[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 181 (Thursday, September 18, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54757-54758]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-23840]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-346; License No. NPF-03]


FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company; Notice of Issuance of 
Director's Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206

    Notice is hereby given that the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, has issued a Director's Decision with regard to a letter 
dated February 3, 2003, filed by Congressman Dennis Kucinich, 
Representative for the 10th Congressional District of the State of Ohio 
in the United States House of Representatives, hereinafter referred to 
as the ``petitioner.'' The petition was supplemented on March 27, 2003. 
The petition concerns the operation of the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power 
Station, Unit 1 (Davis-Besse), located in Ottawa County, Ohio.
    The Petitioner requested that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) immediately revoke the FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating 
Company's (FENOC's or the licensee's) license to operate the Davis-
Besse Nuclear Power Station, Unit 1 (Davis-Besse), located in Ottawa 
County, Ohio. As an alternative, the Petitioner asked the NRC to 
reexamine its denial of a previous 2.206 petition, submitted by the 
Toledo Coalition for Safe Energy et al., that requested the NRC issue 
an order to the licensee requiring a verification by an independent 
party for issues related to the reactor vessel head damage at Davis-
Besse.
    The basis for the request was that FENOC ``has operated outside the 
parameters of their operating license for several years, has violated 
numerous federal laws, rules and regulations, and has hidden 
information from the NRC and lied to the NRC to justify the continuing 
operation of the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station.'' The Petitioner 
supported his request by citing various publicly available documents 
and information related to reactor pressure vessel head damage 
discovered at Davis-Besse in March 2002. The documents describe 
noncompliance with the Davis-Besse operating license and violations of 
NRC regulations. The documents include NRC inspection reports, 
newspaper articles, and reports published by the Union of Concerned 
scientists.
    By an acknowledgment letter dated February 10, 2003, the NRC staff 
formally notified the Petitioner that the letter dated February 3, 
2003, met the criteria for review under 10 CFR 2.206, and that the NRC 
staff would act on the request within a reasonable time. The 
acknowledgment letter further stated that the Davis-Besse facility was 
shut down, and would remain so, until the NRC is satisfied that there 
is reasonable assurance of adequate protection of the public health and 
safety and that issues associated with management of the facility and 
potential wrongdoing have been satisfactorily addressed. The NRC staff 
also informed the Petitioner in the acknowledgment letter that the 
issues raised in the petition were being referred to NRR for 
appropriate action.
    On March 27, 2003, the Petitioner submitted supplemental 
information to support the petition. The licensee responded to the 
Petition on February 27, 2003, and to the supplement on April 11, 2003. 
These responses were considered by the staff in its evaluation of the 
petition. Copies of the licensee's responses are publicly available in 
the NRC's NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS).
    The NRC sent a copy of the proposed Director's Decision to the 
Petitioner and to licensee for comment on June 6, 2003. The Petitioner 
and FENOC both responsed with comments on July 7, 2003. The comments 
and the NRC staff's response to them are included with the Director's 
Decision.
    The Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation has 
determined that the request to revoke the Davis-Besse operating license 
and the alternative request for the NRC to reexamine its denial of a 
previous 2.206 petition, submitted by the Toledo Coalition for Safe 
Energy et al., that requested the NRC issue an order to the licensee 
requiring a verification by an independent party for issues related to 
the reactor vessel head damage at Davis-Besse, both be denied. The 
reasons for these decisions are explained in the Director's Decision 
pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206 DD-03-03, the complete text of which is 
available in ADAMS, or are available for inspection at the Commission's 
Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available 
records are accessible from the ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room on 
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 
at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to [email protected].
    The NRC staff has carefully considered the Petitioner's arguments 
regarding why FENOC's operating license for the Davis-Besse Nuclear 
Power Station should be revoked, as well as the alternative request for 
verification by independent party. The NRC staff shares the 
Petitioner's concerns about verifying the adequacy of plant operator 
performance and ensuring that future operation of the plant is 
conducted safely and in compliance with NRC requirements. The licensee 
has established, and is implementing, a Return-to-Service Plan that 
comprehensively addresses human factors, programmatic, and equipment 
issues along with the specific corrosion of the reactor vessel head. 
This includes evaluating, testing, or inspecting plant safety-related 
systems to ensure that they are able to perform their design-basis 
functions as defined in the plant's technical specifications and 
Updated Final Safety Analysis Report. Additionally, the NRC's has 
implemented enhanced oversight of the Davis-Besse facility that 
included the creation of an oversight panel to provide the required 
oversight during the plant shutdown, any future restart, and following 
restart until a determination is made that the plant is ready for 
return to the NRC's normal Reactor Oversight Process. The NRC's 
inspection activities go beyond ensuring that the direct causes of the 
damage to the reactor vessel head are properly identified and 
corrected. The NRC's activities also look broadly at safety-related 
plant systems and programs to ensure that the physical condition of the 
plant is adequate and the licensee's operations, maintenance, and 
engineering organizations are prepared to operate the plant safely if 
it is permitted to restart. Thus the NRC believes that the FENOC 
Return-to-Service Plan, as monitored by the NRC Davis-Besse Oversight 
Panel, provides an appropriate opportunity for FENOC to demonstrate or 
achieve compliance with NRC requirements, and that these activities 
will provide results that adequately address the Petitioner's stated 
safety concerns.
    With regard to the specific punitive action of revoking the Davis-
Besse operating license sought by the Petitioner, the NRC staff finds 
that there is insufficient basis to take the requested action. While 
serious violations did occur at the Davis-Besse facility, the 
violations in and of themselves do not

[[Page 54758]]

warrant revocation of the license. The Davis-Besse facility is 
currently shut down, and will remain so until the NRC is satisfied that 
there is reasonable assurance of adequate protection of the public 
health and safety and that restart issues associated with management of 
the facility and potential wrongdoing have been satisfactorily 
addressed. In its oversight of the licensee's corrective actions for 
the identified violations, the NRC has not observed an inability or 
unwillingness on the part of FENOC to achieve compliance with NRC 
regulations, the Davis-Besse operating license, or the Davis-Besse 
design and licensing bases.
    A copy of the Director's Decision will be filed with the Secretary 
of the Commission for the Commission's review in accordance with 10 CFR 
2.206 of the Commission's regulations. As provided for by this 
regulation, the Director's Decision will constitute the final action of 
the Commission 25 days after the date of the decision, unless the 
Commission, on its own motion, institutes a review of the Director's 
Decision in that time.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day of September, 2003.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brian W. Sheron,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 03-23840 Filed 9-17-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P