[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 48 (Friday, March 12, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11942-11946]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-5431]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-03732, License No. 05-03166-05, EA-09-142, NRC-2010-
0098]


In the Matter of U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute 
of Standards and Technology; Confirmatory Order Modifying License 
(Effective Immediately)

I

    The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards 
and Technology (NIST or Licensee) is the holder of Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC or Commission) Materials License 05-03166-05 issued 
pursuant to 10 CFR Part 30 on December 19, 1966, and amended to include 
10 CFR Parts 40 and 70 on April 19, 2007. The license authorizes the 
operation of the NIST-Boulder facility in accordance with conditions 
specified therein. The facility is located on the Licensee's site in 
Boulder, Colorado.
    This Confirmatory Order is the result of an agreement reached 
during an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mediation session 
conducted on January 5, 2010.

II

    On July 22, 2008, the NRC's Office of Investigations began an 
investigation (Office of Investigations' Case No. 4-2008-062) into the 
circumstances surrounding the June 9, 2008, plutonium contamination 
event at NIST-Boulder. A special inspection of the contamination event 
was initiated on June 11, 2008. Based on the evidence developed during 
its investigation and associated inspection, 10 apparent violations 
were identified (summarized in Section III below). In addition, the NRC 
was concerned that willfulness may have been associated with one of 
those apparent violations. The results of the investigation and 
inspection were sent to NIST in a letter dated November 2, 2009. In 
response to NRC's November 2, 2009, letter, NIST requested ADR to 
resolve these issues.
    On January 5, 2010, the NRC and NIST met in an ADR session mediated 
by a professional mediator, arranged through Cornell University's 
Institute on Conflict Resolution. Alternative dispute resolution is a 
process in which a neutral mediator with no decision-making authority 
assists the parties in reaching an agreement on resolving any 
differences regarding the dispute. This Confirmatory Order is issued 
pursuant to the agreement reached during the ADR process.

III

    In response to the NRC's offer, NIST requested use of the NRC ADR 
process to resolve issues associated with the 10 apparent violations 
identified by the NRC. During that ADR session, a preliminary 
settlement agreement was reached. The elements of the agreement 
consisted of the following:
    Pursuant to the NRC Office of Enforcement's ADR program, the 
following are the terms and conditions agreed upon in principle by the 
U.S. Department of Commerce, NIST, and the NRC relating to NRC 
Inspection Report 030-03732/2008-001 issued by the NRC to NIST on 
November 2, 2009.
    Whereas, the NRC's inspection and investigation conducted between 
June 11, 2008, and November 2, 2009, identified ten apparent violations 
of NRC requirements;
    Whereas, the ten apparent violations involved were:
    (1) The failure to provide complete and accurate information to the 
Commission;
    (2) The failure to control and maintain constant surveillance of 
licensed material in a controlled area and not in storage;
    (3) The failure to secure from unauthorized removal or limit access 
to licensed materials stored in a controlled area;
    (4) The failure to provide radiation safety training for all 
applicable individuals;
    (5) The failure to have a radiation safety program sufficient to 
ensure that occupational doses and doses to members of the public were 
as low as reasonably achievable;
    (6) The failure to periodically audit the radiation safety program 
content and implementation;
    (7) The failure to demonstrate that the total effective dose 
equivalent to individuals would not exceed the annual dose limit for 
members of the public;
    (8) The failure to monitor the occupational intake of plutonium by 
radiation workers;
    (9) The failure to limit receipt, possession, and use of 
radioactive material authorized on the NRC license; and
    (10) The failure to assure that servicing involving radioactive 
material of a device was performed by a person authorized to perform 
this activity.
    Whereas, the NRC is concerned that willfulness may be associated 
with one apparent violation above;
    Whereas, NRC acknowledges the extensive corrective actions NIST has 
already implemented associated with the apparent violations, which 
include:
    (1) Completing extensive, successful decontamination of the NIST-
Boulder facility;
    (2) Designating a new radiation safety officer at NIST-Boulder;
    (3) Designating a new radiation safety officer at NIST-
Gaithersburg;
    (4) Establishing and filling a senior-level safety-executive 
position to oversee the NIST central safety organization;
    (5) Reorganizing the central safety organization so that both NIST-
Boulder and NIST-Gaithersburg report to the safety executive;
    (6) Providing additional resources to the NIST central safety 
organization, including resources for additional staff and equipment 
for health physics;
    (7) Establishing and filling a senior safety-management position to 
oversee the safety organization at NIST-Boulder;
    (8) Establishing and filling a senior-level research-director 
position at NIST-Boulder with local line-management responsibility for 
the safety of all laboratory activities at NIST-Boulder;
    (9) Establishing and filling a new executive-level site-manager 
position at NIST-Boulder to coordinate safety, emergency preparedness, 
and security for the entire Department of Commerce's Boulder site and 
to help ensure that the safety functions needed by NIST-Boulder are 
provided effectively and efficiently by the safety office in Boulder;
    (10) Improving the safety culture of NIST by communicating 
individual and management responsibility for safety, providing staff 
with the tools needed to understand how to protect themselves and those 
around them, and creating safer workplaces;
    (11) Establishing and implementing a new NIST-wide policy on hazard 
analysis and control, including requirements related to emergency 
planning; and
    (12) Undertaking additional efforts to further evaluate and improve 
the safety culture at NIST.
    Whereas, the NRC acknowledges NIST took the following additional 
actions to address issues identified by the city of Boulder, Colorado:
    (1) Updating the inventory of and properly disposing of unused 
chemicals;

