[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 117 (Tuesday, June 19, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 33789]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-11814]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-400 License No. NPF-63]


Carolina Power & Light Company; Notice of Issuance of Director's 
Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206

    Notice is hereby given that the Director of the Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation has issued a director's decision with regard to a 
petition dated September 20, 2006, filed by Mr. John D. Runkle, 
attorney for North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network and 
numerous other organizations, hereinafter referred to as the 
``Petitioners.'' The petition was supplemented by documents dated 
September 21, October 30, November 29, 2006, and February 8, 2007. The 
petition concerns longstanding fire protection issues at the Shearon 
Harris Nuclear Power Plant (SHNPP or the Licensee).
    The Petitioners requested that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC) staff take enforcement action in the form of an order that would 
revoke SHNPP's operating license or impose maximum fines for each 
violation for each day the plant has been in violation of fire 
protection regulations.
    As the basis for this request, the Petitioners discussed several 
fire safety issues at SHNPP that they believe could affect the safe 
operation of the plant and safe shutdown of the plant in emergency 
situations. The Petitioners' concerns focused on noncompliances, the 
risk associated with the noncompliances, reliance on compensatory 
measures, the NRC's policy on the use of enforcement discretion 
regarding certain fire protection issues, and intentional acts of 
sabotage or terrorism.
    On November 13, 2006, the NRC conducted a public meeting at NRC 
headquarters regarding fire protection issues at SHNPP. The meeting 
gave the Petitioners and the SHNPP Licensee an opportunity to provide 
additional information to the NRC's Petition Review Board and to 
clarify issues raised in the petition.
    The NRC staff sent a copy of the proposed Director's Decision to 
the Petitioners and to the SHNPP Licensee for comment by letters dated 
April 2, 2007. The Petitioners and the Licensee submitted comments by 
letters dated May 1, 2007, and these comments are addressed in the 
final Director's Decision.
    The Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation has 
determined that the requests to revoke SHNPP's Operating License or 
impose maximum fines for each violation for each day the plant has been 
in violation of fire protection regulations are denied. The reasons for 
this decision are explained in the Director's Decision pursuant to 
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Section 2.206 (DD-
07-03), the complete text of which is available in ADAMS for inspection 
at the Commission's Public Document Room, located at One White Flint 
North, Public File Area O1 F21, 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) using Accession Number ML071490145.
    In summary, the Director's Decision denies the Petitioners' 
requests due to the determination by the NRC staff that the plant may 
continue operation and the Licensee's efforts to transition to the 
risk-informed, performance-based standards in 10 CFR 50.48(c). In 
addition, the Licensee is actively identifying and completing 
corrective actions, including plant modifications and reanalysis 
efforts associated with meeting the new standards in 10 CFR 50.48(c), 
and has in place compensatory measures to account for existing 
noncompliances. The Licensee continues to have available several levels 
of defense-in-depth in fire protection. The Licensee has been granted 
enforcement discretion under the NRC's ``Interim Enforcement Policy 
Regarding Enforcement Discretion for Certain Fire Protection Issues (10 
CFR 50.48(c)).'' The NRC has followed and continues to follow existing 
regulatory processes, policies and programs to verify that the Licensee 
is properly implementing its fire protection program at SHNPP in 
accordance with NRC rules and regulations.
    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 13 day of June, 2007.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James T. Wiggins,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
 [FR Doc. E7-11814 Filed 6-18-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P