[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 193 (Monday, October 6, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 60197]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-23802]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-255; NRC-2014-0216]


Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.; Palisades Nuclear Plant

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: 10 CFR 2.206 request; receipt.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is giving notice 
that by petition dated March 5, 2014, as supplemented by email dated 
May 21, 2014, Michael Mulligan (the petitioner) has requested that the 
NRC take enforcement action against Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., 
due to recent plant events and equipment failures at Palisades Nuclear 
Plant (PNP). The petitioner's requests are included in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0216 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0216. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected].
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection 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 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this document 
(if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time 
that a document is referenced.
     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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that by petition 
dated March 5, 2014 (ADAMS Accession No. ML14071A006), as supplemented 
by email dated May 21, 2014 (ADAMS Accession No. ML14142A101), and the 
petitioner's addresses to the Petition Review Board dated April 8 and 
September 3, 2014 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML14143A212 and ML14259A135, 
respectively), the petitioner, has asked the NRC to take enforcement 
action against Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., due to recent plant 
events and equipment failures at PNP. The petitioner was particularly 
concerned with primary coolant pump (PCP) impeller pieces breaking off 
and lodging in the reactor vessel.
    The petitioner requests the following actions:
     Require PNP to open every PCP for inspection and clear up 
all flaws.
     Require PNP to replace the PCPs with a design for their 
intended duty.
     An Office of Inspector General (OIG) inspection on why 
there are different analysis criteria for similar PCP events between 
the NRC regions.
     A ten million dollar fine for these events.
     Intensify NRC monitoring of PNP, and return them to yellow 
or red status.
    As the basis for the request, the petitioner stated, in part, the 
following:
     The petitioner cited other recent plant events and 
equipment failures, such as leakage from the safety injection refueling 
water tank, and flaws in the control rod drive mechanisms.
     The petitioner asserted the licensee and the NRC staff 
used non-conservative engineering judgment during the evaluation of the 
lodged PCP impeller piece and during the operability evaluation of the 
existing PCP impellers.
     The petitioner asserts that the NRC staff was not being 
aggressive in resolving plant equipment issues, not resolving PCP 
equipment issues uniformly across the NRC regions, and accommodating 
the nuclear industry.
    The request is being treated pursuant to Sec.  2.206 of Title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), and has been referred to the 
Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR). In 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.206, the NRC will take appropriate action on 
this petition within a reasonable period of time. The petitioner met 
with the NRR's Petition Review Board on April 8 and September 3, 2014, 
to discuss the petition. The Petition Review Board considered the 
results of that discussion in its determination of the petitioner's 
request for immediate action and in the establishment of the schedule 
for the review of the petition.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day of September 2014.

    For The Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Daniel H. Dorman,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2014-23802 Filed 10-3-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P