[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 17, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7489-7491]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-3289]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-331; NRC-2008-0618]


Notice of Acceptance for Docketing of the Application and Notice 
of Opportunity for Hearing Regarding Renewal of Facility Operating 
License No. DPR-49 for an Additional 20-Year Period for FPL Energy 
Duane Arnold, LLC Duane Arnold Energy Center

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is 
considering an application for the renewal of operating license DPR-49, 
which authorizes FPL Energy Duane Arnold, LLC, to operate the Duane 
Arnold Energy Center (DAEC), at 1912 megawatts thermal. The renewed 
license would authorize the applicant to operate DAEC for an additional 
20 years beyond the period specified in the current license. DAEC is 
located near Cedar Rapids, IA, and its current operating license 
expires on February 21, 2014.
    FPL Energy Duane Arnold, LLC submitted the application dated 
September 30, 2008, and Supplement 1 dated January 23, 2009, pursuant 
to Title 10, Part 54, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 
54), to renew operating license DPR-49 for DAEC. A notice of receipt 
and availability of the license renewal application (LRA) was published 
in the Federal Register on November 17, 2008 (73 FR 67895).
    The Commission's staff has determined that FPL Energy Duane Arnold, 
LLC has submitted sufficient information in accordance with 10 CFR 
Sections 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. 50-331, for 
operating license DPR-49, will be retained. The determination to accept 
the license renewal application 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 of this notice, any person(s) whose interest may be 
affected may file a request for hearing/petition to intervene. As 
required by 10 CFR 2.309, a petition for leave to intervene shall set 
forth with particularity the interest of the petitioner/requestor in 
the proceeding, and how that interest may be affected by the results of 
the proceeding. The petition should specifically explain the reasons 
why intervention should be permitted with particular reference to the 
following general requirements: (1) The name, address and telephone 
number of the requestor or petitioner; (2) the nature of the 
requestor's/petitioner's right under the Act to be made a party to the 
proceeding; (3) the nature and extent of the requestor's/petitioner's 
property, financial, or other interest in the proceeding; and (4) 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 identify 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 
petitioner/requestor shall provide a brief explanation of the bases for 
the contention and a concise statement of the alleged facts or the 
expert opinion which support the contention and on which the petitioner 
intends to rely in proving the contention at the hearing. The 
petitioner must also provide references to those specific sources and 
documents of which the petitioner is aware and on which the petitioner 
intends to rely to establish those facts or expert opinion. The 
petition must include 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 amendment under consideration. The contention must be one which, if 
proven, would entitle the petitioner/requestor to relief. A petitioner/
requestor 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

[[Page 7490]]

or alpha designation within one of the following groups: (1) Technical 
(primarily related to safety concerns); (2) environmental; or (3) 
miscellaneous.
    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.
    All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including a 
request for hearing, a petition for leave to intervene, any motion or 
other document filed in the proceeding prior to the submission of a 
request for hearing or petition to intervene, and documents filed by 
interested governmental entities participating under 10 CFR 2.315(c), 
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 all adjudicatory 
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 an exemption in accordance with the 
procedures described below.
    To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 
ten (10) 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 
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 
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 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 to 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 using the agency's adjudicatory e-
filing system 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 electronic filing Help Desk, 
which is available between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday 
through Friday, excluding government holidays. The toll-free help line 
number is (866) 672-7640. A person filing electronically may also seek 
assistance by sending an e-mail to the NRC electronic filing Help Desk 
at [email protected].
    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 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 
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at 
http://ehd.nrc.gov/EHD._Proceeding/home.asp, unless excluded pursuant 
to an order of the Commission, an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, 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 DAEC 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 Numbers ML082980481 and 
ML090280418. 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 Public Document Room (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 license renewal 
application is also available to local residents near

[[Page 7491]]

DAEC, at the Hiawatha Public Library, 150 West Willman Street, 
Hiawatha, Iowa 52233.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 10th day of February, 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Brian E. Holian,
Director, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. E9-3289 Filed 2-13-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P