Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Notices 10885

allow interested parties to attend, and

the NRC staff will allocate time to

discuss issues with the public following

the meeting with the licensee.

The NRC staff agrees with the

Petitioner that learning from experience

is an essential part of improving the

safety of nuclear power plant activities,

including those associated with dry cask

storage of spent nuclear fuel. This

principle is reflected in the regulatory

requirements pertaining to

preoperational testing of dry cask

storage activities, as well as various

provisions of NRC-approved quality

assurance programs. The issuance of

Bulletin 96–04 and the CALs for

licensees using VSC–24 casks is another

example of the NRC staff’s efforts to

ensure that applicable operating

experience is incorporated into

procedures at facilities licensed by the

NRC. In this case, the licensees using

the VSC–24 cask revised procedures to

address the technical concerns

identified after the event at Point Beach

and agreed to defer cask operations

pending the NRC’s review of responses

to the bulletin and confirmation of

corrective actions.

As previously mentioned, the licensee

for Arkansas Nuclear One loaded VSC–

24 casks following the NRC staff’s

determination that the licensee had

satisfactorily completed the

commitments documented in the CAL.

On the basis of reviews and inspections

performed to verify corrective actions

associated with the bulletin, in

combination with reviews performed for

cask certification and previous

inspections of preoperational testing

and other aspects of the licensee’s dry

cask storage program, the NRC staff

determined that the licensee for

Arkansas Nuclear One could perform

either cask loading or unloading

operations without undue risk to the

health and safety of the public or its

own personnel. The NRC staff, through

reviews and inspections to verify

corrective actions associated with NRC

Bulletin 96–04, must have confidence in

the procedures implemented by the

licensee for Point Beach before the NRC

permits that licensee to resume loading

or unloading of VSC–24 casks. The staff

must also obtain the necessary

confidence that the licensee for

Palisades has implemented the

corrective actions related to NRC

Bulletin 96–04 as well as the issues

included in the NRC action plan before

permitting the licensee to resume

loading or unloading VSC–24 casks.

Thus, only after resolution of the

issues identified in NRC Bulletin 96–04

and other questions that may arise

during the inspections of the licensees’

revised procedures at Point Beach and

Palisades, will the NRC permit them to

unload casks. As part of its review, the

NRC staff will consider matters such as

the dry-run exercises licensees

performed to verify key aspects of

unloading procedures, as well as

licensees’ actual experience in the

loading and unloading of transportation

casks, loading of storage casks, handling

of spent fuel assemblies under various

conditions, and performing relevant

maintenance and engineering activities

associated with reactor facilities. Given

that the NRC staff will not permit

unloading of any casks unless it obtains

reasonable assurance of each licensee’s

ability to do so safely, the NRC does not

have reason to require unloading of

MSB #4 at Palisades before allowing

resumption of normal activities under

the general licenses at Arkansas Nuclear

One, Point Beach, or Palisades.

The Petitioner’s request is, therefore,

denied.

IV. Conclusion

The Petitioner requested that the NRC

prohibit loading of VSC–24 casks at any

nuclear site until MSB #4 at the

Palisades plant has been unloaded and

the experience evaluated for potential

safety concerns. Each of the claims by

the Petitioner has been reviewed. I

conclude that, for the reasons discussed

above, no adequate basis exists for

granting Petitioner’s request for

suspension of the licensees’ use of the

general licenses for dry cask storage of

spent nuclear fuel at Palisades, Point

Beach, or Arkansas Nuclear One until

the MSB at Palisades has been unloaded

and the experience evaluated for

potential safety improvements.

A copy of this decision will be filed

with the Secretary of the Commission

for the Commission to review in

accordance with 10 CFR 2.206(c).

As provided by this regulation, this

decision will constitute the final action

of the Commission 25 days after

issuance, unless the Commission, on its

own motion, institutes a review of the

decision within that time.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day

of March 1997.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Samuel J. Collins,

Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation.

[FR Doc. 97–5852 Filed 3–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL

MANAGEMENT

The National Partnership Council;

Meeting

AGENCY: Office of Personnel

Management.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

TIME AND DATE: 9:30 a.m., March 21,

1997.

PLACE: Sheraton Premiere Hotel at

Tyson’s Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike,

Vienna, Virginia 22182.

STATUS: This meeting will be open to the

public. Seating will be available on a

first-come, first-served basis.

Individuals with special access needs

wishing to attend should contact OPM

at the number shown below to obtain

appropriate accommodations.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: The

National Partnership Council (NPC) will

receive a briefing on the Blair House

Papers, President Clinton’s plan for

reinvention. Also, there will be a followup presentation on the NPC Facilitation

Project plan for working with labormanagement partnerships that are facing

difficulties, and a presentation by the

Federal Managers Association.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Michael Cushing, Director, Center for

Partnership and Labor-Management

Relations, Office of Personnel

Management, Theodore Roosevelt

Building, 1900 E Street, NW., Room

7H28, Washington, DC 20415–0001,

(202) 606–0010.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The date

and location of the Council’s March

meeting was chosen to coincide with

the Federal Managers Association’s

(FMA) 59th annual national convention,

which meets March 20–26, 1997 at the

Sheraton Premiere Hotel at Tyson’s

Corner in Vienna, Virginia. The

Council’s meeting is scheduled to take

place at the start of FMA’s convention.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: We invite

interested persons and organizations to

submit written comments. Mail or

deliver your comments to Michael

Cushing at the address shown above. To

be considered at the March 21 meeting,

written comments should be received by

March 17.

Office of Personnel Management.

James B. King,

Director.

[FR Doc. 97–5834 Filed 3–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6325–01–M