Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 104 / Monday, June 1, 1998 / Notices 29763

area is less than the quantity necessary

for a critical mass.

6. Radiation monitors, as required by

General Design Criterion 63, are

provided in fuel storage and handling

areas to detect excessive radiation levels

and to initiate appropriate safety

actions.

7. The maximum nominal U–235

enrichment is limited to 5.0 weight

percent.

By letter dated February 23, 1998, the

licensee requested an exemption from

10 CFR 70.24. In this request the

licensee addressed the seven criteria

given above. The Commission’s

technical staff has reviewed the

licensee’s submittals and has

determined that Cooper Nuclear Station

meets the applicable criteria. Criteria 2

and 3 are not applicable to the Cooper

Nuclear Station since the fresh fuel

storage racks are not currently in use

and administrative controls prevent

their use. Therefore, the staff has

determined that it is extremely unlikely

for an inadvertent criticality to occur in

SNM handling or storage areas at

Cooper Nuclear Station.

The purpose of the criticality

monitors required by 10 CFR 70.24 is to

ensure that if a criticality were to occur

during the handling of SNM, personnel

would be alerted to that fact and would

take appropriate action. The staff has

determined that it is extremely unlikely

that such an accident could occur;

furthermore, the licensee has radiation

monitors, as required by General Design

Criterion 63, in fuel storage and

handling areas. These monitors will

alert personnel to excessive radiation

levels and allow them to initiate

appropriate safety actions. The low

probability of an inadvertent criticality,

together with the licensee’s adherence

to General Design Criterion 63,

constitute good cause for granting an

exemption to the requirements of 10

CFR 70.24.

IV

The Commission has determined that,

pursuant to 10 CFR 70.14, this

exemption is authorized by law, will not

endanger life or property or the common

defense and security, and is otherwise

in the public interest. Therefore, the

Commission hereby grants the Nebraska

Public Power District an exemption

from the requirements of 10 CFR 70.24.

Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the

Commission has determined that the

granting of this exemption will have no

significant impact on the environment

(63 FR 28012).

This exemption is effective upon

issuance.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd

day of May 1998.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Samuel J. Collins,

Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation.

[FR Doc. 98–14387 Filed 5–29–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50–259, 50–260 and 50–296]

Tennessee Valley Authority; Notice of

Consideration of Issuance of

Amendment to Facility Operating

Licenses and Opportunity for a

Hearing

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC, the Commission) is

considering issuance of an amendment

to Facility Operating License Nos. DPR–

33, DPR–52 and DPR–68 issued to the

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA or the

licensee) for operation of the Browns

Ferry Nuclear Plant (Browns Ferry,

BFN), Units 1, 2 and 3, located in

Limestone County, Alabama.

Originally, in a letter dated September

6, 1996, the licensee proposed changes

for a full conversion from the current

Technical Specifications (TS) to a set of

TS based on NUREG–1433, Revision 1,

‘‘Standard Technical Specifications for

General Electric Plants, BWR/4,’’ dated

April 1995. NUREG–1433 has been

developed through working groups

composed of both NRC staff members

and the BWR/4 owners and has been

endorsed by the staff as part of an

industry-wide initiative to standardize

and improve TS. As part of this

submittal, the licensee applied the

criteria contained in the Commission’s

‘‘Final Policy Statement on Technical

Specification Improvements for Nuclear

Power Reactors (Final Policy

Statement),’’ published in the Federal

Register on July 22, 1993 (58 FR 39132),

to the current Browns Ferry TS, and,

using NUREG–1433 as a basis,

developed a proposed set of improved

TS for BFN. The criteria in the final

policy statement were subsequently

added to 10 CFR 50.36, ‘‘Technical

Specifications,’’ in a rule change which

was published in the Federal Register

(FR) on July 19, 1996 (60 FR 36953) and

became effective on August 18, 1995. In

addition to the above changes related to

conversion of the current TS to be

similar to the Improved Standard

Technical Specifications (ISTS) in

NUREG 1433, the licensee proposed

three less restrictive changes that are not

considered within the scope of the

normal ISTS conversion process. These

proposed additional changes would (1)

allow two Residual Heat Removal (RHR)

Low Pressure Coolant Injection (LPCI)

pumps (two in one loop or one in both

loops) to be inoperable for 7 days

provided other low pressure emergency

core cooling system (ECCS) pumps are

operable. Current TS requirements

allow only one LPCI pump to be

inoperable, and (2) require only two

ECCS subsystems to be operable during

shutdown. The current TS, which

define subsystems in the same manner

as the ISTS, require three subsystems to

be operable, and (3) reduce the number

of RHR Service Water pumps required

to be operable under certain conditions.