[[Page 11943]]

    (2) Developing an emergency notification checklist and 
communication plan;
    (3) Developing a standard operating procedure for reporting 
hazardous material releases; and
    (4) Developing and implementing a worksite training program for 
preventing and reporting releases, which included training 
approximately 500 people.
    Whereas, during subsequent inspections after June 2008, the NRC 
found no safety-significant violations;
    Whereas, these terms and conditions shall not be binding on either 
party until memorialized in a Confirmatory Order issued by the NRC to 
NIST relating to this matter;
    Therefore, the parties agree to the following terms and conditions:
    (1) NIST shall contract with an independent consultant to evaluate 
the effectiveness of its radiation safety programs for licenses SNM-362 
and 05-03166-05.
    (a) Within 90 days of the date of this Confirmatory Order, NIST 
shall submit to the Director, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
U.S. NRC, Region IV, for approval, a proposed statement of work and the 
selection criteria, including the qualifications, for an independent 
consultant(s) to review and evaluate NIST's radiation safety programs.
    (b) Within 120 days of NRC's approval of the statement of work and 
the selection criteria, the consultant's assessment plan shall be 
submitted to the Director, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, U.S. 
NRC, Region IV, for review and approval. In the event that NIST 
requires an extension of time to submit the assessment plan to NRC, a 
request for extension shall be submitted to the U.S. NRC Region IV 
Regional Administrator.
    (c) Within 30 days of the NRC's approval of the consultant's 
assessment plan, the consultant shall commence an assessment of NIST's 
radiation safety programs.
    (d) Within 120 days following the approval of the consultant's 
assessment plan, the consultant shall provide NIST a final report 
discussing its findings and recommendations for program improvements. 
At the same time the consultant provides its final report to NIST, the 
consultant shall send a copy to the Director, Division of Nuclear 
Materials Safety, U.S. NRC, Region IV.
    (e) Within 90 days of receiving the consultant's final report, NIST 
shall provide the Director, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, U.S. 
NRC, Region IV, in writing, its determination of how it will address 
the consultant's findings and recommendations. In its correspondence to 
the NRC, NIST shall identify which of the consultant's findings and 
recommendations it will implement and the time frame in which it will 
implement the findings and recommendations. For those findings and 
recommendations NIST does not accept, NIST shall provide the NRC with 
its justification.
    (2) Forthe years 2010-2014, NIST shall send a copy of its required 
annual audit results to the Director, Division of Nuclear Materials 
Safety, U.S. NRC, Region IV, for licenses SNM-362 and 05-03166-05, 
within 30 days of receiving the final audit report.
    (3) Within 120 days from the date of this Confirmatory Order, NIST 
shall develop and implement a procedure for the indoctrination of new 
employees and associates with regard to general radiation safety policy 
and procedures.
    (4) NIST shall incorporate the ten elements below into its initial 
training and refresher training provided to NIST employees and 
associates who are assigned duties involving work with licensed 
material; initially, all such individuals shall receive training by 
December 31, 2010, irrespective of NIST's internal training schedule:
    (a) A review of the June 9, 2008, plutonium spill event;
    (b) A review of the consequences of and the potential actions that 
NRC may take against an individual for willful violations of NRC 
requirements;
    (c) Lessons learned from the circumstances surrounding each of the 
apparent violations identified by the NRC in its November 2, 2009, 
letter;
    (d) A review of NRC requirements and NIST's license conditions (as 
applicable);
    (e) A review of NIST's operating and emergency procedures;
    (f) Security and access controls for radioactive materials;
    (g) Instructions to workers in accordance with 10 CFR 19.12 (as 
