[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 144 (Wednesday, July 28, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 44292]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-18515]



[[Page 44292]]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-282 and 50-306; NRC-2010-0022; License Nos. DPR-42 and 
DPR-60]


Northern States Power Company; Prairie Island Nuclear Generating 
Plant, Units 1 and 2; Notice of Issuance of Director's Decision

    Notice is hereby given that the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, has issued a Director's Decision with regard to a petition 
dated September 4, 2009, filed by Mr. David Sebastian, hereinafter 
referred to as the ``petitioner.'' On September 30, 2009, the 
petitioner requested an opportunity to address the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC) Petition Review Board (PRB) to provide any 
additional information to support the petition. A teleconference took 
place on October 13, 2009.
    The petition requested that the NRC take the following actions:
    (1) Order Xcel Energy Inc. (Xcel) to cease and desist from its 
current arbitrary and capricious practice of using the Access 
Authorization and Fitness-for-Duty (AA/FFD) Programs for purposes other 
than their original intent, as they are being applied against him.
    (2) Order compliance with:
    (A) The NRC's regulations at Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) 73.56, ``Personnel Access Authorization 
Requirements for Nuclear Power Plants'';
    (B) The rationale described in the final rule ``Access 
Authorization Program for Nuclear Power Plants'' (RIN 3150-AA90) 
published in the Federal Register on April 26, 1991 (56 FR 18997); and
    (C) The Nuclear Energy Institute's (NEI's) implementation guidance 
in NEI 03-01, ``Nuclear Power Plant Access Authorization Program,'' 
Revision 2, issued October 2008.
    (3) Grant the petitioner access authorization without further delay 
to perform his accepted job tasks, with all record of said denial 
removed from any and all records wherever found.
    (4) Issue any other order, or grant any other relief, to which the 
petitioner may have shown himself entitled.
    As the basis for the September 4, 2009, request, the petitioner 
stated that Xcel is in violation of 10 CFR 73.56 in denying him access 
to the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant using the AA/FFD 
Programs by basing the decision solely upon an existing tax lien. The 
petitioner stated that Xcel failed to base the decision to grant or 
deny unescorted access authorization on a review and evaluation of all 
pertinent information. The petitioner stated that Xcel failed to 
incorporate all three elements (i.e., background investigation, 
psychological assessment, and behavioral observation) of the unescorted 
access authorization program when making the decision to deny 
unescorted access and that this is contrary to the rationale for 
rulemaking, as discussed in 56 FR 18997.
    On October 26 and December 2, 2009, the NRC PRB convened to discuss 
the petition under consideration to determine whether it met the 
criteria established in NRC Management Directive (MD) 8.11, ``Review 
Process for 10 CFR 2.206 Petitions,'' dated October 25, 2000, for 
acceptance into the process under 10 CFR 2.206, ``Requests for Action 
under This Subpart.'' The PRB made the following final recommendations:
    (1) Item 1 met the criteria established in MD 8.11 for acceptance 
into the 10 CFR 2.206 process for the petition under consideration.
    (2) Item 2 met the criteria established in MD 8.11 for acceptance 
into the 10 CFR 2.206 process for the petition under consideration.
    (3) Item 3 did not meet the MD 8.11 criteria for further review 
under the 10 CFR 2.206 process, in that the request did not 
specifically address an enforcement-related action.
    (4) Item 4 did not meet the MD 8.11 criteria for further review 
under the 10 CFR 2.206 process, in that the petition provided 
insufficient facts to support the request.
    The NRC sent a copy of the proposed Director's Decision to the 
petitioner and the licensee for comment on May 7, 2010. The licensee 
had no comments on the proposed Director's Decision. On June 4, 2010, 
the NRC staff received comments on the proposed Director's Decision 
from the petitioner. The Director's Decision includes the comments and 
the NRC staff's response to them.
    The Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation has 
determined that the request pertaining to Xcel be denied. The 
Director's Decision, DD-10-02, explains the reasons for this decision 
pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206. The complete text of the decision is 
available in the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS) Electronic Reading Room (ADAMS Accession No. ML101650032) on 
the NRC's Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html, and for 
inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, located at One 
White Flint North, Room O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), 
Rockville, Maryland.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.206 of the Commission's regulations, 
the staff will file a copy of the Director's Decision with the 
Secretary of the Commission for the Commission's review. 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 within that time.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of July 2010.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Eric J. Leeds,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2010-18515 Filed 7-27-10; 8:45 am]
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