[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 155 (Monday, August 14, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37903-37908]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-17101]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 70-1151; License No. SNM-1107; EA-16-173; NRC-2017-0176]
Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Confirmatory order; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a
confirmatory order (Order) to Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC, (the
licensee), confirming the agreement reached in an Alternative Dispute
Resolution mediation session held on May 19, 2017, and follow-up
discussions held between May 19, 2017, and August 3, 2017. This Order
will ensure the licensee restores compliance with NRC's regulations.
DATES: The Order was issued on August 9, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0176 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-2017-0176. 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
[[Page 37904]]
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: Scott Sparks, Region II, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-1257; telephone: 404-997-
4422; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Order is attached.
Dated at Atlanta, Georgia, this 9th day of August, 2017.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Catherine Haney,
Regional Administrator.
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 70-1151; License No. SNM-1107; EA-16-173; NRC-2017-0176]
In the Matter of Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC
CONFIRMATORY ORDER (EFFECTIVE UPON ISSUANCE)
I
Westinghouse Electric Company (Westinghouse, or the licensee) is
the holder of NRC License No. SNM-1107, issued by the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to 10 CFR part 70 on
September 30, 2007. The license authorizes the operation of the
Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility (CFFF) in accordance with the
conditions specified therein. The facility is located on the licensee's
site in Hopkins, South Carolina.
This Confirmatory Order (CO) is the result of an agreement reached
during an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mediation session
conducted on May 19, 2017, and follow-up discussions held between May
19, 2017, and August 3, 2017.
II
On May 28, 2016, as part of the licensee's routine maintenance
activities, the licensee started the S-1030 scrubber inspection and
cleanout activities. The licensee completed the S-1030 scrubber
cleanout activities on June 1, 2016, removing a total of 197 kilograms
(kg) of material. The scrubber was subsequently restarted following the
maintenance outage on June 2, 2016. On July 13, 2016, the preliminary
results of samples taken of the material removed from the S-1030
scrubber indicated a 40-50% concentration of uranium (U) enriched to
less than 5%. This equates to approximately 100 kg of U in the
scrubber, exceeding the mass limit in the Criticality Safety Evaluation
(CSE) of 29 kg U.
The scrubber was shut down on July 14, 2016, when the determination
was made by the licensee that the mass limit in the CSE had been
exceeded. The licensee reported this event to the NRC as a 24-hour
event due to a high consequence event being ``unlikely'' (EN 52090). On
July 31, 2016, the event report was updated to a one hour report per 10
CFR 70 Appendix A (a)(4) because no items relied upon for safety
(IROFS) remained available and reliable to perform their function.
On August 11, 2016, the NRC issued a Confirmatory Action Letter
(CAL) to Westinghouse (ML16224B082). The purpose of the CAL was to
confirm the commitments made by Westinghouse regarding additional
actions Westinghouse will take in response to the U buildup reported to
the NRC in July 2016. These actions were intended to ensure that the
causes of the U buildup have been adequately identified and evaluated
and that appropriate corrective actions have been implemented to
improve the performance of the Nuclear Criticality Safety (NCS)
program.
On September 27, 2016, the NRC completed an Augmented Inspection at
the Westinghouse facility, the details of which are documented in NRC
Inspection Report 70-1151/2016-007 (ML16301A001).
A follow-up NRC inspection (70-1151/2017-007) was also conducted,
the results of which were issued on February 27, 2017 (ML17058A448).
This inspection report identified the following four Apparent
Violations (AVs), all of which were considered for escalated
enforcement in accordance with the NRC's Enforcement Policy:
1. An AV was identified for failure to ensure criticality accident
sequences remain highly unlikely, as required by Title 10 of the Code
of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 10 CFR 70.61(b).
2. An AV was identified for failure to assure that under normal and
credible abnormal conditions, all nuclear processes were subcritical
including use of an approved margin of subcriticality, as required by
10 CFR 70.61(d).
3. An AV was identified for failure to establish adequate
management measures to ensure that items relied on for safety (IROFS)
perform their function when needed, as required by 10 CFR 70.62(d).
4. An AV was identified for failure to make a one hour report, as
required by Appendix A (a)(4) of 10 CFR part 70.
In response to the NRC's inspection report of February 27, 2017,
Westinghouse advised the NRC of its desire to participate in the
Agency's ADR program to resolve the enforcement aspects of this matter.
