[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 77 (Thursday, April 21, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-9609]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: April 21, 1994]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-458]

 

Entergy Operations, Inc.; Consideration of Issuance of Amendment 
To Facility Operating License and Opportunity For A Hearing

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is 
considering issuance of an amendment to Facility Operating License No. 
NPF-47, issued to Entergy Operations, Inc. (the licensee), for 
operation of the River Bend Station, Unit 1, located in West Feliciana 
Parish, Louisiana.
    The proposed amendment, requested by the licensee by letter of 
November 30, 1933, would represent a full conversion from the current 
Technical Specifications (TS) to a set of TS based on NUREG-1434, 
``Improved BWR/6 Technical Specifications,'' Revision 0, September 
1992. NUREG-1434 has been developed through working groups composed of 
both NRC staff members and the BWR/6 owners and has been endorsed by 
the staff as part of an industry-wide initiative to standardize and 
improve TS. As part of this submittal, the licensee has applied the 
criteria contained in the Final NRC Policy Statement on Technical 
Specification Improvements to the current River Bend Station Technical 
Specifications utilizing BWR Owners' Group (BWROG) report NEDO-31466, 
``Technical Specification Screening Criteria Application and Risk 
Assessment,'' (and Supplement 1) as incorporated in NUREG-1434.
    The licensee has categorized the proposed changes into four general 
groupings. These groupings are characterized as administrative changes, 
relocated changes, more restrictive changes, and less restrictive 
changes.
    Administrative changes are those that involve reformatting, 
renumbering and rewording of the existing TS. The reformatting, 
renumbering and rewording process reflects the attributes of NUREG-1434 
and does not involve technical changes to the existing TS. Such changes 
are administrative in nature and do not impact initiators and analyzed 
events or assumed mitigation of accident or transient events.
    Relocated changes are those involving relocation of requirements 
and surveillances for structures, systems, components or variables that 
do not meet the criteria of inclusion in TS as identified in the 
Application of Selection Criteria to the River Bend Station TS. The 
affected structures, systems, components or variables are not assumed 
to be initiators of analyzed events and are not assumed to mitigate 
accident or transient events. The requirements and surveillances for 
these affected structures, systems, components or variables will be 
relocated from the TS to administratively controlled documents. Changes 
to these documents will be made in accordance with 10 CFR 50.59. In 
addition, the affected structures, systems, components or variables are 
addressed in existing surveillance procedures which are subject to 10 
CFR 50.59 and subject to the change control provisions in the 
Administrative Controls Section of the TS. These proposed changes will 
not impose or eliminate any requirements.
    More restrictive changes are those involving more stringent 
requirements for operation of the facility. These more stringent 
requirements do not result in operation that will alter assumptions 
relative to mitigation of an accident or transient event. The more 
restrictive requirements continue to ensure process variables, 
structures, systems and components are maintained consistent with the 
safety analyses and licensing basis.
    Changes characterized as less restrictive have been subdivided into 
four additional subcategories. They include:

a. Relocating Details to TS Bases, the Updated Safety Analysis 
Report (USAR), or Procedures.

    The requirements to be transposed from the TS to the Bases, USAR or 
procedures are the same as those currently included in the existing TS. 
The TS Bases, USAR and procedures containing the relocated information 
are subject to 10 CFR 50.59 and are subject to the change control 
provisions in the Administrative Controls section of the TS.

b. Extension of Instrumentation Surveillance Test Intervals and 
Allowed Outage Times

    The proposed changes affect only the STIs and AOTs and will not 
impact the function of monitoring system variables over the anticipated 
ranges for normal operation, anticipated operational occurrences, or 
accident conditions. However, the changes are expected to reduce the 
test related plant scrams and test induced wear on the equipment. 
General Electric Topical Reports GENE-770-06-1 and GENE-770-06-2 showed 
that the effects of these extensions of STIs and AOTs, which produced 
negligible impact, are bounded by previous analyses. Further, the NRC 
has reviewed these reports and approved the conclusions on a generic 
basis.

c. Relocation of Instrumentation Only Requirements (Which Provide 
No Post-Accident Function)

    These requirements are part of the routine operational monitoring 
and are not considered in the safety analysis. Changes made to the 
Bases, USAR and procedures containing the relocated information will be 
made in accordance with 10 CFR 50.59 and are subject to the change 
control provisions in the Administrative Controls section of the TS. 
These proposed changes will not impose or eliminate any requirements.

