[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 24 (Monday, February 5, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4294-4295]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-2438]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Northeast Utilities; Notice of Informal Public Hearing

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will hold an informal 
public hearing regarding a petition submitted pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206 
involving Millstone Units 1, 2, and 3 and Seabrook Unit 1 of Northeast 
Utilities (NU/the licensee). The hearing will be held on March 7, 1996, 
at the Waterford Townhall in Waterford, Connecticut. The hearing will 
be open to public attendance and will be transcribed. The NRC has 
elected to hold such a hearing because of the complexity of the issues 
involved and the public's interest.
    The structure of the hearing shall be as follows:
Thursday, March 7, 1996
6:00 p.m.--NRC opening remarks
6:15 p.m.--Petitioner's presentation
7:00 p.m.--NRC questions
7:15 p.m.--Licensee's presentation
8:00 p.m.--NRC questions
8:15 p.m.--Public comments
9:45 p.m.--Licensee/Petitioners' final statements
10:00 p.m.--Meeting concludes

    A Petition pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206 was submitted to the NRC by Mr. 
Ernest C. Hadley on behalf of Mr. George Galatis and the Citizens 
Group, We the People (Petitioners) on August 21, 1995, as supplemented 
August 28, 1995. The Petitioners allege that NU has knowingly, 
willingly, and flagrantly operated Millstone Unit 1 in violation of its 
operating license for approximately 20 years; that it obtained previous 
licensing amendments through the use of material false statements; and 
that it presently proposes to continue operating under unsafe 
conditions rather than comply with the mandates of its license. 
Specifically, the Petitioners allege that NU has offloaded more fuel 
assemblies into the spent fuel pool than permitted under License 
Amendment No. 39 to the Millstone Unit 1 Provisional Operating License 
and License Amendment No. 40 to the Millstone Unit 1 Full-Term 
Operating License. The Petitioners further allege that License 
Amendments Nos. 39 and 40 were based upon material false statements 
made by NU in documents submitted to the NRC. The Petitioners refer to 
certain NU submittals allegedly containing the false information, such 
as NU Safety Assessment Reports associated with License Amendments Nos. 
39 and 40 and with Systematic Evaluation Program Topics IX-1 (fuel 
storage), IX-5 (ventilation systems), and III-7.B (design codes, design 
criteria, load combinations, and reactor cavity design criteria).
    In the Supplement, Mr. Galatis alleges that NU also committed 
violations by offloading more than one-third of a core of fuel at 
Millstone Units 2 and 3 and Seabrook Unit 1. In addition, Mr. Galatis 
alleged with regard to Millstone Unit 3 that NU submitted a material 
false statement to the NRC associated with a license amendment and that 
an unanalyzed condition exists with regard to system piping for full-
core offload events. With regard to Seabrook Unit 1, Mr. Galatis 
alleged technical specification violations associated with a 
criticality analysis.
    The purpose of this informal public hearing is to obtain additional 
information from the Petitioners, NU, and the public for NRC staff use 
in evaluating the Petition. Therefore, this informal public hearing 
will be limited to information relevant to issues raised in the 
Petition and its Supplement. The staff will not offer any preliminary 
views on its evaluation of the Petition. The informal public hearing 
will be chaired by a senior NRC official who will limit presentations 
to the above subject.
    The format of the informal public hearing will be as follows: 
opening remarks by the NRC regarding the general 10 CFR 2.206 process, 
the purpose of the informal public hearing, and a brief summary of the 
Petition and its Supplement (15 minutes); time for the Petitioners to 
articulate the basis for the Petition (45 minutes); time for the NRC to 
ask the Petitioners questions for purposes of clarification (15 
minutes); time for NU to address the issues raised in the Petition (45 
minutes); time for the NRC to ask NU questions for purposes of 
clarification (15 minutes); time for public comments relative to the 
Petition (90 Minutes); and time for licensee and Petitioners' final 
statements (15 minutes).
    Members of the public who are interested in presenting information 
relative to the Petition should notify the NRC official, named below, 5 
working days prior to the hearing. A brief summary of the information 
to be presented and the time requested should be provided in order to 
make appropriate arrangements. Time allotted for presentations by 
members of the public will be determined based upon the number of 
requests received and will be announced at the beginning of the 
hearing. The order for public presentations will be on a first received 
first to speak basis. Written statements will also be accepted and 
included in the record of the hearing. Written statements should be 
mailed to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mailstop O-14H3, 
Attn: Stephen Dembek, Washington, DC 20555.

    Requests for the opportunity to present information can be made by 
contacting Stephen Dembek, Project Manager, Division of Reactor 
Projects--I/II (telephone 301-415-1455) between 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 
(EST). Persons planning to attend this informal public 

[[Page 4295]]
hearing are urged to contact the above 1 or 2 days prior to the 
informal public hearing to be advised of any changes that may have 
occurred.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 1st day of February, 1996.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John A. Zwolinski,
Deputy Director, Division of Reactor Projects--I/II, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 96-2438 Filed 2-2-96; 8:45 am]
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