Final Memorandum of Understanding Between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the State of Louisiana

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Final Memorandum of Understanding Between the U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission and the State of Louisiana

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice is to advise the public of the issuance of a Final

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) and the State of Louisiana. The MOU provides the basis

for mutually agreeable procedures whereby the State of Louisiana may

utilize the NRC Emergency Response Data System (ERDS) to receive data

during an emergency at a commercial nuclear power plant in Louisiana.

Public comments were addressed in conjunction with the MOU with the

State of Michigan published in the Federal Register Vol. 57, No. 28,

February 11, 1992.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This MOU is effective October 31, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Copies of all NRC documents are available for public

inspection and copying for a fee in the NRC Public Document Room, 2120

L Street, NW. (Lower Level), Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John R. Jolicoeur or Eric Weinstein,

Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Telephone (301) 415-6383

or (301) 415-7559.

This attached MOU is intended to formalize and define the manner in

which the NRC will cooperate with the State of Louisiana to provide

data related to plant conditions during emergencies at commercial

nuclear power plants in Louisiana.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of November 1996.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Edward L. Jordan,

Director, Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data.

Agreement Pertaining to the Emergency Response Data System Between the

State of Louisiana and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

I. Authority

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the State of

Louisiana enter into this Agreement under the authority of Section 274i

of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

Louisiana recognizes the Federal Government, primarily the NRC, as

having the exclusive authority and responsibility to regulate the

radiological and national security aspects of the construction and

operation of nuclear production or utilization facilities, except for

certain authority over air emissions to states by the Clean Air Act.

II. Background

A. The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Energy

[[Page 64380]]

Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended, authorize the Nuclear

Regulatory Commission (NRC) to license and regulate, among other

activities, the manufacture, construction, and operation of utilization

facilities (nuclear power plants) in order to assure common defense and

security and to protect the public health and safety. Under these

statutes, the NRC is the responsible agency regulating nuclear power

plant safety.

B. NRC believes that its mission to protect the public health and

safety can be served by a policy of cooperation with State governments

and has formally adopted a policy statement on ``Cooperation with

States at Commercial Nuclear Power Plants and Other Nuclear Production

or Utilization Facilities'' (54 FR 7530, February 22, 1989). The policy

statement provides that NRC will consider state proposals to enter into

instruments of cooperation for certain programs when these programs

have provisions to ensure close cooperation with NRC. This agreement is

intended to be consistent with, and implement, the provisions of the

NRC's policy statement.

C. NRC fulfills its statutory mandate to regulate power plant

safety by, among other things, responding to emergencies at licensee's

facilities and monitoring the status and adequacy of the licensee's

responses to emergency situations.

D. Louisiana fulfills its statutory mandate for preparedness,

response, mitigation, and recovery in the event of an accident at a

nuclear power plant through the Louisiana Revised Statutes, Subtitle II

of Title 30, Chapter 6.

III. Scope

A. This Agreement defines the way in which NRC and Louisiana will

cooperate in planning and maintaining the capability to transfer

reactor plant data via the Emergency Response Data System (ERDS) during

emergencies at nuclear power plants in the State of Louisiana.

B. It is understood by the NRC and the State of Louisiana that ERDS

data will only be transmitted by a licensee during emergencies

classified at the Alert level or above, during scheduled tests, or

during exercises when available.

C. Nothing in this Agreement is intended to restrict or expand the

statutory authority of NRC, the State of Louisiana, or to affect or

otherwise alter the terms of any agreement in effect under the

authority of Section 274b of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended;

nor is anything in this Agreement intended to restrict or expand the

authority of the State of Louisiana on matters not within the scope of

this Agreement.

D. Nothing in this Agreement confers upon the State of Louisiana

authority to (1) interpret or modify NRC regulations and NRC

requirements imposed on the licensee; (2) take enforcement actions; (3)

issue confirmatory letters; (4) amend, modify, or revoke a license

issued by NRC; or (5) direct or recommend nuclear power plant employees

to take or not to take any action. Authority for all such actions is

reserved exclusively to the NRC.

IV. NRC's General Responsibilities

Under this agreement, NRC is responsible for maintaining the ERDS.

