[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 94 (Wednesday, May 15, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 34735]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-12125]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Receipt of Request for Action Under 10 CFR 2.206

    Notice is hereby given that by petition dated March 11, 2002, and 
supplements dated March 21, 22, and 27, 2002, Mr. David A. Lochbaum, 
Nuclear Safety Engineer in the Washington, DC, Office of the Union of 
Concerned Scientists (petitioner), and the co-petitioners identified in 
the petition supplements dated March 21 and March 22, 2002, have 
requested that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the 
Commission) take action with regard to the nuclear power facilities 
listed in Attachment 1 to the petition (multiple facilities). The 
petitioners request that the NRC immediately issue orders to the owners 
of all operating nuclear power plants to take measures that will reduce 
the risk from sabotage of irradiated fuel. Specifically, those measures 
are:
    (1) The NRC should ``impose a 72-hour limit for operation when the 
number of operable onsite alternating current power sources (i.e., 
emergency diesel generators) is one less than the number in the 
Technical Specification limiting condition for operation. This 72-hour 
limit would be applicable when the nuclear plant is in any mode of 
operation other than hot shutdown, cold shutdown, refueling, or 
defueled.'' Oconee Nuclear Station does not rely on emergency diesel 
generators but ``equivalent protection for its emergency power supply'' 
should be provided. The NRC should also ``cease and desist issuing 
NOEDs [Notices of Enforcement Discretion] that allow nuclear reactors 
to operate for longer periods of time with broken emergency diesel 
generators.'' This requested action would apply to the facilities 
listed in Attachment 1 to the petition.
    (2) The NRC should ``impose a minimum 24-hour time-to-boil for the 
spent fuel pool water. This limit would be applicable at all times.'' 
This requested action would apply to the facilities listed in 
Attachment 1 to the petition.
    The petition also requested that the NRC hold a public meeting to 
precede ``the Petition Review Board (PRB) non-public meeting regarding 
this petition'' and assign ``someone other than the Director of NRR 
[Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation] to be responsible for our 
petition. The Deputy Executive Director for Reactor Programs or the 
Deputy Director of NRR would be acceptable to UCS [Union of Concerned 
Scientists].''
    The request is being treated pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206 of the 
Commission's regulations. The request has been referred to the 
Director, NRR. As provided by Section 10 CFR 2.206, appropriate action 
will be taken on this petition within a reasonable time. On March 26, 
2002, the petitioner participated in a teleconference with the PRB to 
discuss the petition, as supplemented. The PRB considered the 
petitioner's contributions to the teleconference in deciding on the 
requests for immediate action and in setting the schedule for review of 
the petition. A copy of the petition and its supplements is available 
for inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), at One 
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, 
Maryland. Publicly available records will be accessible from the 
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Public 
Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to 
ADAMS or who have problems in accessing the documents in ADAMS, should 
contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 
301-415-4737 or by e-mail to [email protected].


    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of May 2002.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 02-12125 Filed 5-14-02; 8:45 am]
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