[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 174 (Thursday, September 9, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54920-54921]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-22478]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-275-LR and 50-323-LR; ASLBP No. 10-890-01-LR-BD01]


In the Matter of Pacific Gas & Electric Company (Diablo Canyon 
Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2); Notice of Hearing (Application for 
License Renewal)

September 1, 2010.

Atomic Safety and Licensing Board

Before Administrative Judges: Alex S. Karlin, Chairman, Nicholas G. 
Trikouros, Dr. Paul B. Abramson.

    This proceeding concerns the November 23, 2009, application of 
Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) to renew Operating License Nos. 
DPR-80 and DPR-82 for the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 
and 2, near San Luis Obispo, California. PG&E seeks to extend these 
licenses for an additional twenty years beyond the current expiration 
dates of November 2, 2024 and August 26, 2025.
    On January 21, 2010, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 
published a notice of opportunity to request a hearing concerning the 
PG&E license renewal application. 75 FR 3493 (Jan. 21, 2010). On March 
22, 2010, the San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace (SLOMFP), a local 
public interest group, filed a request for hearing and asserted five 
contentions challenging various aspects of PG&E's application. On April 
8, 2010, this Atomic Safety and Licensing Board was established to 
conduct this adjudication. See 75 FR 20,010 (Apr. 16, 2010). On May 26, 
2010, the Board heard oral argument from SLOMFP, PG&E, and the NRC 
Staff in San Luis Obispo, California, relating to the admissibility of 
the proposed contentions. On August 4, 2010, the Board issued a 
memorandum and order granting SLOMFP's request for a hearing and 
admitting four of its contentions. LBP-10-15, 72 NRC -- (slip op.) 
(Aug. 4, 2010).
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.105(e)(2), please take notice that the Atomic 
Safety and Licensing Board will conduct an evidentiary hearing on 
SLOMFP's challenge to PG&E's application to renew its licenses. The 
matters of fact and law to be considered at the hearing are the 
contentions that have been duly admitted. As of this time, the four 
admitted contentions are as follows:

    Contention EC-1: PG&E's Severe Accident Mitigation Alternatives 
(``SAMA'') analysis fails to satisfy 40 CFR 1502.22 because it fails 
to consider information regarding the Shoreline fault that is 
necessary for an understanding of seismic risks to the Diablo Canyon 
nuclear power plant. Further, that omission is not justified by PG&E 
because it has failed to demonstrate that the information is too 
costly to obtain. As a result of the foregoing failures, PG&E's SAMA 
analysis does not satisfy the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act (``NEPA'') for consideration of 
alternatives or NRC implementing regulation 10 CFR 
51.53(c)(3)(ii)(L).
    Contention EC-2: PG&E's Environmental Report is inadequate to 
satisfy NEPA because it does not address the airborne environmental 
impacts of a spent fuel pool accident caused by an earthquake 
adversely affecting DCNPP.\1\
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    \1\ Although the Board has determined that Contention EC-2 
otherwise meets the admissibility criteria of 10 CFR 2.309(f)(1), no 
evidentiary hearing will be held on this contention unless the 
Commission rules that SLOMFP's request for waiver of certain key 
regulations is warranted under 10 CFR 2.335. That waiver request is 
now pending before the Commission.
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    Contention EC-4: The Environmental Report fails to satisfy the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) because it does not discuss 
the cost-effectiveness of measures to mitigate the environmental 
impacts of an attack on the Diablo Canyon reactor during the license 
renewal term.\2\
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    \2\ Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.323(f)(1) the Board referred Contention 
EC-4 to the Commission.
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    Contention TC-1: The applicant, Pacific Gas & Electric Company 
(PG&E), has failed to satisfy 10 CFR 54.29's requirement to 
demonstrate a reasonable assurance that it can and will ``manage the 
effects of aging'' in accordance with the current licensing basis. 
PG&E has failed to show how it will address and rectify an ongoing 
adverse trend with respect to recognition, understanding, and 
management of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant's design/
licensing basis which undermines PG&E's ability to demonstrate that 
it will adequately manage aging in accordance with this same 
licensing basis as required by 10 CFR 54.29.


[[Page 54921]]


    The authority under which the evidentiary hearing will be held is 
the Atomic Energy Act, 42 U.S.C. 2231, 2239, and 2241. Unless otherwise 
indicated, the evidentiary hearing on the four admitted contentions 
will be conducted pursuant to the NRC hearing procedures set forth in 
10 CFR Part 2, Subpart L, 10 CFR 2.1200-2.1213. During the course of 
this adjudicatory proceeding, the Board may also hear oral arguments as 
provided in 10 CFR 2.331 and may hold various prehearing conferences 
pursuant to 10 CFR 2.329. These may be held via teleconference, video-
conference, and/or in person. Except where certain legally privileged 
documents or testimony are being heard, all of the proceedings will be 
open to the public. See 10 CFR 2.328. Prior to the evidentiary hearing 
and to each oral argument or prehearing conference, the Board will 
issue an order, notice, and/or memorandum that specifies the date, time 
and place of such event. A copy of any such order, notice and/or 
memorandum will be made available to the public on the Diablo Canyon 
``Board Orders'' section of the NRC Electronic Hearing Docket found at 
http://ehd1.nrc.gov/EHD/. The public should be aware that new documents 
are regularly added to this Web site as the parties file pleadings and 
the Board issues orders or notices. Therefore this Web site should be 
monitored regularly by interested members of the public. In addition, 
hard copies of Board orders, notices and/or memoranda are also 
available at the NRC Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. 
Finally, the public is advised that the Secretary of the Commission 
will give notice of a hearing (and of other events in the proceeding) 
to any member of the public who requests it.\3\ See 10 CFR 2.315(b).
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    \3\ Any such request may be directed to the Secretary of the 
Commission by electronic mail at [email protected] or by 
telephone at 301-415-1677.
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    As provided in 10 CFR 2.315(a), any person who is not a party to 
the proceeding may, in the discretion of this Board, be permitted to 
submit a written limited appearance statement. Such statements should 
focus on the admitted contentions. Limited appearance statements do not 
constitute legal evidence, but they are placed in the docket for the 
hearing. The limited appearance statement is an opportunity for a 
member of the public to inform the Board and/or the parties of his or 
her concerns, issues, and questions and suggestions relating to the 
matters at issue in the adjudicatory proceeding, i.e., relating to the 
admitted contentions.
    A written limited appearance statement should be sent to the Office 
of the Secretary using one of the following methods: (1) Mail to the 
Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications 
Staff, with a copy to Alex S. Karlin, the Chairman of this Licensing 
Board at Mail Stop T-3F23, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; (2) e-
mail to the Office of the Secretary at [email protected], with a 
copy to the Board Chairman c/o Ashley Prange at [email protected]; 
or (3) fax to the Office of the Secretary at 301-415-1101 (facsimile 
verification number: 301-415-1966), with a copy to the Board Chairman 
at 301-415-5599 (facsimile verification number: 301-415-7550).
    The Board may, at a later time, schedule a meeting where members of 
the public may provide oral limited appearance statements. If any such 
session is scheduled, the Board will issue a prior order or notice, 
which will be posted in the Diablo Canyon Board Orders section of the 
Electronic Hearing Docket webpage at http://ehd1.nrc.gov/EHD/.
    The time and date of the evidentiary hearing herein cannot be set 
at this time. This is because the law specifies that, in scheduling the 
evidentiary hearing, the Board must ``take into consideration the NRC 
staff's projected schedule for completion of its safety and 
environmental evaluations to ensure that the hearing schedule does not 
adversely impact the staff's ability to complete its reviews in a 
timely manner.'' 10 CFR 2.332(d). At the moment, the NRC Staff 
estimates that its Final Safety Evaluation Report will be considered by 
the NRC Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards in July 2011 and that 
the Staff will issue the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement in August 2011. But the Staff's schedule is subject to 
change. The evidentiary hearing herein concerning environmental matters 
is not likely to commence until 3 or 4 months after August 2011. See 10 
CFR 2.332(d).
    Documents relating to this adjudicatory proceeding are available 
for public inspection in the NRC's Electronic Hearing Docket at http://ehd1.nrc.gov/EHD/. Those documents, and some documents relating to the 
Staff's review of this license application, are also available from the 
Commission's Public Document Room or electronically from the publicly 
available records component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is 
accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, or who encounter 
problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact 
the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-
4737, or by e-mail at [email protected].
    It is so ordered.

    Dated: September 1, 2010.

    For the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.
Alex S. Karlin,
Chairman, Administrative Judge, Rockville, Maryland.
[FR Doc. 2010-22478 Filed 9-8-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P