[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 248 (Tuesday, December 27, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80980-80982]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-33085]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-416; NRC-2010-0082]
Notice of Acceptance for Docketing of the Application, Notice of
Opportunity for Hearing, Regarding Renewal of Facility Operating
License No. NPF-29 for an Additional 20-Year Period; Entergy
Operations, Inc.; Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Unit 1
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is
considering an application for the renewal of an operating license,
which authorizes Entergy Operations, Inc. (Entergy), to operate the
Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (GGNS), at 3898 megawatts thermal.
The renewed license would authorize the applicant to operate GGNS, for
an additional 20 years beyond the period specified in the current
license. GGNS is located in Claiborne County, Mississippi and its
current operating license expires on November 1, 2024.
Entergy submitted the application dated October 28, 2011, pursuant
to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 54, to
renew operating license NPF-29. A notice of receipt and availability of
the license renewal application (LRA) was published in the Federal
Register on November 17, 2011 (76 FRN 71379).
The Commission's staff has determined that Entergy 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 Number, 50-416, for operating license
NPF-29 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 license, 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 a renewed license 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 license will continue to
be conducted in accordance with the current licensing basis (CLB) and
that any changes made to the plants 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 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,
MD 20852 and is accessible from the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access
and Management System (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room online in
the NRC library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/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 email 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
[[Page 80981]]
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.
All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including a
request for hearing, a petition for leave to intervene, any motion or
other document filed in the proceeding prior to the submission of a
request for hearing or petition to intervene, and documents filed by
interested governmental entities participating under 10 CFR 2.315(c),
must be filed in accordance with the NRC E-Filing rule (72 FR 49139,
August 28, 2007). The E-Filing process requires participants to submit
and serve all adjudicatory 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 an exemption 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 participant should
contact the Office of the Secretary by email at [email protected],
or by telephone at (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 (2) advise
the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a request or
petition for hearing (even in instances in which the participant, or
its counsel or representative, already holds an NRC-issued digital ID
certificate). Based upon this information, the Secretary will establish
an electronic docket for the hearing in this proceeding if the
Secretary has not already established an electronic docket. 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. System requirements for accessing the E-Submittal
server are detailed in NRC's ``Guidance for Electronic Submission,''
which is available on the agency's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. Participants may attempt to
use other software not listed on the Web site, but should note that the
NRC's E-Filing system does not support unlisted software, and the NRC
Meta System Help Desk will not be able to offer assistance in using
unlisted software.
If a participant is electronically submitting a document to the NRC
in accordance with the E-Filing rule, the participant must file the
document using the NRC's online, Web-based submission form. In order to
serve documents through EIE, users will be required to install a Web
browser plug-in from the NRC Web site. Further information on the Web-
based submission form, including the installation of the Web browser
plug-in, is available on the NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
Once a participant has obtained a digital ID certificate and a
docket has been created, the participant 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
documents are submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To be
timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing 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 email notice confirming receipt of the document. The
E-Filing system also distributes an email notice that provides access
to the document to the NRC Office of the General Counsel and any others
who have advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to
participate in the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve.
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 using the agency's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC Meta System
Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC Web site
at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-
[[Page 80982]]
submittals.html, by email at [email protected], or by a toll-free
call at (866) 672-7640. The NRC Meta System Help Desk is available
between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday,
excluding government holidays.
Participants who believe that they have good cause for not
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, 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, MD
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. A presiding officer, having
granted an exemption request from using E-Filing, may require a
participant or party to use E-Filing if the presiding officer
subsequently determines that the reason for granting the exemption from
use of E-Filing no longer exists.
Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at
http://ehd1.nrc.gov/EHD/, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the
Commission, or the 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, unless an NRC
regulation or other law requires submission of such information. 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 GGNS are available for
public inspection at the Commission's PDR, located at One White Flint
North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, MD 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 ML113080132. 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's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff by telephone at 1-
(800) 397-4209 or (301) 415-4737, or by email to [email protected].
The NRC staff has verified that a copy of the license renewal
application is also available to local residents near GGNS, at the
Harriette Person Memorial Library, 606 Main St., Port Gibson, MS 39150.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of December, 2011.
Melanie A. Galloway,
Acting Director, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2011-33085 Filed 12-23-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P