[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 224 (Monday, November 21, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72008-72009]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-29985]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-271 and 50-458; NRC-2009-0572; License Nos. DPR-28 and 
NPF-47]


Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., Entergy Operations, Inc., 
Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC, Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, 
LLC; Notice of Issuance of Director's Decision

    Notice is hereby given that the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission), 
has issued a Director's Decision on a petition filed by Mr. Sherwood 
Martinelli (hereafter referred to as the Petitioner). Electronic 
transmissions sent on December 22, 2009, and December 28, 2009, amended 
the original petition, dated August 22, 2009. The petition concerns the 
operation of the River Bend Station, Unit 1, owned by Entergy Gulf 
States Louisiana, LLC, and operated by Entergy Operations, Inc., and 
the operation of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station owned by 
Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC, and operated by Entergy Nuclear 
Operations, Inc.
    The Petitioner requested that the NRC; (1) suspend the operating 
license of any Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., or Entergy Operations, 
Inc. (both corporations hereafter referred to as Entergy), nuclear 
power plant with a projected shortfall in its decommissioning trust 
funds; (2) take action to ensure that the licensee rectify any 
shortfalls in the decommissioning trust funds; and (3) take additional 
actions that include imposing daily fines, suspending all Entergy-
related filings before the Commission, and ordering the licensee's 
compliance with all NRC regulations.
    Based on the original petition dated August 22, 2009, the 
Petitioner expressed his belief that Entergy deliberately mismanaged 
its decommissioning trust funds and knowingly provided false financial 
documentation supporting filings before the Commission and that the NRC 
staff was complicit in these actions. The Petitioner noted that the 
biennial decommissioning funding assurance reports submitted by Entergy 
in March 2009 for its fleet of nuclear reactors had projected 
shortfalls totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. The Petitioner 
requested a number of actions, including suspending the operating 
licenses of all Entergy facilities with projected shortfalls until the 
licensee restores the decommissioning funds to the minimum levels 
required by NRC regulations.
    Based on the December 22, 2009, request that amended the original 
petition, the Petitioner expressed his belief that, because the NRC's 
Petition Review Board accepted his petition with respect to Vermont 
Yankee Nuclear Power Station and River Bend Station, the NRC had 
effectively acknowledged violations by Entergy and that the NRC was 
remiss in not taking immediate enforcement actions. The Petitioner 
asked the NRC to impose daily fines on Entergy and to release all 
financial documentation provided by Entergy that the agency relied on 
when determining

[[Page 72009]]

whether adequate decommissioning funds would exist.
    Based on the December 28, 2009, request that amended the original 
petition, the Petitioner expressed his belief that allowing Entergy to 
rely on SAFSTOR to accumulate decommissioning funds for Indian Point 
Nuclear Generating, Unit No. 2, is unacceptable. The Petitioner asked 
the NRC to impose additional enforcement on Entergy that would result 
in either the withdrawal of its license renewal applications or the 
imposition of a $5 billion fine, along with a statement by Entergy 
acknowledging that it had submitted false and inaccurate financial 
statements on its decommissioning funding assurance.
    The NRC sent a copy of the proposed Director's Decision to the 
Petitioner and Entergy for comment on September 8, 2011. The agency 
received comments from Entergy and incorporated them into the final 
Director's Decision. The agency did not receive any comments from the 
Petitioner.
    The Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation denied the 
Petitioner's request to suspend the operating licenses of the Entergy 
facilities that have projected shortfalls in their decommissioning 
trust funds and denied the Petitioner's request that the NRC take 
certain actions to ensure that the licensee rectifies any shortfalls in 
the decommissioning trust funds and take other actions to ensure the 
integrity of the decommissioning trust funds. These actions included 
suspending all licensing actions for Entergy facilities, ordering 
immediate actions by Entergy to redress the projected shortfalls, and 
imposing daily fines until the licensee has deposited adequate funds to 
make the decommissioning funds fully whole. The Director of the Office 
of Nuclear Reactor Regulation granted the Petitioner's request that the 
agency make available to the Petitioner all data and information 
presented by Entergy and used by the NRC staff to decide whether 
facilities operated by Entergy have adequate decommissioning funds as 
required by the regulations. All information supplied by Entergy and 
used by the staff is publicly available in the Agencywide Documents 
Access and Management System (ADAMS). The Director's Decision (DD-11-
07) under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 2.206, 
``Requests for Action under This Subpart,'' explains the reasons for 
these decisions. The complete text is available in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML112870542 for inspection at the Commission's Public 
Document Room located at One White Flint North, Public File Area 01 
F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, MD, and online in 
the NRC library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html.
    The NRC will file a copy of the Director's Decision with the 
Secretary of the Commission for the Commission's review in accordance 
with 10 CFR 2.206. As a provision of 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 in that time.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of November 2011.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Eric J. Leeds,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2011-29985 Filed 11-18-11; 8:45 am]
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