III
On May 19, 2017, the NRC and Westinghouse met in an ADR session
mediated by a professional mediator, arranged through Cornell
University's Institute on Conflict Resolution. Additional discussions
were held between the NRC and Westinghouse between May 19, 2017, and
August 3, 2017, to resolve the enforcement aspects of this matter. ADR
is a process in which a neutral mediator with no decision-making
authority assists the parties in reaching an agreement or resolving any
differences regarding their dispute. This CO is issued pursuant to the
agreement reached during the ADR process. The elements of the agreement
consist of the following:
1. Westinghouse acknowledges that four violations occurred, as
stated in NRC Inspection Report 70-1151/2017-007.
2. Based on ADR, the parties agreed that the safety significance of
violations described in Section II above is characterized as escalated
enforcement as described in the NRC Enforcement Policy.
3. Approximately two years (+/- 6 months) after issuance of the CO,
Westinghouse shall conduct an additional Nuclear Safety Culture (NSC)
survey by the Westinghouse corporate nuclear safety culture
organization or an experienced independent third party, consistent with
the depth and scope of the NSC survey completed under the CAL dated
August 11, 2016. Identified deficiencies shall be entered into the
corrective action program (CAP) for tracking corrective actions to
completion.
4. Westinghouse shall implement improvements to reduce uranium
carryover from the Calciner scrubbers, and implement additional design
changes to reduce U carryover from the Blue M oven filtration system.
Specifically:
(1) For the calciner scrubbers, within eighteen (18) months of
issuance of the CO, an engineering evaluation of the calciner and
calciner off-gas scrubber design and operation shall be completed to
determine methods to reduce uranium carry-over into the S-1030
scrubber.
(2) For the Blue M oven, within eighteen (18) months of issuance of
the CO, an engineering evaluation of the Conversion Scrap Cage Blue M
oven shall be completed to determine methods to improve the
functionality of
[[Page 37905]]
the Blue M oven in a wet environment and improve accessibility for
inspection and maintenance activities.
(3) Within three (3) years of issuance of the CO, improvements
based on the engineering evaluations described above shall be
implemented.
5. In response to the May 2016 event, Westinghouse implemented
several modifications to the S-1030 scrubber system, as part of its
overall corrective actions to preclude recurrence and enhance
performance. These modifications were considered by the NRC, under the
CAL, in support of a safety basis to authorize restart of conversion
process equipment and the S-1030 scrubber system, as documented in the
NRC's letter to Westinghouse dated October 20, 2016 (ML16294A296). The
modifications included but were not limited to:
(1) The plenums for the scrap cage Blue M oven hoods were equipped
with a filter to capture at least 95% of the mass entrained in the air
stream based on particle size distribution and the manufacturer's
published efficiency data.
(2) Packing baskets were implemented to permit complete removal and
inspection of the packed media and to maintain clearance between the
packed media and the scrubber floor.
(3) A feed and bleed system for the scrubber recirculating liquid
was maintained at a minimum output flow of 0.5 gallons per minute. If
feed and bleed is not available, a controlled shutdown of the scrubber
would be initiated in accordance with plant procedures.
(4) The scrubber was opened to remove the packed media baskets, to
clean and inspect the inlet transition and scrubber body on a quarterly
basis.
(5) Weekly visual inspections of the scrubber inlet transition were
to be conducted.
6. Within two (2) years of issuance of the CO, Westinghouse shall
develop and implement additional methods to monitor system parameters
that are early indicators of an abnormal accumulation in the S-1030
scrubber from a process upset that could challenge the accumulation
rate and/or criticality safety mass limits. The methods will provide
timely indications to enable the operators to take appropriate actions
in accordance with approved procedures.
7. A member of senior Westinghouse leadership shall present
training on lessons learned from the scrubber event at an industry
forum, including NSC and criticality safety standards aspects.
This item was completed on June 14, 2017, when the site vice
president of CFFF presented training on lessons learned from the
scrubber event at Fuel Cycle Information Exchange (an industry-wide
forum), including NSC and criticality safety standards aspects.
8. Within eighteen (18) months of issuance of the CO, Westinghouse
shall develop and implement a criticality safety basis/IROFS database
to help maintain the proper flow down of the safety basis into
implementing documents.
9. Within six (6) months of issuance of the CO, Westinghouse shall
develop a method to reinforce positive NSC leadership behavior and
monitor for effectiveness in the NSC monitoring panel. Westinghouse
shall implement such method for three years, after which it may
evaluate the need to continue this item.
