[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 57 (Monday, March 26, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14142-14143]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5433]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 72-7 and 50-255]
License No. DPR-20, Nuclear Management Company, LLC; Notice of
Issuance of Director's Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206
Notice is hereby given that the Director, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, has issued a director's decision with
regard to a petition dated April 4, 2006, filed by Mr. Terry J. Lodge,
on behalf of five organizations and 30 individuals, hereinafter
referred to as the Petitioners. Representatives for the Petitioners
participated in a telephone conference call with NRC's Petition Review
Board (PRB) on April 26, 2006, to discuss the
[[Page 14143]]
petition. The teleconference was transcribed and the transcription was
treated as a supplement to the petition. Transcripts of the
teleconference are available via the Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System (ADAMS) on the agency's Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html, and for inspection at the NRC Public
Document Room, located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O-
1F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. The
petition concerns the operation of the independent spent fuel storage
installation (ISFSI) at the Palisades Nuclear Plant.
The Petitioners requested that the NRC take enforcement action
against the licensee for the Palisades Nuclear Plant, Nuclear
Management Company, LLC (NMC), by condemning and stopping the use of
the two independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) concrete
pads holding dry spent fuel storage casks on the plant site.
As the basis for the petition, the Petitioners stated that the
concrete cask storage pads do not conform with NRC regulations for
earthquake stability, specifically 10 CFR 72.212(b)(2)(i)(B) and
72.212(b)(3), and, therefore, pose a hazard in case of an earthquake.
The Petitioners asserted that the licensee's evaluations of the older
and newer concrete storage pads did not properly consider the behavior
of the soil beneath the pads in determining the effects on the storage
casks as a result of a seismic event.
On April 26, 2006, the NRC staff's PRB held a teleconference with
the Petitioners. The teleconference gave the Petitioners an opportunity
to provide additional information and to clarify issues raised in the
petition. During the teleconference, the Petitioners requested
additional time to submit a supplement to the petition, and the PRB
agreed to the request, as documented in a letter to the Petitioners,
dated May 4, 2006. However, no supplement was submitted. On June 27,
2006, the NRC staff informed the Petitioners by letter that the issue
regarding the seismic response of the older ISFSI pad, and the issue of
soil amplification for the newer pad, had been previously resolved and
would not be considered under 10 CFR 2.206. In that same letter, the
staff informed the Petitioners that the issue regarding the slope
stability analysis for the newer pad was accepted for review under 10
CFR 2.206. The transcript of the teleconference and the letters are
available in ADAMS, as stated above.
On November 28, 2006, the NRC sent a copy of the proposed
director's decision to the Petitioners and to the licensee for comment.
At the request of the Petitioners, the NRC extended the end of the
comment period from January 5, 2007, to February 2, 2007. The
Petitioners submitted comments by electronic mail on February 2, 2007.
The comments and the staff's responses to them are available
electronically through the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room at
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html, under docket number 07200007.
The Director of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards has determined that the Petitioners' request, to condemn and
stop the use of the two ISFSI concrete pads holding dry spent fuel
storage casks at the Palisades site, is denied. The NRC staff has
concluded that the Petitioners' concerns have been adequately addressed
by the licensee's revised slope stability evaluation for the newer
concrete storage pad. The reasons for this decision are explained in
the director's decision [DD-07-02] pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Section 2.206, the complete text of which
is available at the Commission's Public Document Room, located at One
White Flint North, Public File Area O-1F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first
floor), Rockville, Maryland, and from the ADAMS Public Library
component on the NRC's Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html
(the Public Electronic Reading Room).
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 20th day of March 2007.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jack R. Strosnider,
Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. E7-5433 Filed 3-23-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P