[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 52 (Friday, March 16, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 15301]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-6619]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-247]


License No. DPR-26; Consolidated Edison Company of New York, 
Inc.; Receipt of Petition for Director's Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206

    Notice is hereby given that by Petition dated December 4, 2000, 
Deborah Katz, Marilyn Elie, Tim Judson, Kyle Rabin, Mark Jacobs, Paul 
Gunter, and Jim Riccio (petitioners) have requested that the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC) take the following six actions with regard 
to Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit No. 2 (IP2): (1) Suspend the 
license for the IP2 reactor because of the licensee's ``persistent and 
pervasive, negligent management of the reactor,'' (2) investigate 
whether the potential misrepresentation of material fact by the utility 
regarding ``significantly insufficient'' engineering calculations was 
due to a lack of rigor and thoroughness or was deliberate, (3) revoke 
the IP2 operating license if it is found that the licensee deliberately 
provided insufficient and false information, (4) if the license is not 
revoked, maintain IP2 on the ``list of agency's focus reactors'' until 
management demonstrates it can fulfill its regulatory requirements and 
commitments, (5) not approve the transfer of the IP2 license until 
management can demonstrate that the Updated Final Safety Analysis 
Report (UFSAR), the condition report backlog, and the maintenance 
requirements are up-to-date and workers have been retrained, and (6) 
not allow the IP2 reactor to restart until the fundamental breakdown in 
management is analyzed and corrected.
    As a basis for this request, the petitioners state that the NRC 
inspections and other plant performance measurement processes have 
uncovered serious weaknesses and inaccuracies in the UFSAR, the 
Technical Specifications, the design and licensing bases, 
communications, maintenance, procedures, and worker training which, in 
the aggregate, point to a systemic mismanagement problem. The 
petitioners further state that without solid evidence that the licensee 
has addressed the root causes of systemic mismanagement, brought the 
reactor within compliance with its licensing and design bases, and 
established that the material condition of safety-significant reactor 
components is within safe limits, the licensee is no more prepared to 
operate IP2 than it was before the two recent operating events.
    The Petition has been accepted for review pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206 
of the Commission's regulations, and has been referred to the Director 
of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR). In accordance with 
Section 2.206, appropriate action will be taken on this Petition within 
a reasonable time. The NRR Petition Review Board (PRB) met on December 
20, 2000, to consider Requested Action 6, that the NRC prevent the IP2 
reactor from restarting. The PRB recommended that the request be 
denied, and the Director denied it. The Director denied Requested 
Action 6 because the Petitioners' bases for prohibiting IP2's restart 
had been previously evaluated individually and in aggregate by the NRC 
for regulatory and safety significance. The Director found that the 
issues did not warrant prohibiting the restart of IP2. The petitioners 
Deborah Katz, Tim Judson, Kyle Rabin, Mark Jacobs, Paul Gunter, and Jim 
Riccio met with the NRR PRB on January 24, 2001, to discuss the 
Petition. The results of that discussion were considered in the board's 
determination regarding the schedule for the review of the Petition. 
The Petition and the NRC's acknowledgment letter are available in ADAMS 
for inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, located at One 
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, 
Maryland, and from the ADAMS Public Library component on the NRC's Web 
site, http://www.nrc.gov (the Public Electronic Reading Room) at 
accession nos. ML010580302 and ML010510218, respectively. Information 
regarding this Petition can also be found on the Indian Point Unit 2 
Event page on the NRC's Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/REACTOR/IP/index.html

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 9th day of March 2001.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 01-6619 Filed 3-15-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P