[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 175 (Wednesday, September 9, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55700-55703]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-19899]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-275 and 50-323; NRC-2020-0207]


Pacific Gas and Electric Company; Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power 
Plant, Units 1 and 2

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: License amendment application; opportunity to request a hearing 
and to petition for leave to intervene.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved a 
request by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E, the licensee) for 
amendments to Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-80 and DPR-82, issued 
to the licensee for operation of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant 
(Diablo Canyon), Units 1 and 2, located in San Luis Obispo County, 
California. The amendments provide a new Technical Specification (TS) 
3.7.5, ``Auxiliary Feedwater (AFW) System,'' Condition G, to address a 
one-time planned Diablo Canyon, Unit 1, Cycle 22, AFW system alignment 
for which current TS 3.7.5 would require shutdown.

DATES: A request for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene must 
be filed by November 9, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0207 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 Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2020-0207. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges; 
telephone: 301-287-9127; 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 https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS 
Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public 
Document Room reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by 
email to [email protected]. For the convenience of the reader, 
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are 
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Samson S. Lee, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3168, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC issued amendments to Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-80 
and DPR-82, issued to PG&E for operation of Diablo Canyon, Units 1 and 
2. The amendments avoid an unnecessary plant shutdown during the 
expected time needed to perform potential repairs to the Unit 1 AFW 
system piping that PG&E conservatively anticipates may be identified 
during the Diablo Canyon, Unit 1, Cycle 22, planned inspections to the 
AFW system. Specifically, the amendments provide a new TS 3.7.5, 
``Auxiliary Feedwater (AFW) System,'' Condition G, to allow operation 
of Diablo Canyon, Unit 1, for up to 7 days when the AFW system is 
aligned in a manner for which current TS 3.7.5 would require shutdown. 
The amendments are only for Cycle 22 during repair of the AFW piping. 
The NRC staff finds that the application for the license amendments 
complies with the requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as 
amended, and the NRC's regulations. The NRC staff's evaluation may be 
obtained and examined in ADAMS under Accession No. ML20235R635.
    In its license amendment request dated August 12, 2020, the 
licensee requested that the proposed amendments be processed by the NRC 
on an exigent basis in accordance with the provisions in section 
50.91(a)(6) of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). 
The licensee provided the following information to explain the exigency 
of the amendments. Because of localized corrosion identified on Diablo 
Canyon, Unit 2, AFW piping during a recent Diablo Canyon, Unit 2, 
maintenance outage, the licensee intends to perform inspections of 
Diablo Canyon, Unit 1, AFW piping in the near term to ensure that 
Diablo Canyon, Unit 1, is not similarly affected. If similar below-
minimum pipe wall thicknesses are found in the Unit 1 AFW system piping 
and elbows that were found in Unit 2, based on the estimated time-to-
repair gained from the Unit 2 repair, it is likely that the current TS 
3.7.5 Required Actions B.1 or D.1 would result in the required shutdown 
of Unit 1. The TS 3.7.5 change would avoid an unnecessary plant 
shutdown during the expected time needed to perform the potential 
repairs and associated post-maintenance inspections and testing to the 
Unit 1 AFW system piping. The licensee stated that it has assessed the 
potential extent of the Unit 1 AFW system piping repairs based on the 
required repairs for Unit 2 and is making its best efforts to make a 
timely

[[Page 55701]]

application and has not created the exigency.
    The NRC staff considered the circumstances and found exigent 
circumstances exist in that a licensee and the Commission must act 
quickly because if they do not, the AFW inspection results could cause 
a plant shutdown, and that time did not permit the Commission to 
publish a Federal Register notice allowing 30 days for prior public 
comment. The NRC staff also determined that the amendments involved no 
significant hazards considerations. Under the provisions in 10 CFR 
50.91(a)(6), the NRC notifies the public in one of two ways when 
exigent circumstances exist: (1) By issuing a Federal Register notice 
providing an opportunity for hearing and allowing at least 2 weeks from 
the date of the notice for prior public comments; or (2) by using local 
media to provide reasonable notice to the public in the area 
surrounding the licensee's facility. In this case, the NRC used local 
media and published a public notice in the San Luis Obispo News 
Tribune, located in San Luis Obispo, California (https://www.sanluisobispo.com/), a newspaper local to the licensee's facility, 
on August 16, 2020; August 17, 2020; and August 18, 2020.
    The licensee's supplements dated August 16, 2020; August 18, 2020; 
and August 20, 2020, provided additional information that clarified the 
application, did not expand the scope of the application as originally 
noticed, and did not change the NRC staff's original proposed no 
significant hazards consideration determination as published in the San 
Luis Obispo News Tribune, located in San Luis Obispo, California 
(https://www.sanluisobispo.com/), on August 16, 2020; August 17, 2020; 
and August 18, 2020. Public comments were received and addressed in the 
NRC staff's evaluation.

