[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 2, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30025-30026]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-14518]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-219]


GPU Nuclear Inc., et al., Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating 
Station; Confirmatory Order Modifying License; Effective Immediately

I

    GPU Nuclear Inc., (GPUN or the Licensee) is the holder of Facility 
Operating License No. DRP-16, which authorizes operation of Oyster 
Creek Nuclear Generating Station, located in Ocean County, New Jersey.

II

    The staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has been 
concerned that Thermo-Lag 330-1 fire barrier systems installed by 
licensees may not provide the level of fire endurance intended and that 
licensees that use Thermo-Lag 330-1 fire barriers may not be meeting 
regulatory

[[Page 30026]]

requirements. During the 1992 to 1994 timeframe, the NRC staff issued 
Generic Letter (GL) 92-08, ``Thermo-Lag 330-1 Fire Barriers'' and 
subsequent requests for additional information that requested licensees 
to submit plans and schedules for resolving the Thermo-Lag issue. The 
NRC staff has obtained and reviewed all licensees' corrective plans and 
schedules. The staff is concerned that some licensees may not be making 
adequate progress toward resolving the plant-specific issues, and that 
some implementation schedules may be either too tenuous or too 
protracted. For 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.
    GPUN was one of the licensees with which the NRC staff held a 
meeting. At this meeting, the NRC staff reviewed with GPUN the schedule 
of Thermo-Lag corrective actions. Subsequent to that meeting GPUN 
submitted by letter dated October 1, 1997, a supplement to their 
integrated schedule which changed the implementation schedule of 
Thermo-lag corrective actions. Based on the information submitted by 
GPUN, the NRC staff has concluded that the schedule presented by GPUN 
is reasonable. This conclusion is based on the (1) 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 GPUN 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 
GPUN must be completed in accordance with the current GPUN schedule. By 
letter dated April 27, 1998, the NRC staff notified GPUN of its plan to 
incorporate GPUN's schedule commitment into a requirement by issuance 
of an order and requested consent from the Licensee. By letter dated 
May 11, 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 11, 
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 11, 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:

    GPUN shall complete final implementation of Thermo-Lag 330-1 
fire barrier corrective actions at Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating 
Station described in the GPUN submittal to the NRC dated October 1, 
1997. The scheduled completion date for all corrective actions is 
Refueling Outage 18. Overall work package closeout will be completed 
by December 31, 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, D.C. 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, Rulemaking and Adjudications 
Staff, Washington, D.C. 20555. Copies of the hearing request shall also 
be sent to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555, to the Deputy 
Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement at the same address, to the 
Regional Administrator, NRC Region I, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, 475 Allendale Rd., King of Prussia, PA 19406-1415, 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 22nd day of May 1998.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 98-14518 Filed 6-1-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P