ML23345A131
| ML23345A131 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Hatch, Vogtle, Farley  |
| Issue date: | 01/03/2024 |
| From: | John Lamb NRC/NRR/DORL/LPL2-1 |
| To: | Coleman J Southern Nuclear Operating Co |
| References | |
| EPID L-2023-LLE-0018, EPID L-2023-LLE-0021 | |
| Download: ML23345A131 (5) | |
Text
January 3, 2024 Ms. Jamie M. Coleman, Director Regulatory Affairs Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.
3535 Colonnade Parkway, Bin-N-274-EC Birmingham, AL 35243
SUBJECT:
EDWIN I. HATCH NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2, JOSEPH M. FARLEY NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2, AND VOGTLE ELECTRIC GENERATING PLANT, UNITS 1, 2, 3, AND 4 - QUESTION ON THE REQUEST FOR WITHHOLDING INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE RE:
EXEMPTION REQUESTS FOR PHYSICAL BARRIERS (EPID L-2023-LLE-0018 AND L-2023-LLE-0021)
Dear Ms. Coleman:
By letter dated July 7, 2023 (Agencywide Document and Access Management System Accession No. ML23188A163), Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC) submitted an exemption request to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regarding the physical barrier definition in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Part 73.2, Definitions, for Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, and Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 1, 2, 3, and 4. The letter dated July 7, 2023, is available to the public, and the attachment dated July 7, 2023, is not available to the public.
The SNC letter dated July 7, 2023, stated:
The figures contain security-related information (SRI), also referred to as sensitive unclassified non-safeguards information (SUNSI); therefore, SNC requests that these be withheld under the provisions of 10 CFR 2.390.
The NRC staff has reviewed the figures in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR 2.390, Public inspections, exemptions, requests for withholding, and determined that the attachment to the SNC letter dated July 7, 2023, does not provide sufficient justification for the NRC to withhold the Figures Attachment from public disclosure. The depiction of vertical bracket locations on site diagrams is not a sufficient reason for the NRC to withhold this information from the public. Is there another reason why SNC requested the NRC to withhold the Figures Attachment?
Please respond within 30 days of the date of this letter.
The Enclosure includes the NRC staffs designation review of the Figures.
J. Coleman If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact me at 301-415-3100 or John.Lamb@nrc.gov.
Sincerely,
/RA/
John G. Lamb, Senior Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch II-1 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos.: 50-321, 50-366, 50-348, 50-364, 50-424, 50-425,52-025, and 52-026
Enclosure:
Designation Review for SNCs July 7, 2023, Figures Attachment cc: Listserv
Enclosure Designation Review for Southern Nuclear Operating Companys July 7, 2023, Figures Attachment Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), section 2.390(a), requires that the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff balance the interests of a person or agency urging nondisclosure and the public interest in disclosure to determine whether to make final NRC records and documents (e.g., correspondence to and from the NRC regarding the amendment or modification of a license) publicly available. Absent a compelling reason for nondisclosure, the NRC staff is required to make such records and documents available for inspection and copying at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov, and/or at the NRC Public Document Room,...
To determine whether a compelling reason exists for withholding the Figures Attachment to the Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC, the licensee) letter NL-23-0555, dated July 7, 2023 (not publicly available), the NRC staff evaluated whether the Figures Attachment satisfies any of the withholding requirements listed in 10 CFR 2.390(a)(1) - (9). It appears to the NRC staff that none of those exceptions apply to the licensees Figures
Attachment:
- 1) The Figures Attachment has not been properly classified for the interests of national defense or foreign policy;
- 2) The Figures Attachment does not pertain solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of the Commission;
- 3) The Figures Attachment is not specifically exempted from disclosure by statute;
- 4) The Figures Attachment does not include trade secrets, commercial or financial information, or privileged or confidential information;
- 5) The Figures Attachment is not an interagency or intra-agency memorandum or letter;
- 6) The Figures Attachment is not a personnel, medical, or similar file, the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;
- 7) The Figures Attachment is not a record or information compiled for law enforcement purposes;
- 8) The Figures Attachment is not contained in, or related to, an examination or operating or condition report prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of an agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions; and
- 9) The Figures Attachment is not well-related geological or geophysical information or data.
The NRC staff also considered the criteria and guidance in DG-SGI-1, Designation Guide of Safeguards Information, dated September 30, 2005 (not publicly available).
Section 331 provides guidance regarding access controls that are derived from publicly available means or observable from outside security-controlled areas. Protected area perimeter fencing and gates at power reactor sites generally, and at Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2 (Hatch), Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2 (Farley), and Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 1, 2, 3, and 4 (Vogtle),
specifically, are visible from publicly accessible areas. Consistent with section 331, the NRC staff is questioning the information depicting where the licensee installed vertical brackets atop some sections of the protected area fencing and SNCs request to withhold from public disclosure. Additionally, in the Affected Site Locations Attachment to its exemption request letter, SNC disclosed the locations where it installed vertical barbed wire brackets along the protected area perimeter at Farley, Hatch, and Vogtle.
Question Is there another reason why SNC requested to the NRC that it withhold the Figures Attachment?
ML23345A131 NRR-084 OFFICE DORL/ LPLII1/PM DORL/ LPLII1/LA NSIR/DSS/SFNB/BC DORL/ LPLII1/BC NAME JLamb ABaxter ABowers (TLeach/for) MMarkley DATE 12/08/2023 12/12/2023 12/11/2023 01/03/2024 OFFICE DORL/ LPLII1/PM NAME JLamb DATE 01/03/2024