ML20059L321
| ML20059L321 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Fermi  |
| Issue date: | 11/24/1993 |
| From: | Greeves J NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| To: | DETROIT EDISON CO. |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9402040049 | |
| Download: ML20059L321 (4) | |
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4 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA i
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION J
In the matter of
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DETROIT EDISON COMPANY
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Docket No. 50-16
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(Enrico Fermi Atomic Power Plant,
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Unit 1)
EXEMPTION I.
The Detroit Edison Company (the licensee), is the holder of Possession-Only License (POL) No. DPR-9 which authorizes possession and maintenance of the Enrico Fermi Atomic Power Plant, Unit l'(Fermi-1). The license provides, among other things, that the plant is subject to all rules, regulations, and Orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission now or hereafter in effect.
Fermi-1 is a permanently shutdown sodium-cooled, fast-breeder reactor, that ceased power operations in 1972.
Fermi-1 is located at the licensee's site approximately 30 miles southwest of Detroit, Michigan, on Lake Erie at Lagoona Beach in Frenchtown Township, Michigan.
The fuel and uranium-238 blanket material have been removed from the reactor and shipped offsite, and all the sodium has been removed with the exception of small residual amounts that could not be drained.
The Fermi-1 license was modified to a POL.on September 5, 1973. Fermi-1 is expected to remain in SAFSTOR until the year 2025, at which time the licensee is planning to decommission Fermi-1 and Fermi-2 simultaneously.
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II.
The NRC is considering granting an exemption from the requirements in
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10 CFR 50.120 to establish, implement, and maintain a training program, using the systems approach to training, for all nine categories of personnel listed in 10 CFR 50.120.
This rule states the following:
...each nuclear power plant licensee, by [0ctober 25, 1993, publication] shall establish, implement, and maintain a training program derived from a systems approach to training as defined in 10 CFR 55.4."
The intent of 10 CFR 50.120 is to ensure that civilian nuclear power plant operating personnel are trained and qualified to safely operate and maintain the facility commensurate with the status of the facility.
III.
The NRC may grant exemptions from the requirements of the regulations which, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a), are: (1) authorized by law, will not present an undue risk to the public health and safety, and are consistent.
with the common defense and security; and (2) when special circumstances are present.
Section 50.12(a)(2)(ii) of 10 CFR 50.12 addresses special circumstances that exist when application of the regulations in thel particular circumstances would not serve the underlying purpose of the rule or is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule. The NRC will not consider granting an exemption unless special circumstances are present. The special circumstances at Fermi-1 are: 1) the reactor has been defueled; 2) the fuel has been shipped offsite; 3) the reactor license has been amended to prohibit the reactor from returning to operation; 4) the training requirements necessary to assure adequate protection of the public health and safety at a permanently shutdown and defueled facility. are -
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3 significantly less than the training requirements necessary to assure the public health and safety at an operating facility; and 5) there are no credible accident scenarios that could result in offsite doses that would exceed a small fraction of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's
" Protective Action Guidelines."
This exemption would relieve the licensee from the training requirements for all nine categories of personnel listed in 10 CFR 50.120.
The nine categories that would be exempted are: 1) non-licensed operators; 2) shift supervisors; 3) shift technical advisor; 4) instrument and control technician; 5) electrical maintenance personnel; 6) mechanical maintenance personnel; 7) radiological protection technician; 8) chemistry technician; 4
and 9) engineering support personnel.
The only category of personnel at Fermi-1 that performs duties similar to those required during plant operations is the radiological protection technician.
Radiological protection personnel at Fermi-1 are trained in accordance with the conditions in the Fermi-1 License Amendment No. 9, Technical Specification, Appendix A.
The licensee is currently using the radiation protection personnel assigned to Fermi-2, on as needed basis.
Fermi-2 radiation protection personnel meet the training requirements of 10 CFR 50.120.
Requiring a plant such as Fermi-1 (that is in SAFSTOR and has the fuel shipped offsite) to comply with the training requirements specified in 10 CFR 50.120 is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule.
IV.
The staff finds the special circumstances at Fermi-1 presented in Section III satisfy the requirements of 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii).
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i V.
The NRC staff has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(1), an exemption can be authorized by law, and that this exemption will not present f
an undue risk to the public health and-safety and is consistent with the common defense and security. Accordingly, the NRC hereby grants an exemption to the portions of 10 CFR 50.120 that apply to the establishment, implementation, and maintenance of training programs using a systems approach to training.
This exemption does not relieve the licensee -of any other training requirements or commitments that were made to the NRC.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the NRC has determined that the granting of this exemption will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment (58 FR 61928; dated November 23,1993).
A copy of the licensee's request for exemption and supporting documentation dated July 30, 1993, and the NRC staff's Safety Evaluation,-
included in the exemption, are available for public inspection at the NRC's f
Public Document Room, 2120 L Street, N.W., Washington, DC.20037, and at the local public document room at the Monroe County Library System, 3700 South Custer Road, Monroe, MI 48161.
This exemption is effective upon issuance.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of November, 1993.
FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION kW John T. Greeves, Director Division of Low-Level Waste Management and Decommissioning Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards I