[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 116 (Friday, June 15, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36015-36017]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-14679]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-247-LR and 50-286-LR; ASLBP No. 07-858-03-LR-BD01]


Atomic Safety and Licensing Board; Entergy Nuclear Operations, 
Inc. (Indian Point Nuclear Generating Units 2 and 3); Notice of Hearing 
(Application for License Renewal)

June 8, 2012.
    Before Administrative Judges: Lawrence G. McDade, Chairman, Dr. 
Michael F. Kennedy, Dr. Richard E. Wardwell.
    This proceeding arises out of the April 23, 2007, application of 
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Entergy) to renew its operating 
licenses for Indian Point Nuclear Generating Units 2 and 3 (Operating 
License Nos. DPR-26 and DPR-64) at its Indian Point Energy Center in 
Buchanan, New York. Entergy seeks to extend these licenses for an 
additional twenty years beyond the current expiration dates of 
September 9, 2013 (Indian Point Unit 2) and December 12, 2015 (Indian 
Point Unit 3). On August 1, 2007, the Commission published a notice of 
opportunity to request a hearing on Entergy's license renewal 
application.\1\ Requests for hearings and petitions to intervene were 
filed by sixteen entities: The State of New York (New York); the State 
of Connecticut (Connecticut); Westchester County, New York 
(Westchester); the Town of Cortlandt, New York (Cortlandt); the Village 
of Buchanan, New York (Buchanan); the City of New York (New York City); 
the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance; Friends United 
for Sustainable Energy; Hudson River Sloop Clearwater (Clearwater); 
Connecticut Residents Opposed to Relicensing Indian Point; Westchester 
Citizen Awareness Network; Rockland County Conservation Association; 
Sierra Club--Atlantic Chapter; Assemblyman Richard Brodsky; Public 
Health and Sustainable Energy; and Riverkeeper, Inc. (Riverkeeper). On 
October 18, 2007, this Atomic Safety and Licensing Board was 
established to conduct this adjudication.\2\
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    \1\ Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., Indian Point Nuclear 
Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3; Notice of Acceptance for Docketing of 
the Application and Notice of Opportunity for Hearing Regarding 
Renewal of Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-26 and DPR-64 for an 
Additional 20-Year Period, 72 FR 42,134 (Aug. 1, 2007). In a 
subsequent notice, the Commission extended the time for which 
petitions to intervene in this license renewal proceeding could be 
timely filed. See Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., Indian Point 
Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3; Notice of Opportunity for 
Hearing Regarding Renewal of Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-26 
and DPR-64 for an Additional 20-Year Period: Extension of Time for 
Filing of Requests for Hearing or Petitions for Leave to Intervene 
in the License Renewal Proceeding, 72 FR 55,834 (Oct. 1, 2007).
    \2\ Establishment of Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, 72 FR 
60,394 (Oct. 24, 2007). On April 9, 2012, the Board was 
reconstituted, substituting Judge Michael F. Kennedy for Judge Kaye 
D. Lathrop. See Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., (Indian Point 
Nuclear Generating Units 2 and 3); Notice of Atomic Safety and 
Licensing Board Reconstitution, 77 FR 22,361 (Apr. 13, 2012).
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    On July 31, 2008, this Board issued a memorandum and order in which 
it (a) granted the hearing requests of three entities: New York, 
Riverkeeper, and Clearwater; (b) admitted thirteen contentions; and (c) 
granted interested governmental entity status to Connecticut, 
Westchester, and the Town of Cortlandt.\3\ On December 18, 2008, we 
granted interested governmental entity status to New York City and 
Buchanan.\4\ Since our original order granting hearing requests, we 
have admitted several new and/or amended

[[Page 36016]]

