[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 9 (Thursday, January 13, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2426-2428]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-610]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

 [Docket Numbers 50-498, 50-499; NRC-2010-0375]


Notice of Acceptance for Docketing of the Application and Notice 
of Opportunity for Hearing Regarding Renewal of Facility Operating 
License Numbers NPF-76 and NPF-80 for an Additional 20-Year Period, STP 
Nuclear Operating Company, South Texas Project, Units 1 and 2

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is 
considering an application for the renewal of operating licenses NPF-76 
and NPF-80, which authorizes STP Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC), to 
operate the South Texas Project STP, Unit 1, at 3853 megawatts thermal 
and Unit 2 at 3853 megawatts thermal, respectively. The renewed 
licenses would authorize the applicant to operate STP, Units 1 and 2, 
for an additional 20 years beyond the period specified in the current 
licenses. STP, Units 1 and 2, are located near Wadsworth, TX; the 
current operating license for Unit 1 expires on August 20, 2027, and 
Unit 2 expires on December 15, 2028.
    STPNOC submitted the application dated October 25, 2010, pursuant 
to Title 10, Part 54, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 
54), to renew operating licenses NPF-76 and NPF-80 for STP, Units 1 and 
2. A notice of receipt and availability of the license renewal 
application (LRA) was published in the Federal Register on December 9, 
2010 (75 FR 76757).
    The NRC staff has determined that STPNOC has submitted sufficient 
information in accordance with 10 CFR Sections 54.19, 54.21, 54.22, 
54.23, and 51.53(c), to enable the staff to undertake a review of the 
application, and that the application is therefore acceptable for 
docketing. The current Docket Numbers 50-498 and 50-499 for operating 
licenses NPF-76 and NPF-80, respectively, will be retained. The 
determination to accept the LRA 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 licenses, the NRC will 
have made the findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as 
amended (the Act), and the Commission's rules and regulations. In 
accordance with 10 CFR 54.29, the NRC may issue the renewed licenses 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 
licenses 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

[[Page 2427]]

the environmental scoping meeting will be the subject of a separate 
Federal Register notice.
    Within 60 days after the date of publication of this Federal 
Register notice, any person whose interest may be affected by this 
proceeding and who wishes to participate as a party in the proceeding 
must file a written request for a hearing and a petition for leave to 
intervene with respect to the renewal of the license. Requests for a 
hearing or petitions for leave to intervene must be filed in accordance 
with the Commission's ``Rules of Practice for Domestic Licensing 
Proceedings and Issuance of Orders'' in 10 CFR Part 2. Interested 
persons should consult a current copy of 10 CFR 2.309, which is 
available at the Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), located at 
One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, 
Maryland 20852, and is accessible from the NRC's Agencywide Documents 
Access and Management System (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on 
the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. http://www.nrc.gov/readingrm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to the 
Internet or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located 
in ADAMS should contact the NRC's PDR reference staff by telephone at 
1-800-397-4209, or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at [email protected]. 
If a request for a hearing/petition for leave to intervene is filed 
within the 60-day period, the Commission or a presiding officer 
designated by the Commission or by the Chief Administrative Judge of 
the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel will rule on the request 
and/or petition; and the Secretary or the Chief Administrative Judge of 
the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel will issue a notice of a 
hearing or an appropriate order. In the event that no request for a 
hearing or petition for leave to intervene is filed within the 60-day 
period, the NRC may, upon completion of its evaluations and upon making 
the findings required under 10 CFR Parts 51 and 54, renew the license 
without further notice.
    As required by 10 CFR 2.309, a petition for leave to intervene 
shall set forth with particularity the interest of the petitioner in 
the proceeding, and how that interest may be affected by the results of 
the proceeding, taking into consideration the limited scope of matters 
that may be considered pursuant to 10 CFR Parts 51 and 54. The petition 
must specifically explain the reasons why intervention should be 
permitted with particular reference to the following factors: (1) The 
nature of the requestor's/petitioner's right under the Act to be made a 
party to the proceeding; (2) the nature and extent of the requestor's/
petitioner's property, financial, or other interest in the proceeding; 
and (3) 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 set forth 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 
requestor/petitioner shall provide a brief explanation of the basis for 
each contention and a concise statement of the alleged facts or the 
expert opinion that supports the contention on which the requestor/
petitioner intends to rely in proving the contention at the hearing. 
The requestor/petitioner must also provide references to those specific 
sources and documents of which the requestor/petitioner is aware and on 
which the requestor/petitioner intends to rely to establish those facts 
or expert opinion. The requestor/petitioner must provide 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 action under consideration. The 
contention must be one that, if proven, would entitle the requestor/
petitioner to relief. A requestor/petitioner 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 or alpha designation within one of the following groups: (1) 
Technical (primarily related to safety concerns); (2) environmental; or 
(3) miscellaneous.
    As specified in 10 CFR 2.309, if two or more requestors/petitioners 
seek to co-sponsor a contention or propose substantially the same 
contention, the requestors/petitioners will be required to jointly 
designate a representative who shall have the authority to act for the 
requestors/petitioners with respect to that contention.
    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. A request for hearing or a petition for leave to intervene 
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 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.
    To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 
ten (10) days prior to the filing deadline, the requestor/petitioner 
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 requestor/petitioner (or its counsel or representative) 
already holds an NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Each requestor/
petitioner will need to download the Workplace Forms 
ViewerTM to access the Electronic Information Exchange 
(EIE), a component of the E-Filing system. The Workplace Forms 
ViewerTM 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 requestor/petitioner 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

[[Page 2428]]

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 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 technical help line, 
which is available between 8:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., Eastern Time, 
Monday through Friday. The help line number is 1-800-397-4209 or 
locally, 301-415-4737.
    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 STP, Units 1 and 2, 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 Number 
ML103010256. 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 STP, at the Bay 
City Public Library, 1100 7th Street, Bay City, TX 77414.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of January, 2011.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brian E. Holian,
Director, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2011-610 Filed 1-12-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P