ML23018A228
| ML23018A228 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Vogtle  |
| Issue date: | 01/30/2023 |
| From: | Victor Hall NRC/NRR/VPOB |
| To: | |
| References | |
| LAR 23-0002, 88 FRN 7112, NRC-2008-0252 | |
| Download: ML23018A228 (10) | |
Text
[7590-01-P]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No.52-025; NRC-2008-0252]
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.
Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Unit 3
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Combined license amendment; issuan ce and opportunity to comment, request
a hearing, and petition for leave to intervene.
SUMMARY
- The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued Lice nse
Amendment No. 189 to Combined License (COL) NPF-91. The COL am endment
involved changes to Vogtle Electric Generating Plant (VEGP), Un it 3, COL Appendix A,
Technical Specifications. Specifically, the amendment involved changes necessary to
facilitate rework of two piping supports to address elevated pi ping line vibration located
on the B and D Automatic Depressurization System (ADS) stag e 4 lines that
discharge to the No. 2 steam generator compartment. Southern N uclear Operating
Company, Inc., (SNC) is licensed to construct and operate VEGP, Unit 3, located in
Burke County, Georgia.
DATES: The amendment was issued on January 13, 2023. Submit commen ts by
March 6, 2023. A request for a hearing or petition for leave t o intervene must be filed by
April 3, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods; how ever,
the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the Federal rulemaking
website:
- Federal rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC-2008-0252. Address questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; telephone: 301-415-0624; email: Stacy.Schu mann@nrc.gov. For
technical questions, contact the individual listed in the For Further Information Contact
section of this document.
- Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWFN-7-A60M,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Program
Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
For additional direction on obtaining information and submittin g comments, see
Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments in the SUPPLEME NTARY
INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William (Billy) Gleaves, Vogtle Project
Office, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 2055 5-0001; telephone:
301-415-5848; email: Bill.Gleaves@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2008-0252 when contacting the NRC about the
availability of information for this action. You may obtain pu blicly available information
related to this action by any of the following methods:
- Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and
search for Docket ID NRC-2008-0252.
- NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the AD AMS Public
Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.ht ml. To begin the
search, select Begin Web-based ADAMS Search. For problems wi th ADAMS, please
contact the NRCs Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209,
2 301-415-4737, or by email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. The ADAMS a ccession number
for each document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is p rovided the first time that it
is mentioned in this document.
- NRCs PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents,
by appointment, at the NRCs PDR, Room P1 B35, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make an appointm ent to visit the PDR,
please send an email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-
4737, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday throu gh Friday, except
Federal holidays.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the Federal
rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please include Docket ID NRC-
2008-0252 in your comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact info rmation that you
do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment submission. The NRC will post all
comment submissions at https://www.regulations.gov as well as e nter the comment
submissions into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit commen t submissions to
remove identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other person s for
submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to include identifying
or contact information that they do not want to be publicly dis closed in their comment
submission. Your request should state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment
submissions to remove such information before making the commen t submissions
available to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.
II. Introduction
3 The NRC is issuing License Amendment No. 189 to COL NPF-91. Wi th the
requested amendment, SNC sought proposed changes to COL, Append ix A, Technical
Specifications (TS) in an application dated January 12, 2023, t itled, Emergency License
Amendment Request: Technical Specification (TS) Limiting Condit ions for Operation
(LCO) 3.4.11, 3.4.12, and 3.4.13 Operability Requirements for A utomatic
Depressurization System (ADS) Stage 4 Flow Paths Prior to Initi al Criticality,
designated as license amendment request (LAR) 23 002. Specifically, the changes add
Notes to the TS that details the specific conditions under whic h the specified LCOs
would not apply to ADS stage 4 flow paths. The licensee reques ted the changes to
facilitate rework of two piping supports on the B and D ADS stage 4 lines. If the
rework was performed under the current TS, it would require shu tdown and cooldown
actions that may take additional time, require reduction in ope rating mode, and possibly
require additional actions. The letter to SNC, the NRC safety evaluation, and the
amendment document are available in ADAMS under Package Accessi on No.
