- (a) A holder of an OL or COL who references a design certification rule issued under this part must request an exemption if proposing to change one or more elements of the certification information. The Commission may grant such a request only if it determines that the exemption will comply with the requirements of § 53.080 and that the special circumstances outweigh any decrease in safety that may result from the reduction in standardization caused by the departure.
- (b) The request for an exemption must be included with any associated license amendment request, which must be requested and processed in accordance with §§ 53.1510, 53.1515, and 53.1520.
- (c) Licensees must evaluate changes to the design as described in the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) not involving changes to the certification information using the criteria in § 53.1550.