Narrative of R and D program with objectives and benefits

0393-EX-PL-2007 Text Documents

Southern California Edison Company

2007-08-06ELS_83165

EXHIBIT NUMBER 1 TO EXPERIMENTAL LICENSE APPLICATION San Onofre will use multiple base stations inside plant buildings to provide adequate coverage throughout the buildings and base stations outdoors and within the Owner Controlled Area for fuel handling and movement. This license application is for a total of 27 base stations at 5000 Pacific Coast Highway, San Clemente, California as follows: Telex Model Number of Frequency Band Base Stations (MHz) BTR-700 6 518-608 BTR-700 6 614-740 BTR-800 15 470-608

EXHIBIT NUMBER 2 TO EXPERIMENTAL LICENSE APPLICATION A. Background Communication inside and around a nuclear reactor is a great challenge, not only because the walls can range in width from 4 inches to 4 feet of concrete and the built-in shielding of the reactor dome tends to serve as a deflector of certain wireless communications, but also because the need for reliable and effective communication is so critical. Under Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) rules, the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) has the regulatory and licensing obligation to “make every reasonable effort to maintain exposure to radiation as far below NRC-established dose limits as is practical… (See 10C.F.R. §20.1003 et seq.) in order to protect plant workers from harmful doses of radiation (e.g., while they perform safety and maintenance operations in and around SONGS). As set forth more thoroughly in the Consensus Plan between the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the Utilities Telecom Council (UTC) and leading broadcaster organizations (Broadcasters) (attached hereto), the commercial nuclear industry’s use of Telex wireless intercom equipment (the Equipment) serves the twin objectives of effective communication and facilitating protection of workers from unhealthy levels of radiation by providing communications features (wireless, hands-free, full duplex/multi-user, reliable, no “call drops,” no background noise, no inadvertent actuation, uninterrupted voice transmission, ease of use, and durability) that permit plant workers to efficiently conduct routine maintenance as well as activities required to be performed in an “outage” [when used (irradiated) fuel is replaced with fresh (non-irradiated) fuel and the used fuel is carefully moved to storage facilities]. That is, the Equipment directly contributes to the protection of the health and safety of plant workers, as efficiencies gained from its use limit nuclear plant workers’ occupational exposure. B. Consensus Plan Provisions The terms and conditions under which the plants may continue to use the Equipment are set forth in the Consensus Plan. Under the Consensus Plan, SONGS is obliged to coordinate use of the Equipment outdoors and to report within 6 months of the grant of each experimental license, and every 12 months thereafter, on the plants’ use of the Equipment. In addition, NEI and UTC are required to update the Broadcasters on efforts to identify or develop equipment that operates in Part 90, or other frequencies, for which plants are eligible, and which is capable of satisfying the plants’ communication and safety needs.

C. Proposed Experiments SONGS intends to conduct experiments using the Equipment through which they will establish a series of situational communications objectives within and around the plant and track the operating performance benchmarks for each objective. As alternative equipment becomes available, the plants will conduct tests of such prospective equipment against the benchmarks established using the Equipment. The specific objectives to be accomplished: 1. Prioritization of the operating features of the Equipment in order to inform our Request for Proposal (RFP) on replacement equipment. 2. Establishing performance benchmarks and power matrix in order to inform our RFP. 3. Evaluating new entrants against the priorities and benchmarks established using the Equipment. 4. Creation of best practices generally for communicating in and around SONGS, both with the Equipment and other equipment and methods. 5. Of particular interest is the simultaneous operation in many of the plants of the Equipment and the electronic dosimeters, most of which operate at 900MHz. Electronic dosimeters are worn by many plant employees while they participate in operations involving exposure to radiation. The dosimeter device measures the dose in real time and transmits the readings back to the communications control center, which is also the venue from which the safety experts communicate, via the Equipment, with the plant employees. In fact, it is often the case that the communication via the Equipment is to instruct the plant worker to move one way or another, in order to avoid areas where the dosimeter indicates there exists high doses of radiation. While the simultaneous use of the Equipment with the 900 MHz dosimeter devices has not caused interference to either device (or, worse, caused one or both to shut down), the experiment will allow SONGS to test other equipment operating at the 900MHz band to evaluate whether it can operate simultaneously with the dosimeter device. It will be important to experiment on the best practices for such simultaneous operation and to determine, as best one can, how far apart on the spectrum chart these often simultaneous transmissions must be, in order to avoid interference/shut-down.