III. Notice of Issuance of Amendment to Combined License, Fina l Determination of
No Significant Hazards Consideration, Opportunity to Comment, a nd Opportunity
for a Hearing (Emergency Situation)
By letter dated January 12, 2023 (ADAMS Accession No. ML23012A2 38), SNC
requested that the NRC amend COL NPF-91 for VEGP, Unit 3. The Commission has
issued the proposed amendment, which is described in section II of this Federal Register
notice.
The Commission has determined for this amendment that the appli cation for the
amendment complies with the standards and requirements of the A tomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's rules and regu lations. The
4 Commission has made appropriate findings as required by the Act and the
Commission's rules and regulations in Chapter 1 of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), which are set forth in the license amendment.
Because of the emergency situation associated with the date the amendment
was needed, there was not time for the Commission to publish be fore issuance its usual
notice of consideration of issuance of amendment, proposed no s ignificant hazards
consideration (NSHC) determination and opportunity for public c omment, and
opportunity for a hearing. The Commission was able to consult the State official before
issuance. The State of Georgia had no comment.
Where the Commission finds that an emergency situation exists, in that failure to
act in a timely way would have resulted, for example, in derati ng or shutdown of a
nuclear power plant or in prevention of either resumption of op eration or of increase in
power output up to the plant's licensed power level, the Commis sion may issue a license
amendment involving no significant hazards consideration withou t prior notice and
opportunity for a hearing or for public comment. Also, under i ts regulations, the
Commission may issue and make an amendment immediately effectiv e, notwithstanding
the pendency before it of a request for a hearing from any pers on, in advance of the
holding and completion of any required hearing, where it has de termined that NSHC is
involved.
The Commission has applied the standards of 10 CFR 50.92, Issu ance of
amendment, and has made a final determination that the amendme nt involves NSHC.
The basis for this determination is contained in the NRC docume nts listed in section II of
this notice. Accordingly, the amendment has been issued and ma de effective as
indicated. Because the amendment was issued in an emergency si tuation, the
Commission is with this notice providing an opportunity for pub lic comment on the NSHC
5 determination and an opportunity for hearing on the amendment. Please provide
comments by March 6, 2023. A request for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene
must be filed by April 3, 2023, as discussed later in this noti ce.
The Commission has determined that the amendment satisfies the criteria for
categorical exclusion in accordance with 10 CFR 51.22. Therefo re, pursuant to
10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental i mpact statement or environmental assessment
need be prepared for this amendment.
For further details with respect to this action, including the Commissions final
NSHC determination or discussion of emergency circumstances, se e the amendment
and associated documents such as the Commissions letter and sa fety evaluation, which
are referenced in section II of this notice.
IV. Opportunity to Request a Hearing and Petition for Leave to Intervene
Within 60 days after the date of publication of this notice, an y persons (petitioner)
whose interest may be affected by this action may file a reques t for a hearing and a
petition for leave to intervene (petition) with respect to the action. Petitions shall be filed
in accordance with the Commissions Agency Rules of Practice a nd Procedure in
10 CFR part 2. Interested persons should consult a current cop y of 10 CFR 2.309. The
NRCs regulations are accessible electronically from the NRC Li brary on the NRCs
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collection s/cfr. If a petition is filed,
the Commission or a presiding officer will rule on the petition and, if appropriate, a notice
of a hearing will be issued.
Petitions must be filed no later than 60 days from the date of publication of this
notice in accordance with the filing instructions in the Elect ronic Submissions (E-Filing)
section of this document. Petitions and motions for leave to f ile new or amended
contentions that are filed after the deadline will not be enter tained absent a
6 determination by the presiding officer that the filing demonstr ates good cause by
satisfying the three factors in 10 CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i) through ( iii).
A State, local governmental body, Federally recognized Indian T ribe, or
designated agency thereof, may submit a petition to the Commiss ion to participate as a
party under 10 CFR 2.309(h) no later than 60 days from the date of publication of this
notice. Alternatively, a State, local governmental body, Feder ally recognized Indian
Tribe, or agency thereof may participate as a non-party under 1 0 CFR 2.315(c).
For information about filing a petition and about participation by a person not a
party under 10 CFR 2.315, see ADAMS Accession No. ML20340A053
(https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionN umber=ML20340A
053) and the NRCs public website at
https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/adjudicatory/hearing.h tml#participate.
V. Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)
All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings including d ocuments filed
by an interested State, local governmental body, Federally reco gnized Indian Tribe, or
designated agency thereof that requests to participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be
filed in accordance with 10 CFR 2.302. The E-Filing process re quires participants to
submit and serve all adjudicatory documents over the internet, or in some cases, to mail
copies on electronic storage media, unless an exemption permitting an alternative filing
method, as further discussed, is granted. Detailed guidance on electronic submissions
is located in the Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the N RC (ADAMS Accession
No. ML13031A056) and on the NRCs public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-
submittals.html.
To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at leas t 10 days prior to
the filing deadline, the participant should contact the Office of the Secretary by email at
7 Hearing.Docket@nrc.gov, or by telephone at 301-415-1677, to (1) request a digital
identification (ID) certificate, which allows the participant ( or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign submissions and access the E-Filing system for any
proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise the Sec retary that the participant
will be submitting a petition or other adjudicatory document (e ven in instances in which
the participant, or its counsel or representative, already hold s an NRC-issued digital ID
certificate). Based upon this information, the Secretary will establish an electronic
docket for the proceeding if the Secretary has not already esta blished an electronic
docket.
Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is avai lable on the NRCs
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/ge tting-started.html. After a
digital ID certificate is obtained and a docket created, the pa rticipant must submit
adjudicatory documents in Portable Document Format. Guidance o n submissions is
available on the NRCs public website at https://www.nrc.gov/si te-help/electronic-sub-ref-
mat.html. A filing is considered complete at the time the docu ment is submitted through
the NRCs E-Filing system. To be timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the
E-Filing system no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on the due date. U pon receipt of a
transmission, the E-Filing system time-stamps the document and sends the submitter an
email confirming receipt of the document. The E-Filing system also distributes an email
that provides access to the document to the NRCs Office of the General Counsel and
any others who have advised the Office of the Secretary that th ey wish to participate in
the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the document o n those participants
separately. Therefore, applicants and other participants (or t heir counsel or
representative) must apply for and receive a digital ID certificate before adjudicatory
documents are filed to obtain access to the documents via the E -Filing system.
8 A person filing electronically u sing the NRCs adjudicatory E-Filing system may
seek assistance by contacting the NRCs Electronic Filing Help Desk through the
Contact Us link located on the NRCs public website at https: //www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-
submittals.html, by email to MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov, or by a toll-free call at
1-866-672-7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is availab le between 9 a.m. and
6 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Participants who believe that they have good cause for not subm itting documents
electronically must file an exemption request, in accordance wi th 10 CFR 2.302(g), with
their initial paper filing stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and
requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in pap er format. Such filings
must be submitted in accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(b)-(d). Part icipants filing
adjudicatory documents in this manner are responsible for servi ng their documents on all
other participants. Participants granted an exemption under 10 CFR 2.302(g)(2) must
still meet the electronic formatting requirement in 10 CFR 2.30 2(g)(1), unless the
participant also seeks and is granted an exemption from 10 CFR 2.302(g)(1).
Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the NRCs
electronic hearing docket, which is publicly available at https ://adams.nrc.gov/ehd,
unless excluded pursuant to an order of the presiding officer. If you do not have an
NRC-issued digital ID certificate as previously described, clic k cancel when the link
requests certificates and you will be automatically directed to the NRCs electronic
hearing dockets where you will be able to access any publicly a vailable documents in a
particular hearing docket. Participants are requested not to i nclude personal privacy
information such as social security numbers, home addresses, or personal phone
numbers in their filings unless an NRC regulation or other law requires submission of
such information. With respect to copyrighted works, except fo r limited excerpts that
9 serve the purpose of the adjudicatory filings and would constit ute a Fair Use application,
participants should not include copyrighted materials in their submission.
VI. Conclusion
For the reasons set forth in the safety evaluation, the staff i ssued the amendment
that SNC requested on January 13, 2023, as part of a package to SNC (ADAMS
Package Accession No. ML23013A214).
Dated: January 30, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
/RA/
Victor E. Hall, Director, Vogtle Project Office, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
10