[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 65 (Tuesday, April 5, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Page 19651]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-07752]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-271 and 50-305; NRC-2015-0200]


Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., and Dominion Energy Kewaunee, 
Inc.; Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station and Kewaunee Power Station

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Request for action; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a 
director's decision on a petition dated March 25, 2014 [sic], filed by 
Michael Mulligan (the petitioner), requesting that the NRC take action 
regarding the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VY) and the 
Kewaunee Power Station (KPS). The petitioner's requests and the 
director's decision 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 it is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this 
document.
     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 Koenick, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6631; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Notice is hereby given that the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, has issued a director's decision (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML16054A731) on a petition filed by the petitioner on March 25, 2014 
[sic] (ADAMS Accession No. ML15090A487). The petition was supplemented 
by emails dated July 7, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15198A091), and 
September 9, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15286A003).
    The petitioner requested that the NRC take a number of actions 
regarding VY and KPS, which have been permanently shut down and are 
currently undergoing decommissioning, to include:
     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 VY and KPS 
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.
     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 of the request, the petitioner asserted that the 
requested actions should be taken to determine whether foreign 
operating experience (OpE)--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 petitioner also 
requested several related actions of the NRC, such as, collaboration 
with the Belgian regulator, and posed several questions related to 
water chemistry and the discovered cracks.
    On May 19, 2015, the petitioner spoke with the NRC's Petition 
Review Board. The teleconference provided the petitioner and the 
licensees an opportunity to provide additional information and to 
clarify issues cited in the petition. The transcript for that 
teleconference is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML15181A127.
    The NRC sent a copy of the proposed director's decision to the 
petitioner and the licensees for comment on January 20, 2016 (ADAMS 
Accession Nos. ML15286A235, ML15286A265, and ML15286A258, 
respectively). The petitioner and the licensees were asked to provide 
comments within 14 days on any part of the proposed director's decision 
that was considered to be erroneous or any issues in the petition that 
were not addressed. The petitioner's comments are addressed in the 
final director's decision. The NRC staff did not receive any comments 
from the licensees on the proposed director's decision.
    The Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation has 
determined that the requests, to require the licensees to conduct 
exigent and immediate full scale ultrasonic inspections on the VY and 
the KPS RPVs, with similar or better technology, as conducted on the 
RPVs at Doel 3 and Tihange 2; to require the licensees to take large 
borehole samples out of both the VY and KPS RPVs and transport them to 
a respected metallurgic laboratory for comprehensive offsite testing; 
and associated follow-on requested actions be denied. The reasons for 
this decision are explained in the director's decision DD-16-01 
pursuant to section 2.206 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) of the Commission's regulations.
    The NRC will file a copy of the director's decision with the 
Secretary of the Commission for the Commission's review in accordance 
with 10 CFR 2.206. The director's decision will constitute the final 
action of the Commission 25 days after the date of the decision unless 
the Commission, on its own motion, institutes a review of the 
director's decision in that time.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of March 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michele G. Evans,
Deputy Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2016-07752 Filed 4-4-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P