applicable);
    (h) As low as reasonably achievable controls, procedures, and 
practices;
    (i) Requirements for acquiring radioactive materials; and
    (j) The NIST radiation safety program policy.
    Training shall include a method to measure the mastery of training 
objectives. Records of training for all individuals shall be maintained 
for 5 years.
    (5) Within 120 days of the date of this order, NIST shall submit a 
license amendment request incorporating the following:
    The deletion of all specifically licensed radionuclides currently 
listed on the NIST-Boulder NRC license that NIST no longer plans to 
possess or use.
    (6) Within 120 days from the date of this order, NIST shall develop 
and implement a formal radiation hazard analysis process that requires 
confirmation that the requirements of the hazard analysis have been 
addressed prior to the commencement of work. The process shall also 
ensure that guidance, if any, provided by the manufacturer/distributor 
of radioactive material is appropriately reflected in operating and 
emergency procedures.
    (7) Licenses 05-03166-05 and SNM-362 are modified in accordance 
with the requirements of the order. As such, in the event of the 
transfer of either NRC license by NIST, the requirements of this 
Confirmatory Order shall survive any such transfer and shall be binding 
on the new license holder.
    (8) NIST shall revise the NIST Ionizing Radiation Safety Committee 
charter to require the committee to review, for completeness and 
accuracy, all of the following for licenses 05-03166-05 and SNM-362: 
applications for license amendments, responses to requests for 
additional information, licensee event reports, and responses to 
notices of violation. This revision shall be completed no later than 30 
days following the date of this Confirmatory Order.
    (9) NIST shall revise the NIST radiation safety program policy to 
indicate that all individuals interacting with the NRC shall provide 
information that is complete and accurate in all material respects. The 
revision shall be completed no later than June 30, 2010.
    (10) NIST shall clearly and unambiguously define the process for 
acquiring radioactive materials. This process shall be implemented 
within 90 days of the date of this Confirmatory Order.
    (11) In consideration of the above actions on the part of NIST, NRC 
agrees to limit the civil penalty amount in this enforcement action to 
$10,000. Accordingly, within 60 days of the date of this Confirmatory 
Order, NIST shall pay the civil penalty of $10,000 in accordance with 
NUREG/BR-0254 and submit to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, a statement 
indicating when and by what method payment was made.
    (12) The NRC agrees not to pursue any further enforcement action 
against license 05-03166-05 in connection with the NRC's November 2, 
2009, letter to NIST and will not count this matter as previous 
enforcement for the purposes of assessing potential future

[[Page 11944]]

enforcement action in accordance with Section VI.C of the Enforcement 
Policy.
    (13) The NRC agrees not to assign severity levels to any apparent 
violations in the November 2, 2009, inspection report. Also, the NRC 
agrees not to further characterize the apparent violations as 
violations.
    On February 4, 2010, NIST consented to issuing this Confirmatory 
Order with the commitments as described in Section V below. The 
Licensee further agreed that this Confirmatory Order is to be effective 
upon issuance and that it has waived its right to a hearing.

IV

    Since the licensee has agreed to take additional actions to address 
NRC concerns, as set forth in Item III above, the NRC has concluded 
that its concerns can be resolved through issuance of this Confirmatory 
Order.
    I find that the Licensee's commitments as set forth in Section V 
are acceptable and necessary and conclude that with these commitments 
the public health and safety are reasonably assured. In view of the 
foregoing, I have determined that public health and safety require that 
the Licensee's commitments be confirmed by this Confirmatory Order. 
Based on the above and the Licensee's consent, this Confirmatory Order 
is immediately effective upon issuance.

