6638 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 28 / Thursday, February 10, 2000 / Notices

November 26, 1999 (Vol. 64, No. 227, p.

66507) Five comment letters were

received.

DATES: Comments will be accepted until

March 13, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are

invited to submit written comments to

NCUA Clearance Officer or OMB

Reviewer listed below:

Clearance Officer: Mr. James L. Baylen

(703) 518–6411, National Credit Union

Administration, 1775 Duke Street,

Alexandria, Virginia 22314–3428, Fax

No. 703–518–6433, E-mail:

jbaylen@ncua.gov.

OMB Reviewer: Alexander T. Hunt

(202) 395–7860, Office of Management

and Budget, Room 10226, New

Executive Office Building, Washington,

DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Copies of the information collection

requests, with applicable supporting

documentation, may be obtained by

calling the NCUA Clearance Officer,

James L. Baylen, (703) 518–6411.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Proposal

for the following collection of

information:

OMB Number: Not applicable.

Form Number: Not applicable.

Type of Review: New collection.

Title: Survey on Service to People of

Modest Means.

Description: NCUA is considering

policy changes which could result in

substantial impact on credit unions. The

results of the survey will be used to

guide NCUA in the policy making

process.

Respondents: Federal credit unions.

Estimated No. of Respondents/

Recordkeepers: 6,700.

Estimated Burden Hours Per

Response: .5 hours.

Frequency of Response: One-time.

Estimated Total Annual Burden

Hours: 3,350.

Estimated Total Annual Cost:

$55,844.50.

By the National Credit Union

Administration Board on February 3, 2000.

Becky Baker,

Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 00–3039 Filed 2–9–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7535–01–U

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50–255]

Consumers Energy Company; Notice

of Withdrawal of Application for

Amendment to Facility Operating

License

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (the Commission) has

granted the request of Consumers

Energy Company (the licensee) to

withdraw its November 9, 1998,

application for proposed amendment to

Facility Operating License No. DPR–20

for the Palisades Plant, located in

Covert, Michigan.

The proposed amendment would

have revised the Technical

Specifications by deleting the chemical

and volume control system (CVCS)

operability and surveillance

requirements, which the licensee had

incorporated into the facility’s

Operating Requirements Manual (ORM).

In its letter of January 13, 2000, the

licensee stated that the proposed

amendment was no longer needed

because (1) the CVCS repairs anticipated

at the time of the application for

amendment were completed during a

subsequent forced outage, and (2) the

NRC’s subsequent approval of the

Improved Technical Specifications

(Amendment 189, dated November 30,

1999) deleted the CVCS requirements

that the licensee had incorporated into

the ORM.

The Commission had previously

issued a Notice of Consideration of

Issuance of Amendment published in

the Federal Register on December 16,

1998 (63 FR 69337). However, by letter

dated January 13, 2000, the licensee

withdrew the proposed change.

For further details with respect to this

action, see the application for

amendment dated November 9, 1998,

and the licensee’s letter dated January

13, 2000, which withdrew the

application for license amendment. The

above documents are available for

public inspection at the Commission’s

Public Document Room, the Gelman

Building, 2120 L Street, NW.,

Washington, DC, and accessible

electronically through the ADAMS

Public Electronic Reading Room link at

the NRC Web site (http://www.nrc.gov).

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2d day

of February 2000.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Darl S. Hood,

Senior Project Manager, Section1, Project

Directorate III, Division of Licensing Project

Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation.

[FR Doc. 00–3095 Filed 2–9–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

Hydro Resources, Inc.; Notice of

Reconstitution

[Docket No. 40–8968—ML; ASLBP No. 95–

706–01–ML]

Pursuant to the authority contained in

10 CFR §§ 2.721 and 2.1207, the

Presiding Officer in the captioned 10

CFR Part 2, Subpart L proceeding is

hereby replaced by appointing

Administrative Judge Thomas S. Moore

as Presiding Officer in place of

Administrative Judge Peter B. Bloch.

All correspondence, documents and

other material shall be filed with the

Presiding Officer in accordance with 10

CFR § 2.1203 (1997). The address of the

new Presiding Officer is: Administrative

Judge Thomas S. Moore, Atomic Safety

and Licensing Board Panel, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Washington,

DC 20555–0001.

This Board reconstitution order is

issued pursuant to the authority of the

Chief Administrative Judge of the

Atomic Safety and Licensing Board

Panel.

