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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 165 / Monday, August 30, 2021 / Notices force personnel and no other immediately apparent action consistent with the license conditions and technical specifications can provide adequate or equivalent protection. The requirement in 10 CFR 73.55p1ii to receive input from the security supervisor or manager will remain.
Therefore, the exemption would not prevent the licensee from meeting the underlying purpose of 10 CFR
73.55p1ii to protect the health and safety of the security force.
Additionally, by letter dated August 17, 2021, the NRC approved the Byron CFH Training and Retraining Program.
The NRC staff found that, among other things, the program addresses the safe conduct of decommissioning activities, the safe handling and storage of spent fuel, and the appropriate response to plant emergencies. Because a CFH at Byron will be sufficiently trained and qualified under an NRC-approved program, the NRC staff considers the CFH to have sufficient knowledge of operational and safety concerns, such that allowing the CFH to suspend security measures in an emergency or during severe weather will not result in undue risk to the public health and safety.
In addition, since the exemption allows a CFH the same authority currently given to the licensed senior operator under 10 CFR 73.55p1i and ii, no change is required to physical security. Since no change is required to physical security, the exemption would not reduce the overall effectiveness of the Byron physical security plan and would not adversely impact the licensees ability to physically secure the site or protect special nuclear material at Byron, and thus, would not have an effect on the common defense and security. The NRC
staff has determined that the exemption would not reduce security measures currently in place to protect against radiological sabotage. Instead, the exemption would align the requirements of 10 CFR 73.55p1i and ii with the existing requirements of 10 CFR 50.54y.
For these reasons, granting the exemption from the requirements in 10
CFR 73.55p1i and ii to permit, as a minimum, a CFH, in addition to a licensed senior operator, to approve the suspension of security measures in an emergency or during severe weather at Byron when it is permanently shutdown will not endanger life or property or the common defense and security.

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C. The Exemption Is Otherwise in the Public Interest The proposed exemption would allow a CFH, in addition to a licensed senior operator, to approve the suspension of security measures in an emergency when immediately needed to protect the public health and safety or during severe weather when immediately needed to protect the personal health and safety of security force personnel at Byron when it is permanently shutdown. If the exemption is not granted, Byron will be required to have a licensed senior operator available to approve the suspension of security measures in an emergency or during severe weather for a permanently shutdown plant, even though there would no longer be an NRC requirement for Exelon to maintain a licensed senior operator at Byron after the certifications required by 10 CFR 50.82a1i and ii are submitted.
This proposed exemption is in the public interest for the following reasons.
Without the exemption, there would be uncertainty regarding how the licensee would invoke the temporary suspension of security measures that may be needed for protecting the public health and safety or the personal health and safety of the security force personnel in emergencies or during severe weather, given the differences between the requirements in 10 CFR 73.55p1i and ii and 10 CFR 50.54y. The exemption would allow the licensee to make decisions pursuant to 10 CFR
73.55p1i and ii without having to maintain a staff of licensed senior operators at a nuclear power reactor that has permanently ceased operations and permanently removed fuel from the reactor vessel. The exemption would also allow the licensee to have an established procedure in place to allow either a licensed senior operator or a CFH to suspend security measures in an emergency or during severe weather after the certifications required by 10
CFR 50.82a1i and ii have been submitted. Finally, the consistent and efficient regulation of nuclear power plants serves the public interest and this exemption would assure consistency between the regulations in 10 CFR part 73 and 10 CFR 50.54y and the requirements concerning licensed operators in 10 CFR part 55.
The NRC staff has determined that granting the proposed exemption would allow the licensee to designate a CFH
with qualifications appropriate for a permanently shutdown and defueled reactor to approve the suspension of security measures in an emergency to protect the public health and safety and
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during severe weather to protect the personal health and safety of the security force personnel. The actions permitted by this exemption may be implemented at Byron when both the certification of permanent cessation of operations and the certification of permanent fuel removal are submitted in accordance with 10 CFR 50.82a1i and ii, which is consistent with the similar authority provided by 10 CFR
50.54y. Therefore, the exemption is in the public interest.
D. Environmental Consideration The NRCs approval of the proposed exemption belongs to a category of actions that the Commission, by rule or regulation, has declared to be a categorical exclusion, after first finding that the category of actions does not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment. Specifically, the NRCs approval of the exemption is categorically excluded from further environmental analysis under 10 CFR
51.22c25.
Under 10 CFR 51.22c25, the granting of an exemption from the requirements of any regulation of Chapter I to 10 CFR is a categorical exclusion provided that: i There is no significant hazards consideration; ii there is no significant change in the types or significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may be released offsite; iii there is no significant increase in individual or cumulative public or occupational radiation exposure; iv there is no significant construction impact; v there is no significant increase in the potential for or consequences from radiological accidents; and vi the requirements from which the exemption is sought involve, among others:
safeguard plans, and materials control and accounting inventory scheduling requirements or other requirements of an administrative, managerial, or organizational nature. The basis for the NRCs determination is provided in the following evaluation of the requirements in 10 CFR 51.22c25i vi.
Requirements in 10 CFR 51.22c25i To qualify for a categorical exclusion under 10 CFR 51.22c25i, the exemption must involve a no significant hazards consideration. The criteria for making a no significant hazards consideration determination are found in 10 CFR 50.92c. The NRC staff has determined that granting the proposed exemption involves no significant hazards consideration because allowing a CFH, in addition to a licensed senior
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