ML21273A378

09-29-2021 Email: Request for Additional Information on the NFS Request for Exemption from the Biennial Emergency Preparedness Exercise

ML21273A378
Person / Time
Site:	Erwin
Issue date:	09/29/2021
From:	James Downs NRC/NMSS/DFM/FFLB
To:	Rogers D Nuclear Fuel Services
James Downs NMSS/DFM/FFL 301-415-7744
References
Download: ML21273A378 (2)

Text

From: Downs, James To: dmrogers@nuclearfuelservices.com Cc: Graham, Bradley R; Mott, Kenneth; norris, michael

Subject:

Request for Additional Information on the NFS Request for Exemption from the Biennial Emergency Preparedness Exercise Date: Wednesday, September 29, 2021 1:05:00 PM

Dear Ms. Rogers:

By letter 21G-21-0144 dated September 17, 2021 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System [ADAMS] Accession No. ML21260A249), Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc.

(NFS) requested approval for regulatory relief via a onetime extension to conducting the calendar year (CY) 2021 Biennial Evaluated Emergency Exercise for the SNM124 license.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has completed an acceptance review of the submittal and has identified no administrative omissions or deficiencies that would prevent proceeding with a detailed review. The submittal has been assigned Enterprise Project Identification Number (EPID) L-2021-EPR-0003. Please reference this EPID number and Docket Number 70-143 in all future correspondence associated with this request. In addition, the NRC staff estimates that completing our review of the submittal will require approximately 20 staff hours which corresponds to about $5,760.00

($288.00/hr).

Furthermore, the NRC staff has identified additional information that is needed before final action can be taken on the regulatory relief request. To ensure that final action can be taken in the timeframe needed to maintain regulatory compliance, the additional information requested below should be provided within 15 days to support the expedited nature of the request.

Pending your response, we anticipate completing our review by November 1, 2021. This date could change depending on the findings of our technical review, urgent assignments, or other factors. We will promptly communicate any significant changes to this schedule.

Request for Additional Information:

The NRC issued a letter on May 14, 2020, to the Nuclear Energy Institute (ADAMS Accession No. ML20120A003), as supplemented by a letter dated November 10, 2020 (ADAMS Accession No. ML20261H515), related to emergency biennial exercise requirements during the COVID-19 public health emergency for all licensees under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Parts 30, 40, 50, 52, 70, and 72 that have a radiological emergency plan. The NRC staff was not able to identify some of the May 14, 2020 letters requested information necessary to receive expedited review of an exemption request, and have listed these topics in the bullet points below. This information is necessary to determine that compliance is maintained with the requirements of 10 CFR 70.17(a) and 10 CFR 70.22(i)(3)(xii).

As described in the NRCs letter dated May 14, 2020 (revised with 2021 information), to receive expedited review of an exemption request, a licensee should submit a request that contains the following information:

a. A statement that the licensee has made a reasonable effort to reschedule the

exercise during CY 2021, but was unsuccessful.

b. A statement that if an exemption is granted to allow the licensee to conduct the CY 2021 biennial exercise in CY 2022, that future biennial exercises will continue to be held in odd numbered years.

c. A statement that the licensee conducted drills, exercises, and other training activities that exercised its emergency response strategies, in coordination with offsite authorities, since the previous biennial exercise.

d. A statement that the rescheduled biennial exercise will be coordinated with the applicable offsite response organizations (if offsite response organization participation is required) and the applicable NRC Region.

Regulatory Requirements:

10 CFR 70.17(a) 10 CFR 70.22 (i)(3)(xii)

Regulatory Guidance:

NRC letter dated May 14, 2020 (ADAMS Accession No. ML20120A003).

NRC letter November 10, 2020 (ADAMS Accession No. ML20261H515).

NUREG-1520, Rev. 2; Standard Review Plan for Fuel Cycle Facilities License Applications, June 2015.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact me at 301-415-7744, or via email to: James.Downs@nrc.gov.

Sincerely, James Downs, P.E.

Senior Project Manager U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission NMSS/DFM/FFLB