[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 51 (Friday, March 14, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13923-13925]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-5178]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-289]
Notice of Acceptance for Docketing of the Application and Notice
of Opportunity for Hearing; Regarding Renewal of Facility Operating
License No. DPR-50 for an Additional 20-Year Period; Amergen Energy
Company, LLC Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is
considering an application for the renewal of operating license DPR-50,
which authorizes AmerGen Energy Company, LLC (AmerGen), to operate the
Three Mile Island Nuclear Station (TMI), Unit 1, at 2568 megawatts
thermal. The renewed license would authorize the applicant to operate
the TMI, Unit 1, for an additional 20 years beyond the period specified
in the current license. TMI, Unit 1, is located near Middletown,
Pennsylvania; and its current operating license expires on April 19,
2014.
AmerGen submitted the application dated January 8, 2008, pursuant
to Title 10, Part 54, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part
54), to renew operating license DPR-50 for TMI, Unit 1. A notice of
receipt and availability of the license renewal application (LRA) was
published in the Federal Register on January 31, 2008 (73 FR 5877).
The Commission's staff has determined that AmerGen has submitted
sufficient information in
[[Page 13924]]
accordance with 10 CFR 54.19, 54.21, 54.22, 54.23, 51.45, and 51.53(c),
to enable the staff to undertake a review of the application; and the
application is, therefore, acceptable for docketing. The current Docket
No. 50-289, for operating license DPR-50, will be retained. The
determination to accept the LRA for docketing does not constitute a
determination that a renewed license should be issued, and does not
preclude the NRC staff from requesting additional information as the
review proceeds.
Before issuance of the requested renewed license, the NRC will have
made the findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (the Act),
as amended, and the Commission's rules and regulations. In accordance
with 10 CFR 54.29, the NRC may issue a renewed license on the basis of
its review if it finds that actions have been identified and have been
or will be taken with respect to: (1) Managing the effects of aging
during the period of extended operation on the functionality of
structures and components that have been identified as requiring aging
management review; and (2) time-limited aging analyses that have been
identified as requiring review, such that there is reasonable assurance
that the activities authorized by the renewed license will continue to
be conducted in accordance with the current licensing basis (CLB), and
that any changes made to the plant's CLB will comply with the Act and
the Commission's regulations.
Additionally, in accordance with 10 CFR 51.95(c), the NRC will
prepare an environmental impact statement that is a supplement to the
Commission's NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement for
License Renewal of Nuclear Power Plants,'' dated May 1996. In
considering the LRA, the Commission must find that the applicable
requirements of Subpart A of 10 CFR Part 51 have been satisfied, and
that matters raised under 10 CFR 2.335 have been addressed. Pursuant to
10 CFR 51.26, and as part of the environmental scoping process, the
staff intends to hold a public scoping meeting. Detailed information
regarding the environmental scoping meeting will be the subject of a
separate Federal Register notice.
Within 60 days after the date of publication of this Federal
Register notice, any person whose interest may be affected by this
proceeding and who wishes to participate as a party in the proceeding
must file a written request for a hearing and a petition for leave to
intervene with respect to the renewal of the license. Requests for a
hearing or petitions for leave to intervene must be filed in accordance
with the Commission's ``Rules of Practice for Domestic Licensing
Proceedings and Issuance of Orders'' in 10 CFR Part 2. Interested
persons should consult a current copy of 10 CFR 2.309, which is
available at the Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), located at
One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville,
Maryland 20852 and is accessible from the NRC's Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on
the Internet at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who
do not have access to the Internet or who encounter problems in
accessing the documents located in ADAMS should contact the NRC's PDR
reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by
e-mail at [email protected]. If a request for a hearing/petition for leave to
intervene is filed within the 60-day period, the Commission or a
presiding officer designated by the Commission or by the Chief
Administrative Judge of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
will rule on the request and/or petition; and the Secretary or the
Chief Administrative Judge of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board
Panel will issue a notice of a hearing or an appropriate order. In the
event that no request for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene
is filed within the 60-day period, the NRC may, upon completion of its
evaluations and upon making the findings required under 10 CFR Parts 51
and 54, renew the license without further notice.
As required by 10 CFR 2.309, a petition for leave to intervene
shall set forth with particularity the interest of the petitioner in
the proceeding, and how that interest may be affected by the results of
the proceeding, taking into consideration the limited scope of matters
that may be considered pursuant to 10 CFR Parts 51 and 54. The petition
must specifically explain the reasons why intervention should be
permitted with particular reference to the following factors: (1) The
nature of the requestor's/petitioner's right under the Act to be made a
party to the proceeding; (2) the nature and extent of the requestor's/
petitioner's property, financial, or other interest in the proceeding;
and (3) the possible effect of any decision or order which may be
entered in the proceeding on the requestor's/petitioner's interest. The
petition must also set forth the specific contentions which the
petitioner/requestor seeks to have litigated at the proceeding.
Each contention must consist of a specific statement of the issue
of law or fact to be raised or controverted. In addition, the
requestor/petitioner shall provide a brief explanation of the bases of
each contention and a concise statement of the alleged facts or the
expert opinion that supports the contention on which the requestor/
petitioner intends to rely in proving the contention at the hearing.
The requestor/petitioner must also provide references to those specific
sources and documents of which the requestor/petitioner is aware and on
which the requestor/petitioner intends to rely to establish those facts
or expert opinion. The requestor/petitioner must provide sufficient
information to show that a genuine dispute exists with the applicant on
a material issue of law or fact.\1\ Contentions shall be limited to
matters within the scope of the action under consideration. The
contention must be one that, if proven, would entitle the requestor/
petitioner to relief. A requestor/petitioner who fails to satisfy these
requirements with respect to at least one contention will not be
permitted to participate as a party.