The licensee’s proposed changes in its

application dated September 6, 1996,

including the three additional changes,

were originally noticed on October 23,

1996 (61 FR 55026).

By letters dated June 6, and December

11, 1996, April 11, May 1, August 14,

October 15, November 5 and 14,

December 3, 4, 15, 22, 23, 29, and 30,

1997, January 23, March 12 and 13,

April 16, 20, and 28, May 7, 14, and 19,

1998, the licensee provided

supplemental information, and

proposed additional changes. Some of

these additional changes were ‘‘less

restrictive and plant specific changes’’

that were not included in the original

notice. They are addressed in this

notice. Other changes are related to

conversion of the current TS to those

similar to the ISTS in NUREG 1433 and

are considered to be within the scope of

original FR notice dated October 23,

1996, and therefore, are not addressed

in this notice.

The additional ‘‘less restrictive and

plant specific changes’’ involve: (1)

plant-specific application of generically

approved methodology supporting

extended instrument surveillance

intervals and allowed outage times, (2)

BFN’s operating practice to treat

secondary containment as a single zone

rather than three independent zones for

containment isolation, (3) TS changes to

support installation of a Power Range

Neutron Monitoring System, Average

Power Range Monitor and Rod Block

Monitor TS improvements, and the

Maximum Extended Load Line Limit

analysis, (4) revising the current TS

2.02, consistent with ISTS, to specify

that reactor vessel water level should be

greater than the top of the active

irradiated fuel, instead of specifying

actual water level, (5) proposing an ISTS

to reflect plant-specific design condition

that excludes average U–235 enrichment

of 4.5 weight percent, and (6) TS

changes to allow spiral offload

procedures and adopt a revision to

surveillance requirement 3.3.1.2.4 Note
29764 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 104 / Monday, June 1, 1998 / Notices

2 for count rate verification during

spiral loading. Before issuance of the proposed

license amendments, the Commission

will have made findings required by the

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended

(the Act) and the Commission’s

regulations. By June 1, 1998, the licensee may file

a request for a hearing with respect to

issuance of the amendment to the

subject facility operating license and

any person whose interest may be

affected by this proceeding and who

wishes to participate as a party in the

proceeding must file a written request

for a hearing and a petition for leave to

intervene. Requests for a hearing and a

petition for leave to intervene shall be

filed in accordance with the

Commission’s ‘‘Rules of Practice for

Domestic Licensing Proceedings’’ in 10

CFR Part 2. Interested persons should

consult a current copy of 10 CFR 2.714

which is available 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 Athens

Public Library, 405 E. South Street,

Athens, Alabama. If a request for a

hearing or petition for leave to intervene

is filed by the above date, the

Commission or an Atomic Safety and

Licensing Board, designated by the

Commission or by the Chairman of the

Atomic Safety and Licensing Board

Panel, will rule on the request and/or

petition; and the Secretary or the

designated Atomic Safety and Licensing

Board will issue a notice of hearing or

an appropriate order. As required by 10 CFR 2.714, a

petition for leave to intervene shall set

forth with particularity the interest of

the petitioner in the proceeding, and

how that interest may be affected by the

results of the proceeding. The petition

should specifically explain the reasons

why intervention should be permitted

with particular reference to the

following factors: (1) The nature of the

petitioner’s right under the Act to be

made party to the proceeding; (2) the

nature and extent of the petitioner’s

property, financial, or other interest in

the proceeding; and (3) the possible

effect of any order which may be

entered in the proceeding on the

petitioner’s interest. The petition should

also identify the specific aspect(s) of the

subject matter of the proceeding as to

which petitioner wishes to intervene.