contentions filed against Entergy's license renewal application and the 
NRC Staff's environmental review of that application, and consolidated 
some of these contentions with pre-existing contentions.\5\ We have 
also summarily disposed of two contentions in favor of New York \6\ and 
approved of the settlement of one contention.\7\
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    \3\ LBP-08-13, 68 NRC 43, 217-220 (2008). These thirteen 
contentions, which challenge the sufficiency of Entergy's license 
renewal application, were: NYS-5 (concerning buried pipes, tanks, 
and transfer canals), NYS-6/7 (concerning non-environmentally 
qualified inaccessible medium-voltage and low-voltage cables and 
wiring), NYS-8 (concerning electrical transformers), NYS-9 
(concerning energy conservation in the ``no-action'' alternative 
analysis), NYS-12 (concerning decontamination and cleanup costs 
associated with severe accidents), NYS-16 (concerning 
underestimation of cleanup costs in light of underestimated 
population projections in severe accidents), NYS-17 (concerning land 
values in the no-action alternative to relicensing), NYS-24 
(concerning containment structure integrity), NYS-25 (concerning 
embrittlement of reactor pressure vessels and associated internals), 
NYS-26A/RK-TC-1A (concerning metal fatigue on key reactor 
components), RK-TC-2 (concerning flow-accelerated corrosion on 
reactor components), RK-EC-3/CW-EC-1 (concerning leaks from spent 
fuel pools), and CW-EC-3 (concerning disproportionate environmental 
justice impacts on minority, low-income, and disabled populations 
near Indian Point).
    \4\ See Licensing Board Memorandum and Order (Authorizing 
Interested Governmental Entities to Participate in this Proceeding) 
(Granting in Part Riverkeeper's Motion for Clarification and 
Reconsideration of the Board's Ruling in LBP-08-13 Related to the 
Admissibility of Riverkeeper Contention EC-2) (Denying Riverkeeper`s 
Request to Admit Amended Contention EC-2 and New Contentions EC-4 
and EC-5) (Denying Entergy's Motion for Reconsideration of the 
Board's Decision to Admit Riverkeeper Contention EC-3 and Clearwater 
Contention EC-1) (Dec. 18, 2008) at 2 (unpublished).
    \5\ These contentions are CW-EC-3A (displacing CW-EC-3), NYS-12C 
(displacing NYS-12, NYS-12A, and NYS-12B), NYS-16B (displacing NYS-
16 and NYS-16A), NYS-17B (displacing NYS-17 and NYS-17A), NYS-26B/
RK-TC-1B (displacing NYS-26A/RK-TC-1A), NYS-33 (displacing NYS-9), 
NYS-35/36 (concerning severe accident mitigation alternatives cost-
benefit analyses), NYS-37 (displacing NYS-9 and NYS-33), NYS-38 
(concerning reactor vessel aging management plans), and RK-EC-8 
(concerning the NRC Staff's Endangered Species Act consultations). 
See Licensing Board Memorandum and Order (Admitting New Contention 
NYS-38/RK-TC-5) (Nov. 10, 2011) (unpublished); Licensing Board 
Memorandum and Order (Ruling on Pending Motions for Leave to File 
New and Amended Contentions) (July 6, 2011) (unpublished); Licensing 
Board Memorandum and Order (Ruling on Motion for Summary Disposition 
of NYS-26/26A/Riverkeeper TC-1/1A (Metal Fatigue of Reactor 
Components) and Motion for Leave to File New Contention NYS-26B/
Riverkeeper TC-1B) (Nov. 4, 2010) (unpublished); LBP-10-13, 71 NRC 
673 (2010); Licensing Board Order (Ruling on New York State's New 
and Amended Contentions) (June 16, 2009) (unpublished).
    \6\ LBP-11-17, 74 NRC ----, ---- (slip op. at 16-18) (July 14, 
2011), pet. for rev. denied, CLI-11-14, 74 NRC ----, ---- (slip op.) 
(Dec. 22, 2011) (disposing of contentions NYS-35/36).
    \7\ Licensing Board Order (Approving Settlement of Contention 
NYS-24) (Jan. 26, 2012) (unpublished).
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    The NRC Staff issued its final Safety Evaluation Report (SER) in 
November 2009 \8\ and a first supplemental SER in August 2011.\9\ The 
NRC Staff issued its draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 
(SEIS) in December 2008 \10\ and its final SEIS in December 2010.\11\ 
The NRC Staff has indicated that it intends to issue a second 
supplemental SER in August 2012 and a second draft SEIS in July 2012, 
with a final version to follow.\12\
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    \8\ Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Safety Evaluation 
Report, Related to the License Renewal of Indian Point Nuclear 
Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3, Docket Nos. 50-247 and 50-286, Entergy 
Nuclear Operations, Inc., NUREG-1930, Vol. 1 (Nov. 2009) (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML093170451); Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, 
Safety Evaluation Report, Related to the License Renewal of Indian 
Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3, Docket Nos. 50-247 and 
50-286, Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., NUREG-1930, Vol. 2 (Nov. 
2009) (ADAMS Accession No. ML093170671).
    \9\ United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Safety Evaluation Report, Related to the 
License Renewal of Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 
3, Supp. 1, Docket Nos. 50-247 and 50-286, NUREG-1930 (Supp. 1, Aug. 
2011) (ADAMS Accession No. ML11242A215).
    \10\ Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3; Notice 
of Availability of the Draft Supplement 38 to the Generic 
Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants 
and Public Meeting for the License Renewal of Indian Point Nuclear 
Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3, 73 FR 80,440 (Dec. 31, 2008).
    \11\ Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Generic Environmental 
Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, Supp. 38, 
Regarding Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3, Final 
Report Main Report and Comment Responses, NUREG-1437, Vol. 1 (Supp. 
38, Dec. 2010) (ADAMS Accession No. ML103350405); Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, Generic Environmental Impact Statement for 
License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, Supp. 38, Regarding Indian Point 
Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3, Final Report Public Comments, 
NUREG-1437, Vol. 2 (Supp. 38, Dec. 2010) (ADAMS Accession Nos. 
ML103350438, ML103360209, and ML103360212); Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, Generic Environmental Impact Statement for 
License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, Supp. 38, Regarding Indian Point 
Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3, Final Report Public Comments 