ERDS is a system designed to receive, store, and retransmit data from

in-plant data systems at nuclear power plants during emergencies. The

NRC will provide user access to ERDS data to one user terminal for the

State of Louisiana during emergencies at nuclear power plants which

have implemented an ERDS interface and for which any portion of the

plant's 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) lies within the State of

Louisiana. The NRC agrees to provide unique software already available

to NRC (not commercially available) that was developed under NRC

contract for configuring an ERDS workstation.

V. State of Louisiana General Responsibilities

A. Louisiana (through its lead radiological agency) will, in

cooperation with the NRC, establish a capability to receive ERDS data.

To this end, Louisiana will provide the necessary computer hardware and

commercially licensed software required for ERDS data transfer to

users.

B. Louisiana agrees not to use ERDS to access data from nuclear

power plants for which a portion of the 10 mile Emergency Planning Zone

does not fall within its State boundary.

C. For the purpose of minimizing the impact on plant operators,

clarification of ERDS data will be pursued through the NRC.

VI. Implementation--Louisiana and the NRC agree to work in concert to

assure that the following communications and information exchange

protocol regarding the NRC ERDS are followed:

A. Louisiana and the NRC agree in good faith to make available to

each other information within the intent and scope of this Agreement.

B. NRC and Louisiana agree to meet, as necessary, to exchange

information on matters of common concern pertinent to this Agreement.

Unless otherwise agreed, such meetings will be held in the NRC

Operations Center. The affected utilities will be kept informed of

pertinent information covered by this Agreement.

C. To preclude the premature public release of sensitive

information, NRC and Louisiana will protect sensitive information to

the extent permitted by the Federal Freedom of Information Act, the

State of Louisiana Public Record Act (Louisiana Revised Statute 44), 10

CFR 2.790, and other applicable authority.

D. NRC will conduct periodic tests of licensee ERDS data links. A

copy of the test schedule will be provided to the Louisiana Radiation

Protection Division (State of Louisiana's lead radiological agency) by

the NRC. The Louisiana Radiation Protection Division may test its

ability to access ERDS data during these scheduled tests, or may

schedule independent tests of the State link with the NRC.

E. NRC will provide access to ERDS for emergency exercises with

reactor units capable of transmitting exercise data to ERDS. For

exercises in which the NRC is not participating, the Louisiana

Radiation Protection Division will coordinate with NRC in advance to

ensure ERDS availability. NRC reserves the right to preempt ERDS use

for any exercise in progress in the event of an actual event at any

licensed nuclear power plant.

VII. Contacts

A. The principal senior management contacts for this Agreement will

be the Director, Incident Response Division, Office for Analysis and

Evaluation of Operational Data, and the Administrator, Louisiana

Radiation Protection Division. These individuals may designate

appropriate staff representatives for the purpose of administering this

Agreement.

B. Identification of these contacts is not intended to restrict

communication between NRC and the Louisiana Radiation Division staff

members on technical and other day-to-day activities.

VIII. Resolution of Disagreements

A. If disagreements arise about matters within the scope of this

Agreement, NRC and Louisiana will work together to resolve these

differences.

B. Resolution of differences between the State and NRC staff over

issues arising out of this Agreement will be the initial responsibility

of the NRC Incident Response Division management.

C. Differences which cannot be resolved in accordance with Sections

[[Page 64381]]

VIII.A and VIII.B will be reviewed and resolved by the Director, Office

for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data.

D. The NRC's General Counsel has the final authority to provide

legal interpretation of the Commission's regulations.

IX. Effective Date

This Agreement will take effect after it has been signed by both

parties.

X. Duration

A formal review, not less than 1 year after the effective date,

will be performed by the NRC to evaluate implementation of the

Agreement and resolve any problems identified. This Agreement will be

subject to periodic reviews and may be amended or modified upon written

agreement by both parties, and may be terminated upon 30 days written

notice by either party.

XI. Separability

If any provision(s) of this Agreement, or the application of any

provision(s) to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the

remainder of this Agreement and the application of such provisions to

other persons or circumstances will not be affected.

For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

James M. Taylor,

Executive Director for Operations.

For the State of Louisiana.

Dated: October 31, 1996.

Gus Von Bodungen,

Assistant Secretary, Office of Air Quality and Radiation Protection,

Department of Environmental Quality.

[FR Doc. 96-30902 Filed 12-3-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590-01-M