ML20236S190

Exemption from Requirements of 10CFR73.55, Requirements for Physical Protection of Licensed Activities in Nuclear Power Reactors Against Radiological Sabotage

ML20236S190
Person / Time
Site:	Haddam Neck File:Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co icon.png
Issue date:	07/15/1998
From:	Collins S NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned)
To:	CONNECTICUT YANKEE ATOMIC POWER CO.
Shared Package
ML20236S176	List: ML20236S173 ML20236S190 ML20236V475
References
NUDOCS 9807240186
Download: ML20236S190 (4)

Text

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

[' NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of )

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CONNECTICUT YANKEE ATOMIC ) Docket No. 50-213 i POWER COMPANY )

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Haddam Neck Plant )

EXEMPTION l' l.

Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company (CYAPCo or the licensee), is the holder of Facility Operating License No. DPR-61, which authorizes operation of Haddam Neck Plant (HNP). 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 Middlesex County, Connecticut. On December 5,1996, the licensee informed the Commission by letter that it had decided to permanently cease operations at the HNP and

- that all fuel had been permanently removed from the reactor. In accordance with 10 CFR

' 50.82(a)(2), the certifications in the letter modified the facility operating license to permanently withdraw CYAPCO's authority to operate the reactor or to load fuel into the reactor vessel.

II.

It is stated in 10 CFR 73.55, " Requirements for physical protection of licensed activities in nuclear power reactors against radiological sabotage," paragraph (a), that "The l

l licensee shall establish and maintain an onsite physical protection system and security I

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2 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 do not constitute an unreasonable risk to the public health and safety."

i By letter dated June 19,1997, the licensee requested three exemptions from certain requirements of 10 CFR 73.55. Specifically, two of these exemptions are being granted at this time as follows: (1) 10 CFR 73.55(c)(1)-devitalization of vital areas and (2) 10 CFR 73.55(h)(3)-reduction of security shift staffing. The proposed exemption is a ,

preliminary step toward enabling CYAPCO to revise the Haddam Neck 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.

Ill.

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 l common defense and security, and are otherwise in the public interest. The Code of i

Federal Raoulations at 10 CFR 73.55 allows the Commission to authorize a licenses to provide alternative measures for protection against radiological sabotage, as long as the licensee demonstrates that the proposed measures meet the general performance I

requirements of the regulation and that the overalllevel of system performance provides ,

j. protection against radiological sabotage equivalent to that stated in the regulation.

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3 The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 73.55 is to give 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, HNP presents a reduced radiological risk j from that posed by an operating unit. With more than 500 days of radiological and heat decay since the plant was shut down on July 22,1996, the potential source term of i

l gaseous and volatile radionuclides associated with the remaining design-basis accidents and i

radiological sabotage has decreased substantially.

IV.

For the foregoing reasons, the Commission has determined that the proposed alternative measures for protection against radiological sabotage meet the assurance f

objective and general performance requirements of 10 CFR 73.55 for a permanently shut-down reactor site that has placed all of its 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 reduction in the physical protection capabilities for the protection of special nuclear material or of the HNP facility. Specifically, a limited exemption is being granted for two specific areas in which the licensee is authorized to modify the existing security plan commitments commensurate with the security threats associated with a permanently shutdown and defueled site: (1) devitalization of vital areas and (2) reduction of security shift staffing.

Accordingly, the Commiss!on 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

f 4 and security, and is otherwise in the public interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby l grants CYAPCO a limited exemption as described above from those requirernents of i 10 CFR 73.55 at HNP in its permanently defueled condition.

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 36969, July 8,1998).

This exemption is effective upon issuance.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

. o Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 15th day of July 1998 l

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