[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 180 (Friday, September 16, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57766-57767]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23787]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-271; NRC-2011-0074; License No. DPR-28]


Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC and Entergy Nuclear 
Operations, Inc.; 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 January 14, 2011, Mr. Thomas Saporito, hereinafter referred to as 
the ``petitioner.'' The petition concerns the operation of the Vermont 
Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VY).
    The petition requested that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC): (1) Issue a confirmatory order requiring the licensee to 
immediately bring the reactor in question to a cold shutdown mode of 
operation; (2) issue a civil penalty against the licensee; (3) remove 
the licensee's employees responsible for this matter from NRC licensed 
activities for a period of no less than 5 years; and (4) perform an 
immediate NRC investigation and inspection of VY to ensure that all 
nuclear safety-related systems are properly operational in accordance 
with the licensee's technical specification and NRC license.
    The petition raises concerns originating from inoperability of main 
steam safety relief valves (SRVs) due to leakage through the shaft to 
piston thread seals. This event did potentially affect the ability of 
the SRVs to perform their manual and Automatic Depressurization System 
(ADS) function since the combined thread seal leakage and accumulator 
leakage impacted the ability of the SRVs to satisfy design actuation 
requirements. Due to the redundancy in ADS design, the availability of 
the high-pressure core injection system, and the availability of a 
safety-class backup nitrogen supply, the ability to depressurize the 
reactor was maintained, and there was no potential adverse impact to 
public health and safety.
    The Petition Review Board (PRB) met on February 2, 2011, and made 
an initial recommendation to accept the petition, in part, concerning 
the failure of relief valve because this issue met the criteria for 
review. The NRC communicated this decision to the petitioner, who 
requested an opportunity to address the PRB to provide comments to the 
PRB's initial recommendation and additional information in support of 
the petition. By teleconference on February 14, 2011, the petitioner 
provided information to the PRB in support of the request for an 
immediate shutdown and an immediate NRC investigation and inspection of 
VY. The PRB confirmed its initial recommendation because the additional 
information provided on February 14, 2011, did not change the PRB's 
decision to deny the request for immediate action.
    The NRC sent a copy of the proposed Director's Decision to the 
petitioner and the licensee for comment on July 14, 2011. The staff has 
not received any comments from the licensee. The petitioner responded 
with comments on August 1, 2011, which have been addressed in the 
Director's Decision.
    Copies of the petition (Agencywide Documents Access and Management 
System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML110190233) and the Director's Decision 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML112240960) are available for inspection at the 
Commission's Public Document Room (PDR) at One White Flint North, 
Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, 
Maryland, and electronically in the NRC Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. NRC Management Directive 8.11, ``Review Process 
for 10 CFR 2.206 Petitions'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML041770328), 
describes the petition review process. Persons who do not have access 
to ADAMS or who have problems in accessing the documents in ADAMS 
should contact the NRC PDR reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-
4209 or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to [email protected].
    A copy of the Director's Decision will be filed with the Secretary 
of the Commission for the Commission's review in accordance with 10 CFR 
2.206 of the Commission's regulations. 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,

[[Page 57767]]

institutes a review of the Director's Decision in that time.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of September 2011.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Eric J. Leeds,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2011-23787 Filed 9-15-11; 8:45 am]
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