35618 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 125 /Tuesday, June 30, 1998 / Notices

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.

If a hearing is requested, the

Commission will make a final

determination on the issue of no

significant hazards consideration. The

final determination will serve to decide

when the hearing is held.

If the final determination is that the

amendment request involves no

significant hazards consideration, the

Commission may issue the amendment

and make it immediately effective,

notwithstanding the request for a

hearing. Any hearing held would take

place after issuance of the amendment.

If the final determination is that the

amendment request involves a

significant hazards consideration, any

hearing held would take place before

the issuance of any amendment.

Normally, the Commission will not

issue the amendment until the

expiration of the 30-day notice period.

However, should circumstances change

during the notice period such that

failure to act in a timely way would

result, for example, in derating or

shutdown of the facility, the

Commission may issue the license

amendment before the expiration of the

30-day notice period, provided that its

final determination is that the

amendment involves no significant

hazards consideration. The final

determination will consider all public

and State comments received. Should

the Commission take this action, it will

publish in the Federal Register a notice

of issuance and provide for opportunity

for a hearing after issuance. The

Commission expects that the need to

take this action will occur very

infrequently.

A request for a hearing and a petition

for leave to intervene that seeks to

invoke the hybrid hearing procedures in

accordance with this notice 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 Mr. Nicholas S.

Reynolds, Winston & Strawn, 1400 L

Street, NW., attorney for the licensee.

Untimely 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).

For further details with respect to this

action, see the application for

amendment dated March 31, 1997, as

supplemented June 18, 1997, October

10, 1997, October 20, 1997, November

11, 1997, December 22, 1997, January

15, 1998, January 27, 1998, March 30,

1998, April 23, 1998, April 27, 1998,

May 8, 1998, and May 22, 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

Rochester Public Library, 115 South

Avenue, Rochester, New York 14610.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day

of June 1998.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Guy S. Vissing,

Senior Project Manager Project Directorate

I–1, Division of Reactor Projects—I/II, Office

of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 98–17353 Filed 6–29–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50–321 and 50–366 and

License Nos. DPR–57 and NPF–5]

Southern Nuclear Operating Company

Inc.; Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant,

Units 1 and 2; Confirmatory Order

Modifying License; Effective

Immediately

I

Southern Nuclear Operating

Company, Inc. (SNC/the licensee) is the

holder of Facility Operating License

Nos. DPR–57 and NPF–5, which

authorizes operation of Edwin I. Hatch

Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, located in

Appling County, Georgia.

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

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.
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 125 /Tuesday, June 30, 1998 / Notices 35619

SNC has committed to complete final

implementation of Thermo-Lag 330–1

fire barriers corrective actions at both

Hatch units by startup of Unit 2 from

the fall 1998 refueling outage. The NRC

staff has concluded that this schedule is

reasonable based on the amount of

installed Thermo-Lag and the

complexity of the plant-specific fire

barrier configurations and issues. In

order to remove compensatory

measures, such as fire watches, it has

been determined the resolution of the

Thermo-Lag corrective actions by SNC

must be completed in accordance with

the current SNC schedule. By letter

dated April 29, 1998, the NRC staff

notified SNC of its plan to incorporate

SNC’s schedule commitment into a

requirement by issuance of an order and

requested consent from the licensee. By

letter dated June 2, 1998, the licensee

provided its consent to issuance of a

Confirmatory Order.

III

The licensee’s commitment as set

forth in its letter of June 2, 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 June 2, 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:

SNC shall complete final implementation

of Thermo-Lag 330–1 fire barrier corrective

actions at Plant Hatch Units 1 and 2,

described in the SNC submittal to the NRC

dated December 13, 1994, March 28, 1995,

and May 11, 1998 (HL–5632), by startup of

Unit 2 from the fall 1998 refueling outage.

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 20555–0001, 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, Attention:

Rulemaking 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 Enforcement at the same

address, to the Regional Administrator,

NRC Region II, P.O. Box 2257, Atlanta,

Georgia 30303–3415, 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 24th day

of June 1998.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Samuel J. Collins,

Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation.

[FR Doc. 98–17351 Filed 6–29–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

Advisory Committee on Nuclear

Waste; Notice of Meeting

The Advisory Committee on Nuclear

Waste (ACNW) will hold its 102nd

meeting on July 20–22, 1998, Room T–

2B3, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville,

Maryland.

The entire meeting will be open to

public attendance.

The schedule for this meeting is as

follows:

Monday, July 20, 1998—8:30 A.M.

until 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, July 21, 1998—8:30 A.M.

until 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, July 22, 1998—8:30 A.M.

until 4:00 p.m.

A. Planning For and Meeting With the

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The Committee will prepare for and

meet with the Commission to discuss

items of mutual interest. Topics will

include the ACRS Plans and Priorities

list and past Committee reports on the

interim guidance in support of the final

rule on radiological criteria for license

termination, NRC waste-related

research, and risk-informed,

performance-based regulation.

Observations will also be presented on

the recent two-day working group

discussions on the near-field

environment and the performance of

engineered barriers in the Yucca

Mountain Repository. The Committee is

currently scheduled to meet with the

Commission on July 21, 1998 at 1:30

p.m.

B. Yucca Mountain Regulatory

Framework

The Committee will be briefed by the

staff on the status and content of the

site-specific regulatory framework to be

used to judge the acceptability of DOE’s

license application for disposal of highlevel waste at the proposed Yucca

Mountain, NV site. Topics might

include a discussion of the proposed

relevant 10 CFR Part 63, the Issue

Resolution Status Report (IRSR) on

Total System Performance Assessment

(TSPA) and a description of important

measures developed by the staff for

application to the proposed repository

as well as other waste disposal facilities.

C. Generic LLW Disposal Facility

Criticality Issues

The Committee will review recent

staff papers on the potential for

criticality and the need to continue

research on post-disposal criticality at

low-level radioactive waste disposal

facilities.

D. Development of a Standard Review

Plan (SRP) for Decommissioning

The Committee will be briefed by the

staff on its plans to develop an SRP for

use by the NRC in reviewing and

evaluating nuclear facility

decommissioning plans.