[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 119 (Wednesday, June 22, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Page 36216]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-3223]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-271; License No. DPR-28]


Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC and Entergy Nuclear 
Operations, Inc.; Receipt of Request for Action Under 10 CFR 2.206

    Notice is hereby given that by petition dated May 3, 2005, the New 
England Coalition (NEC or the petitioner) has requested that the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) take action with 
regard to the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (Vermont Yankee). 
The NEC petition requested that the NRC promptly restore reasonable 
assurance of adequate protection of public health and safety with 
regard to the fire barriers in electrical cable protection systems at 
Vermont Yankee, or otherwise to order a derate of Vermont Yankee until 
such time as the operability of the fire barriers can be assured. 
Specifically, the petition requested that the Commission take the 
following actions: (1) Require Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee (ENVY) to 
promptly conduct a review at Vermont Yankee to determine the extent of 
condition, including a full inventory of the type, amount, application, 
and placement of Hemyc, and an assessment of the safety significance of 
each application; (2) require ENVY to promptly provide justification 
for operation in nonconformance with 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix R; and 
(3) upon finding that Vermont Yankee is operating in an unanalyzed 
condition and/or that assurance of public health and safety is 
degraded, promptly order a power reduction (derate) of Vermont Yankee 
until such time as it can be demonstrated that ENVY is operating in 
conformance with 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix R, and all other applicable 
regulations.
    The request is being treated pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Section 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. Mr. Raymond Shadis, in his capacity as the petitioner's Staff 
Technical Advisor, participated in a telephone conference call with the 
NRC's Petition Review Board (PRB) on May 17, 2005, to discuss the 
petition. The results of that discussion were considered in the PRB's 
determination regarding the petitioner's request for action and in 
establishing the schedule for the review of the petition. During the 
May 17, 2005, PRB conference call, the petitioner requested that the 
licensee review fire barriers beyond the Hemyc electric raceway fire 
barrier system. This request will not be accepted under the 2.206 
process because the petitioner did not provide adequate information to 
justify expanding the scope of the review.
    A copy of the petition and the transcript of the telephone 
conference call are 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, and 
from the NRC's 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 (ADAMS Accession Nos. 
ML051370182 and ML051610042). 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 15th day of June 2005.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

R.W. Borchardt,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E5-3223 Filed 6-21-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P