ML20342A003

Exemption from Annual Force On-Force Exercise Requirement of 10 CFR Part 73, Appendix B, General Criteria for Security Personnel, Subsection VI.C.3(I)(1)I (EPID L-2020-LLE-0225 (Covid 19))

ML20342A003
Person / Time
Site:	Summer
Issue date:	12/18/2020
From:	Craig Erlanger Plant Licensing Branch II
To:	Stoddard D Dominion Nuclear
Thomas V
References
EPID L-2020-LLE-0225 [COVID 19]
Download: ML20342A003 (5)

Text

December 18, 2020 Mr. Daniel G. Stoddard Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Dominion Nuclear Innsbrook Technical Center 5000 Dominion Blvd.

Glen Allen, VA 23060-6711

SUBJECT:

VIRGIL C. SUMMER NUCLEAR STATION, UNIT No. 1 - EXEMPTION FROM ANNUAL FORCE-ON-FORCE EXERCISE REQUIREMENT OF 10 CFR PART 73, APPENDIX B, GENERAL CRITERIA FOR SECURITY PERSONNEL, SUBSECTION VI.C.3(I)(1) (EPID L-2020-LLE-0225 [COVID-19])

Dear Mr. Stoddard:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) has approved the requested exemption from a specific requirement of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR)

Part 73, Appendix B,Section VI, Nuclear Power Reactor Training and Qualification Plan for Personnel Performing Security Program Duties, for Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station, Unit No.

1 (VCSNS), for calendar year (CY) 2020. This action is in response to Dominion Energy South Carolina, Inc.s (the licensee) application dated December 3, 2020 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML20338A516 (non-public, withheld under 10 CFR 2.390)), that requested an exemption from 10 CFR Part 73, Appendix B, Section VI, subsection C.3.(l)(1), regarding the annual force-on-force (FOF) exercises for CY 2020 at VCSNS.

The requirements in 10 CFR Part 73, Appendix B, Section VI, subsection C.3.(l)(1) state, in part:

Each member of each shift who is assigned duties and responsibilities required to implement the safeguards contingency plan and licensee protective strategy participates in at leastone (1) force-on-force exercise on an annual basis.

Force-on-force exercises conducted to satisfy the NRC triennial evaluation requirement can be used to satisfy the annual force-on-force requirement for the personnel that participate in the capacity of the security response organization.

The purpose of the annual licensee-conducted FOF exercise is to ensure that the site security force maintains its contingency response readiness. Participation in these exercises also supports the requalification of security force members.

On January 31, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared a Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency (PHE) for the United States.

Subsequently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued recommendations (e.g.,

social distancing, limiting assemblies) to limit the spread of COVID-19. On July 10, 2020, (ADAMS Accession No. ML20182A718), the NRC granted the licensees previous request for temporary exemption from 10 CFR Part 73, Appendix B, Section VI, subsection C.3.(l)(1). That

D. Stoddard exemption is set to expire on December 31, 2020. As such, the licensee is required to conduct any missed annual licensee-conducted FOF exercises by December 31, 2020.

The licensees application dated December 3, 2020, stated the following, in part:

The PHE has not ended, and VCSNS continues to be restricted from conducting annual FOF exercises. The approved temporary exemption expires December 31, 2020. South Carolina has a 30-day average positivity rate of 11.9 percent as of November 10, 2020.

The number of new cases for the week of November 2 through 8, 2020, totaled 6,196 cases. Additionally, South Carolina has had a steady increase in the epidemic curve of positive cases per 100,000 residents since late-summer. Due to the nature in which annual exercises are conducted and with a State-wide rise in COVID-19 cases, there is an increase in the risk of infection or quarantine to Security personnel reporting to the site to conduct annual exercises.

Conducting the 2020 Security annual exercises challenge implementation of isolation protocols because Security positions and other locations necessary for briefings and critiques cannot be safely used due to the fact that the limited space available in most of these locations does not allow for appropriate social distancing. Security has adopted a "POD" structure within their schedules to minimize potential COVID-19 exposure to the Security force. Security has also encouraged officers to rigorously clean shared areas when assuming posts and to minimize the cumulative time shared in those areas, when possible. There are additional impediments for Fleet support of these exercises as employees from outside the state are challenged due to travel restrictions.

This one-time exemption continues to support the isolation protocols in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and is necessary to protect essential site personnel.

These isolation restrictions are needed to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 disease and ensure security personnel remain capable of maintaining plant security.

Impacted security personnel continue to maintain proficiency with the knowledge, skills and abilities required to effectively implement the protective strategy to protect the station against the design-basis threat as described in 10 CFR 73.1, Purpose and scope. VCSNS has continued to conduct the following training requalification requirements of Section VI of Appendix B to 10 CFR Part 73:

o Quarterly tactical response drills (tabletop drills, timeline drills, limited-scope tactical response drills) o Annual firearms familiarization o Annual daylight qualification course o Annual night fire qualification course o Annual tactical qualification course; o On-the job-training o Annual physical examination o Annual physical fitness test o Weapons range activity (4-month periodicity) o Annual written exam.

