[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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