The program of experimentation contemplated herein has a reasonable promise of contributing to the development, extension, expansion or utilization of the radio frequency because there has not previously been a full study of best communications practices inside and around SONGS. This fact, together with the NRC mandates and the compelling desire to protect plant workers from unhealthy doses of radiation, will also contribute to the development of alternative equipment that is capable of operating under Part 90 and meeting SONGS’ safety and communications needs. As such, these experiments will facilitate SONGS’ efforts to fulfill the intentions of the Consensus Plan for SONGS to cease use of the Equipment no later than February 2009.

April 9,2007 VIA ELECTRONIC FILING Ms. Marlene Dortch Secretary Federal Coinmunications Commission 445 12th St., S.W. Washington, DC 20554 Re: Nuclear Energy Institute and UIiited T Ielecom Council Request for Waiver; ET Docket No. 05-345 Dear Ms. Dortch: The Natio~lalAssociation of Broadcasters ('WAEY), the Association for Maximum Service Television ("hiISTV7),and the Society of Broadcast Engineers ("SBE") (collectively, the "Broadcast Parties"), and the Nuclear Energy Institute ('NEI") and the UtiIities (formerly "United") Telecom Council ('UTC") (collectively, the "Parties") hereby jointly submit this proposal to resolve the opposition to the above-referenced request for waiver of the Comnission's rules. As discussed below, the Comission's adoption of this plan will serve the public interest by preventing an abrupt cessation of the commercial nuclear industry's use of certain Telex wireless intercom equipment (the "Telex Equipment") while ensuring that the temporary continuation of such use is consistent with the Commission's carefully crafted interference and frequency coordination standards. Many nuclear power plants (the "Plants") use the Telex Equipment for coi~ununicationamong personnel during plant "outages" and in other circumstances, as expressly contemplated herein. NEI and UTC have represented that the Telex Equipment is presently the only equipment known by NEI and UTC to offer the requisite features and capabilities to allow plant workers to efficiently communicate and fulfill their obligations under the Nuclear Energy Commission's ("NRC")"ALARA" standard. The ALARA standard requires NRC licensees to make every reasonable effort to maintain exposures to radiation as far below the NRC- established dose limits as is practical, consistent with the purpose for wluch the licensed activity is undertaken, taking into account the state of technology, the econolnics of improveinents in relation to the benefits to the public health and safety, and other societal and socioeconomic considerations, in relation to the utilization of nuclear energy and licensed materials in the public interest. 10 C.F.R. 5 20.1003 et seq. Although the Telex Equipment transmits on Part 74 frequencies for which the Plants are not eligible users, since early 2003 the Coinmission has issued a series of Special Tenlporary Authorizations ("STAs") to permit the Plants' continued use of the Telex Equipment over Part 74 frequencies in order to accommodate the nuclear industry's efforts to limit plant worker exposure to radiation. The Broadcast Parties do not dispute the Plants' need for reliable telecoi~~munications. Nevertheless, it is imperative that the Plants engage in local frequency coordination, as required under the terms of the STAs. Frequency coordination contributes to the prevention of interference to other senices in the band and to the protection ofthe Plants'