II. Opportunity to Request a Hearing and Petition for Leave to 
Intervene

    Within 60 days after the date of publication of this notice, any 
persons (petitioner) whose interest may be affected by this action may 
file a request for a hearing and petition for leave to intervene 
(petition) with respect to the action. Petitions shall be filed in 
accordance with the Commission's ``Agency Rules of Practice and 
Procedure'' in 10 CFR part 2. Interested persons should consult a 
current copy of 10 CFR 2.309. The NRC's regulations are accessible 
electronically from the NRC Library on the NRC's website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/. If a petition is filed, 
the Commission or a presiding officer will rule on the petition and, if 
appropriate, a notice of a hearing will be issued.
    As required by 10 CFR 2.309(d) the petition should specifically 
explain the reasons why intervention should be permitted with 
particular reference to the following general requirements for 
standing: (1) The name, address, and telephone number of the 
petitioner; (2) the nature of the petitioner's right to be made a party 
to the proceeding; (3) the nature and extent of the petitioner's 
property, financial, or other interest in the proceeding; and (4) the 
possible effect of any decision or order which may be entered in the 
proceeding on the petitioner's interest.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(f), the petition must also set 
forth the specific contentions which the petitioner seeks to have 
litigated in the proceeding. Each contention must consist of a specific 
statement of the issue of law or fact to be raised or controverted. In 
addition, the petitioner must provide a brief explanation of the bases 
for the contention and a concise statement of the alleged facts or 
expert opinion which support the contention and on which the petitioner 
intends to rely in proving the contention at the hearing. The 
petitioner must also provide references to the specific sources and 
documents on which the petitioner intends to rely to support its 
position on the issue. The petition must include sufficient information 
to show that a genuine dispute exists with the applicant or licensee on 
a material issue of law or fact. Contentions must be limited to matters 
within the scope of the proceeding. The contention must be one which, 
if proven, would entitle the petitioner to relief. A petitioner who 
fails to satisfy the requirements at 10 CFR 2.309(f) with respect to at 
least one contention will not be permitted to participate as a party.
    Those permitted to intervene become parties to the proceeding, 
subject to any limitations in the order granting leave to intervene. 
Parties have the opportunity to participate fully in the conduct of the 
hearing with respect to resolution of that party's admitted 
contentions, including the opportunity to present evidence, consistent 
with the NRC's regulations, policies, and procedures.
    Petitions must be filed no later than 60 days from the date of 
publication of this notice. Petitions and motions for leave to file new 
or amended contentions that are filed after the deadline will not be 
entertained absent a determination by the presiding officer that the 
filing demonstrates good cause by satisfying the three factors in 10 
CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i) through (iii). The petition must be filed in 
accordance with the filing instructions in the ``Electronic Submissions 
(E-Filing)'' section of this document.
    If a hearing is requested, and the Commission has not made a final 
determination on the issue of no significant hazards consideration, the 
Commission will make a final determination on the issue of no 
significant hazards consideration. The final determination will serve 
to establish when the hearing is held. If the final determination is 
that the amendment request involves no significant hazards 
consideration, the Commission may issue the amendment and make it 
immediately effective, notwithstanding the request for a hearing. Any 
hearing would take place after issuance of the amendment. If the final 
determination is that the amendment request involves a significant 
hazards consideration, then any hearing held would take place before 
the issuance of the amendment unless the Commission finds an imminent 
danger to the health or safety of the public, in which case it will 
issue an appropriate order or rule under 10 CFR part 2.
    A State, local governmental body, Federally-recognized Indian 
Tribe, or agency thereof, may submit a petition to the Commission to 
participate as a party under 10 CFR 2.309(h)(1). The petition should 
state the nature and extent of the petitioner's interest in the 
proceeding. The petition should be submitted to the Commission no later 
than 60 days from the date of publication of this notice. The petition 
must be filed in accordance with the filing instructions in the 
``Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)'' section of this document, and 
should meet the requirements for petitions set forth in this section, 
except that under 10 CFR 2.309(h)(2) a State, local governmental body, 
or Federally-recognized Indian Tribe, or agency thereof does not need 
to address the standing requirements in 10 CFR 2.309(d) if the facility 
is located within its boundaries. Alternatively, a State, local 
governmental body, Federally-recognized Indian Tribe, or agency thereof 
may participate as a non-party under 10 CFR 2.315(c).
    If a hearing is granted, any person who is not a party to the 
proceeding and is not affiliated with or represented by a party may, at 
the discretion of the presiding officer, be permitted to make a limited 
appearance pursuant to the provisions of 10 CFR 2.315(a). A person 
making a limited appearance may make an oral or written statement of 
his or her position on the issues but may not otherwise participate in 
the proceeding.

