ML20210T061
| ML20210T061 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 11/25/1986 |
| From: | Chilk S NRC OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY (SECY) |
| To: | Parler W NRC OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL (OGC) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20210T032 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-87-18 NUDOCS 8702180048 | |
| Download: ML20210T061 (5) | |
Text
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'g UNITED STATES CyS: Stello NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Ro2 n
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WASHINGTON,0.C. 20556 Rehm Sniezek November 25, 1986 Murray Taylor 8eckjord OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY Shelton Lesar
$9. )&/, dGC MEMOPANDUM FOR:
William C. Parler, General Counsel FROM:
,amuel J. Chilk, Secretary
SUBJECT:
SECY-86-291 - PROPOSED EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS RULEMAKING This is to advise you that the Commission (with Commissioner Asselstine disagreeing) has approved the proposed revision of the rule requiring a full participation emergency preparedness exercise within one year prior to issuance of an operating license subject to the following:
(1)
The comment period should be 30 days instead of 20 days.
(2)
The decision rationale in the regulatory analysis should be revised to make it clear that the Commission has determined in an earlier rulemaking that emergency preparedness would be adequate if State and local governments participated in an exercise every two years.
(3)
The attached changes should be incorporated.
The Federal Register Notice should be revised as noted, and forwarded for signature and publication in the Federal Register.
(OGC) (SECY SUSPENSE:
12/8/86)
Commissioner Asselstine will have separate views (to be provided) to be attached to the Federal Register Notice when published.
1 foTA-87-18
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Copies:
Chairman Zech Commissioner Roberts Commissioner Asselstine Commissioner Bernthal Commissioner Carr EDO OCA OPA 8702100048 870106
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[7590-01]
1 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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10 CFR Part" 50 Timing Requirements For Full Participation Emergency Preparedness Exercises For Power Reactors Prior to Receipt Of An Operating License' AGENCY:
Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
i ACTION:
Proposed rule.
SUMMARY
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or, Commission) i-proposes to amend its regulations to relax the timing i
i requirements for a full participation emergercy preparedness ISS M A N C 6 d u LL f* * "' W i-exercise for power reactors prior to seee6pt of a operating S
license.
The proposed amendment would require a full i
I participation exercise, that includes State and local governmeNks,tobeheldwithintwoyearsbeforetheissuanceof l
f t< L a-tocw Stt a)Aoperating license, as opposed to the current requirement of i
within one year.
Exercises without full' participation would i
still be required on an annual basis.
f DATES:
Comment period expires (20 days from date of issuance of proposed rules).
Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practicable to do so, but assurance of f
consideration can be given only for comments filed on or before that date.
i i
ADDRESSES:
Submit written comments to:
Secretary, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555, ATTN i
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<4 emergencies,'such as chemical ~ spills, on a continuing basis.
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The Commission concluded that bienhial full participation exerNiseswereadequate'toprotectpublic;healthandsafety.
I The Commission in revising its regulations for. full' participation exercises retained the requirement for annual exercises of each licensee's emergency plan (49 FR 27733, July 6, 1984).
i 1
The Commission did not make a similar~ change regarding the required frequency of full participation exercises at sites without an operating license.
Because of the opportunity in an operating license proceeding under Section 189a of the Atomic Energy Act for a hearing on the results of a full participation exercise, this requirement created some difficulty in scheduling the exercise so that~it.would allow time for a hearing while still being conducted within one year of plant readiness to be licensed.
In 1982 the Commission adopted a rule which, by finding that emergency preparedness exercises l
l were not required for a Licensing Board, Appeal Board, or i
j Commission decision, would have allowed the exercise to be i
conducted close enough to a licensing decision to avoid this i
i difficulty and to avoid annual pre-licensing exercises (47 FR 4
30232, July 13, 1982).
However, the Court of Appeals for the f
District of Columbia Circuit vacated that rulemaking.
The i
i court held that the Commission could not remove from the J
u N# 8A j
hearing requirements of Section 189a of the Atomic Energy Act a 1
material issue relevant to its licensing decision, and that the
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7 (7590-01) this rule is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment and therefore an envi onmental impact statement is not required.
See 10 CFR
- 51. 20 (a) (1).
Moreover, the Commission has determined, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, that the proposed rule has no significant environmental. impact.
This determination has been made because the Commission cannot identify any impact on the human environment associated with changing the timing of full participation of State and local governments in pre-licensing emergency preparedness exercises from within one year of license issuance to within two years.
The need for this rulemaking is explained in the Supplementary Information accompanying this proposed rule.
The alternative approaches that were considered in this rulemaking proceeding {were:
1.
To retain the requirement for a full participation exercise within one year of issuance of an operating license.
2.
To relax the requirement to within two years of issuance of an operating license.
There were no environmental impacts identified from either of the alternatives considered.
In addition, when promulgating the original emergency planning and preparedness regulations in 1980, the NRC prepared-an " Environmental Assessment for Final Changes to 10 CFR Part 50 and Appendix E of 10 CFR Part 50, Emergency Planning
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,A ADDITIONAL VIEW OF COMMISSIONER ASSELSTINE I disapprove this proposed rule change.
I continue to believe that the requirement to conduct a full participa-tion exercise, which includes State and local government participation, within one year prior to issuance of an operating license is needed to provide an accurate and timely verification of the adequacy of emergency preparedness. The purpose of this requirement is to provide an up-to-date assessment of the state of emergency preparedness for a new plant at the timethepl[ntreceivesanoperatinglicense. This requirement has been easily satisfied in most cases.
In the few cases in which there has been some difficulty, the Commission's exemption process provides a suitable alternate method for addressing the situation. Given the satisfactory experience with the current rule and the benefit in having up-to-date and accurate information on the state of emergency preparedness at new nuclear-power plants, I would not relax the existing one-year requirement for a full participation exercise.
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