[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 193 (Thursday, October 3, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 51729]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-25344]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-309]


Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company Maine Yankee Atomic Power 
Station; Receipt of Petition for Director's Decision Under 10 CFR 
Sec. 2.206

    Notice is hereby given that by Petition dated August 19, 1996, 
Patrick M. Sears (Petitioner) has requested that the U. S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC) take action with regard to the Maine Yankee 
Atomic Power Station and all users of the RELAP computer code for 
emergency core cooling systems analyses. The Petitioner requests that 
the NRC fine Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company and Yankee Atomic 
Electric company (YAEC) if records have not been kept in accordance 
with YAEC's computer code quality assurance procedures, and that the 
NRC inspect all users of RELAP and fine those users not operating 
within required computer code verification procedures.
    As the basis for his request, the Petitioner states: that the May 
5, 1989, statement of Steve Nichols of Maine Yankee that RELAP5YA was 
``operable'' and would be used for subsequent reloads was false; no 
computer code inspections were performed by the NRC before a 1992 
inspection at YAEC by the Petitioner when he was an NRC employee and 
not again until 1995; the Petitioner was told not to do any more 
computer code inspections; RELAP is widely used; RELAP has been shown 
to have serious deficiencies; and the RELAP problem is not confined to 
the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Plant but is endemic to the industry as a 
whole.
    The request is being treated pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206 of the 
Commission's regulations. The request has been referred to the Director 
of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. A copy of the Petition is 
available for public inspection at the Commission's Public Document 
Room, the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20555 
and at the local public document room located at the Wiscasset Public 
Library, High Street, P. O. Box 367, Wiscasset, Maine 04578.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of September 1996.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
William T. Russell,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 96-25344 Filed 10-2-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P