[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 13 (Thursday, January 21, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3320-3321]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-1359]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Notice of Informal 10 CFR 2.206 Public Hearing

[Docket No. 50-458; License No. NPF-47]
Entergy Operations, Inc.
[Docket No. 50-440; License No. NPF-58]
FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company

    The U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will hold an informal 
public hearing regarding two petitions submitted pursuant to 10 CFR 
2.206 involving the River Bend Station (RBS), operated by Entergy 
Operations, Incorporated, (the RBS licensee), and Perry Nuclear Power 
Plant (PNPP), Unit 1, operated by FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company 
(the PNPP licensee). The hearing will be held on February 22, 1999. The 
location for the hearing will be at the NRC, room T-2B3. The NRC is 
located at 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The hearing will 
be open to public attendance and will be transcribed.
    The structure of the hearing shall be as follows: Monday, February 
22, 1999:

1:00 p.m.--NRC opening remarks
1:15 p.m.--Petitioner's presentation
2:00 p.m.--NRC questions
2:15 p.m.--RBS licensee's presentation
2:45 p.m.--NRC questions
3:00 p.m.--PNPP licensee's presentation
3:30 p.m.--NRC questions
3:45 p.m.--Public comments
4:30 p.m.--Licensees/Petitioner's final statements
4:45 p.m.--Meeting concludes

    Note: All times are Eastern Standard Time (EST)
    By letter dated September 25, 1998, the Union of Concerned 
Scientists (UCS or Petitioner) submitted a Petition pursuant to 10 CFR 
2.206 requesting that the River Bend Station be immediately shut down 
and its operating license suspended or modified until the facility's 
design and licensing basis were updated to permit operation with failed 
fuel assemblies, or until all failed fuel assemblies were removed from 
the reactor core. The Petitioner also requested that a public hearing 
be held to discuss this matter in the Washington, D.C. area.
    By letter dated November 9, 1998, the UCS also submitted a Petition 
pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206 requesting that the Perry Nuclear Power Plant 
be immediately shut down and its

[[Page 3321]]

operating license suspended or modified until the facility's design and 
licensing basis were updated to permit operation with failed fuel 
assemblies, or until all failed fuel assemblies were removed from the 
reactor core. The Petitioner also requested a public hearing in the 
Washington, D.C. area.
    The purpose of this informal public hearing is to obtain additional 
information from the Petitioner, the licensees, and the public for NRC 
staff use in evaluating the Petitions. Therefore, this informal public 
hearing will be limited to information relevant to issues raised in the 
two Petitions. The staff will not offer any preliminary views on its 
evaluation of the Petitions. 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 informal public hearing, and a brief summary of the 
Petitions (15 minutes); time for the Petitioner to explain the basis of 
the Petitions (45 minutes); time for the NRC to ask the Petitioner 
questions for the purposes of clarification (15 minutes); time for the 
licensees to address the issues raised in the petition (30 minutes for 
each licensee); time for the NRC to ask the licensees questions for the 
purposes of clarification (15 minutes each, following licensees' 
presentations); time for public comments relative to the Petition (45 
minutes); and time for the licensees' and Petitioner's final statements 
(15 minutes).
    Members of the public who are interested in presenting information 
relative to the Petitions 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 determined on a 
first received--first to speak basis. Written statements should be 
mailed to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mailstop O-13H03, 
Attention: Robert Fretz, Washington, D.C. 20555.
    Requests for the opportunity to present information can be made by 
contacting Robert Fretz, Project Manager, Division of Reactor 
Projects--III/IV (telephone 301-415-1324) between 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 
p.m. (EST), Monday-Friday. Persons planning to attend this informal 
public hearing are urged to contact the above NRC representative 1 or 2 
working days prior to the informal public hearing to be advised of any 
changes that may have occurred.
    In order to assist participation in the informal hearing by 
interested members of the public, the NRC may also provide video 
teleconferencing services at a public location in the vicinity of the 
River Bend and Perry facilities. A subsequent notice in the Federal 
Register will be published at least 10 days prior to the date of the 
informal public hearing to announce the location of the video 
conferencing site, if made available.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of January 1999.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Elinor G. Adensam,
Acting Director, Division of Reactor Projects--III/IV, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 99-1359 Filed 1-20-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P