ML20217J462

Exemption Granted for Five Specific Areas in Which Licensee Authorized to Modify Existing Security Plan Commitments Commensurate with Security Threats Associated with Permanently Shutdown & Defueled Site

ML20217J462
Person / Time
Site:	Zion  File:ZionSolutions icon.png
Issue date:	10/18/1999
From:	Zwolinski J NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned)
To:	COMMONWEALTH EDISON CO.
Shared Package
ML20217J445	List: ML20217J441 ML20217J462 ML20217J479
References
NUDOCS 9910250087
Download: ML20217J462 (5)

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7590-01-P I

i UNITED STATES OF AMERICA l

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION I

in the Matter of

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l COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY

) Docket Nos. 50-295 and 50-304

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(Zion Nuclear Power Station Units 1 and 2) )

EXEMPTION 1

l 1.

I Commonwealth Edison Company (Comed or the licensee) is the holder of Facility J

Operating License Nos. DPR-39 and DPR-48, which authorize the licensee to possess the Zion 1

Nuclear Power Station (ZNPS). The license states, among other things, that the facility is subject to all the rules, regulations, and orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission or NRC) now or hereafter in effect. The facility consists of two pressurized-water reactors located at the Comed site on the west shore of Lake Michigan about 40 miles north of Chicago, Illinois, in the extreme eastern portion of the city of Zion, Illinois (Lake County). The facility is permanently shut down and defueled, and the licensee is no longer authorized to operate or place fuelin the reactor.

II.

Section 73.55 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, " Requirements for physical protection of licensed activities in nuclear power reactors against radiological sabotage," states that "The licensee shall establish and maintain an onsite physical protection system and security organization which will have as its objective to provide high assurance that activities 9910250087 991018 PDR ADOCK 05000295 P

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l. 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."

By letter dated July 30,1999, the licensee requested an exemption from certain requirements of 10 CFR 73.55. These requirements are: (1) 10 CFR 70.55(a) - the requirement that a licensed senior operator suspend safeguards measures and assigning that authority to a certified fuel handler; (2) 10 CFR 73.55(c)(6) - the requirement that the reactor control room be bullet resisting; (3) 10 CFR 73.55(e)(1)- the requirements to have a secondary alarm station, that the central alarm station be located in the protected area, that the central alarm station be classified as a vital area, and that the onsite secondary power supply system for alarm annunciator equipment and non-portable communication equipment be located in a vital area; (4) 10 CFR 73.55(f)(4) - the requirement that non-portable communication equipment located in the central alarm station remain operable from independent power sources if normal power is lost; and (5) 10 CFR 73.55(h)(3) - the requirement to have five or more guards per shift immediately available to fulfill response requirements. The proposed exemption is a preliminary step toward enabling Comed to revise the Zion 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 part as it determines are authorized by law and will not endanger life or property or the common defense and security, and are otherwise in the public interest. Section 73.55 allows the Commission to authorize a licensee to provide altemative measures for protection against radiological

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l l 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 that 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 number of target sets susceptible to sabotage attacks has been reduced. In addition, with more than 31 months of radiological and heat decay since ZNPS was shut down on February 21,1997, the radiological hazards associated with the remaining target sets, even if subject to sabotage attack, do not i

pose a significant threat to the public health and safety.

IV.

For the foregoing reasons, the Commission has determined that the proposed alternative 1

measures for protection against radiological sabotage meet the same assurance objective and the general performance requirements of 10 CFR 73.55 considering the permanently shutdown conditions at the ZNPS with all of the fuelin 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 Zion Nuclear Power Station. Specifically, an j

1 exemption is being granted for five (5) specific areas in which the licensee is authorized to j

modify the existing security plan' commitments commensurate with the security threats l

associated with a permanently shutdown and defueled site, 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(c)(6) - an exemption from the requirement that the reactor control room be bullet resisting; (3) 10 CFR i

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I L 73.55(e)(1) - an exemption from'the requirements to have a secondary alarm station, that the central alarm station be located in the protected area, that the central alarm station be classified as a vital area, and that the onsite secondary power supply system for alarm annunciator

- equipment and non-portable communication equipment be located in a vital area; (4) 10 CFR 73.55(f)(4)- an 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 lost; and (5) 10 CFR 73.55(h)(3)- an exemption from the requirement to have five or -

more guards per shift immediately available to fulfill response requirements.

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

eecurity, and is otherwise in the public interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants Commonwealth Edison an exemption as described above from those requirements of 10 CFR

- 73.55 at the Zion Nuclear Power Station in its permanently shutdown and 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 (64 FR 53423).

This exemption is effective upon issuance.

, FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

-Origina1 Signed By Jchn A. Zwolinski, Director Division of Licensing Project Management

- Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Dated at Rockville, Maryland -

' thism 18th!' day of October 1999 To receive a copy or tnis cocument, mascate v in tnerDox.

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NAME DSIoshtb EPMb '

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DATE 10 /T/99 10 / 8 */99 10 / 9 /99 10 / D /99 10/ }M9

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OFFICE' NAME1 MMasnik~

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= 73.55(e)(1) - an' exemption from the requirements to have a secondary alarm station, that the central alarm station be located in the protected area, that the central alarm statiori be classified as a vital area,' and that the onsite secondary power supply system for alarm annunciator.

equipment and non-portable communication equipment be located in a vital area; (4) 10 CFR

_73.55(f)(4)y an 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 lost; and (5) 10 CFR 73.55(h)(3) - an exemption from the requirernent to have five or more guards per shift immediately available to fulfill response requirements.

Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5, this l

. e'xemption 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 Commonwealth Edison an exemption as described.above from those requirements of 10 CFR

- 73.55 at the Zion Nuclear Power Station in its permanently shutdown and 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 (64 FR 53423).

This exemption is effective upon issuance.-

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

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- John A. Zwolinski, Director Division of Licensir11'roject Management

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Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation l

i Dated at Rockville, Maryland j

-this 18th day of October 1999 l

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