161, 182, 183, 186, 189, 68 Stat. i 936, 937, 938, 948, 953, 954, 955, 956, as amended, sec. 234, 83 Stat. 1244, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2132, 2133, 2134, 2135, 2201, 2232, 2233, 2236, 2239, 2282): secs. 201, as amended, 202, 206, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 + l (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846). .t Section 50.7 also issued under Pub. L. 95-601, sec.10, 92 Stat. 2951 (42 U.S.C. 5851). Section 50.10 also issued under secs. 101, 185, 68 Stat. 955, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2131, 2235), sec. 102, Pub. L. 91-190, 83 Stat. 853 (42 U.S.C. 4332). Section 50.13, 50.54 (dd) and 50.103.also issued under sec. 108, 68 Stat. 939, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2138). Sections 50.23, 50.35, 50.55, and 50.56 also issued under sec. 185, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2235). Sections 50.33a, 50.55a and Appendix Q also issued under sec.102, Pub. L. 91-190, 83 Stat. 853 (42 U.S.C. 4332). Sections 50.34 and 50.54 also issued under sec. 204, 88 Stat. 1245 (42 U.S.C. 5844). Sections 50.58, 50.91; and 50.92 also i issued under Pub. 97-415, 96 Stat. 2073 (42 U.S.C. 2239). Section 50.78 also l issued under sec. 122, 68 Stat. 939 (42 U.S.C. 2152). Sections 50.80, 50.81 also issued under sec 184, 68 Stat. 954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2234). l l Appendix F also issued under sec.187, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2237). i \\ 9
1 2. Appendix E to Part 50 is amended by revising Section IV.F. to read as follows: APPENDIX E - Emergency Planning and Preparedness for Production and Utilization Facilities. IV. Content of Emergency Plans F. Training 1. The program to provide for (a) the training of employees and exercising, ) by periodic drills, of radiation emergency plans to ensure that employees of the licensee are familiar with their specific emergency response duties, and (b) the participation in the training and drills by other persons whose assistance may be needed in the event of a radiation emergency shall be described. This shall include a description of specialized initial training and periodic retraining programs to be provided to each of the following categories of emergency personnel: 1. Directors and/or coordinators of the plant emergency organization; ii. Personnel responsible for accident assessment, including control room shift personnel; 10 i 'l
-I i d iii Radiological monitoring teams; i iv. Fire control teams (fire brigades); v. Repair and damage control teams; vi. First aid and rescue teams; 'l vii. Medical support personnel; viii. Licensee's headquarters support personnel; f ix. Security personnel. l In addition, a radiological orientation training program shall be made i available to local services personnel; e.g., local emergency services / Civil Defense, local law enforcement personnel, local news media persons. 2. The plan shall describe provisions for the conduct of emergency preparedness exercises as follows: Exercises shall test the adequacy of timing and content of implementing procedures and methods, test emergency equipment and communications networks, test the public notification system, 'and ensure that emergency organization personnel are familiar with their duties.' hJse of site specific simulators or computers _is acceptable -l for any exercise. 11 2
1 A full participation' exercise which tests as much of the a. licensee, State and local emergency plans as is reasonably achievable without mandatory public participation shall be conducted for each site at which a power reactor is located. v This exercise shall be conducted within two years before the issuance of the first operating license for full power (one authorizing operation above 5% of rated power) of_the first reactor and shall include participation by each State and local government within the plume exposure pathway EPZ and each state within the ingestion exposure pathway EPZ. If the full participation exercise is conducted more than one year prior to issuance of an operating licensee for full power, an exercise which tests the licensee's onsite emergency plans shall be conducted within one year before issuance of an operating license for full power. This exercise need not have State or local government participation. b. Each licensee at each site shall annually exercise the onsite emergency plan. '" Full participation" when used in conjunction with emergency preparedness exercises for a particular site means appropriate offsite local and State authorities and licensee j personnel physically and actively take part in testing their integrated capability to adequately assess and respond to an accident at a commercial nuclear power plant. " Full r participation" includes testing major observable. portions of the onsite and offsite emergency plans and mobilization of state, local and licensee personnel and other resources in sufficient numbers to verify the capability to respond to the accident scenario. P 12 t
c. Offsite plans for each site shall be exercised biennially with full participation by each offsite authority having a role under the plan. Where the offsite authority has a role under a radiological response plan for more then one site, it shall fully i participate in one exercise every two years and shall, at least, partially participate' in other offsite plan exercises in such period. d. Each State within any ingestion exposure pathway EPZ shall exercise its plans and preparedness related to ingestion exposure pathway measures at least once every 6 years. e. Licensees shall enable any State or local government located within the plume exposure pathway EPZ to participate-in annual exercises when requested by such State or local government. f. Remedial exercises will be required if the emergency plan is not satisfactorily tested during the biennial exercise, such that NRC, i in consultation with FEMA, cannot find reasonable assurance that adequate protective measures can be taken in the event of a radiological emergency. The extent of State and local participation in remedial exercises must be sufficient to show s" Partial participation" when used in conjunction with emergency preparedness exercises for a particular site means appropriate offsite authorities shall actively take part in the exercise sufficient to test direction and control functions; i.e., (a) protective action decision making related to emergency action levels, and (b) communication capabilities among affected State and local authorities and the licensee. 13 i ~ ---c-
e that appropriate corrective measures have been taken regarding the elements of the plan not properly tested in the previous 3 exercises. g. All training, including exercises, shall provide for fermal critiques in order to identify weak or deficient areas that need correction. Any weaknesses or deficiencies that are identified shall be corrected. h. The participation of State and local governments in an emergency exercise is not required to the extent that the applicant has identified those governments as refusing to participate further in i emergency planning activities, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.47(c)(1). In such cases, an exercise shall be held with the applicant or licensee and such governmental entities as elect to participate in the emergency planning process. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this // day of b , 1993 For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. t ~/ L X. /' M. Taylor Executive Director for Operations 14 i}}