[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 63 (Friday, April 3, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15310-15312]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-7491]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-29462; NRC-2009-0024]


Notice of Consideration of Amendment Request for Decommissioning 
of The Department of the Navy, Hypervelocity Gun Facility, Naval 
Research Laboratory, Chesapeake Beach, MD and Opportunity To Request a 
Hearing

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of amendment request and opportunity to request a 
hearing.

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DATES: A request for a hearing must be filed by June 2, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Orysia Masnyk Bailey, Health 
Physicist, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials 
Safety, Region I, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, King of Prussia, 
PA 19406. Telephone: (864) 427-1032; fax number: (610) 680-3497; or e-
mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering issuance of 
a license amendment to Materials License No. 45-23645-01NA. This 
license is held by the Department of the Navy (Navy or Licensee). This 
is a Master Materials License and covers many sites around the country. 
The proposed action pertains to The Hypervelocity Gun Facility at the 
Naval Research Laboratory in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland (the Facility). 
The amendment would authorize the decommissioning of the Facility under 
the Licensee's Decommissioning Plan.
    An NRC administrative review found the Decommissioning Plan 
acceptable to begin a technical review. If the NRC approves the 
Decommissioning Plan, the approval will be documented in an amendment 
to NRC License No. 45-23645-01NA. However, before approving the 
proposed amendment, the NRC will need to make the safety findings 
required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and NRC's 
regulations. These findings will be documented in a Safety Evaluation 
Report. The NRC's evaluation of environmental issues will be documented 
in a separate report. Following completion of decommissioning 
activities and verification by the NRC that the radiological criteria 
for license termination have been met, the NRC will amend the license 
to authorize release of the Facility for unrestricted use.

II. Opportunity To Request a Hearing

    The NRC hereby provides notice that this is a proceeding on an 
application for a license amendment regarding the decommissioning of 
the Facility. Any person whose interest may be affected by this 
proceeding and who desires to participate as a party must file a 
request for a hearing and a specification of the contentions, which the 
person seeks to have litigated in the hearing, in accordance with the 
NRC E-Filing rule (promulgated in August 28, 2007; 72 FR 49139). The E-
Filing rule 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.
    In order to comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at

[[Page 15311]]

least ten days prior to the filing deadline, the petitioner/requester 
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/requester (or its counsel or representative) 
already holds an NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Each petitioner/
requester will need to download the Workplace Forms Viewer\TM\ to 
access the Electronic Information Exchange, 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/requester has obtained a digital ID certificate, 
had an electronic docket created, and downloaded the Electronic 
Information Exchange viewer, the individual can then submit a request 
for hearing or petition for leave to intervene. Submissions should be 
in Portable Document Format 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 the Electronic Information Exchange. To 
be timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the Electronic 
Information Exchange system no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard 
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 Electronic Information 
Exchange 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 does not need to 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 electronic filing 
Help Desk, which is available between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Time, 
Monday through Friday, excluding government holidays. The help 
electronic filing Help Desk can be contacted by telephone at 1-866-672-
7640 or by e-mail 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). In order to be considered timely, filings must 
be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard 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 Social 
Security 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.
    The formal requirements for documents contained in 10 CFR 2.304(c)-
(e) must be met. If the NRC grants an electronic document exemption in 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g)(3), then the requirements for paper 
documents, set forth in 10 CFR 2.304(b) must be met.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(b), a request for a hearing must be 
filed by June 2, 2009.
    In addition to meeting other applicable requirements of 10 CFR 
2.309, the general requirements involving a request for a hearing filed 
by a person other than an applicant must state:
    1. The name, address, and telephone number of the requester;
    2. The nature of the requester's right under the Act to be made a 
party to the proceeding;
    3. The nature and extent of the requester's property, financial, or 
other interest in the proceeding;
    4. The possible effect of any decision or order that may be issued 
in the proceeding on the requester's interest; and
    5. The circumstances establishing that the request for a hearing is 
timely in accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(b).
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(f)(1), a request for hearing or 
petitions for leave to intervene must set forth with particularity the 
contentions sought to be raised. For each contention, the request or 
petition must:
    1. Provide a specific statement of the issue of law or fact to be 
raised or controverted;
    2. Provide a brief explanation of the basis for the contention;
    3. Demonstrate that the issue raised in the contention is within 
the scope of the proceeding;
    4. Demonstrate that the issue raised in the contention is material 
to the findings that the NRC must make to support the action that is 
involved in the proceeding;
    5. Provide a concise statement of the alleged facts or expert 
opinions that support the requester's/petitioner's position on the 
issue and on which the requester/petitioner intends to rely to support 
its position on the issue; and
    6. Provide sufficient information to show that a genuine dispute 
exists with the applicant on a material issue of law or fact.
    Requesters/petitioners should, when possible, consult with each 
other in preparing contentions and combine similar subject matter 
concerns into a

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joint contention, for which one of the co-sponsoring requesters/
petitioners is designated the lead representative. Further, in 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(f)(3), any requester/petitioner that 
wishes to adopt a contention proposed by another requester/petitioner 
must do so, in accordance with the E-Filing rule, within ten days of 
the date that the contention is filed, and designate a representative 
who shall have the authority to act for the requester/petitioner.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(g), a request for hearing and/or 
petition for leave to intervene may also address the selection of the 
hearing procedures, taking into account the provisions of 10 CFR 2.310.

III. Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the application for 
amendment and supporting documentation, are available electronically at 
the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can access the NRC's Agencywide 
Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and 
image files of NRC's public documents. The documents related to this 
action are listed below, along with their ADAMS accession numbers:
    1. Hypervelocity Gun Facility Decommissioning Assessment, ADAMS 
Accession No. ML070330468 and
    2. Hypervelocity Gun Facility Decommissioning Plan, ADAMS Accession 
No. ML081640631.
    If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public 
Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or 
by e-mail to [email protected]. These documents may also be viewed 
electronically on the public computers located at the NRC's PDR, O 1 
F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. 
The Public Document Room reproduction contractor will copy documents 
for a fee.

    Dated at Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, PA, this 
27th day of March, 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Randolph H. Ragland, Jr.,
Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region I.
 [FR Doc. E9-7491 Filed 4-2-09; 8:45 am]
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