5590 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 24 / Thursday, February 5, 2004 / Notices 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 50–382] 

Entergy Operations, Inc.; Notice of 

Consideration of Issuance of 

Amendment to Facility Operating 

License and Opportunity for a Hearing 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (the Commission) is 

considering issuance of an amendment 

to Facility Operating License No. NPF–

38, issued to Entergy Operations, Inc. 

(the licensee), for operation of the 

Waterford Steam Electric Station, Unit 

3, located in St. Charles Parish, 

Louisiana. 

The proposed amendment would 

increase the maximum authorized 

power level from 3441 megawatts 

thermal (MWt) to 3716 MWt. This 

change represents an increase of 

approximately 8 percent above the 

current licensed power. The proposed 

amendment would also change the 

operating license and the technical 

specifications appended to the operating 

license to provide for implementing 

uprated power operation. 

Before issuance of the proposed 

license amendment, the Commission 

will have made findings required by the 

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended 

(the Act), and the Commission’s 

regulations. 

By March 8, 2004, the licensee may 

file a request for a hearing with respect 

to issuance of the amendment to the 

subject facility operating license, and 

any person whose interest may be 

affected by this proceeding and who 

wishes to participate as a party in the 

proceeding must file a written request 

for a hearing and a petition for leave to 

intervene. Requests for a hearing and a 

petition for leave to intervene shall be 

filed in accordance with the 

Commission’s ‘‘Rules of Practice for 

Domestic Licensing Proceedings’’ in 

Title 10 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (10 CFR) part 2. Interested 

persons should consult a current copy 

of 10 CFR 2.714, which is available at 

the Commission’s Public Document 

Room (PDR), located at One White Flint 

North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 

Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, 

Maryland, or electronically on the 

Internet at the NRC Web site http://

www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/cfr. If there are problems in 

accessing the document, contact the 

PDR Reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 

301–415–4737, or by e-mail to 

pdr@nrc.gov. If a request for a hearing or 

petition for leave to intervene is filed by 

the above date, the Commission or an 

Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, 

designated by the Commission or by the 

Chairman of the Atomic Safety and 

Licensing Board Panel will rule on the 

request and/or petition; and the 

Secretary or the designated Atomic 

Safety and Licensing Board will issue a 

notice of hearing or an appropriate 

order. 

As required by 10 CFR 2.714, a 

petition for leave to intervene shall set 

forth with particularity the interest of 

the petitioner in the proceeding, and 

how that interest may be affected by the 

results of the proceeding. The petition 

must specifically explain the reasons 

why intervention should be permitted 

with particular reference to the 

following factors: (1) The nature of the 

petitioner’s right under the Act to be 

made a party to the proceeding; (2) the 

nature and extent of the petitioner’s 

property, financial, or other interest in 

the proceeding; and (3) the possible 

effect of any order that may be entered 

in the proceeding on the petitioner’s 

interest. The petition must also identify 

the specific aspect(s) of the subject 

matter of the proceeding as to which 

petitioner wishes to intervene. Any 

person who has filed a petition for leave 

to intervene or who has been admitted 

as a party may amend the petition 

without requesting leave of the Board 

up to 15 days prior to the first 

prehearing conference scheduled in the 

proceeding, but such an amended 

petition must satisfy the specificity 

requirements described above.

Not later than 15 days prior to the first 

prehearing conference scheduled in the 

proceeding, a petitioner shall file a 

supplement to the petition to intervene 

that must include a list of the 

contentions that the petitioner seeks to 

have litigated in the hearing. Each 

contention must consist of a specific 

statement of the issue of law or fact to 

be raised or controverted. In addition, 

the petitioner shall provide a brief 

explanation of the bases of each 

contention and a concise statement of 

the alleged facts or expert opinion that 

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 those specific sources and documents 

of which the petitioner is aware and on 

which the petitioner intends to rely to 

establish those facts or expert opinion. 

The petitioner must provide sufficient 

information to show that a genuine 

dispute exists with the applicant on a 

material issue of law or fact. 

Contentions shall be limited to matters 

within the scope of the amendment 

under consideration. The contention 

must be one that, if proven, would 

entitle the petitioner to relief. A 

petitioner who fails to file such a 

supplement that satisfies these 

requirements 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, and have the opportunity to 

participate fully in the conduct of the 

hearing, including the opportunity to 

present evidence and cross-examine 

witnesses. 