10. Within three (3) months of issuance of the CO, Westinghouse
shall develop and implement a new metric or periodic report that
creates an aggregate picture of the health of the criticality safety
program. This shall include items such as IROFS challenges, trends,
audit and inspection finding status, violations, and health of
management measures and be made available for inspection. Identified
deficiencies shall be evaluated in accordance with the CAP.
11. Within nine (9) months, Westinghouse shall implement risk-
informed standards for the preparation of procedures and data sheets
informed by appropriate guidance in INPO 11-003, ``Guideline for
Excellence in Procedure and Work Instruction Use and Adherence.'' This
will consist of issuance of a procedure writers' guide, procedure
format template, and a procedure use and adherence standard.
12. The NRC agrees that issuance of this CO serves to close the CAL
issued to Westinghouse on August 11, 2016. NRC acknowledges that
Westinghouse has taken extensive actions to address items in the CAL
including completing a root cause analysis (RCA), completing a review
of criticality safety evaluations, performing inspections to validate
system design and operating parameters, installing physical
modifications to support the safety basis to improve safety
performance, conducting an independent third party nuclear safety
culture assessment, and completing several corrective actions designed
to preclude recurrence.
NRC also acknowledges that Westinghouse has taken some actions to
close post-restart CAL items 1, 3, and 5, but are not yet complete.
Therefore, post-restart CAL items 1, 3, and 5, as modified below, are
transferred to this CO. Upon completion of these items, Westinghouse
will notify the NRC Region II Administrator.
a. CAL Item 1--Westinghouse shall implement the remaining
corrective actions to prevent recurrence identified in their RCA.
b. CAL Item 3--Westinghouse shall conduct effectiveness reviews of
corrective actions to prevent recurrence specified in their RCA.
c. CAL Item 5--Westinghouse shall evaluate the results of the
independent third party nuclear safety culture assessment, and any
identified deficiencies will be entered into the CAP to track to
completion.
The NRC concludes that CAL post-restart items 2 and 4 are closed
because these items will be sampled as part of the NRC's inspection
program.
The NRC concludes that CAL post-restart item 6 is closed because of
the extensive corrective actions completed by Westinghouse to date.
13. Within three (3) months of completion of the terms of the CO,
Westinghouse will provide the NRC with a letter discussing its basis
for concluding that the CO has been satisfied.
14. In consideration of the commitments delineated herein, the NRC
agrees to refrain from proposing a civil penalty or issuing a Notice of
Violation for all four AVs identified in NRC Inspection Report 70-1151/
2017-007 (EA-16-173).
15. The NRC and Westinghouse agree that the above elements will be
incorporated into a CO.
16. This agreement is binding upon successors and assigns of
Westinghouse.
On August 8, 2017, Westinghouse consented to issuance of this CO
with the commitments, as described in Section V below. Westinghouse
further agreed that this CO is to be effective upon issuance and that
it has waived its right to a hearing.
IV
Because Westinghouse has taken corrective actions to address NRC
concerns, as set forth in Section III above, and has agreed to take
additional corrective actions as set forth in Section V below, the NRC
has concluded that its concerns can be resolved through issuance of
this CO.
I find that Westinghouse's commitments as set forth in Section V
are acceptable and necessary and conclude that with these commitments,
the public health and safety are reasonably assured. In view of the
foregoing, I have determined that public health and safety require that
Westinghouse's commitments be confirmed by this CO. Based on the
[[Page 37906]]
above and Westinghouse's consent, this CO is effective upon issuance.
V
Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 104b., 161b., 161i., 161o., 182,
and 186 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the
Commission's regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR part 70, it is
hereby ordered, that License No. SNM-1107 is modified as follows:
1. In recognition of the corrective actions taken in response to
the four violations, as discussed at the ADR, and in response to the
Confirmatory Action Letter dated August 11, 2016 (ML16224B082),
Westinghouse agrees to submit a written statement or explanation to the
Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
with a copy to the Document Control Desk, Washington, DC 20555-0001,
within 30 days of the date of the CO. This reply should include for
each of the four violations: (1) The reason for the violation; (2) the
corrective steps that have been taken to restore compliance; and (3)
additional corrective actions and enhancements taken to preclude
repetition.
2. Approximately two years (+/- 6 months) after issuance of the CO,
Westinghouse shall conduct an additional NSC survey by the Westinghouse
corporate nuclear safety culture organization or an experienced
independent third party, consistent with the depth and scope of the NSC
survey completed under the CAL dated August 11, 2016. Identified
deficiencies shall be entered into the CAP for tracking corrective
actions to completion.
3. Westinghouse shall implement improvements to reduce uranium
carryover from the Calciner scrubbers, and implement additional design
changes to reduce U carryover from the Blue M oven filtration system.
Specifically:
(1) For the calciner scrubbers, within eighteen (18) months of
issuance of the CO, an engineering evaluation of the calciner and
calciner off-gas scrubber design and operation shall be completed to
determine methods to reduce uranium carry-over into the S-1030
scrubber.
(2) For the Blue M oven, within eighteen (18) months of issuance of
the CO, an engineering evaluation of the Conversion Scrap Cage Blue M
oven shall be completed to determine methods to improve the
functionality of the Blue M oven in a wet environment and improve
accessibility for inspection and maintenance activities.
(3) Within three (3) years of issuance of the CO, improvements
based on the engineering evaluations described above shall be
implemented.
4. Westinghouse shall notify the NRC within fifteen (15) working
days prior to implementing changes to the modifications to the S-1030
scrubber system, as discussed below. This requirement ends once the
Regional Administrator determines that the CO has been satisfied. These
modifications were incorporated as corrective actions prior to the
October 20, 2016, system restart authorization (ML16294A296) and
support, in part, the safety basis for the S-1030 scrubber.
Specifically, these modifications are:
(1) The plenums for the scrap cage Blue M oven hoods shall be
equipped with a filter to capture at least 95% of the mass entrained in
the air stream based on particle size distribution and the
manufacturer's published efficiency data.
(2) Packing baskets were implemented to permit complete removal and
inspection of the packed media and to maintain clearance between the
packed media and the scrubber floor.
(3) A feed and bleed system for the scrubber recirculating liquid
shall be maintained at a minimum output flow of 0.5 gallons per minute.
If feed and bleed is not available, a controlled shutdown of the
scrubber shall be initiated in accordance with plant procedures.
(4) The scrubber shall be opened to remove the packed media
baskets, to clean and inspect the inlet transition and scrubber body on
a quarterly basis.
(5) Weekly visual inspections of the scrubber inlet transition
shall be conducted.
5. Within two (2) years of issuance of the CO, Westinghouse shall
develop and implement additional methods to monitor system parameters
that are early indicators of an abnormal accumulation in the S-1030
scrubber from a process upset that could challenge the accumulation
rate and/or criticality safety mass limits. The methods will provide
timely indications to enable the operators to take appropriate actions
in accordance with approved procedures.
6. Within eighteen (18) months of issuance of the CO, Westinghouse
shall develop and implement a criticality safety basis/IROFS database
to maintain the proper flow down of the safety basis into implementing
documents.
7. Within six (6) months of issuance of the CO, Westinghouse shall
develop a method to reinforce positive NSC leadership behavior and
monitor for effectiveness in the NSC monitoring panel. Westinghouse
shall implement such method for three (3) years, after which it may
evaluate the need to continue this item.
8. Within three (3) months of issuance of the CO, Westinghouse
shall develop and implement a new metric or periodic report that
creates an aggregate picture of the health of the criticality safety
program. This shall include items such as IROFS challenges, trends,
audit and inspection finding status, violations, and health of
management measures and be made available for inspection. Identified
deficiencies shall be evaluated in accordance with the CAP.
9. Within nine (9) months of issuance of the CO, Westinghouse shall
implement risk-informed standards for the preparation of procedures and
data sheets informed by appropriate guidance in INPO 11-003,
``Guideline for Excellence in Procedure and Work Instruction Use and
Adherence.'' This shall consist of issuance of a procedure writers'
guide, procedure format template, and a procedure use and adherence
standard.
10. The NRC agrees that issuance of this CO serves to close the CAL
issued to Westinghouse on August 11, 2016. NRC acknowledges that
Westinghouse has taken extensive actions to address items in the CAL
including completing an RCA, completing a review of criticality safety
evaluations, performing inspections to validate system design and
operating parameters, installing physical modifications to support the
safety basis to improve safety performance, conducting an independent
third party nuclear safety culture assessment, and completing several
corrective actions designed to preclude recurrence.
The NRC also acknowledges that Westinghouse has taken some actions
to close post-restart CAL items 1, 3, and 5, but are not yet complete.
