[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 31, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6319-6320]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-01922]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-610; NRC-2022-0167]
Abilene Christian University
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Construction permit application; opportunity to request a
hearing and petition for leave to intervene.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is providing this
notice to allow the public an opportunity to request a hearing and
petition for leave to intervene (i.e., contested hearing) with respect
to the Abilene Christian University (ACU) construction permit
application for a molten salt research reactor (MSRR) to be built in
Abilene, Texas. The NRC staff is currently conducting a detailed
technical review of the construction permit application. If the NRC
issues a construction permit, the applicant, ACU, would be authorized
to construct its proposed research reactor in accordance with the
provisions of the construction permit.
DATES: A request for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene must
be filed by April 3, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0167 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-2022-0167. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301-415-0624; 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 (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, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between
8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard F. Rivera, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-7190; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
By application dated August 12, 2022 (ADAMS Package Accession No.
ML22227A201), as supplemented by letter dated October 14, 2022 (ADAMS
Package Accession No. ML22293B816), ACU submitted, pursuant to Section
104c. of the Atomic Energy Act and Part 50 of title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of Production and
Utilization Facilities,'' a construction permit application that
proposes to construct a research reactor (a ``non-power reactor'' as
defined in 10 CFR 50.2). A notice of receipt and availability of the
application was published in the Federal Register on October 14, 2022
(87 FR 62463). A notice of the acceptability for docketing of ACU's
application was published in the Federal Register on November 28, 2022
(87 FR 73051). The docket number established for this application is
50-610.
The NRC is considering issuance of a construction permit to ACU
that would authorize construction of the proposed MSSR to be located in
Abilene, Texas. The MSRR would be a high-temperature reactor that uses
molten fluoride-based fuel salt.
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
[[Page 6320]]
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. If a petition is filed, the presiding
officer will rule on the petition and, if appropriate, a notice of a
hearing will be issued.
Petitions must be filed no later than 60 days from the date of
publication of this notice in accordance with the filing instructions
in the ``Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)'' section of this document.
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).
A State, local governmental body, Federally recognized Indian
Tribe, or designated agency thereof, may submit a petition to the
Commission to participate as a party under 10 CFR 2.309(h) no later
than 60 days from the date of publication of this notice.
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).
For information about filing a petition and about participation by
a person not a party under 10 CFR 2.315, see ADAMS Accession No.
ML20340A053 (https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionNumber=ML20340A053) and on the NRC's public website
at https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/adjudicatory/hearing.html#participate.
III. Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)
All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings including
documents filed by an interested State, local governmental body,
Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or designated agency thereof that
requests to participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302. 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,
unless an exemption permitting an alternative filing method, as further
discussed, is granted. Detailed guidance on electronic submissions is
located in the ``Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC''
(ADAMS Accession No. ML13031A056) and on the NRC's public website at
https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
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 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. After a digital ID certificate is
obtained and a docket created, the participant must submit adjudicatory
documents in Portable Document Format. Guidance on 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. ET on the due date. Upon receipt of a
transmission, the E-Filing system time stamps the document and sends
the submitter an email confirming receipt of the document. The E-Filing
system also distributes an email 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 to
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 9:00
a.m. and 6:00 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Participants who believe that they have 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 in accordance with 10 CFR
2.302(b)-(d). Participants filing adjudicatory documents in this manner
are responsible for serving their documents on all other participants.
Participants granted an exemption under 10 CFR 2.302(g)(2) must still
meet the electronic formatting requirement in 10 CFR 2.302(g)(1),
unless the participant also seeks and is granted an exemption from 10
CFR 2.302(g)(1).
Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the
NRC's electronic hearing docket, which is publicly available at https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the
presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued digital ID
certificate as previously described, 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. 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
should not include copyrighted materials in their submission.
Dated: January 25, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Richard F. Rivera,
Project Manager, Advanced Reactor Licensing Branch 1, Division of
Advanced Reactors and Non-Power Production and Utilization Facilities,
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2023-01922 Filed 1-30-23; 8:45 am]
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