Issued at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day

of February 2000.

G. Paul Bollwerk III,

Chief Administrative Judge, Atomic Safety

and Licensing Board Panel.

[FR Doc. 00–3098 Filed 2–9–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50–315 and 50–316; License

Nos. DPR–58, DPR–74]

Indiana Michigan Power Company

(Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant, Units 1

and 2); Confirmatory Order Modifying

Post-Three Mile Island Requirements

Pertaining to Containment Hydrogen

Monitors

I

Indiana Michigan Power Company

(IM or the licensee) is the holder of

Facility Operating License Nos. DPR–58,

and DPR–74 issued by the Nuclear

Regulatory Commission (NRC or

Commission) pursuant to 10 CFR Part

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 28 / Thursday, February 10, 2000 / Notices 6639

50. The licenses authorize the operation

of Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant (CNP),

Units 1 and 2, located in Berrien

County, Michigan.

II

As a result of the accident at Three

Mile Island, Unit 2 (TMI–2), the NRC

issued NUREG–0737, ‘‘Clarification of

TMI Action Plan Requirements,’’ in

November 1980. Generic Letters 82–05

and 82–10, issued on March 17 and May

5, 1982, respectively, requested

licensees of operating power reactors to

furnish information pertaining to their

implementation of specific TMI Action

Plan items described in NUREG–0737.

Orders were issued to licensees

confirming their commitments made in

response to the generic letters. The

Confirmatory Order that was issued to

IM on March 14, 1983, required the

licensee to implement and maintain the

various TMI Action Plan Items,

including Item II.F.1, Attachment 6

pertaining to monitoring of the

hydrogen concentration in the

containment following a safety

injection.

Significant improvements have been

achieved since the TMI accident in the

areas of understanding risks associated

with nuclear plant operations and

developing better strategies for

managing the response to potential

severe accidents at nuclear power

plants. Recent insights pertaining to

plant risks and severe accident

assessment tools have led the NRC staff

to conclude that some TMI Action Plan

items can be revised without reducing,

and perhaps enhancing, the ability of

licensees to respond to severe accidents.

The NRC’s efforts to understand the

risks associated with commercial

nuclear power plant operations more

effectively and to reduce unnecessary

regulatory burden on licensees and the

public have prompted the NRC’s

decision to revise the post-TMI

requirement to monitor containment

hydrogen concentration.

The Confirmatory Order of March 14,

1983, imposed requirements upon the

licensee to have continuous monitoring

of containment hydrogen concentration

provided in the control room, as

described by TMI Action Plan Item

II.F.1, Attachment 6. Information about

hydrogen concentration supports the

licensee’s assessments of the degree of

core damage and whether a threat to the

integrity of the containment may be

posed by hydrogen gas combustion. TMI

Action Item II.F.1, Attachment 6, states:

If an indication is not available at all times,

continuous indication and recording shall be

functioning within 30 minutes of the

initiation of safety injection.

This requirement to have monitoring

of the hydrogen concentration in the

containment within 30 minutes

following the start of safety injection has

defined both design and operating

characteristics for hydrogen monitoring

systems at nuclear power plants since

the implementation of NUREG–0737. In

addition, the technical specifications of

most nuclear power plants and NRC

regulation 10 CFR 50.44, ‘‘Standards for

combustible gas control system in lightwater-cooled power reactors,’’ require

availability of hydrogen monitors.

By letter dated December 22, 1999, IM

used the Oconee and Arkansas Nuclear

One confirmatory orders of November

29, 1999, and September 28, 1998,

respectively, as guidance to request

relief for the two CNP units from the

requirement to have indication of

hydrogen concentration in the

containment within 30 minutes of the

initiation of safety injection.

Specifically, the licensee requested that

risk-informed insights be used to

determine the functional requirements

for monitoring of containment hydrogen

concentration that would allow

extending the monitoring requirement

to more than 30 minutes following

initiation of safety injection. The basis

for this request was that the additional

time would allow the operators to

complete their initial accident

assessment and mitigation duties before

redirecting their attention to the

relatively longer-term recovery actions,

such as actuating the hydrogen

recombiners, that are not needed for at

least 24 hours.

