§ 53.740 Facility licensee requirements—general.
(a) Facility licensees must demonstrate compliance with the requirements of either §§ 53.760 through 53.795 for interaction-dependent-mitigation facilities or §§ 53.800 through 53.820 for self-reliant-mitigation facilities.
(b) The facility licensee must maintain the staffing complement described under its approved facility staffing plan until such time as the permanent cessation of operations and permanent removal of fuel from the reactor vessel has been certified as described under § 53.1070. The approved staffing plan is subject to the requirements of § 53.1565.
(c) Except as provided under § 53.735, the facility licensee may not permit the manipulation of the controls of a commercial nuclear plant by anyone who is not an operator or senior operator or generally licensed reactor operator, as appropriate.
(d) Facility licensees for interaction-dependent-mitigation facilities that have not yet certified the permanent cessation of operations and permanent removal of fuel from the reactor vessel as described under § 53.1070 must designate senior operators to be responsible for supervising the licensed activities of operators.
(e) Apparatus and mechanisms other than controls, the operation of which may affect the reactivity or power level of a reactor, must be manipulated only while plant conditions are being monitored by an individual who is an operator or senior operator or a generally licensed reactor operator, as appropriate.
(f)(1) Load following is permitted if at least one of the following is immediately capable of refusing demands when they could challenge the safe operation of the plant or when precluded by the plant equipment conditions:
(i) The actuation of an automatic protection system that utilizes setpoints more conservative than those otherwise credited for the purposes of reactor protection; or
(ii) An automated control system; or
(iii) An operator or senior operator or a generally licensed reactor operator, as appropriate.
(2) The provisions of paragraph (e) of this section do not apply during load following operations.
(g)(1) Facility licensees for interaction-dependent-mitigation facilities must have present during alteration of the core (including fuel loading or transfer) an individual holding a senior operator license, or a senior operator license limited to fuel handling to directly supervise the activity and, during this time, the facility licensee must not assign other duties to this person.
(2) Facility licensees for self-reliant-mitigation facilities must have present during alteration of the core (including fuel loading or transfer) an individual holding a generally licensed reactor operator license to directly supervise the activity and, during this time, the facility licensee must not assign other duties to this person.
(3) The provisions of paragraphs (g)(1) and (2) of this section do not apply to core alterations performed as part of refueling operations while a facility that is capable of online refueling is operating at power.
(h) Facility licensees may take reasonable action that departs from a license condition or a technical specification (contained in a license issued under this part) in an emergency when this action is immediately needed to protect the public health and safety and no action consistent with license conditions and technical specifications that can provide adequate or equivalent protection is immediately apparent. Such facility licensee action must be approved, as a minimum, by a senior operator or a generally licensed reactor operator, as applicable, or, after certifying the permanent cessation of operations and permanent removal of fuel from the reactor vessel as described under § 53.1070 by a certified fuel handler, senior operator, or generally licensed reactor operator, as applicable, prior to taking the action.