Therefore, post-restart CAL items 1, 3, and 5, as modified below, are
transferred to this CO. Upon completion of these items, Westinghouse
will notify the NRC Region II Administrator.
a. CAL Item 1--Westinghouse shall implement the remaining
corrective actions to prevent recurrence identified in their RCA.
b. CAL Item 3--Westinghouse shall conduct effectiveness reviews of
corrective actions to prevent recurrence specified in their RCA.
c. CAL Item 5--Westinghouse shall evaluate the results of the
independent third party nuclear safety culture assessment, and any
identified deficiencies will be entered into the CAP to track to
completion.
This CO supersedes the CAL issued to Westinghouse on August 11,
2016. Post -restart CAL items 2 and 4 will be
[[Page 37907]]
sampled as part of the NRC's inspection program.
Post-restart CAL item 6 is closed because of the extensive
corrective actions completed by Westinghouse to date.
11. Within three (3) months of completing implementation of the
terms of the CO, Westinghouse will provide the NRC with a letter
discussing its basis for concluding that the CO has been satisfied.
This agreement is binding upon successors and assigns of
Westinghouse.
Unless otherwise specified, all dates are from the date of issuance
of the CO.
The Regional Administrator, NRC Region II, may relax or rescind, in
writing, any of the above conditions upon a showing by Westinghouse of
good cause.
VI
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR 2.309, any person
adversely affected by this CO, other than Westinghouse, may request a
hearing within 30 calendar days of the date of issuance of this CO.
Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to extending the
time to request a hearing. A request for extension of time must be made
in writing to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, and include a statement of
good cause for the extension.
All documents filed in the 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's E-Filing rule (72 FR 49139,
August 28, 2007, as amended at 77 FR 46562, August 3, 2012). 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. Detailed guidance on making
electronic submissions may be found in the Guidance for Electronic
Submissions to the NRC and on the NRC's Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. 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 (1) request a digital identification (ID)
certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign submissions and access the E-Filing
system for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise
the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a petition or
other adjudicatory document (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/getting-started.html. Once a participant has obtained a
digital ID certificate and a docket has been created, the participant
can then submit adjudicatory documents. Submissions must be in Portable
Document Format (PDF). Additional guidance on PDF submissions is
available on the NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A filing is considered complete at the
time the document is 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's 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
document on those participants separately. Therefore, applicants and
other participants (or their counsel or representative) must apply for
and receive a digital ID certificate before adjudicatory documents are
filed so that they can obtain access to the documents via the E-Filing
system.
A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC's Electronic
Filing Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's
public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by
email to [email protected], or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-
7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m.
and 6 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, excluding government
holidays.
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 through the EIE System.
Submissions should be in Portable Document Format (PDF) in accordance
with NRC guidance available on the NRC public Web site at https://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's Electronic
Filing Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's
public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by
email to [email protected], or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-
7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m.
and 6 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
stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and
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,
[[Page 37908]]
Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications
Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or expedited delivery service to
the Office of the Secretary, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland,
20852, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. Participants
filing adjudicatory documents 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 the
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at
https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the
Commission or the presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued
digital ID certificate as described above, click cancel when the link
requests certificates and you will be automatically directed to the
NRC's electronic hearing dockets where you will be able to access any
publicly available documents in a particular hearing docket.
Participants are requested not to include personal privacy information,
such as social security numbers, home addresses, or personal phone
numbers in their filings, unless an NRC regulation or other law
requires submission of such information. For example, in some
instances, individuals provide home addresses in order to demonstrate
proximity to a facility or site. 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 copyrighted materials in their submission.
If a person (other than Westinghouse) requests a hearing, that
person shall set forth with particularity the manner in which his
interest is adversely affected by this CO and shall address the
criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d) and (f).
If a hearing is requested by a person whose interest is adversely
affected, the Commission will issue an order designating the time and
place of any hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered
at such hearing shall be whether this CO should be sustained.
In the absence of any request for hearing, or written approval of
an extension of time in which to request a hearing, the provisions
specified in Section V above shall be final 30 days from the date of
this CO without further order or proceedings. If an extension of time
for requesting a hearing has been approved, the provisions specified in
Section V shall be final when the extension expires if a hearing
request has not been received.
Dated at Atlanta, Georgia, this 9th day of August, 2017.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Catherine Haney,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2017-17101 Filed 8-11-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P