[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 197 (Friday, October 10, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53031-53032]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-26992]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-282, 50-306, and 72-10]


Northern States Power Company, Prairie Island Nuclear Plant, 
Units 1 and 2 Prairie Island Independent Spent Fuel Storage 
Installation; Receipt of Petition For Director's Decision Under 10 CFR 
2.206

    Notice is hereby given that by a Petition filed pursuant to 10 CFR 
2.206 on August 26, 1997, Prairie Island Coalition (Petitioner) 
requested that the NRC (1) suspend Northern States Power Company's (the 
licensee) Materials License No. SNM-2506 for cause under Section 50.100 
of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR 50.100) until 
all material issues regarding the maintenance, unloading, and 
decommissioning processes and procedures, as described in the Petition 
and a similar Petition filed on May 28, 1997, by the Prairie Island 
Indian Community, have been adequately addressed and resolved, and 
until the maintenance and unloading processes and procedures in 
question are safely demonstrated under the scrutiny of independent 
third-party review of the TN-40 cask seal maintenance and unloading 
procedure; (2) determine that the licensee violated 10 CFR 72.122(f) by 
using a cask design that requires periodic seal maintenance and 
emergency seal replacement that must be performed in the plant storage 
pool; (3) determine that the licensee violated 10 CFR 72.122(h) by 
using a cask that must be placed into the pool for necessary 
maintenance and/or unloading procedures; (4) determine that the 
licensee violated 10 CFR 72.122(l) by loading casks and storing them 
before the licensee had procedures adequate to safely unload and 
decommission the TN-40 casks; (5) determine that the licensee violated 
10 CFR 72.130 by using the TN-40 cask and failing to make provisions 
capable of accomplishing the removal of radioactive waste and 
contaminated materials at the time the independent spent fuel storage 
installation (ISFSI) is permanently decommissioned; (6) determine that 
the licensee violated 10 CFR 72.11 by failing to provide and include 
complete and accurate material information regarding maintenance and 
unloading of TN-40 casks in the application for the Prairie Island 
ISFSI and in subsequent submissions regarding cask maintenance and 
unloading issues; (7) determine that the licensee violated 10 CFR 72.12 
by deliberately and knowingly submitting incomplete and inaccurate 
material information regarding maintenance and unloading of TN-40 casks 
in the application for the Prairie Island ISFSI and in subsequent 
submissions regarding cask maintenance and unloading issues; (8) 
require that the licensee pay a substantial penalty for each cask 
loaded in violation of NRC regulations; (9) administer such other 
sanctions for the alleged violations of NRC regulations as the NRC 
deems necessary and appropriate; (10) provide Petitioner the 
opportunity to participate in a public review of maintenance, 
unloading, and decommissioning processes and procedures in question and 
an opportunity to comment on draft

[[Page 53032]]

findings after investigation by the NRC; (11) order modification of the 
licensee's Technical Specifications for the Prairie Island ISFSI to 
ensure a demonstrated ability to in fact safely maintain, unload, and 
decommission TN-40 casks; (12) review the licensee's processes and 
procedures for maintenance, unloading, and decommissioning, and if the 
licensee does not possess capability to unload casks, order the 
licensee to build a ``Hot Shop'' for air unloading of casks and 
transfer of the fuel; (13) initiate a formal rulemaking proceeding to 
solicit information and review current information regarding thermal 
shock and corrosion inherent in dry cask storage and usage and to 
define the parameters of degradation acceptable under 10 CFR 72.122(h); 
(14) initiate a formal rulemaking proceeding to define the parameters 
of retrievability required under 10 CFR 72.122(l); and (15) initiate a 
formal rulemaking proceeding for amendment of current licenses and 
rules for prospective licensing proceedings to require demonstration of 
a safe cask unloading ability before a cask may be used at an ISFSI.
    The Petition has been referred to the Director of the Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation. As provided by 10 CFR 2.206, further action 
will be taken within a reasonable time. Regarding the requests for 
formal rulemaking proceedings as detailed in Items 13, 14, and 15 in 
the Petition, the NRC staff is reviewing these requests in accordance 
with 10 CFR 2.802, ``Petition for Rulemaking.''
    A copy of the Petition is available for inspection at the 
Commission's Public Document Room at 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, 
DC, and at the local public document room located at the Minneapolis 
Public Library, Technology and Science Department, 300 Nicollet Mall, 
Minneapolis, MN.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of October 1997.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 97-26992 Filed 10-9-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P