[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 53 (Tuesday, March 19, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12595-12596]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-6494]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Public Workshop on New Reactor Licensing Activities

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of public workshop.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has scheduled a public 
workshop to inform the public of preliminary staff positions presented 
in SECY-01-0207, ``Legal and Financial Issues Related to Exelon's 
Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR),'' dated November 20, 2001 
(ML012850139), and to provide an opportunity for stakeholders, 
including members of the public, to provide feedback on these 
positions.

[[Page 12596]]


DATES: March 27, 2002, from 1 p.m.-5 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The workshop will be held in the NRC's Auditorium at Two 
White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852-
2738.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Contact Amy Cubbage, Mail Stop O-11D17, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Members of 
the public may pre-register for this meeting by contacting Amy Cubbage 
at (800) 368-5642, ext. 2875, or by Internet at [email protected] by March 
21, 2002.
    The NRC maintains an Agencywide Documents Access and Management 
System (ADAMS) which provides text and image files of NRC's public 
documents. These documents may be accessed through the NRC's Public 
Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/Index.html. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are 
problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC 
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737 or by e-mail to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By letter dated December 5, 2000, Exelon 
Generation Company expressed an interest in pre-application activities 
for the pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR). The staff began its pre-
application review at a meeting with Exelon on April 30, 2001. As part 
of the meeting, Exelon discussed legal and financial issues that they 
believe merit special consideration due to the unique features of the 
modular facility, the gas-cooled reactor design and their intention to 
operate the PBMR as a merchant plant. By letter dated May 10, 2001 
(ML011420393), Exelon submitted nine white papers on these legal and 
financial issues and requested an agency response. The nine white 
papers addressed requirements associated with operator staffing; fuel 
cycle impacts; financial qualifications; decommissioning funding; 
minimum decommissioning costs; antitrust review; number of licenses; 
annual fees; and financial protection.
    In addition to issues discussed in the white paper proposals, the 
staff identified the following related issues to Exelon's proposals 
that may affect the PBMR application: License life for one combined 
license for multiple reactors; duration of design approval under a 
combined license (COL) for multiple reactors; commencement of annual 
fees; and testing of new design features for a COL.
    SECY-01-0207, ``Legal and Financial Issues Related to Exelon's 
Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR),'' dated November 20, 2001 
(ML012850139), presents preliminary positions related to the staff's 
assessment of Exelon's proposals on legal and financial issues and 
additional staff-identified licensing-related issues that may affect 
the Exelon application. The staff committed to hold a workshop to 
apprise Exelon and other stakeholders on the positions presented in the 
paper and receive their feedback. Based on this feedback, the staff 
will amend its positions, as necessary, and make recommendations on 
policy issues related to the legal and financial issues for Commission 
approval later this year.
    For each of the issues discussed above, the NRC staff will provide 
a brief summary of the issue. This will be followed by an open 
discussion and opportunity for all stakeholders, including members of 
the public, to provide feedback on the preliminary staff positions 
presented in SECY-01-0207. Comments on SECY-01-0207 may also be 
submitted in writing by April 10, 2002. Comments should be addressed to 
Amy Cubbage, U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop O-11-D-17, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001.
    A final agenda and schedule will be published on the NRC Web site 
when it is available: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/meeting-schedule.html.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day of March 2002.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James E. Lyons,
Director, New Reactor Licensing Project Office, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 02-6494 Filed 3-18-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P