[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 131 (Wednesday, July 9, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41022-41023]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-17334]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-390, License No. NPF-50]


Tennessee Valley Authority; Receipt of Request for Action

    Notice is hereby given that by petition dated May 30, 2003, Mr. 
David Lochbaum (petitioner), on behalf of the Union of Concerned 
Scientists (UCS), has requested that the NRC take action with regard to 
the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant. The petitioner requested that Tennessee 
Valley Authority (TVA) be required to provide specific information 
relating to possible corrosion of the reactor coolant pressure boundary 
at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant due to defects in the stainless steel 
cladding applied to the interior surface of the carbon steel reactor 
pressure vessel to provide corrosion resistance against the borated 
water used as reactor coolant. The petitioner also requested that the 
NRC (a) provide UCS with copies of all correspondence sent to TVA 
regarding this petition and the subject cladding defects at Watts Bar, 
(b) provide UCS with advance notice of all public meetings conducted by 
the agency with TVA regarding this petition and the subject cladding 
defects, (c) provide UCS with an opportunity to participate in all 
relevant phone calls between NRC staff and TVA regarding this petition 
and the subject cladding defects at Watts Bar, and (d) provide UCS with 
copies of all correspondence sent to Members of Congress and/or 
industry organizations (e.g., the Nuclear Energy Institute, the 
Electric Power Research Institute, the Institute for Nuclear Power 
Operations, etc.).
    As the basis for this request, the petitioner states that in its 
original Safety Evaluation Report issued in 1982, the NRC accepted the 
defects in the stainless steel cladding on the cold leg nozzles of the 
Watts Bar reactor pressure vessel. In contrast, the petitioner states 
that when defects were discovered in the stainless steel cladding of 
safety injection accumulator tank, in 1993, it was not deemed 
permissible to leave them ``as-is.'' Furthermore, the petitioner noted 
that the NRC issued two bulletins: Bulletin 2001-01, ``Circumferential 
Cracking of Reactor Pressure Head Penetration Nozzles,'' dated August 
3, 2001, requiring all pressurized-water reactor (PWR) licensees to 
supply information on the control rod drive mechanism nozzles; and 
Bulletin 2002-02, ``Reactor Pressure Vessel Head and Vessel Head 
Penetration Nozzles Inspection Programs,'' dated August 9, 2002, 
requiring all PWR licensees to undertake inspections of reactor coolant 
pressure boundary components and provide information to NRC.
    The request is being handled in accordance with Title 10 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Sec.  2.206 of the Commission's 
regulations. The request has been referred to the Director of the 
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. As provided by 10 CFR 2.206, 
appropriate action will be taken on this petition within a reasonable 
time. The petitioner did not request any immediate action at Watts Bar 
Nuclear Plant. A copy of the petition is available for inspection at 
the Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint 
North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), 
Rockville, Maryland. Publicly

[[Page 41023]]

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 encounter 
problems in accessing the documents located 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 2nd day of July 2003.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 03-17334 Filed 7-8-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P