Continued, Appendices, NUREG-1437, Vol. 3 (Supp.38, Dec. 2010) 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML103350442).
    \12\ See NRC Staff's Fourth Status Report in Response to the 
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board's Order of February 16, 2012 (June 
1, 2012) at 2-3.
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    In light of the foregoing, an evidentiary hearing will be conducted 
in this proceeding pursuant to Section 189(a) of the Atomic Energy Act, 
42 U.S.C. 2239(a). Subject to a Board determination regarding any 
request to employ hearing procedures under 10 CFR part 2, Subpart G, 
the evidentiary hearing on all admitted contentions will be governed by 
the hearing procedures set forth in 10 CFR part 2, Subpart L, 10 CFR 
2.1200-2.1213.\13\
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    \13\ See 10 CFR 2.310; Licensing Board Scheduling Order (July 1, 
2010) at 17 (unpublished).
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    Parties to this proceeding (including the NRC Staff) have begun to 
provide evidentiary submissions in support of or in opposition to the 
merits of the admitted contentions.\14\ The Board intends to begin 
taking oral testimony on October 15, 2012, in Westchester County, New 
York. We anticipate addressing the admitted contentions in the 
following order:
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    \14\ The Board will announce by order the resumption of the 
evidentiary submission schedule for contention NYS-25 and the 
commencement of the evidentiary submission schedule for contention 
RK-EC-8 and portions of contention NYS-38/RK-TC-5 that relate to 
NYS-25. The Board will conduct the oral hearing on contentions NYS-
25, NYS-26/RK-TC-1B, NYS-38/RK-TC-5, and RK-EC-8 after receiving the 
evidentiary submissions for each of the contentions. The time and 
date of subsequent oral hearings will be announced by order of the 
Board.
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    1. NYS-12C
    2. NYS-16B
    3. RK-TC-2
    4. NYS-17B
    5. NYS-37
    6. NYS-5
    7. NYS-8
    8. NYS-6/7
    9. CW-EC-3A
    10. RK-EC-3/CW-EC-1 \15\
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    \15\ The order in which we anticipate hearing contentions is 
subject to change if the NRC Staff's brief in response to our June 
7, 2012 Order warrants such a change. See Licensing Board Order 
(Ordering the NRC Staff to Address Board Questions) (June 7, 2012) 
(unpublished).
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    We anticipate that the hearing will continue on October 16, 17, 18, 
22, 23, and 24. Current plans tentatively call for the hearing to 
convene again on December 10 and run through December 14 as needed. Due 
to the proprietary nature of some information discussed in the 
evidentiary submissions associated with contentions NYS-6/7 and RK-TC-
2, the Board may be required to close portions of the oral hearing on 
those contentions from public viewing.
    Despite the NRC Staff's ongoing safety and environmental reviews, 
and because it has received no objections in light of 10 CFR 2.332(d) 
from the participants in this proceeding, the Board has tentatively 
decided that it is efficient to proceed to the evidentiary hearing 
before issuance of the NRC's additional environmental and safety review 
documents. This decision is based on our understanding that the NRC's 
recent draft SEIS will not address any issue raised in any contention 
other than RC-EC-8 and that the second supplemental SER will not 
address any issue raised in any contention other than NYS-25 and those 
portions of NYS-38/RK-TC-5 that have previously been defined.\16\ As 
noted above, at footnote 15, we issued an Order on June 7, 2012, 
seeking input from the parties on these assumptions. The Board will 
notify the parties if our plans to proceed to hearing in October 2012 
on the ten contentions listed above change based on the parties' 
responses to that order. After the NRC's additional safety and 
environmental documents have issued, the Board will provide a schedule 
on how it will hear all remaining contentions.
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    \16\ See NRC Staff's Third Status Report in Response to the 
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board's Order of February 16, 2012 (May 
1, 2012) at 2.
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    As provided in 10 CFR 2.315(a), any person not a party to the 
proceeding may submit a written limited appearance statement setting 
forth his or her position on the issues in this proceeding. These 
statements do not constitute evidence but may assist the Board and/or 
parties in defining the issues being considered. Persons wishing to 
submit a written limited appearance statement should send it to the 
Office of the Secretary by one of the methods prescribed below:
    Mail to: Office of the Secretary, Rulemakings and Adjudications 
Staff, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
    Fax to: (301) 415-1101 (verification (301) 415-1966).

[[Page 36017]]

    Email to: [email protected].
    In addition, a copy of the limited appearance statement should be 
sent to the Licensing Board by one of the methods below:
    Mail to: Administrative Judge Lawrence G. McDade, c/o Anne 
Siarnacki, Law Clerk, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, Mail 
Stop T-3F23, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001.
    Fax to: (301) 415-5599 (verification (301) 415-7550).
    Email to: [email protected].
    The deadline for this Board's receipt of written limited appearance 
statements will be September 15, 2012. This will be the sole method for 
providing limited appearance statements.
    Documents relating to this proceeding are available for public 
inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room or electronically 
from the publicly available records component of NRC's Agencywide 
Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible 
from the NRC Web site at www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public 
Electronic Reading Room). Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, or 
who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, 
should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-
4209 or 301-415-4737, or by email at [email protected].

    Dated: June 8, 2012.

    For the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.
Lawrence G. McDade,
Chairman, Administrative Judge, Rockville, Maryland.
[FR Doc. 2012-14679 Filed 6-14-12; 8:45 am]
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