[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 167 (Friday, August 28, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52351-52352]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-21431]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-271 and 50-305; NRC-2015-0200]
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station; Kewaunee Power Station
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 25, 2014 [sic], Mike Mulligan (the
petitioner) has requested that the NRC take action with regard to the
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VY) and the Kewaunee Power
Station (KPS), which have been permanently shut down and are currently
undergoing decommissioning. The petitioner's requests are included in
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0200 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-2015-0200. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
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 (if that document
[[Page 52352]]
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen S. Koenick, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6631, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 25, 2014 [sic], the petitioner
requested that the NRC take action with regard to VY and KPS (ADAMS
Accession No. ML15090A487). On July 7, 2015, the petitioner provided
supplemental information via email (ADAMS Accession No. ML15198A091).
The petitioner requested a number of actions including:
Conduct exigent and immediate full-scale ultrasonic
inspections on the VY and the KPS reactor pressure vessels (RPVs), with
similar or better technology, as conducted on the RPVs at Doel 3 and
Tihange 2, which revealed thousands of cracks;
Take large borehole samples out of both the Vermont Yankee
and Kewaunee RPVs and transport them to a respected metallurgic
laboratory for comprehensive offsite testing;
Issue an immediate NRC report and hold a public meeting on
any identified vulnerabilities; and
Ultrasonically test all RPVs in U.S. plants within 6
months, if distressed and unsafe results are discovered at VY or KPS.
As the basis for this request, the petitioner states that the
requested actions should be taken to determine whether foreign
operating experience--specifically several thousand cracks that have
been discovered during testing on the Doel 3 and Tihange 2 RPVs--could
have implications on U.S. operating reactors.
The request is being treated pursuant to section 2.206, ``Requests
for action under this subpart,'' of Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR) of the Commission's regulations. The request has
been referred to the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
The petitioner met with the Petition Review Board on May 19, 2015,
to discuss the petition; the transcript of that meeting is an
additional supplement to the petition (ADAMS Accession No.
ML15181A127). The results of that discussion and the July 7, 2015,
supplemental email were considered in the board's determination
regarding the petitioner's request for immediate action and in
establishing the schedule for the review of the petition.
The NRC has denied the petitioner's request to conduct immediate
ultrasonic inspections at VY and KPS because of the following reasons.
Both the identified facilities have ceased operations and would not be
subject to an enforcement-related action (i.e., to modify, suspend, or
revoke the license). In addition, the NRC issued Information Notice
(IN) 2013-19, ``Quasi-Laminar Indications in Reactor Pressure Vessel
Forgings,'' on September 22, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. ML13242A263).
The purpose of this IN was to inform industry of the quasi-laminar
indications that were identified in 2012, at two European commercial
nuclear power plants. These indications were identified during the
ultrasonic inspections that were performed on the RPV forgings.
As provided by 10 CFR 2.206, appropriate action will be taken on
the remaining requests within a reasonable time.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of August 2015.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michele G. Evans,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2015-21431 Filed 8-27-15; 8:45 am]
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