A request for a hearing and petition 

for leave to intervene must be filed with 

the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001, Attention: 

Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, or 

may be delivered to the Commission’s 

PDR, located at One White Flint North, 

Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 

Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, 

Maryland, by the above date. Because of 

continuing disruptions in delivery of 

mail to United States Government 

offices, it is requested that petitions for 

leave to intervene and requests for 

hearing be transmitted to the Secretary 

of the Commission either by means of 

facsimile transmission to 301–415–1101 

or by e-mail to hearingdocket@nrc.gov. 

A copy of the request for hearing and 

petition for leave to intervene should 

also be sent to the Office of the General 

Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555–

0001, and because of continuing 

disruptions in delivery of mail to United 

States Government offices, it is 

requested that copies be transmitted 

either by means of facsimile 

transmission to 301–415–3725 or by email to OGCMailCenter@nrc.gov. A copy 

of the request for hearing and petition 

for leave to intervene should also be 

sent to N.S. Reynolds, Esquire, Winston 

& Strawn, 1400 L Street NW., 

Washington, DC 20037–1128, attorney 

for the licensee. 

Nontimely filings of petitions for 

leave to intervene, amended petitions, 

supplemental petitions and/or requests 

for a hearing will not be entertained 

absent a determination by the 

Commission, the presiding officer, or 

the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board 

that the petition and/or request should 

be granted based upon a balancing of 

the factors specified in 10 CFR 

2.714(a)(1)(i)–(v) and 2.714(d). 

If a request for a hearing is received, 

the Commission’s staff may issue the 

amendment after it completes its 

technical review and prior to the 

completion of any required hearing if it 

publishes a further notice for public 

comment of its proposed finding of no 

significant hazards consideration in 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 24 / Thursday, February 5, 2004 / Notices 5591

accordance with 10 CFR 50.91 and 

50.92. 

For further details with respect to this 

action, see the application for 

amendment dated November 13, 2003, 

which is available for public inspection 

at the Commission’s PDR, located at 

One White Flint North, Public File Area 

O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first 

floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly 

available records will be accessible 

electronically from the Agencywide 

Documents Access and Management 

System’s (ADAMS) Public Electronic 

Reading Room on the Internet at the 

NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/

reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who 

do not have access to ADAMS or who 

encounter problems in accessing the 

documents located in ADAMS, should 

contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by 

telephone at 1–800–397–4209, 301–

415–4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day 

of January 2004.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Nageswaran Kalyanam, 

Project Manager, Section 1, Project 

Directorate IV, Division of Licensing Project 

Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation.

[FR Doc. 04–2485 Filed 2–4–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. 50–275 and 50–323] 

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, 

Diablo Canyon Power Plant, Unit Nos. 

1 and 2; Exemption 

1.0 Background 

The Pacific Gas and Electric Company 

(the licensee) is the holder of Facility 

Operating License Nos. DPR–80 and 

DPR–82, which authorize operation of 

the Diablo Canyon Power Plant (facility 

or DCPP), Unit Nos. 1 and 2, 

respectively. The licenses provide, 

among other things, that the facility is 

subject to all rules, regulations, and 

orders of the Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC, the Commission) 

now or hereafter in effect. 

The facility consists of two 

pressurized water reactors located in 

San Luis Obispo County, California. 

2.0 Request/Action 

Title 10 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (10 CFR), part 50, 

§ 50.68(b)(1) sets forth the following 

requirement that must be met, in lieu of 

a monitoring system capable of 

detecting criticality events.

Plant procedures shall prohibit the 

handling and storage at any one time of more 

fuel assemblies than have been determined to 

be safely subcritical under the most adverse 

moderation conditions feasible by unborated 

water.

The licensee is unable to satisfy the 

above requirement for handling of the 

10 CFR part 72 licensed contents of the 

Holtec HI–STORM 100 Cask System. 

Section 50.12(a) allows licensees to 

apply for an exemption from the 

requirements of 10 CFR part 50 if the 

regulation is not necessary to achieve 

the underlying purpose of the rule and 

other conditions are met. The licensee 

stated in the application that 

compliance with 10 CFR 50.68(b)(1) is 

not necessary for handling the 10 CFR 

Part 72 licensed contents of the cask 

system to achieve the underlying 

purpose of the rule. 

