[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 107 (Thursday, June 4, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30518-30519]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-14775]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-289]


GPU Nuclear Inc., et al. Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 
No. 1; Confirmatory Order Modifying License Effective Immediately

I

    GPU Nuclear Inc., (GPUN or the Licensee) is the holder of Facility 
Operating License No. DRP-50, which authorizes operation of Three Mile 
Island Nuclear Station, Unit No. 1 located in Dauphin County, 
Pennsylvania.

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 timeframe, 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.
    GPUN was one of the licensees with which the NRC staff held a 
meeting. At this meeting, the NRC staff reviewed with GPUN the schedule 
of Thermo-Lag corrective actions described in the GPUN submittals to 
the NRC dated February 10, 1994, December 5, 1994, July 7, 1995, August 
16, 1996, November 5, 1996, December 31, 1996, August 19, 1997, and 
November 23, 1997, to complete implementation of Thermo-Lag 330-1 fire 
barriers corrective actions by December 31, 1999, excluding those 
corrective actions which are the subject of the pending exemption 
request dated December 31, 1996, and supplemented by letters dated July 
31, 1997, September 8, 1997, and December 30, 1997. Based on the 
information submitted by GPUN and provided during the meeting, the NRC 
staff has concluded that the schedule presented by GPUN is 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 GPUN is addressing at its plant. In order to remove compensatory 
measures such as fire watches, it has been determined that resolution 
of the Thermo-Lag corrective actions by GPUN must be completed in 
accordance with the current GPUN schedule. By letter dated April 27, 
1998, the NRC staff notified GPUN of its plan to incorporate GPUN's 
schedule commitment into a requirement by issuance of an order and 
requested consent from the Licensee. By letter dated May 5, 1998, the 
Licensee provided its consent to issuance of a Confirmatory Order.

III

    The Licensee's commitment as set forth in its letter of May 5, 
1998, is acceptable and is necessary for the NRC to conclude that 
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 May 5, 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 
immediately effective upon issuance.

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 immediately, that:

    GPUN shall complete final implementation of Thermo-Lag 330-1 
fire barrier corrective actions at Three Mile Island Nuclear 
Station, Unit No. 1 described in the GPUN submittals to the NRC 
dated February 10, 1994, December 5, 1994, July 7, 1995, August 16, 
1996, November 5, 1996, December 31, 1996, August 19, 1997, and 
November 23, 1997, by December 31, 1999, excluding those corrective 
actions which are the subject of the pending exemption request dated 
December 31, 1996, and supplemented by letters dated July 31, 1997, 
September 8, 1997, and December 30, 1997. A schedule for completion 
of any activity associated with the items excluded will be developed 
separately.

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, DC 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: Chief, Rulemaking and Adjudications 
Staff, Washington, DC 20555. Copies of the hearing request shall also 
be sent to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U. S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, to the Deputy 
Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement at the same address, to the 
Regional Administrator, NRC Region I, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, 475 Allendale Rd., King of Prussia, PA 19406-1415, 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

[[Page 30519]]

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 immediate effectiveness of this Order.

    Dated at Rockville, MD, this 22nd day of May 1998.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 98-14775 Filed 6-3-98; 8:45 am]
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