[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 24, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 3515]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-1370]



[[Page 3515]]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-285, License No. DPR-40; Docket No. 50-298, License No. 
DPR-46; NRC-2012-0014]


Request for Action Against Omaha Public Power District and 
Nebraska Public Power District

    Notice is hereby given that by petitions dated June 26 and July 3, 
2011, respectively, Thomas Saporito (the petitioner) has requested that 
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) take 
escalated enforcement actions against Omaha Public Power District, the 
licensee for Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1 (FCS), and Nebraska Public 
Power District, the licensee for Cooper Nuclear Station (Cooper). The 
petitions dated June 26 and July 3, 2011, are publicly available in the 
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under 
Accession Nos. ML11182B029 and ML11192A285, respectively.
    The petitioner has requested that the NRC take action to suspend or 
revoke the NRC licenses granted for the operation of nuclear power 
reactors and issue a notice of violation with a proposed civil penalty 
against the collectively named and each singularly named licensee in 
this matter--in the amount of $500,000 for Fort Calhoun Station and 
$1,000,000 for Cooper. Additionally, the petitioner requested that the 
NRC issue confirmatory orders to prohibit restart at FCS and to bring 
Cooper to a ``cold shutdown'' mode of operation until such time as: (1) 
The floodwaters subside to an appreciable lower level or sea level; (2) 
the licensee upgrades its flood protection plan; (3) the licensee 
repairs and enhances its current flood protection berms; and (4) the 
licensee upgrades its station blackout procedures to meet a challenging 
extended loss of offsite power due to floodwaters and other natural 
disasters or terrorist attacks.
    As the basis for these requests, the petitioner stated that: (1) 
The licensees' installed flood protection measures and systems and 
barriers at FCS and Cooper are not sufficient to adequately protect the 
nuclear reactor from a full-meltdown scenario like that currently 
unfolding in Japan; and (2) the licensees' station blackout procedures 
are not sufficient to meet a challenging extended loss of offsite power 
due to flood waters and other natural disasters or terrorist attacks.
    The requests are being treated pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations Section 2.206 of the Commission's regulations. The 
requests have been referred to the Director of the Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation. As provided by Section 2.206, appropriate action 
will be taken on these petitions within a reasonable time. The 
petitioner requested an opportunity to address the Petition Review 
Board (PRB). The PRB held a recorded teleconference with the petitioner 
on August 29, 2011, during which the petitioner supplemented and 
clarified the petitions. The results of those discussions were 
considered in the PRB's determination regarding the petitioner's 
requests. As a result, the PRB acknowledged the petitioner's concerns 
regarding flood protection, including station blackout procedures, at 
FCS and Cooper. By letter dated January 13, 2012 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML120030022), the Director of the NRC's Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation denied the petitioner's requests for immediate action. 
Additionally, the PRB noted that: (1) Natural disasters such as 
earthquakes and flooding, and (2) station blackout regulations are 
undergoing NRC review as part of the lessons learned from the Fukushima 
event. The PRB intends to use the results of the Fukushima review to 
inform its final decision on whether to implement the requested 
actions.
    Copies of the petitions dated June 26 and July 3, 2011, are 
available for inspection at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), 
located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1F21, 11555 
Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland 20852. Publicly 
available documents created or received at the NRC are accessible 
electronically through ADAMS in the NRC Library 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's PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-(800) 397-4209 
or (301) 415-4737, or by email to [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day of January 2012.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Eric J. Leeds,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2012-1370 Filed 1-23-12; 8:45 am]
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