V

    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 81, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182 and 186 
of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's 
regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR Parts 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 
36, 39, 40, and 70, it is hereby ordered, effective immediately, that 
licenses 05-03166-05 and SNM-362 are modified as follows:
    (1) NIST shall contract with an independent consultant to evaluate 
the effectiveness of its radiation safety programs for licenses SNM-362 
and 05-03166-05.
    (a) Within 90 days of the date of this Confirmatory Order, NIST 
shall submit to the Director, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
U.S. NRC, Region IV, for approval, a proposed statement of work and the 
selection criteria, including the qualifications, for an independent 
consultant(s) to review and evaluate NIST's radiation safety programs.
    (b) Within 120 days of NRC's approval of the statement of work and 
the selection criteria, the consultant's assessment plan shall be 
submitted to the Director, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, U.S. 
NRC, Region IV, for review and approval. In the event that NIST 
requires an extension of time to submit the assessment plan to NRC, a 
request for extension shall be submitted to the Regional Administrator, 
NRC Region IV.
    (c) Within 30 days of the NRC's approval of the consultant's 
assessment plan, the consultant shall commence an assessment of NIST's 
radiation safety programs.
    (d) Within 120 days following the approval of the consultant's 
assessment plan, the consultant shall provide NIST a final report 
discussing its findings and recommendations for program improvements. 
At the same time the consultant provides its final report to NIST, the 
consultant shall send a copy to the Director, Division of Nuclear 
Materials Safety, U.S. NRC, Region IV.
    (e) Within 90 days of receiving the consultant's final report, NIST 
shall provide the Director, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, U.S. 
NRC, Region IV, in writing, its determination of how it will address 
the consultant's findings and recommendations. In its correspondence to 
the NRC, NIST shall identify which of the consultant's findings and 
recommendations it will implement and the time frame in which it will 
implement the findings and recommendations. For those findings and 
recommendations NIST does not accept, NIST shall provide the NRC with 
its justification.
    (2) For the years 2010-2014, NIST shall send a copy of its required 
annual audit results to the Director, Division of Nuclear Materials 
Safety, U.S. NRC, Region IV, for licenses SNM-362 and 05-03166-05, 
within 30 days of receiving the final audit report.
    (3) Within 120 days from the date of this Confirmatory Order, NIST 
shall develop and implement a procedure for the indoctrination of new 
employees and associates with regard to general radiation safety policy 
and procedures.
    (4) NIST shall incorporate the ten elements below into its initial 
training and refresher training provided to NIST employees and 
associates who are assigned duties involving work with licensed 
material; initially, all such individuals shall receive training by 
December 31, 2010, irrespective of NIST's internal training schedule:
    (a) A review of the June 9, 2008, plutonium spill event;
    (b) A review of the consequences of and the potential actions that 
NRC may take against an individual for willful violations of NRC 
requirements;
    (c) Lessons learned from the circumstances surrounding each of the 
apparent violations identified by the NRC in its November 2, 2009, 
letter;
    (d) A review of NRC requirements and NIST's license conditions (as 
applicable);
    (e) A review of NIST's operating and emergency procedures;
    (f) Security and access controls for radioactive materials;
    (g) Instructions to workers in accordance with 10 CFR 19.12 (as 
applicable);
    (h) As low as reasonably achievable controls, procedures, and 
practices;
    (i) Requirements for acquiring radioactive materials; and
    (j) The NIST radiation safety program policy.
    Training shall include a method to measure the mastery of training 
objectives. Records of training for all individuals shall be maintained 
for 5 years.
    (5) Within 120 days of the date of this order, NIST shall submit a 
license amendment request incorporating the following:
    The deletion of all specifically licensed radionuclides currently 
listed on the NIST-Boulder NRC license that NIST no longer plans to 
possess or use.
    (6) Within 120 days from the date of this order, NIST shall develop 
and implement a formal radiation hazard analysis process that requires 
confirmation that the requirements of the hazard analysis have been 
addressed prior to the commencement of work. The process shall also 
ensure that guidance, if any, provided by the manufacturer/distributor 
of radioactive material is appropriately reflected in operating and 
emergency procedures.
    (7) Licenses 05-03166-05 and SNM-362 are modified in accordance 
with the requirements of the order. As such, in the event of the 
transfer of either NRC license by NIST, the requirements of this 
Confirmatory Order shall survive any such transfer and shall be binding 
on the new license holder.
    (8) NIST shall revise the NIST Ionizing Radiation Safety Committee 
charter to require the committee to review, for completeness and 
accuracy, all of the following for licenses 05-03166-05 and SNM-362: 
applications for license amendments, responses to requests for 
additional information, licensee event reports, and responses to 
notices of violation. This revision shall be completed no later than 30 
days following the date of this Confirmatory Order.
    (9) NIST shall revise the NIST radiation safety program policy to 
indicate that all individuals interacting with the NRC shall provide 
information that is complete and accurate in all material respects. The 
revision shall be completed no later than June 30, 2010.

