ML20236F678
| ML20236F678 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Maine Yankee |
| Issue date: | 06/29/1998 |
| From: | Collins S NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned) |
| To: | Maine Yankee |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20236F675 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9807020281 | |
| Download: ML20236F678 (5) | |
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7590-01-P UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION in the Matter of
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MAINE YANKEE ATOMIC
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Docket No. 50-309 POWER COMPANY
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Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station
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EXEMPTION 1.
Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company (MYAPCo or the licensee) is the holder of Facility Operating License No. DPR-36, which authorizes operation of Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station (Maine Yankee). The license provides, among other things, that the facility is subject to all rules, regulations, and orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) now or hereafter in effect. The facility is a pressurized-water reactor located on the licensee's site in Lincoln County, Maine. On August 7,1997, the licensee informed the Commission that it had decided to permanently cease operations at Maine Yankes and 4
that all fuel had been permanently removed from the reactor. In accordance with i
10 CFR 50.82(a)(2), the certifications in the letter modified the facility operating license to permanently withdraw MYAPCo's authority to operate the reactor and to load fuelin the reactor vessel.
l II.
l It is stated in 10 CFR 73.55, " Requirements for physical protection of licensed activities in nuclear power ' eactors against radiological sabotage," paragraph (a), that "The r
licensee shall establisn and maintain an onsite physical protection system and security i
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. organization which will have as its objective to provide high assurance that activities involving special nuclear material are not inimical to the common defense and security and
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do not constitute an unreasonable risk to the public health and safety."
By letter dated November 25,.1997, the licensee requested 11 exemptions from certain requirements of 10 CFR 73.55. Eight exemptions are being granted at this time as follows:
(1) 10 CFR 73.55(a)- an exemption from the requirement that a licensed senior operator suspend safeguards measures and assigning that authority to a certified fuel handler:
(2) 10 CFR 73.55(e)(1)- an exemption from the requirement that the secondary power
. supply be located in a security area; (3) 10 CFR 73.55(d)(1) -an' exemption from the requirement that a last access control point at the entrance to the protected area be bullet resistant: (4) 10 CFR 73.55(h)(3)
=.1 exemption reducing the required number of guards i
and armed trained personnel: (5) 10 CFR 73.55(e)(1)-an exemption from the requirement
- for a' secondary alarm station, (6) 10 CFR 73.55(f)(4)- exemption from the requirement that non-portable communication equipment located in the central alarm station remain operable -
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i from independent power sources if normal power is lost, (7) 10 CFR 73.55(e)(1) -
exemption from the requirement that an alarm station be located outside the protected area,
. and (8) 10 CFR 73.55(e)(1) and (c)(6) - exemption from the requirement that the alarm stat. ton and new control room be bullet resistant. The proposed exemption is a preliminary
- step toward enabling MYAPCo to revise the Maine Yankee Security Plan under 10 CFR
. 50.54(p) to implement a defueled security plan that was developed to protect against radiological sabotage at a permanently shutdown reactor facility with all fuel stored in the
'- spent fuel storage pool.
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111.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5,' " Specific exemptions," the Commission may, upon
' application of any interested person or upon its own initiative, grant such exemptions in this L
part as it determines are authorized by law and will not endanger life or property or the
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' common defense and security, and are otherwise in the public interest. The Code of Federal fleaulations at 10 CFR 73.55 allows the Commission to authorize a licensee to provide alternative measures for protection against radiological sabotage, provided the licensee demonstrates that the proposed measures meet the general performance requirements of the regulation'and that the'overalllevel of system performance provides protection against radiological sabotage equivalent to inat provided by the regulation.
The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 73.55 is to provide reasonable assurance that adequate security measures can be taken in the event of an act of radiological sabotage.
Because of its permanently shutdown and defueled condition, the radiological risk from Maine Yankee is less than the risk from an operating unit. With more than 16 months of radiological and heat decay since the plant was shut down on December 6,1996, the
. potential source term associated with the remaining design-basis accidents and radiological -
sabotage has decreased significantly.
IV.
For the foregoing reasons, the Commission has determined that the proposed 1
alternative measures for protection against radiological sabotage meet the same assurance i
' objective and the general performance requirements of 10 CFR 73.55 associated with the reduced risk of radiological sabotage for a permanently shutdown reactor site that has all of the' fuel in the spent fuel pool. In addition, the staff has determined that the overall level of the proposed system's performance, as limited by this exemption, would not result in a L ____ _ - ______- - _ _ _ - -
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_4 reduction in the physical protection capabilities for the protection of special nuclear material l
or of Maine Yankee. Specifically, a limited exemption is being granted for eight (8) specific 1
areas in which the licensee is authorized to modify the existing security plan commitments l
commensurate with the security threats associated with a permanently shutdown and defueled site, as follows: (1) 10 CFR 73.55(a)-an exemption from the requirement that a I
-licensed senior operator suspend safeguards measures and assigning that authority to a certified fuel handler; (2) 10 CFR 73.55(e)(1)- an exemption from the requirement that the.
-l secondary power supply be located in a security area; (3) 10 CFR 73.55(d)(1)- an i
exemption from the requirement that a last access control point at the entrance to the protected area be bullet resistant; (4) 10 CFR 73.55th)(3)- an exemption reducing the I
' required number of guards and armed trained personnel: (5) 10 CFR 73.55(e)(1)- an exemption from the requirement a secondary alarm station; (6) "O CFR 73.55(f)(4) -
exemption from the requirement that non-portable communication equipment located in the
. central alarm station; remain operable from independent power sources if normal power is I
' lost; (7) 10 CFR 73.55(e)(1) -' exemption from the requirement that an alarm station be l
located outside the protected area; and (8) 10 CFR 73.55(e)(1) and (c)(6) - exemption from the requirement that the alarm ~ station and new control room be bullet resistant.
i Accordingly, the Commission has determined that pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5, this exemption is authorized by law, will not endanger life or property or the common defense and security, and is otherwise in the public interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants MYAPCo a limited exemption as described above from those requirements of 10 CFR 73.55 at Maine Yankee in its permanently defueled condition.
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s Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that this exemption will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment (63 FR 35295, dated June 29,1998).
This exemption is effective upon issuance.
FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION b
rector
_j Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Dated at Rockville, Maryland
' this 29th day of June 1998 l
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