[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 135 (Thursday, July 15, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38220-38221]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-18058]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-250 and 50-251]


Florida Power and Light Company, Turkey Point Nuclear Plant, 
Units 3 and 4; Confirmatory Order Modifying License Effective 
Immediately

I

    Florida Power and Light Company (FPL or the Licensee) is the holder 
of Facility Operating Licenses, Nos. DPR-31 and DPR-41, which authorize 
operation of Turkey Point, Units 3 and 4, located in Dade County, 
Florida.

II

    The staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the 
Commision) 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 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.
    FPL was one of the licensees with which the NRC staff held 
meetings. Based on the information submitted by FPL in its December 9, 
1998, letter, the NRC staff has concluded that the schedules presented 
by FPL are reasonable. This conclusion is based on (1) the 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 FPL 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 
FPL must be completed in accordance with current FPL schedules. By 
letter dated January 29, 1999, the NRC staff notified FPL of its plan 
to incorporate FPL's schedule commitment into a requirement by issuance 
of an order and requested consent from the Licensee. By letter dated 
February 8, 1999, as modified by letter dated May 27, 1999, the 
Licensee provided its consent to issuance of a Confirmatory Order.

III

    The Licensee's commitment as set forth in its letter of February 8, 
1998, as modified by letter dated May 27, 1999, 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 the February 8, 1999 letter, as modified by 
letter dated May 27, 1999, be confirmed by this Order. The Licensee has 
agreed to this action by letter dated May 27, 1999. 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:

    FPL shall complete final implementation of Thermo-Lag 330-1 fire 
barrier corrective actions at Turkey Point Plant, Units 3 and 4, 
described in the FPL submittal to the NRC dated December 9, 1998, by 
December 31, 2001.
    The resolution of any new Thermo-Lag corrective actions 
resulting from a potential Fire Protection Functional Inspection or 
the on-going Fire Protection Functional Inspection Self-Assessment 
at Turkey Point Units 3 and 4, are not considered part of this 
confirmatory order.

    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 Assistant 
General Counsel for Materials Litigation and Enforcement at the same 
address, to the Regional Administrator, NRC Region II, Atlanta Federal 
Center, M/S 23T85, 61 Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, GA 30303-3415 and to 
the Licensee. If such a person requests a hearing, that person

[[Page 38221]]

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 immediate effectiveness of this Order.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of July 1999.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Roy P. Zimmerman,
Deputy Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 99-18058 Filed 7-14-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P