wireless commulications,fioininterference. Also, based on the increasingly congested nature of the broadcast spectrum; it is in the public interest that t h s matter be carehlly addressed and that there be a strategy for mo~~itorillgand swiftly developing alternative, frequency-con~pliant equipment. The Parties have worked to f0rge.a consensus plan that will enable the Plants, during the period specified herein, continued use of the Telex Equipment, on an experimental basis, while avoiding interference to licensed television services and encouraging the Plants' to migrate to frequencies for whch they are eligible. The terms of that plan are as follows: I. Nature of FCC Licensing A. The Parties request that the Commission grant experimental licenses (the "Experimental Licenses") to each of the NRC-licensed Plants, thereby authorizing the plants to utilize the ~ e l eEquipment, i solely in accordance with the terms described herein. These Experimental Licenses would be issued pursuant to Section 5.3(k) of the Commission's rules or such other provisions as the Coinmissionmay determine. B. The Plants' use of the Telex Equipment shall constitute a secondary service and the Plants reco,pize that they are secondary to all Part 73 and 74 broadcast licensees (including but not Iimited to full power, Class A, translator, and low power broadcast television stations). 11. Local Frequency Coordination A. For each outdoor use of the Telex Equipment under an Experimental License (as that term is defined in Section I(A) hereoi), a Plant will engage in local frequency coordination no sooner than h t y (30) days and no later than five (5) days prior to such use. (Indoor use of the Telex Equipment under an Experimental License shall not require kequencp coordination.) Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Plant may use the Telex Equipment in a situation where it has engaged in local frequency coordination with less than five (5) days notice if such outdoor use is essential to the Plant's effolts to address an unforeseen and critical emergency situation. B. To initiate the frequency coordination, a representative of the Plaut must contact its local Broadcast Auxiliary Services ("BAS") frequency coordinator (using the list found at http:l/keq.sbe.orglpdf~fileslcoordinators.pdf,or a substitute list provided by SBE) and provide the following infonnation: Physical location of the plant; proposed frequencies for operation of Telex Equipment; model number and description of Telex Equipment which user intends to use; name and e-mail address of a primary contact person at the user's location, and aphone number that will be staffed whenever the Telex Equipment is in operation. Such Plaut representative should use the attached SBE/Nuclear Power Plant Local Coordination Fonn for conveying flus information to the local frequency coordinator, unless the coordinating parties mutually agree to commuiucate using some other means (e.g.,by e-mail, a web interface, other printed fonn). The Plants shall update the submitted infomation

annually and shall have a continuing obligat~onto promptly update the infonnation provided to the local frequency coordinator should that information change. C. Plants using the Telex Equipment shall factor into their operations whatever information is provided in response to their timely coordination submission. Such infonnation may include data on which frequencies are believed to be available for use of the Telex Equipment, and the dates and times during which such frequencies are believed to be available. The Parties acknowledge that ultimately it is the legal obligation of the Plants to avoid interference to licensed users to urhich they are secondary and that coordination infonnation provided by local frequency coordinator(s) shall not constitute an approval or disapproval of a Plant's particular use of the Telex Equipment. As SBE has explained in prior comments to the FCC, local volunteel-frequency coordinators serve as a "clearing house" or "facilitator" among users of the BAS spectnun and do not "assign" a specific frequency to users or act as edorcers of the law. 111. Tenns of the Use of the Telex Equipment. A. Use Inside the Plant. The commercial nuclear industry may use the Telex Equipment inside all plant buildmgs at maximum power levels of 125 mW, both for transmitter power output (TPO) i d also for effective radiated power (ERP). B. Use Outdoors but Within the Owner Controlled Area. The commercial nuclear industry may use the Telex Equipment outdoors, within the "owner controlled area" (defmed as the area inside the outer perimeter fence or, for Plants that do not have a fence at their outer property line, the area inside the outer perimeter of the Plants' contiguous property line), at maximum power levels of 125 mW for (i) outage-related operations, defined to mean cormnunications in potentially hazardous circumstances or conditions during a Plant's "outage" process; (ii) fuel handling and movement; and (iii) radiological material handling. C. Use Outdoors, not Within the Owner Controlled Area. Any Plant's use of the Telex Equipment outdoors b u t not within the "owner controlled area") other than that specified in Section III(B) herein, including for purposes of training, is not authorized by this consensus plm and shall be discontinued as soon as reasonably possible but in no event later than sixty (60) days after the grant by the Colmnission of the Experimental License for the Plants currently using the Telex Equipment in this manner. Further, the Plants that are not currently using the Telex Equipment in the mmner contenlplated by this Section C shall not be permitted to initiate such use following the execution of this consensus plan. D. Reiteration of Non-Interference Obligation. For the avoidance of doubt, the Parties - - tecluuques such as the acknowledee that. while certain interference initination A distance separation requirements of Section 74.802(b) will not apply to an Experimental License, the Plants shall have an absolute obligation to not interfere A - with existing Part 73 and 74 licensees in the broadcast television spectrum, as described in Section I(B), above. This non-interference standard shall ultimately be

