[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 57 (Monday, March 26, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14142-14143]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5433]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 72-7 and 50-255]


License No. DPR-20, Nuclear Management Company, LLC; Notice of 
Issuance of Director's Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206

    Notice is hereby given that the Director, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, has issued a director's decision with 
regard to a petition dated April 4, 2006, filed by Mr. Terry J. Lodge, 
on behalf of five organizations and 30 individuals, hereinafter 
referred to as the Petitioners. Representatives for the Petitioners 
participated in a telephone conference call with NRC's Petition Review 
Board (PRB) on April 26, 2006, to discuss the

[[Page 14143]]

petition. The teleconference was transcribed and the transcription was 
treated as a supplement to the petition. Transcripts of the 
teleconference are available via the Agencywide Documents Access and 
Management System (ADAMS) on the agency's Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html, and for inspection at the NRC Public 
Document Room, located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O-
1F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. The 
petition concerns the operation of the independent spent fuel storage 
installation (ISFSI) at the Palisades Nuclear Plant.
    The Petitioners requested that the NRC take enforcement action 
against the licensee for the Palisades Nuclear Plant, Nuclear 
Management Company, LLC (NMC), by condemning and stopping the use of 
the two independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) concrete 
pads holding dry spent fuel storage casks on the plant site.
    As the basis for the petition, the Petitioners stated that the 
concrete cask storage pads do not conform with NRC regulations for 
earthquake stability, specifically 10 CFR 72.212(b)(2)(i)(B) and 
72.212(b)(3), and, therefore, pose a hazard in case of an earthquake. 
The Petitioners asserted that the licensee's evaluations of the older 
and newer concrete storage pads did not properly consider the behavior 
of the soil beneath the pads in determining the effects on the storage 
casks as a result of a seismic event.
    On April 26, 2006, the NRC staff's PRB held a teleconference with 
the Petitioners. The teleconference gave the Petitioners an opportunity 
to provide additional information and to clarify issues raised in the 
petition. During the teleconference, the Petitioners requested 
additional time to submit a supplement to the petition, and the PRB 
agreed to the request, as documented in a letter to the Petitioners, 
dated May 4, 2006. However, no supplement was submitted. On June 27, 
2006, the NRC staff informed the Petitioners by letter that the issue 
regarding the seismic response of the older ISFSI pad, and the issue of 
soil amplification for the newer pad, had been previously resolved and 
would not be considered under 10 CFR 2.206. In that same letter, the 
staff informed the Petitioners that the issue regarding the slope 
stability analysis for the newer pad was accepted for review under 10 
CFR 2.206. The transcript of the teleconference and the letters are 
available in ADAMS, as stated above.
    On November 28, 2006, the NRC sent a copy of the proposed 
director's decision to the Petitioners and to the licensee for comment. 
At the request of the Petitioners, the NRC extended the end of the 
comment period from January 5, 2007, to February 2, 2007. The 
Petitioners submitted comments by electronic mail on February 2, 2007. 
The comments and the staff's responses to them are available 
electronically through the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html, under docket number 07200007.
    The Director of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards has determined that the Petitioners' request, to condemn and 
stop the use of the two ISFSI concrete pads holding dry spent fuel 
storage casks at the Palisades site, is denied. The NRC staff has 
concluded that the Petitioners' concerns have been adequately addressed 
by the licensee's revised slope stability evaluation for the newer 
concrete storage pad. The reasons for this decision are explained in 
the director's decision [DD-07-02] pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Section 2.206, the complete text of which 
is available at the Commission's Public Document Room, located at One 
White Flint North, Public File Area O-1F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first 
floor), Rockville, Maryland, and from the ADAMS Public Library 
component on the NRC's Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html 
(the Public Electronic Reading Room).
    A copy of the director's decision will be filed with the Secretary 
of the Commission for the Commission's review in accordance with 10 CFR 
2.206 of the Commission's regulations. As provided for by this 
regulation, 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 20th day of March 2007.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jack R. Strosnider,
Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
 [FR Doc. E7-5433 Filed 3-23-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P