Based on the staff’s evaluation of the

justification provided by the licensee,

and improved understanding of insights

pertaining to plant risks, severe accident

assessment, and emergency planning

since the TMI–2 accident, the staff has

concluded that the licensee’s request

should be approved. Giving the licensee

the flexibility and responsibility for

determining the appropriate time limit

for establishing monitoring of

containment hydrogen concentration

will preclude control room personnel

from being distracted from various

important tasks in the early phases of

accident mitigation, while allowing

cognizant personnel, mostly outside the

control room, to be aware of hydrogen

concentration based on a risk-informed

functional assessment at a reasonable

time following an accident. Because the

appropriate balance between control

room activities and longer-term

management of the response to severe

accidents can best be determined by the

licensee, the NRC staff has determined

that the licensee may elect to adopt a

risk-informed functional requirement in

lieu of the current 30-minute time limit

for establishing monitoring of the

hydrogen concentration as imposed by

the Order dated March 14, 1983, and as

described by TMI Action Item II.F.1,

Attachment 6, in NUREG–0737. The

appropriate functional requirement is as

follows:

Procedures shall be established for

ensuring that monitoring of hydrogen

concentration in the containment atmosphere

is available in a sufficiently timely manner to

support the implementation of the Donald C.

Cook Nuclear Plant Emergency Plan (and

related procedures) and related activities

such as guidance for severe accident

management. Hydrogen monitoring will be

initiated based on: (1) the appropriate

priority for establishing monitoring of

hydrogen concentration within the

containment in relation to other activities in

the control room, (2) the use of the

monitoring of hydrogen concentration by

decision makers for severe accident

management and emergency response, and

(3) insights from experience or evaluation

pertaining to possible scenarios that result in

significant generation of hydrogen that would

be indicative of core damage or a potential

threat to the integrity of the containment

building. Affected licensing basis documents

and other related documents will be

appropriately revised and/or updated in

accordance with applicable NRC regulations.

The licensee’s Post Accident

Monitoring Instrumentation Technical

Specifications and 10 CFR 50.44 require

the licensee to maintain the ability to

monitor hydrogen concentration in the

containment. However, the details

pertaining to design and manner of

operation of the hydrogen monitoring

system are determined by the licensee.

III

Accordingly, pursuant to Sections

103, 104b, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182, and

186 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954,

as amended, and the Commission’s

regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR

Part 50, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

NRC License Nos. DPR–58 and DPR–

74 are modified as follows:

The licensee may elect to either maintain

the 30-minute time limit for monitoring of

hydrogen in the containment, as described by

TMI Action Plan Item II.F.1, Attachment 6,

in NUREG–0737 and required by the

Confirmatory Order of March 14, 1983, or

modify the time limit in the manner specified

in Section II of this Order.

The Director, Office of Nuclear

Reactor Regulation, may, in writing,

relax or rescind any of the above

conditions upon demonstration by the

licensee of good cause.

IV

Any person adversely affected by this

Confirmatory Order, other than the

licensee, may request a hearing within

6640 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 28 / Thursday, February 10, 2000 / Notices

20 days of its issuance. Where good

cause is shown, consideration will be

given to extend the time to request a

hearing. A request for extension of time

must be made in writing to the Director,

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation,

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Washington, DC 20555–0001, and

include a statement of good cause for

the extension. Any request for a hearing

shall be submitted to the Secretary of

the Commission, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Chief,

Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff,

Washington, DC 20555–0001. Copies of

the hearing request shall also be sent to

the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, DC 20555–

0001, to the Deputy Assistant General

Counsel for Hearings and Enforcement

at the same address, to the Regional

Administrator, NRC Region III, 801

Warrenville Road, Lisle, IL 60532–4351,

and to David W. Jenkins, Esquire,

Indiana Michigan Power Company,

Nuclear Generation Group, One Cook

Place, Bridgman, MI 49106, attorney for

the licensee. If such a person requests a

hearing, that person will set forth with

particularity the manner in which his

interest is adversely affected by this

Order and will address the criteria set

forth in 10 CFR 2.714(d).

If the hearing is requested by a person

whose interest is adversely affected, the

Commission will issue an Order

designating the time and place of any

hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to

be considered at such hearing will be

whether this Confirmatory Order should

be sustained.

In the absence of any request for

hearing, or written approval of an

extension of time in which to request a

hearing, the provisions specified in

Section IV above will be final 20 days

from the date of this Order without

further order or proceedings. If an

extension of time for requesting a

hearing has been approved, the

provisions specified in Section IV will

be final when the extension expires if a

hearing request has not been received.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day

of February 2000.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Samuel J. Collins,

Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation.