In addition to the quarterly team training listed above, and in lieu of the annual force-on-force exercise, VCSNS conducted table-top exercises with all qualified security

D. Stoddard personnel. These table-top exercises involved each person responsible for fulfilling duties within the protective strategy at VCSNS.

This exemption is specific to CY 2020 and VCSNS security personnel who have previously demonstrated proficiency and are currently qualified in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR Part 73, Appendix B, Section VI. The licensee stated that security personnel impacted by this request were qualified on all required tasks at the time of the PHE. Impacted security personnel continue to maintain proficiency with the knowledge, skills and abilities required to effectively implement the protective strategy to protect the station against the design-basis threat because VCSNS has continued to conduct other training requalification requirements as identified above. In addition, security personnel will continue to be monitored regularly by supervisory personnel and have implemented controls as identified in the approved temporary exemption. Additionally, the December 3, 2020, request identified the site-specific actions listed above that will continue to maintain contingency response readiness, consistent with the NRCs October 13, 2020, letter (ADAMS Accession No. ML20273A117).

Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5, Specific exemptions, the Commission may, upon application by any interested person or upon its own initiative, grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR Part 73 when the exemptions are authorized by law, will not endanger life or property or the common defense and security, and are otherwise in the public interest.

In accordance with 10 CFR 73.5, the Commission may grant an exemption from the regulations in 10 CFR Part 73 that is authorized by law. The NRC staff has reviewed the exemption request and finds that granting the proposed exemption will not result in a violation of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or other laws. Therefore, the NRC staff finds that the exemption is authorized by law.

In accordance with 10 CFR 73.5, the Commission may grant an exemption from the regulations in 10 CFR Part 73 when the exemption will not endanger life or property or the common defense and security. This exemption will only apply to licensee security personnel who are already satisfactorily qualified on the security requirements in 10 CFR Part 73, Appendix B, Section VI.

Based on this fact, and its review of the controls that the licensee will continue to implement for the duration of the exemption, including continuing to conduct quarterly tactical response drills and other security qualification requirements, the NRC staff has reasonable assurance that the security force at VCSNS will maintain its proficiency and readiness to implement the licensees protective strategy and adequately protect the site. Therefore, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed exemption would not endanger life or property or the common defense and security.

In accordance with 10 CFR 73.5, the Commission may grant an exemption from the regulations in 10 CFR Part 73 when the exemption is in the public interest. The NRC staff finds that the exemption from the annual FOF exercise requirement in 10 CFR Part 73, Appendix B, Section VI, subsection C.3.(l)(1), for CY 2020 would facilitate the licensees efforts to maintain a healthy workforce capable of operating the plant safely and implementing the sites protective strategy by isolating security personnel from potential exposure to the COVID-19 virus. The NRC staff concludes that granting the temporary exemption for CY 2020 is in the public interest because it allows the licensee to maintain the required security posture at VCSNS, while enabling the facility to continue to provide electrical power to the Nation.

D. Stoddard Environmental Considerations NRC approval of this exemption request is categorically excluded under 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25),

and there are no special circumstances present that would preclude reliance on this exclusion. The NRC staff determined, per 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(vi)(E), that the requirements from which the exemption is sought involves education, training, experience, qualification, requalification, or other employment suitability requirements. The NRC staff also determined that approval of this exemption request involves no significant hazards consideration because it does not authorize any physical changes to the facility or any of its safety systems, nor does it change any of the assumptions or limits used in the facility licensees safety analyses or introduce any new failure modes. There is no significant change in the types or significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may be released offsite because this exemption do not affect any effluent release limits as provided in the facility licensees technical specifications or by the regulations in 10 CFR Part 20, Standards for protection against radiation. There is no significant increase in individual or cumulative public or occupational radiation exposure because this exemption does not affect limits on the release of any radioactive material, or the limits provided in 10 CFR Part 20 for radiation exposure to workers or members of the public. There is no significant construction impact because this exemption does not involve any changes to a construction permit and no significant increase in the potential for or consequences from radiological accidents because this exemption do not alter any of the assumptions or limits in the facility licensees safety analysis. In addition, the NRC staff determined that there would be no significant impacts to biota, water resources, historic properties, cultural resources, or socioeconomic conditions in the region. Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact statement or environmental assessment need be prepared in connection with the approval of this exemption request.

Conclusions Accordingly, the NRC has determined that pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5, the 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 the licensees request to exempt VCSNS from the annual FOF exercise requalification requirement of security personnel in subsection C.3.(l)(1) of 10 CFR Part 73, Appendix B, Section VI. This exemption applies only to those FOF exercises required during CY 2020.

If you have any questions, please contact the VCSNS project manager, Vaughn Thomas, at 301-415-5897 or Vaughn.Thomas@nrc.gov.

Sincerely, Digitally signed by Craig G. Craig G. Erlanger Date: 2020.12.18 Erlanger 07:53:50 -05'00' Craig G. Erlanger, Director Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-395 cc: Listserv

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