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\1\ To the extent that the application contains attachments and
supporting documents that are not publicly available because they
are asserted to contain safeguards or proprietary information,
petitioners desiring access to this information should contact the
applicant or applicant's counsel to discuss the need for a
protective order.
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The Commission requests that each contention be given a separate
numeric or alpha designation within one of the following groups: (1)
Technical (primarily related to safety concerns); (2) environmental; or
(3) miscellaneous.
As specified in 10 CFR 2.309, if two or more requestors/petitioners
seek to co-sponsor a contention or propose substantially the same
contention, the requestors/petitioners will be required to jointly
designate a representative who shall have the authority to act for the
requestors/petitioners with respect to that contention.
Those permitted to intervene become parties to the proceeding,
subject to any limitations in the order granting leave to intervene,
and have the opportunity to participate fully in the conduct of the
hearing. A request for hearing or a petition for leave to intervene
must be filed in accordance with the NRC E-Filing rule, which the NRC
promulgated in August 2007, 72 FR 49139 (Aug. 28, 2007). The E-Filing
process requires participants to submit and serve documents over the
internet or in some cases to mail copies on electronic storage media.
Participants may not submit paper copies of their filings unless they
seek a waiver in accordance with the procedures described below.
[[Page 13925]]
To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least
five (5) days prior to the filing deadline, the petitioner/requestor
must contact the Office of the Secretary by e-mail at
[email protected], or by calling (301) 415-1677 to request: (1) A
digital ID certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign documents and access the E-Submittal
server for any proceeding in which it is participating; and/or (2)
creation of an electronic docket for the proceeding (even in instances
in which the petitioner/requestor (or its counsel or representative)
already holds an NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Each petitioner/
requestor will need to download the Workplace Forms Viewer\TM\ to
access the Electronic Information Exchange (EIE), a component of the E-
Filing system. The Workplace Forms Viewer\TM\ is free and is available
at: http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/install-viewer.html.
Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is available on
the NRC's public Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/apply-certificates.html.
Once a petitioner/requestor has obtained a digital ID certificate,
had a docket created, and downloaded the EIE viewer, it can then submit
a request for hearing or petition for leave to intervene. Submissions
should be in Portable Document Format (PDF) in accordance with the NRC
guidance available on the NRC public Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. A filing is considered complete at the
time the filer submits its documents through EIE. To be timely, an
electronic filing must be submitted to the EIE system no later than
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. Upon receipt of a
transmission, the E-Filing system time stamps the document and sends
the submitter an e-mail notice confirming receipt of the document. The
EIE system also distributes an e-mail notice that provides access to
the document through the NRC Office of the General Counsel and any
others who have advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to
participate in the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the
documents on those participants separately. Therefore, applicants and
other participants (or their counsel or representative) must apply for
and receive a digital ID certificate before a hearing request/petition
to intervene is filed so that they can obtain access to the document
via the E-Filing system.
A person filing electronically may seek assistance through the
``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html or by calling the NRC technical help line,
which is available between 8:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., Eastern Time,
Monday through Friday. The help line number is (800) 397-4209 or
locally, (301) 415-4737.
Participants who believe that they have a good cause for not
submitting documents electronically must file a motion, in accordance
with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing requesting
authorization to continue to submit documents in paper format. Such
filings must be submitted by: (1) First class mail addressed to the
Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemaking and
Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or expedited
delivery service to the Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852,
Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. Participants filing a
document in this manner are responsible for serving the document on all
other participants. Filing is considered complete by first-class mail
as of the time of deposit in the mail, or by courier, express mail, or
expedited delivery service upon depositing the document with the
provider of the service.
Non-timely requests and/or petitions and contentions will not be
entertained absent a determination by the Commission, the presiding
officer, or the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel that the
petition and/or request should be granted and/or the contentions should
be admitted based on a balancing of the factors specified in 10 CFR
2.309(c)(1)(i)-(viii). To be timely, filings must be submitted no later
than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date.
Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at:
http://ehd.nrc.gov/EHDProceeding/home.asp, unless excluded pursuant to
an order of the Commission, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board
Panel, or a Presiding Officer. Participants are requested not to
include personal privacy information, such as social security numbers,
home addresses, or home phone numbers in their filings. With respect to
copyrighted works, except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose
of the adjudicatory filings and would constitute a Fair Use
application, participants are requested not to include copyrighted
materials in their submission.
Detailed information about the license renewal process can be found
under the Nuclear Reactors icon at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal.html on the NRC's Web site. Copies of the
application to renew the operating license for TMI, Unit 1, are
available for public inspection at the Commission's PDR, located at One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville,
Maryland 20852-2738, and at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications.html, the NRC's Web site while the
application is under review. The application may be accessed in ADAMS
through the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at:
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html under ADAMS Accession Number
ML080220207. As stated above, persons who do not have access to ADAMS
or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS
may contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209
or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to [email protected].
The NRC staff has verified that a copy of the LRA is also available
to local residents near TMI, Unit 1, at the Middletown Public Library,
20 North Catherine Street, Middletown, PA 17057, at the Penn State
Harrisburg Library, 351 Olmsted Drive, Middletown, PA 17057, and at the
Londonderry Township Municipal Building, 783 South Geyers Church Road,
Middletown, PA 17057.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 10th day of March, 2008.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Pao-Tsin Kuo,
Director, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. E8-5178 Filed 3-13-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P