d. Other Less Restrictive Changes

    Additional changes that result in less restrictions in the TS are 
discussed individually in the licensee's submittal.
    Before issuance of the proposed license amendment, the Commission 
will have made findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as 
amended (the Act) and the Commission's regulations.
    By May 23, 1994, the licensee may file a request for a hearing with 
respect to issuance of the amendment to the subject facility operating 
license and any person whose interest may be affected by this 
proceeding and who wishes to participate as a party in the proceeding 
must file a written request for a hearing and a petition for leave to 
intervene. Requests for a hearing and petitions for leave to intervene 
shall be filed in accordance with the Commission's ``Rules of Practice 
for Domestic Licensing Proceedings'' in 10 CFR part 2. Interested 
persons should consult a current copy of 10 CFR 2.714, which is 
available at the Commission's Public Document Room, the Gelman 
Building, 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC 20555 and at the local 
public document room located at the Government Documents Department, 
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803. If a request 
for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene is filed by the above 
date, the Commission or an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, 
designated by the Commission or by the Chairman of the Atomic Safety 
and Licensing Board Panel, will rule on the request and/or petition, 
and the Secretary or the designated Atomic Safety and Licensing Board 
will issue a notice of hearing or an appropriate order.
    As required by 10 CFR 2.714, a petition for leave to intervene 
shall set forth with particularity the interest of the petitioner in 
the proceeding, and how that interest may be affected by the results of 
the proceeding. The petition should specifically explain the reasons 
why intervention should be permitted with particular reference to the 
following factors:
    (1) The nature of the petition's right under the Act to be made a 
party to the proceeding;
    (2) The nature and extent of the petitioner's property, financial, 
or other interest in the proceeding; and
    (3) The possible effect of any order which may be entered in the 
proceeding on the petitioner's interest. The petition should also 
identify the specific aspect(s) of the subject matter of the proceeding 
as to which petitioner wishes to intervene. Any person who has filed a 
petition for leave to intervene or who has been admitted as a party may 
amend the petition without requesting leave of the Board up to fifteen 
(15) days prior to the first prehearing conference scheduled in the 
proceeding, but such an amended petition must satisfy the specificity 
requirements described above.
    Not later than fifteen (15) days prior to the first prehearing 
conference scheduled in the proceeding, a petitioner shall file a 
supplement to the petition to intervene which must include a list of 
the contentions which are sought to be litigated in the matter. Each 
contention must consist of a specific statement of the issue of law or 
fact to be raised or controverted. In addition, the petitioner shall 
provide a brief explanation of the bases of the contention and a 
concise statement of the alleged facts or expert opinion which support 
the contention and on which the petitioner intends to rely in proving 
the contention at the hearing. The petitioner must also provide 
references to those specific sources and documents of which the 
petitioner is aware and on which the petitioner intends to rely to 
establish those facts or expert opinion. Petitioner must provide 
sufficient information to show that a genuine dispute exists with the 
applicant on material issue of law or fact. Contentions shall be 
limited to matters within the scope of the amendments under 
consideration. The contention must be one which, if proven, would 
entitle the petitioner to relief. A petitioner who fails to file such a 
supplement which satisfies these requirements with respect to at least 
one contention will not be permitted to participate as a party.
    Those permitted to intervene become parties to the proceeding, 
subject to any limitations in the order granting leave to intervene, 
and have the opportunity to participate fully in the conduct of the 
hearing, including the opportunity to present evidence and cross-
examine witnesses.
    A request for a hearing or a petition for leave to intervene must 
be filed with the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555, Attention: Docketing and Services 
Branch, or may be delivered to the Commission's Public Document Room, 
the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC, by the above 
date. Where petitions are filed during the last ten (10) days of the 
notice period, it is requested that the petitioner promptly so inform 
the Commission by a toll-free telephone call to Western Union at 1-
(800) 248-5100 (in Missouri 1-(800) 342-6700). The Western Union 
operator should be given Datagram Identification Number N1023 and the 
following message addressed to Suzanne C. Black, Director, Project 
Directorate IV-2: Petitioner's name and telephone number, date petition 
was mailed, plant name, and publication date and page number of the 
Federal Register notice. A copy of the petition should also be sent to 
the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555, and to Mark Wetterhahn, Esq., Winston & Strawn, 
1400 L Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005, attorney for the licensee.
    Nontimely filings of petitions for leave to intervene, amended 
petitions, supplemental petitions and/or requests for hearing will not 
be entertained absent a determination by the Commission, the presiding 
officer, or the presiding Atomic Safety and Licensing Board that the 
petition and/or request should be granted based upon a balancing of the 
factors specified in 10 CFR 2.714(a)(1)(i)-(v) and 2.714(d).
    If a request for a hearing is received, the Commission's staff may 
issue the amendment after it completes it technical review and prior to 
the completion of any required hearing if it publishes a further notice 
for public comment of its proposed finding of no significant hazards 
considerations in accordance with 10 CFR 50.91 and 50.92.
    For further details with respect to this action, see the 
application for amendment dated November 30, 1993, which is available 
for public inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, the 
Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC 20555, and at the 
local public document room, located at the Government Documents 
Department, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of April 1994.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Robert G. Schaaf,
Acting Project Manager, Project Directorate III-3, Division of Reactor 
Projects III/IV, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 94-9609 Filed 4-20-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M