deteminative of the Plants' use of the Telex Equipment regardless of their distance from co-channel television broadcast operations. IV. Licensing and Reporting Requirements A. As noted in Section I(A), the Parties request that, because each Plant will be responsible for conducting its own frequency coordination and FCC reporting, as specified in Section IV(C) hereof, each Plant should receive its own Experimental License, pursuant to the tenns set forth herein. B. Each Experimental License shall specify a term that commences upon the FCC grant and expires on February 17,2009. C. Each Experimental License shall expressly bind the Plant to the terms and conditions described in this letter. D. Within six months of the grant of each Experimental License, and every twelve months thereafter during the term of its Experimental License (each, a "Reporting Date"), each Plant shall submit a report consistent with Section 5.73 of the Commission's rules summarizing its use of the Telex Equipment to con that the Plants have operated in compliance with the terms and conditions set forth herein. The Plants will also provide any additional information required by the Commission as a condition of the Experimental License. E. NEI and UTC shall engage in an ongoing educational campaign to remind, at reasonable intervals, the Plants of their legal obligations under this Agreement. F. On each Reporting Date, NEI and UTC shall submit a report regarding their efforts to identify or develop equipment that operates in Part 90, or other frequencies for which the Plants are eligible, and which is capable of satisfying the Plants' communication and safety needs, with the goal of the Plants ceasing their use of the Telex Equipment on Part 73 and 74 spectrnm. G. The Plant will notify the Conunission promptly upon location of such Part 90, or other equipment for which the Plant would be eligible to receive an FCC license. H. The Plants recognize that, as secondary service users, they are accepting the risk of interference to their use of the Telex Equipment as contemplated herein. The Plants also acknowledge that this risk of interference could increase further as a result of the Commission's plan to repackage the spectrum currently used by broadcast television, in connection with the end of the DTV transition. NEI and UTC acknowledge, and by applying for the Experimental License the Plants acknowledge and accept the risk, that Plants using Telex Equipinent may receive harmful interference ferom incumbent operations and that such interference may disrupt communications among Plant personnel.

I. The Broadcast Parties reserve the nght to petition the FCC for cancellation of a Plant's Experimental License m the event that such Plant materially violates the tenns of its ~ x ~ & n e n t aLicense. l A guiding principle of the plan proposed by the Parties is the minimization of interference within the congested broadcast spectrum. Consistent with that pritlciple, the Parties reiterate their objection to the attempt of the New America Foundation ('WAF") to use this proceeding to promote the proliferation of an unlimited number of unlicensed devices into the broadcast spectnun at unacceptably high emission levels. NAF and its allies urould have the Commission authorize such devices without any reliable mechanism for preventing or policing interference to licensed users in the band. That proposal, as the Broadcast Parties have explained elsewhere, would ultimately render the spectrum unusable for everyone, include users of the Telex Equipment. [SignaturePage Follows]

Accordingly, NAB, MSTV, SBE, NEI and UTC respectfully request that the FCC te~nporarilyauthorize the Plants' use of the Telex Equipment solely in accol.dance with the tenns described above. Respectfully submitted, NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE UTILITIES TELECOM COUNCIL By: \ Its: -Vice President & General Counsel- By: Date: A p r i l 12, 2007 Its: Vice President. Getleral Counsel Date: April 12.2007 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ASSOCIATION FOR MAXIMUM SERVICE BROmkSTEES TELETIISION, WC. By: 1st Marsha MacBride Its: Executive Vice President, Its: President Leeal& Red- Date: April 9,2007 Date: SOCIETY OF BROADCAST ENGINEERS Its: President Date: Avril9.2007


Document Created: 2007-08-06 16:08:04
Document Modified: 2007-08-06 16:08:04
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