Any person who has filed a petition for

leave to intervene or who has been

admitted as a party may amend the

petition without requesting leave of the

Board up to 15 days prior to the first

prehearing conference scheduled in the

proceeding, but such an amended

petition must satisfy the specificity

requirements described above. Not later than 15 days prior to the first

prehearing conference scheduled in the

proceeding, a petitioner shall file a

supplement to the petition to intervene

which must include a list of the

contentions which are sought to be

litigated in the matter. Each contention

must consist of a specific statement of

the issue of law or fact to be raised or

controverted. In addition, the petitioner

shall provide a brief explanation of the

bases of the contention and a concise

statement of the alleged facts or expert

opinion which support the contention

and on which the petitioner intends to

rely in proving the contention at the

hearing. The petitioner must also

provide references to those specific

sources and documents of which the

petitioner is aware and on which the

petitioner intends to rely to establish

those facts or expert opinion. Petitioner

must provide sufficient information to

show that a genuine dispute exists with

the applicant on a material issue of law

or fact. Contentions shall be limited to

matters within the scope of the

amendment under consideration. The

contention must be one which, if

proven, would entitle the petitioner to

relief. A petitioner who fails to file such

a supplement which satisfies these

requirements with respect to at least one

contention will not be permitted to

participate as a party. Those permitted to intervene become

parties to the proceeding, subject to any

limitations in the order granting leave to

intervene, and have the opportunity to

participate fully in the conduct of the

hearing, including the opportunity to

present evidence and cross-examine

witnesses.

A request for a hearing or a petition

for leave to intervene must be filed with

the Secretary of the Commission, U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Washington, DC 20555–0001, Attention:

Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, or

may be delivered to the Commission’s

Public Document Room, the Gelman

Building, 2120 L Street, NW.,

Washington, DC, by the above date. A

copy of the petition should also be sent

to the Office of the General Counsel,

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Washington, DC 20555–0001, and to

General Counsel, Tennessee Valley

Authority, 400 West Summit Drive, ET

10H, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902,

attorney for the licensee. Nontimely filings of petitions for

leave to intervene, amended petitions,

supplemental petitions and/or requests

for hearing will not be entertained

absent a determination by the

Commission, the presiding officer or the

presiding Atomic Safety and Licensing

Board that the petition and/or request

should be granted based upon a

balancing of the factors specified in 10

CFR 2.714(a)(1) (i)–(v) and 2.714(d).

If a request for a hearing is received,

the Commission’s staff may issue the

amendment after it completes its

technical review and prior to the

completion of any required hearing if it

publishes a further notice for public

comment of its proposed finding of no

significant hazards consideration in

accordance with 10 CFR 50.91 and

50.92. For further details with respect to

this action, see the application for

amendments dated September 6, 1996

as supplemented June 6, and December

11, 1996, April 11, May 1, August 14,

October 15, November 5 and 14,

December 3, 4, 15, 22, 23, 29, and 30,

1997, January 23, March 12 and 13,

April 16, 20, and 28, May 7, 14, and 19,

1998, which 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 Athens Public Library,

405 E. South Street, Athens, Alabama.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day

of May 1998.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

L. Raghavan,

Senior Project Manager, Project Directorate

II–3, Division of Reactor Projects—I/II, Office

of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 98–14388 Filed 5–29–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Rel. No. IC–23204; File No. 812–10964]

Monarch Life Insurance Company, et

al.

May 22, 1998.

AGENCY: Securities and Exchange

Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’).

ACTION: Notice of application for an

order under Section 26(b) of the

Investment Company Act of 1940

(‘‘1940 Act’’).

SUMMARY OF APPLICATION: Applicants

seek an order approving the substitution

of units of certain series of Merrill

Lynch Fund of Stripped (‘‘Zero’’) U.S.

Treasury Securities, Series B through G

(‘‘ML Fund’’) for units of certain series

of the Oppenheimer Zero Coupon U.S.

Treasury Trust, Series A through F

(‘‘Oppenheimer Trust’’) held by Variable

Account B to fund certain life insurance

policies (‘‘Policies’’) issued by Monarch

Life.