[[Page 11945]]

    (10) NIST shall clearly and unambiguously define the process for 
acquiring radioactive materials. This process shall be implemented 
within 90 days of the date of this Confirmatory Order.
    (11) Within 60 days of the date of this Confirmatory Order, NIST 
shall pay a civil penalty of $10,000 in accordance with NUREG/BR-0254 
and submit to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, a statement indicating 
when and by what method payment was made.
    The Regional Administrator, NRC Region IV, may, in writing, relax 
or rescind any of the above conditions upon demonstration by the 
Licensee of good cause.

VI

    Any person adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order, other 
than the Licensee, may request a hearing within 20 days of its 
publication in the Federal Register. Where good cause is shown, 
consideration will be given to extending the time to request a hearing. 
A request for extension of time must be directed to the Director, 
Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001, and include a statement of good cause for the extension.
    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 (72 FR 49139, 
August 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 participant should 
contact the Office of the Secretary by e-mail at 
[email protected], or by telephone at (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 
(2) advise the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a 
request or petition for hearing (even in instances in which the 
participant, or its counsel or representative, already holds an NRC-
issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this information, the 
Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the hearing in this 
proceeding if the Secretary has not already established an electronic 
docket.
    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. System requirements for accessing 
the E-Submittal server are detailed in NRC's ``Guidance for Electronic 
Submission,'' which is available on the agency's public Web site at 
http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. Participants may 
attempt to use other software not listed on the Web site, but should 
note that the NRC's E-Filing system does not support unlisted software, 
and the NRC Meta System Help Desk will not be able to offer assistance 
in using unlisted software.
    If a participant is electronically submitting a document to the NRC 
in accordance with the E-Filing rule, the participant must file the 
document using the NRC's online, Web-based submission form. In order to 
serve documents through EIE, users will be required to install a Web 
browser plug-in from the NRC Web site. Further information on the Web-
based submission form, including the installation of the Web browser 
plug-in, is available on the NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
    Once a participant has obtained a digital ID certificate and a 
docket has been created, the participant 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 
documents are submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To be 
timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing 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 
E-Filing 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 by contacting the NRC Meta System 
Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC Web site 
at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by e-mail at 
[email protected], or by a toll-free call at (866) 672-7640. The 
NRC Meta System Help Desk is available between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., 
Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, excluding government holidays.
    Participants who believe that they have a good cause for not 
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, 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. A presiding officer, having 
granted an exemption request from using E-Filing, may require a 
participant or party to use E-Filing if the presiding officer 
subsequently determines that the reason for granting the exemption from 
use of E-Filing no longer exists.
    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, or the presiding officer. Participants 
are requested not to

[[Page 11946]]

include personal privacy information, such as social security numbers, 
home addresses, or home phone numbers in their filings, unless an NRC 
regulation or other law requires submission of such information. 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.
    If a person other than the Licensee requests a hearing, that person 
shall set forth with particularity the manner in which his interest is 
adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order and shall address the 
criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d) and (f).
    If the hearing is requested by a person whose interest is adversely 
affected, the Commission will issue an order designating the time and 
place of any hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered 
at such hearing shall be whether this Confirmatory Order should be 
sustained.
    In the absence of any request for hearing, or written approval of 
an extension of time in which to request a hearing, the provisions 
specified in Section V above shall be final 20 days from the date this 
Confirmatory Order was published in the Federal Register, without 
further order or proceedings. If an extension of time for requesting a 
hearing has been approved, the provisions specified in Section V shall 
be final when the extension expires if a hearing request has not been 
received. A request for hearing shall not stay the immediate 
effectiveness of this order.

    Dated this 1st day of March 2010.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Elmo E. Collins,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2010-5431 Filed 3-11-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P