3.0 Discussion 

Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the 

Commission may, upon application by 

any interested person or upon its own 

initiative, grant exemptions from the 

requirements of 10 CFR part 50 when (1) 

the exemptions are authorized by law, 

will not present an undue risk to public 

health or safety, and are consistent with 

the common defense and security; and 

(2) when special circumstances are 

present. Therefore, in determining the 

acceptability of the licensee’s exemption 

request, the staff has performed the 

following regulatory, technical, and 

legal evaluations to satisfy the 

requirements of 10 CFR 50.12 for 

granting the exemption. 

3.1 Regulatory Evaluation 

The DCPP Technical Specifications 

(TS) currently permit the licensee to 

store spent fuel assemblies in highdensity storage racks in each spent fuel 

pool (SFP). In accordance with the 

provisions of 10 CFR 50.68(b)(4), the 

licensee takes credit for soluble boron 

for criticality control and ensures that 

the effective multiplication factor (keff) 

of the SFP does not exceed 0.95, if 

flooded with borated water. 10 CFR 

50.68(b)(4) also requires that if credit is 

taken for soluble boron, the keff must 

remain below 1.0 (subcritical), if 

flooded with unborated water. However, 

the licensee is unable to satisfy the 

requirement to maintain the keff below 

1.0 (subcritical) with unborated water, 

which is also the requirement of 10 CFR 

50.68(b)(1). Therefore, the licensee’s 

request for exemption from 10 CFR 

50.68(b)(1) proposes to permit the 

licensee to perform spent fuel loading, 

unloading, and handling operations 

related to dry cask storage, without 

being subcritical under the most adverse 

moderation conditions feasible by 

unborated water. 

Title 10 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations, part 50, Appendix A, 

‘‘General Design Criteria (GDC) for 

Nuclear Power Plants,’’ provides a list of 

the minimum design requirements for 

nuclear power plants. According to GDC 

62, ‘‘Prevention of criticality in fuel 

storage and handling,’’ the licensee 

must limit the potential for criticality in 

the fuel handling and storage system by 

physical systems or processes. 

Section 50.68 of 10 CFR part 50, 

‘‘Criticality accident requirements,’’

provides the NRC requirements for 

maintaining subcritical conditions in 

SFPs. Section 50.68 provides criticality 

control requirements which, if satisfied, 

ensure that an inadvertent criticality in 

the SFP is an extremely unlikely event. 

These requirements ensure that the 

licensee has appropriately conservative 

criticality margins during handling and 

storage of spent fuel. Section 50.68(b)(1) 

states, ‘‘Plant procedures shall prohibit 

the handling and storage at any one time 

of more fuel assemblies than have been 

determined to be safely subcritical 

under the most adverse moderation 

conditions feasible by unborated water.’’

Specifically, 10 CFR 50.68(b)(1) ensures 

that the licensee will maintain the pool 

in a subcritical condition during 

handling and storage operations without 

crediting the soluble boron in the SFP 

water. 

The licensee has submitted a license 

application to construct and operate an 

Independent Spent Fuel Storage 

Installation (ISFSI) at DCPP. The ISFSI 

would permit the licensee to store spent 

fuel assemblies in large concrete dry 

storage casks. In order to transfer the 

spent fuel assemblies from the SFP to 

the dry storage casks, the licensee must 

first transfer the assemblies to a MultiPurpose Canister (MPC) in the cask pit 

area of the SFP. The licensee performed 

criticality analyses of the MPC fully 

loaded with fuel having the highest 

permissible reactivity, and determined 

that a soluble boron credit was 

necessary to ensure that the MPC would 

remain subcritical in the SFP. Since the 

licensee is unable to satisfy the 

requirement of 10 CFR 50.68(b)(1) to 

ensure subcritical conditions during 

handling and storage of spent fuel 

assemblies in the pool with unborated 

water, the licensee identified the need 

for an exemption from the 10 CFR 

50.68(b)(1) requirement to support MPC 

loading, unloading, and handling 

operations, without being subcritical 

under the most adverse moderation 

conditions feasible by unborated water. 

The staff evaluated the possibility of 

an inadvertent criticality of the spent