[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 52 (Friday, March 16, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15814-15818]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6407]


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 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-388; NRC-2012-0063]


PPL Susquehanna, LLC; Application and Amendment to Facility 
Operating License Involving: Proposed No Significant Hazards 
Consideration Determination

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: License amendment request, opportunity to comment, request a 
hearing and petition for leave to intervene.

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DATES: Comments must be filed by April 16, 2012. A request for a 
hearing must be filed by May 15, 2012.

ADDRESSES: You may access information and comment submissions related 
to this document by searching on http://www.regulations.gov under 
Docket ID NRC-2012-0063.
    You may submit comments by the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0063. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected].
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, 
Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.
     Fax comments to: RADB at 301-492-3446.
    For additional direction on accessing information and submitting 
comments, see ``Accessing Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

[[Page 15815]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bhalchandra K. Vaidya, Project 
Manager, Plant Licensing Branch I-1, Division of Operating Reactor 
Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Telephone: 301-415-3308; 
fax number: 301-415-2102; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0063 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
access information related to this document by the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0063.
    NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): 
You may access publicly-available documents online in the NRC Library 
at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 
select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-based 
ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's 
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. The application for 
amendment, dated March 8, 2012, is available electronically under ADAMS 
Accession No. ML12069A176.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2012-0063 in the subject line of your 
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make 
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information in comment submissions that you do not want to be publicly 
disclosed. The NRC posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as entering the comment submissions into 
ADAMS, and the NRC does not edit comment submissions to remove 
identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information in their comment submissions 
that they do not want to be publicly disclosed. Your request should 
state that the NRC will not edit comment submissions to remove such 
information before making the comment submissions available to the 
public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is 
considering issuance of an amendment to Facility Operating License No. 
NPF-22, issued to PPL Susquehanna, LLC (the licensee), for operation of 
the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Unit 2 located in Luzerne 
County, Pennsylvania.
    The proposed amendment would allow a temporary extension of 24 
hours to the Completion Time for Condition C in the Susquehanna Steam 
Electric Station (SSES) Unit 2 Technical Specification (TS) 3.8.7, 
``Distribution Systems--Operating,'' to allow a Unit 1 4160 V subsystem 
to be de-energized and removed from service for 96 hours to perform 
modifications on the bus. It also proposes a temporary extension of 24 
hours to the Completion Time for Condition A in SSES Unit 2 TS 3.7.1, 
``Plant Systems--RHRSW [residual heat removal service water system] and 
UHS [ultimate heat sink],'' to allow the UHS spray array and spray 
array bypass valves associated with applicable division RHRSW, and in 
Condition B, the applicable division Unit 2 RHRSW subsystem, to be 
inoperable for 96 hours during the Unit 1 4160 V bus breaker control 
logic modifications.
    Before issuance of the proposed license amendment, the Commission 
will have made findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as 
amended (the Act), and the Commission's regulations.
    The Commission has made a proposed determination that the amendment 
request involves no significant hazards consideration. Under the 
Commission's regulations in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
(10 CFR) 50.92, this means that operation of the facility in accordance 
with the proposed amendment would not (1) involve a significant 
increase in the probability or consequences of an accident previously 
evaluated; (2) create the possibility of a new or different kind of 
accident from any accident previously evaluated; or (3) involve a 
significant reduction in a margin of safety. As required by 10 CFR 
50.91(a), the licensee has provided its analysis of the issue of no 
significant hazards consideration, which is presented below:

    This ``No Significant Hazards Consideration'' evaluates the 
following changes to the Technical Specifications:
    a. The Unit 2 TS 3.8.7, Condition C, Completion Time is revised 
to extend the Completion Time from 72 hours to 96 hours for a Unit 1 
4160 V subsystem that is de-energized and removed from service.
    b. The Unit 2 TS 3.7.1, Condition A, Completion Time is revised 
to extend the Completion Time from 72 hours to 96 hours for a loop 
of UHS spray array and spray array bypass valves being inoperable 
due to the Unit 1 4160 V subsystem completion time being extended.
    c. The Unit 2 TS 3.7.1, Condition B, Completion Time is revised 
to extend the Completion Time from 72 hours to 96 hours for one Unit 
2 RHRSW subsystem being inoperable due to the Unit 1 4160 V 
subsystem completion time being extended.
    1. Do the proposed changes involve a significant increase in the 
probability or consequences of an accident previously evaluated?
    Response: No.
    The temporary changes to the completion times for TS 3.8.7, 
Condition C and TS 3.7.1, Conditions A and B are necessary to 
implement plant changes which modify the 4 kV Control Circuits on 
the 4.16 kV ESS [electronic switching system] Buses in order to 
mitigate the consequences of multiple fire-induced spurious 
operations. These modifications decrease the probability that a 
fire-induced hot short will cause equipment malfunctions. The 
current assumptions in the safety analysis regarding accident 
initiators and mitigation of accidents are unaffected by these 
changes. No SSC [structure, system, and component] failure modes or 
mechanisms are being introduced, and the likelihood of previously 
analyzed failures remains unchanged.
    The Completion Time to restore the Unit 2 RHRSW subsystem has 
been extended to 96 hours in order to complete the modifications 
associated with the Multiple Fire-Induced Spurious Operations issue. 
This is a temporary extension of the Completion Time. The extended 
Completion Times for TS 3.7.1 Conditions A and B are only applicable 
when either the 1A 201 4.16 kV ESS Bus or the 1A 202 4.16 kV ESS Bus 
is out of service in order to implement modifications associated 
with the Multiple Fire-Induced Spurious Operations issue. The 
affected Unit 2 RHRSW subsystem remains functional, while the other 
subsystem of Unit 2 RHRSW will remain operable.
    There are no changes to any accident initiators or to the 
mitigating capability of safety-related equipment supported by the 
Class 1E Electrical AC system. The protection provided by these 
safety-related systems will continue to be provided as assumed by 
the safety analysis.
    Therefore, this proposed change does not involve a significant 
increase in the probability or consequences of an accident 
previously evaluated.
    2. Do the proposed changes create the possibility of a new or 
different kind of

[[Page 15816]]

accident from any accident previously evaluated?
    Response: No.
    The proposed changes to Technical Specification 3.8.7 Condition 
C, and to Technical Specification 3.7.1 Condition A and Condition B 
involve the extension of completion time for a Unit 1 4.16 kV Bus to 
be out of service in order to modify the control circuits to 
mitigate the consequences of multiple fire-induced spurious 
operations, the completion time for the UHS spray array and spray 
array bypass valves to be inoperable and one Unit 2 RHRSW subsystem 
being inoperable. No new equipment is being introduced, and 
installed equipment is not being operated in a new or different 
manner. There are no setpoints, at which protective or mitigative 
actions are initiated, affected by this change. These changes do not 
alter the manner in which equipment operation is initiated, nor will 
the function demands on credited equipment be changed. No 
alterations in the procedures that ensure the plant remains within 
analyzed limits are being proposed, and no major changes are being 
made to the procedures relied upon to respond to an off-normal event 
as described in the FSAR [final safety analysis report]. As such, no 
new failure modes are being introduced. The proposed change does not 
alter assumptions made in the safety analysis and licensing basis.
    Therefore, the proposed change does not create the possibility 
of a new or different kind of accident from any previously 
evaluated.
    3. Do the proposed changes involve a significant reduction in a 
margin of safety?
    Response: No.
    The margin of safety is established through equipment design, 
operating parameters, and the setpoints at which automatic actions 
are initiated. The proposed changes are acceptable because the 
completion time extensions allow modifications to the 4.16 kV 
control circuits to mitigate the consequences of a fire-induced 
short damaging equipment. Therefore, the plant response to analyzed 
events is affected by this modification in that the plant will 
better cope with the fire-induced shorts and will continue to 
provide the margin of safety assumed by the safety analysis.
    With the RHRSW Spray Pond Return Bypass Valves on the out of 
service loop electrically de-powered in the open position, a return 
flow path will be established. Since the RHRSW Pumps on Unit 2 are 
not impacted by the Unit 1--4.16 kV ESS Bus outages, with this 
return flow path established, the affected RHRSW Loop on Unit 2 will 
be functional. Also in this configuration a fire-induced circuit 
failures will not be able to affect the position of the valves. This 
configuration will continue to provide the margin of safety assumed 
by the safety analysis.
    Therefore, the proposed change does not involve a significant 
reduction in a margin of safety.

