[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 206 (Wednesday, October 26, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-26491]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: October 26, 1994]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-325 and 50-324

 

Carolina Power & Light Company et al. Brunswick Steam Electric 
Plant, Units 1 and 2; Issuance of Director's Decision Under 10 CFR 
2.206

    Notice is hereby given that the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation (NRR), has issued a Director's Decision concerning a 
Petition dated October 14, 1993, filed pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206, on 
behalf of the National Whistleblower Center (NWC), the Coastal Alliance 
for a Safe Environment (CASE), and Mr. Charles A. Webb, requesting that 
actions be taken regarding the Brunswick Steam Electric Plant 
(Brunswick), Units 1 and 2, of the Carolina Power & Light Company (CP&L 
or the Licensee). The Petition requested that (1) the NRC staff enter 
into a confidentiality agreement with NWC to facilitate the release of 
additional information; (2) the NRC immediately require the Licensee to 
state whether it has, in fact, known about cracks in the reactor core 
shroud since at least 1984; and (3) the Commission's Office of 
Investigations determine whether CP&L management engaged in criminal 
wrongdoing, commencing in 1984, when CP&L is alleged to have failed to 
report the existence of cracks in the core shroud to the NRC. The 
Petition also requested an immediate suspension of the operating 
license for Brunswick pending the criminal investigation.
    The Petitioners based their request on allegations that (1) the 
Licensee falsely asserted to the NRC and to the public that cracks in 
the reactor shroud were but recently discovered, and the Petitioners 
contend that the Licensee discovered the cracks nine years earlier and 
the Licensee's management instructed the engineers who detected the 
cracks to prepare paperwork that would ensure that the cracks would not 
be reported to the NRC; (2) this alleged coverup demonstrates that CP&L 
does not have the character or integrity to operate a nuclear facility 
because of its unwillingness to report significant safety problems to 
the NRC; and (3) the Licensee is willing to take unreasonable risks 
with the health and safety of the public.
    The Director of NRR has granted in part and denied in part the 
Petitioner's requests. The reasons are explained in the ``Director's 
Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206'' (DD-94-09), which is available for public 
inspection and copying in the Commission's Public Document Room at 2120 
L Street, NW., Washington, DC 20037, and at the Licensee's local public 
document room at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 
William Madison Randall Library, 601 S. College Road, Wilmington, NC 
28403-3297.
    A copy of the Decision will be filed with the Secretary of the 
Commission for the Commission's review in accordance with 10 CFR 
2.206(c). As provided for in 10 CFR 2.206(c), the Decision will become 
the final action of the Commission 25 days after the date of issuance 
unless the Commission on its own motion institutes a review of the 
Decision within that time.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 19th day of October 1994.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
William T. Russell,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 94-26491 Filed 10-25-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M