[FR Doc. 00–3094 Filed 2–9–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50–423]

Northeast Nuclear Energy Company, et

al. (Millstone Nuclear Power Station,

Unit 3); Order Approving Application

Regarding Proposed Merger

(Acquisition of CMP Group, Inc., by

Energy East Corporation)

I

Northeast Nuclear Energy Company is

authorized to act as agent for the joint

owners of the Millstone Nuclear Power

Station, Unit 3 (Millstone 3), and has

exclusive responsibility and control

over the physical construction,

operation, and maintenance of the

facility as reflected in Facility Operating

License No. NPF–49. Central Maine

Power Company (Central Maine), one of

the joint owners, holds a 2.5-percent

possessory interest in Millstone 3. The

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

(NRC) issued Facility Operating License

No. NPF–49 on January 31, 1986,

pursuant to Part 50 of Title 10 of the

Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR

Part 50). The facility is located in New

London County, on the southern coast

of the State of Connecticut.

II

By letter dated October 6, 1999,

through counsel, Central Maine

informed the NRC of a proposed merger

involving the acquisition of Central

Maine’s parent, CMP Group, Inc. (CMP),

by Energy East Corporation (Energy

East). Central Maine requested that the

NRC determine that the proposed

merger and acquisition would not, in

fact, constitute a transfer of Facility

Operating License NPF–49 for Millstone

3, to the extent held by Central Maine

in regard to Central Maine’s 2.5-percent

ownership interest in Millstone 3.

Central Maine also requested if the NRC

does find that the proposed acquisition

of CMP would constitute an indirect

transfer of Facility Operating License

NPF–49 to the extent it is held by

Central Maine, that the NRC consent to

the indirect transfer of Central Maine’s

license to Energy East. The NRC

determined that an indirect transfer of

the license, to the extent that it is held

by Central Maine, would be involved

and that approval pursuant to 10 CFR

50.80 would be required. The NRC

informed Central Maine of this decision

in a letter dated November 15, 1999.

III

Central Maine is an electric utility

primarily engaged in the transmission,

sale, and distribution of electricity in

the State of Maine and is incorporated

in Maine. CMP holds all the common

stock of Central Maine and also is

incorporated in the State of Maine.

Energy East is an investor-owned

holding company incorporated in New

York. Through its subsidiaries, Energy

East is an energy delivery, products, and

services company with operations in

New York and several other

northeastern States.

According to Central Maine’s October

6, 1999, submittal (the ‘‘application’’),

on June 14, 1999, CMP and Energy East

signed a definitive merger agreement for

the acquisition of CMP by Energy East.

To accomplish the acquisition, EE

Merger Corporation, a Maine

corporation that is a wholly owned

subsidiary of Energy East, will merge

with and into CMP, with CMP being the

surviving corporation. Upon completion

of the merger, CMP will become a

wholly owned subsidiary of Energy

East, with Energy East acquiring all of

CMP’s common stock. CMP will

continue its corporate existence under

the laws of the State of Maine, and CMP

will continue to own all of Central

Maine’s common stock. The application

notes, however, that in the event that

the Securities and Exchange

Commission does not permit Energy

East to maintain CMP as an intermediate

holding company, Energy East plans to

hold Central Maine directly.

Whether Central Maine becomes

directly or indirectly held by Energy

East, Central Maine will continue to

hold and to be the licensee for its 2.5-

percent ownership interest in Millstone

3. In the case of either direct or indirect

ownership by Energy East, an indirect

transfer of the license to the extent it is

held by Central Maine will occur as a

result of the merger.

Approval of the indirect license

transfer was requested pursuant to 10

CFR 50.80. Notice of the application for

approval and an opportunity for a

hearing was published in the Federal

Register on November 16, 1999 (64 FR

62230). No hearing requests or written

comments were filed.

Under 10 CFR 50.80, no license, or

any right thereunder, shall be

transferred, directly or indirectly,

through transfer of control of the

license, unless the Commission shall

give its consent in writing. Upon review

of the information in the application

and other information before the

Commission, the NRC staff has

determined that the subject merger will

not affect the qualifications of Central

Maine to hold the Millstone 3 license to

the extent currently held, and that the

indirect transfer of the license, to the

extent effected by the proposed merger,