    The NRC staff has reviewed the licensee's analysis and, based on 
this review, it appears that the three standards of 10 CFR 50.92(c) are 
satisfied. Therefore, the NRC staff proposes to determine that the 
amendment request involves no significant hazards consideration.
    The Commission is seeking public comments on this proposed 
determination. Any comments received within 30 days after the date of 
publication of this notice will be considered in making any final 
determination.
    Normally, the Commission will not issue the amendment until the 
expiration of 60 days after the date of publication of this notice. The 
Commission may issue the license amendment before expiration of the 60-
day period provided that its final determination is that the amendment 
involves no significant hazards consideration. In addition, the 
Commission may issue the amendment prior to the expiration of the 30-
day comment period should circumstances change during the 30-day 
comment period such that failure to act in a timely way would result, 
for example, in derating or shutdown of the facility. Should the 
Commission take action prior to the expiration of either the comment 
period or the notice period, it will publish in the Federal Register a 
notice of issuance. Should the Commission make a final No Significant 
Hazards Consideration Determination, any hearing will take place after 
issuance. The Commission expects that the need to take this action will 
occur very infrequently.

III. Opportunity To Request a Hearing; Petition for Leave To Intervene

    Within 60 days after the date of publication of this notice, any 
person(s) whose interest may be affected by this action may file a 
request for a hearing and a petition to intervene with respect to 
issuance of the amendment to the subject facility operating license. 
Requests for a hearing and a petition for leave to intervene shall be 
filed in accordance with the Commission's ``Rules of Practice for 
Domestic Licensing Proceedings'' in 10 CFR part 2. Interested person(s) 
should consult a current copy of 10 CFR 2.309, which is available at 
the NRC's PDR, located at One White Flint North, Room O1-F21, 11555 
Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland 20852. The NRC 
regulations are accessible electronically from the NRC Library on the 
NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/. If 
a request for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene is filed by 
the above date, 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 Administrative Judge of the Atomic 
Safety and Licensing Board will issue a notice of a hearing or an 
appropriate order.
    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. The petition should specifically explain the reasons 
why intervention should be permitted with particular reference to the 
following general requirements: (1) The name, address and telephone 
number of the requestor or petitioner; (2) the nature of the 
requestor's/petitioner's right under the Act to be made a party to the 
proceeding; (3) the nature and extent of the requestor's/petitioner's 
property, financial, or other interest in the proceeding; and (4) 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 identify the specific contentions which the requestor/petitioner 
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 bases for 
the contention and a concise statement of the alleged facts or expert 
opinion which support the contention and on which the 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 petitioner is aware and on which the 
petitioner intends to rely to establish those facts or expert opinion. 
The petition must include sufficient information to show that a genuine 
dispute exists with the applicant on a material issue of law or fact. 
Contentions shall be limited to matters within the scope of the 
amendment under consideration. The contention must be one which, if 
proven, would entitle the 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.
    Those permitted to intervene become parties to the proceeding, 
subject to any limitations in the order granting leave to intervene, 
and have the opportunity to participate fully in the conduct of the 
hearing.

[[Page 15817]]

    If a hearing is requested, the Commission will make a final 
determination on the issue of no significant hazards consideration. The 
final determination will serve to decide when the hearing is held. If 
the final determination is that the amendment request involves no 
significant hazards consideration, the Commission may issue the 
amendment and make it immediately effective, notwithstanding the 
request for a hearing. Any hearing held would take place after issuance 
of the amendment. If the final determination is that the amendment 
request involves a significant hazards consideration, then any hearing 
held would take place before the issuance of any amendment.

IV. Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)

    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 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 identification (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 the 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 the 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 the Electronic Information Exchange System, 
users will be required to install a Web browser plug-in from the NRC's 
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 the 
documents on those participants separately. 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 NRC'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's Web site 
at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by email at 
[email protected], or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-7640. 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 a 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, 
Maryland, 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

[[Page 15818]]

copyrighted materials in their submission.
    Petitions for leave to intervene must be filed no later than 60 
days from the date of publication of this notice. Non-timely filings 
will not be entertained absent a determination by the presiding officer 
that the petition or request should be granted or the contentions 
should be admitted, based on a balancing of the factors specified in 10 
CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i)-(viii).
    For further details with respect to this license amendment 
application, see the application for amendment dated March 8, 2012, 
which is available for public inspection at the Commission's PDR, 
located at One White Flint North, File Public Area O1 F21, 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, 
301-415-4737, or by email to [email protected].
    Attorney for licensee: Bryan A. Snapp, Esquire, Assoc. General 
Counsel, PPL Services Corporation, 2 North Ninth St., GENTW3, 
Allentown, PA 18101-1179.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of March 2012.
Bhalchandra Vaidya,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch I-1, Division of Operating 
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2012-6407 Filed 3-15-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P