[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 63 (Thursday, April 2, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16289-16290]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-8546]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-397]


In the Matter of Washington Public Power Supply System; Nuclear 
Project No. 2; Confirmatory Order Modifying License

Effective date: March 25, 1998.

I

    Washington Public Power Supply System, WPPSS, ( WPPSS or the 
Licensee) is the holder of Facility Operating License No. NPF-21, which 
authorizes operation of Nuclear Project No. 2 (WNP-2) located in 
Richland, Washington, at steady state reactor core power levels not in 
excess of 3485 megawatts thermal (rated power).

II

    The staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has been 
concerned that Thermo-Lag 330-1 fire barrier systems installed by 
licensees may not provide the level of fire endurance intended and that 
licensees that use Thermo-Lag 330-1 fire barriers may not be meeting 
regulatory requirements. During the 1992 to 1994 time frame, the NRC 
staff issued Generic Letter (GL) 92-08, ``Thermo-Lag 330-1 Fire 
Barriers'' and subsequent requests for additional information that 
requested licensees to submit plans and schedules for resolving the 
Thermo-Lag issue. The NRC staff has obtained and reviewed all 
licensees' corrective plans and schedules. The staff is concerned that 
some licensees may not be making adequate progress toward resolving the 
plant-specific issues, and that some implementation schedules may be 
either too tenuous or too protracted. For example, several licensees 
informed the NRC staff that their completion dates had slipped by 6 
months to as much as 3 years. For plants that have completion action 
scheduled beyond 1997, the NRC staff has met with these licensees to 
discuss the progress of the licensees' corrective actions and the 
extent of licensee management attention regarding completion of Thermo-
Lag corrective actions. In addition, the NRC staff discussed with 
licensees the possibility of accelerating their completion schedules.
    WPPSS was one of the licensees with which the NRC staff held 
meetings. At these meetings, the NRC staff reviewed with WPPSS the 
schedule of Thermo-Lag corrective actions described in the WPPSS 
submittals to the NRC dated April 13, 1993, February 11, 1994, November 
9, 1994, April 27, 1995, and September 26, 1997. Based on the 
information submitted by WPPSS and provided during the meetings, the 
NRC staff has concluded that the schedules presented by WPPSS are 
reasonable. This conclusion is based on the (1) amount of installed 
Thermo-Lag; (2) the complexity of the plant-specific fire barrier 
configurations and issues; (3) the need to perform certain plant 
modifications during outages as opposed to those that can be performed 
while the plant is at power; and (4) integration with other 
significant, but unrelated issues that WPPSS is addressing at its 
plant. In order to remove compensatory measures such as

[[Page 16290]]

fire watches, it has been determined that resolution of the Thermo-Lag 
corrective actions by WPPSS must be completed in accordance with 
current WPPSS schedules. By letter dated February 27, 1998, the NRC 
staff notified WPPSS of its plan to incorporate WPPSS's schedular 
commitment into a requirement by issuance of an order and requested 
consent from the Licensee. By letter dated March 12, 1998, the Licensee 
provided its consent to issuance of a Confirmatory Order.

III

    The Licensee's commitment as set forth in its letter of March 12, 
1998, is acceptable and is necessary for the NRC to conclude that the 
public health and safety are reasonably assured. To preclude any 
schedule slippage and to assure public health and safety, the NRC staff 
has determined that the Licensee's commitment in its March 12, 1998, 
letter be confirmed by this Order. The Licensee has agreed to this 
action. Based on the above, and the Licensee's consent, this Order is 
effective March 25, 1998.

IV

    Accordingly, pursuant to sections 103, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182, and 
186 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's 
regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR Part 50, It is hereby ordered, 
effective March 25, 1998 that:

    WPPSS shall complete final implementation of Thermo-Lag 330-1 
fire barrier corrective actions at Washington Public Power Supply 
System, Nuclear Project No. 2, described in the WPPSS submittals to 
the NRC dated April 13, 1993, February 11, 1994, November 9, 1994, 
April 27, 1995, and September 26, 1997, during the R-14 Maintenance 
and Refueling Outage (Spring 1999). Overall work package close-out 
will be completed by December 1999.

The Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, may relax or 
rescind, in writing, any provisions of this Confirmatory Order upon a 
showing by the Licensee of good cause.

V

    Any person adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order, other 
than the Licensee, may request a hearing within 20 days of its 
issuance. Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to 
extending the time to request a hearing. A request for extension of 
time must be made in writing to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
D.C. 20555, and include a statement of good cause for the extension. 
Any request for a hearing shall be submitted to the Secretary, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Attention: Docketing and Services 
Section, Washington, D.C. 20555. Copies of the hearing request shall 
also be sent to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U. 
S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D. C. 20555, to the 
Assistant General Counsel for Hearings and Enforcement at the same 
address, to the Regional Administrator, NRC Region IV at 611 Ryan Plaza 
Drive, Suite 400, Arlington, Texas 76011, and to the Licensee. If such 
a person requests a hearing, that person shall set forth with 
particularity the manner in which his/her interest is adversely 
affected by this Order and shall address criteria set forth in 10 CFR 
2.714(d).
    If a hearing is requested by a person whose interest is adversely 
affected, the Commission will issue an Order designating the time and 
place of any such hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to be 
considered at such hearing shall be whether this Confirmatory Order 
should be sustained.
    In the absence of any request for hearing, or written approval of 
an extension of time in which to request a hearing, the provisions 
specified in Section IV above shall be final 20 days from the date of 
this Order without further order or proceedings. If an extension of 
time for requesting a hearing has been approved, the provisions 
specified in Section IV shall be final when the extension expires if a 
hearing request has not been received. An answer or a request for 
hearing shall not stay the effectiveness of this Order.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 25th day of March 1998.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 98-8546 Filed 4-1-98; 8:45 am]
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