Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 104 / Monday, June 1, 1998 / Notices 29761

example, several licensees informed the

NRC staff that their completion dates

had slipped by 6 months to as much as

3 years. For plants that have completion

action scheduled beyond 1997, the NRC

staff has met with these licensees to

discuss the progress of the licensees’

corrective actions and the extent of

licensee management attention

regarding completion of Thermo-Lag

corrective actions. In addition, the NRC

staff discussed with licensees the

possibility of accelerating their

completion schedules.

Crystal River Unit 3 was one of the

plants that have completion action

scheduled beyond 1997. Based on the

information submitted by FPC in its

April 10, 1998 submittal, the NRC staff

has concluded that the schedule

presented by FPC is reasonable. This

conclusion is based on (1) the amount

of installed Thermo-Lag, (2) the

complexity of the plant-specific fire

barrier configurations and issues, (3) the

need to perform certain plant

modifications during outages as

opposed to those that can be performed

while the plant is at power, and (4)

integration with other significant, but

unrelated issues that FPC is addressing

at its plant. In order to remove

compensatory measures such as fire

watches, it has been determined that

resolution of the Thermo-Lag corrective

actions by FPC must be completed in

accordance with the current FPC

schedule. By letter dated April 23, 1998,

the NRC staff notified FPC of its plan to

incorporate FPC’s schedule commitment

into a requirement by issuance of an

order and requested consent from the

Licensee. By letter dated May 6, 1998,

the Licensee provided its consent to

issuance of a Confirmatory Order.

III

The Licensee’s commitment as set

forth in its letter of May 6, 1998, is

acceptable and is necessary for the NRC

to conclude that public health and

safety are reasonably assured. To

preclude any schedule slippage and to

assure public health and safety, the NRC

staff has determined that the Licensee’s

commitment in its May 6, 1998, letter be

confirmed by this Order. The Licensee

has agreed to this action. Based on the

above, and the Licensee’s consent, this

Order is immediately effective upon

issuance.

IV

Accordingly, pursuant to sections

103, 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, effective

immediately, that:

Florida Power Corporation shall complete

final implementation of Thermo-Lag 330–1

fire barrier corrective actions at Crystal River

Unit 3 described in the Florida Power

Corporation submittal to the NRC dated April

10, 1998, by June 30, 2000.

The Director, Office of Nuclear

Reactor Regulation, may relax or

rescind, in writing, any provisions of

this Confirmatory Order upon a showing

by the Licensee of good cause.

V

Any person adversely affected by this

Confirmatory Order, other than the

Licensee, may request a hearing within

20 days of its issuance. Where good

cause is shown, consideration will be

given to extending 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, and include a

statement of good cause for the

extension. Any request for a hearing

shall be submitted to the Secretary, U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Attention: Chief, Rulemakings and

Adjudications Staff, Washington, DC

20555. 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, to the Deputy

Assistant General Counsel for

Enforcement at the same address, to the

Regional Administrator, NRC Region II,

Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth

Street, SW, Suite 23T85, Atlanta, GA

30303, and to the Licensee. If such a

person requests a hearing, that person

shall set forth with particularity the

manner in which his/her interest is

adversely affected by this Order and

shall address criteria set forth in 10 CFR

2.714(d).

If a hearing is requested by a person

whose interest is adversely affected, the

Commission will issue an Order

designating the time and place of any

such hearing. If a hearing is held, the

issue to be considered at such hearing

shall 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 shall 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 shall

be final when the extension expires if a

hearing request has not been received.

An answer or a request for hearing shall

not stay the immediate effectiveness of

this Order.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 21st day

of May 1998.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Samuel J. Collins,

Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation.

[FR Doc. 98–14389 Filed 5–29–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50–331]

IES Utilities Inc.; Notice of Issuance of

Amendment to Facility Operating

License

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (Commission) has issued

Amendment No. 223 to Facility

Operating License No. DPR–49 issued to

IES Utilities Inc.,(the licensee), which

revised the operating license and the

Technical Specifications for operation

of the Duane Arnold Energy Center

(DAEC), located in Linn County, Iowa.

The amendment is effective as of the

date of issuance and shall be

implemented prior to October 1, 1998.

The amendment modified the

Technical Specifications by replacing

the existing Technical Specifications in

their entirety with a new set of

Improved Technical Specifications

based on NUREG–1433, ‘‘Standard

Technical Specifications, General

Electric Plants BWR/4,’’ Revision 1,

dated April 1995, and on guidance

provided in the Commission’s ‘‘Final

Policy Statement on Technical

Specifications Improvements for

Nuclear Power Reactors,’’ published on

July 22, 1993 (58 FR 39132). The

amendment also modified the license by

adding a new license condition which

established an Appendix B to the

license for additional license

conditions. For this amendment, a

condition was added to Appendix B

describing the relocation of certain

Technical Specification requirements to

licensee controlled documents. In

addition to replacing the Technical

Specifications with the Improved

Technical Specifications, the

amendment revised the combinations of

emergency core cooling systems/

subsystems that may be out of service

and relaxed the required flowrates for

the core spray, the low pressure coolant

injection, and the high pressure coolant

injection systems.

The application for the amendment

complies with the standards and
29762 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 104 / Monday, June 1, 1998 / Notices

requirements of the Atomic Energy Act

of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the

Commission’s rules and regulations.

The Commission has made appropriate

findings as required by the Act and the

Commission’s rules and regulations in

10 CFR Chapter I, which are set forth in

the license amendment.

Notice of Consideration of Issuance of

Amendment to Facility Operating

License and Opportunity for a Hearing

in connection with this action as it

applies to the Improved Technical

Specifications was published in the

Federal Register on July 22, 1997 (62 FR

39283). No request for a hearing or

petition for leave to intervene was filed

following this notice. The Commission

has prepared an Environmental

Assessment related to the action and has

determined not to prepare an

environmental impact statement. Based

upon the environmental assessment, the

Commission has concluded that the

issuance of the amendment will not

have a significant effect on the quality

of the human environment (63 FR

13078, dated March 17, 1998).

Notices of Consideration of Issuance

of Amendment to Facility Operation

License, Proposed No Significant

Hazards Consideration Determination,

and Opportunity for a Hearing in

connection with this action as it applies

to the revised combinations of

emergency core cooling systems/

subsystems that may be out of service

and to the relaxed required flowrates for

the core spray, the low pressure coolant

injection, and the high pressure coolant

injection systems were published in the

Federal Register on December 31, 1997

(62 FR 68306) and February 11, 1998 (63

FR 6986), respectively. No request for a

hearing or petition for leave to intervene

was filed following these notices and no

significant hazards consideration

comments were received.

For further details with respect to the

action see (1) the application for

amendment dated October 30, 1996, as

supplemented by letters dated June 10,

September 5, 17, and 30, October 16,

November 18 and 21, December 8 and

15, 1997, January 2, 5, 12, 22 and 23,

February 10, 26, March 23, 31, and

April 17, 1998, (2) Amendment No. 223

to License No. DPR–49, (3) the

Commission’s related Safety Evaluation,

and (4) the Commission’s

Environmental Assessment. All of these

items are available for public inspection

at the Commission’s Public Document

Room, the Gelman Building, 2120 L

Street NW., Washington, DC, and at the

local public document room located at

the local public document room located

at the Cedar Rapids Public Library, 500

First Street, SE., Cedar Rapids, IA

52401.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd

day of May 1998.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Richard J. Laufer,

Project Manager, Project Directorate III–3,

Division of Reactor Projects, Office of Nuclear

Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 98–14392 Filed 5–29–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50–298]

In the Matter of: Nebraska Public

Power District (Cooper Nuclear

Station); Exemption

I

The Nebraska Public Power District

(the licensee) is the holder of Facility

Operating License No. DRP–46, which

authorizes operation of the Cooper

Nuclear Station. The license provides,

among other things, that the licensee is

subject to all rules, regulations, and

orders of the Commission now or

hereafter in effect.

The facility consists of one boilingwater reactor at the licensee’s site

located in Nemaha County, Nebraska.

II

Section 70.24 of Title 10 of the Code

of Federal Regulations, ‘‘Criticality

Accident Requirements,’’ requires that

each licensee authorized to possess

special nuclear material (SNM) shall

maintain a criticality accident

monitoring system in each area where

such material is handled, used, or

stored. Subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) of

10 CFR 70.24 specify detection and

sensitivity requirements that these

monitors must meet. Subsection (a)(1)

also specifies that all areas subject to

criticality accident monitoring must be

covered by two detectors. Subsection

(a)(3) of 10 CFR 70.24 requires licensees

to maintain emergency procedures for

each area in which this licensed SNM

is handled, used, or stored and provides

that (1) the procedures ensure that all

personnel withdraw to an area of safety

upon the sounding of a criticality

accident monitor alarm, (2) the

procedures must include drills to

familiarize personnel with the

evacuation plan, and (3) the procedures

designate responsible individuals for

determining the cause of the alarm and

placement of radiation survey

instruments in accessible locations for

use in such an emergency. Subsection

(b)(1) of 10 CFR 70.24 requires licensees

to have a means to identify quickly

personnel who have received a dose of

10 rads or more. Subsection (b)(2) of 10

CFR 70.24 requires licensees to

maintain personnel decontamination

facilities, to maintain arrangements for a

physician and other medical personnel

qualified to handle radiation

emergencies, and to maintain

arrangements for the transportation of

contaminated individuals to treatment

facilities outside the site boundary.

Paragraph (c) of 10 CFR 70.24 exempts

Part 50 licensees from the requirements

of paragraph (b) of 10 CFR 70.24 for

SNM used or to be used in the reactor.

Paragraph (d) of 10 CFR 70.24 states that

any licensee who believes that there is

good cause why he should be granted an

exemption from all or part of 10 CFR

70.24 may apply to the Commission for

such an exemption and shall specify the

reasons for the relief requested.

III

The SNM that could be assembled

into a critical mass at Cooper Nuclear

Station is in the form of nuclear fuel; the

quantity of SNM other than fuel that is

stored on site in any given location is

small enough to preclude achieving a

critical mass. The Commission’s

technical staff has evaluated the

possibility of an inadvertent criticality

of the nuclear fuel at Cooper Nuclear

Station, and has determined that it is

extremely unlikely for such an accident

to occur if the licensee meets the

following seven criteria:

1. Only three new assemblies are

allowed out of a shipping cask or

storage rack at one time.

2. The k-effective does not exceed

0.95, at a 95% probability, 95%

confidence level in the event that the

fresh fuel storage racks are filled with

fuel of the maximum permissible U–235

enrichment and flooded with pure

water.

3. If optimum moderation occurs at

low moderator density, then the keffective does not exceed 0.98, at a 95%

probability, 95% confidence level in the

event that the fresh fuel storage racks

are filled with fuel of the maximum

permissible U–235 enrichment and

flooded with a moderator at the density

corresponding to optimum moderation.

4. The k-effective does not exceed

0.95, at a 95% probability, 95%

confidence level in the event that the

spent fuel storage racks are filled with

fuel of the maximum permissible U–235

enrichment and flooded with pure

water.

5. The quantity of forms of special

nuclear material, other than nuclear

fuel, that are stored on site in any given