[[Page 55702]]

A limited appearance may be made at any session of the hearing or at 
any prehearing conference, subject to the limits and conditions as may 
be imposed by the presiding officer. Details regarding the opportunity 
to make a limited appearance will be provided by the presiding officer 
if such sessions are scheduled.

III. Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)

    All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including a 
request for hearing and petition for leave to intervene (petition), 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 that request to 
participate 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 website at https://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 website at https://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 website at https://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 website at https://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, 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.

IV. Availability of Documents

    The following table identifies the documents cited in this document 
and related to the issuance of the amendments. These documents are 
available for public inspection online through ADAMS at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.

[[Page 55703]]



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                  Document                       ADAMS  accession No.
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Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1   ML20235R635
 and 2 Issuance of Amendment Nos. 236 and
 238 Re: Revision to Technical
 Specification 3.7.5, `Auxiliary Feedwater
 (AFW) System,' EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES (EPID
 L-2020-LLA-0176), dated August 31, 2020.
Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2, License         ML20225A303
 Amendment Request 20-01, Exigent Request
 for Revision to Technical Specification
 3.7.5, `Auxiliary Feedwater System,' dated
 August 12, 2020.
Diablo Canyon request for additional         ML20230A073
 information: Exigent License Amendment
 Request for Application to provide a new
 Technical Specification 3.7.5, `Auxiliary
 Feedwater System,' Condition G (EPID L-
 2020-LLA-0176), dated August 14, 2020.
Response to NRC Request for Additional       ML20229A016
 Information Regarding ``License Amendment
 Request 20-01, Exigent Request for
 Revision to Technical Specification 3.7.5,
 `Auxiliary Feedwater System,' '' dated
 August 16, 2020.
Diablo Canyon additional request for         ML20231A237
 additional information: Exigent License
 Amendment Request for application to
 provide a new Technical Specification
 3.7.5, `Auxiliary Feedwater System,'
 Condition G EPID L-2020-LLA-017, dated
 August 17, 2020.
Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 Response to NRC  ML20231A838
 Request for Additional Information
 Regarding ``License Amendment Request 20-
 01, Exigent Request for Revision to
 Technical Specification 3.7.5, `Auxiliary
 Feedwater System,' '' dated August 18,
 2020.
Diablo Canyon additional request for         ML20234A242
 additional information: Exigent License
 Amendment Request for application to
 provide a new Technical Specification
 3.7.5, `Auxiliary Feedwater System,'
 Condition G EPID L-2020-LLA-017 request
 for additional information, dated August
 20, 2020.
Diablo Canyon, Units 1 and 2--Response to    ML20233B187
 Additional NRC Request for Additional
 Information Regarding ``License Amendment
 Request 20-01, Exigent Request for
 Revision to Technical Specification 3.7.5,
 `Auxiliary Feedwater System,' response to
 request for additional information,''
 dated August 20, 2020.
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    Dated: September 3, 2020.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jennifer L. Dixon-Herrity,
Chief, Plant Licensing Branch IV, Division of Operating Reactor 
Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2020-19899 Filed 9-8-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P