34204 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 120 /Tuesday, June 23, 1998 / Notices

its overall program for enhancing the

work environment and safety culture at

the facility a ‘‘Comprehensive Cultural

Assessment’’, as described in

Attachment D to the Licensee’s March

12, 1998, submission, to be performed

by an independent contractor. The

Cultural Assessment will include both a

written survey of employees (including

supervision and management) and

baseline contractors, and confidential

interviews of selected individuals. The

first assessment is scheduled for the

second quarter of 1998 and will be

performed at least three more times at

intervals of 18 to 24 months. Annual

‘‘mini’’ surveys will be conducted and

shall include, but not be limited to,

annual surveys through at least the year

2002. Before conducting each minisurvey, the Licensee will identify to the

NRC Regional Administrator the

departments and divisions to be

surveyed. The Licensee will submit to

the NRC for review all Cultural

Assessment results, including all

intermediate ‘‘mini’’ surveys. Within 60

days of receipt of the survey results, the

Licensee will provide to the NRC

Regional Administrator any plans

necessary to address issues raised by the

survey results.

2. The STP Nuclear Operating

Company will conduct annual ratings of

supervisors and managers by employees

via the ‘‘Leadership Assessment Tool’’,

as described in Attachment D to the

Licensee’s March 12, 1998, submission,

through at least the year 2002.

3. The STP Nuclear Operating

Company will conduct a mandatory

continuing training program for all

supervisors and managers. This program

will include:

(a) Scheduled training on building

positive relationships, as outlined in

Attachment D to the Licensee’s March

12, 1998, submission. The training

program will have the objective of

reinforcing the importance of

maintaining a safety-conscious work

environment and assisting managers

and supervisors in dealing with

conflicts in the work place in the

context of a safety-conscious work

environment. The training program also

will include a course entitled ‘‘Safely

Speaking,’’ as described in Attachment

D to the Licensee’s March 12, 1998,

submission; and

(b) Annual training on the

requirements of 10 CFR 50.7, through at

least the year 2002, including, but not

limited to, what constitutes protected

activity and what constitutes

discrimination, and appropriate

responses to the raising of safety

concerns by employees. Such training

shall stress the freedom of employees in

the nuclear industry to raise safety

concerns without fear of retaliation by

their supervisors or managers.

4. The licensee shall issue a site-wide

publication to inform its employees and

contractor employees of this

Confirmatory Order as well as their

rights to raise safety concerns to the

NRC and their management without fear

of retaliation.

The Regional Administrator, Region

IV, may relax or rescind, in writing, any

of the above conditions upon a showing

by the Licensee of good cause.

VI

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 Enforcement, 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, ATTN: Chief,

Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff,

Washington, D.C. 20555. Copies of the

hearing request shall also be sent to the

Director, Office of Enforcement, 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 IV,

611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400,

Arlington, TX 76011–8064, and to the

Licensee. If such a person requests a

hearing, that person shall set forth with

particularity the manner in which his

interest is adversely affected by this

Order and shall address the criteria set

forth in 10 CFR 2.714(d).

If the hearing is requested by a person

whose interest is adversely affected, the

Commission will issue an Order

designating the time and place of any

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 proceeding. If an

extension of time 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 A

HEARING SHALL NOT STAY THE

IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS

ORDER.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 9th day

of June 1998.

For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

Ashok A. Thadani,

Deputy Executive Director for Regulatory

Effectiveness.

[FR Doc. 98–16649 Filed 6–22–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50–338]

Virginia Electric and Power Company;

North Anna Power Station, Unit 1;

Confirmatory Order Modifying License

Effective Immediately

I

Virginia Electric and Power Company

(VEPCO, the licensee) is the holder of

Facility Operating License No. NPF–4,

which authorizes operation of North

Anna Power Station (NAPS), Unit 1,

located in Louisa County, Viginia.

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. For NAPS, Unit 1, that had

corrective action scheduled beyond

1997, the NRC reviewed with VEPCO

the schedule of Thermo-Lag corrective

actions described in the VEPCO

submittal to the NRC dated December

18,1997. Based on the information

submitted by VEPCO, the NRC staff has

concluded that the schedules presented

are reasonable. This conclusion is based
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 120 /Tuesday, June 23, 1998 / Notices 34205

on the need to perform certain plant

modifications during outages as

opposed to those that can be performed

while the plant is at power. In order to

remove compensatory measures such as

fire watches, it has been determined that

resolution of the Thermo-Lag corrective

actions by VEPCO must be completed in

accordance with current VEPCO

schedules. By letter dated May 14, 1998,

the NRC staff notified VEPCO of its plan

to incorporate VEPCO’s schedule

commitment into a requirement by

issuance of an order and requested

consent from the Licensee. By letter

dated May 22, 1998, VEPCO provided

its consent to issuance of a Confirmatory

Order.

III

The Licensee’s commitment as set

forth in its letter of December 19, 1997,

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 December 18, 1997,

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:

Virginia Electric and Power Company shall

complete final implementation of ThermoLag 330–1 fire barrier corrective actions at

North Anna Power Station, Unit 1, described

in the VEPCO submittal to the NRC dated

December 18, 1997. Overall work package

closeout will be completed by the completion

of the next refueling outage scheduled to

begin in September 1998.

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,

Georgia 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, Md., this 15th day of

1998.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Samuel J. Collins,

Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation.

[FR Doc. 98–16648 Filed 6–22–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50–333]

Power Authority of the State of New

York; James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear

Power Plant; Environmental

Assessment and Finding of no

Significant Impact

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (the Commission) is

considering issuance of an exemption

from certain requirements of its

regulations to Facility Operating License

No. DPR–59, issued to Power Authority

of the State of New York (the licensee)

also known as the New York Power

Authority, for operation of the James A.

FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant, located

in Oswego County, New York.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

The proposed action would exempt

the licensee from the requirements of 10

CFR 70.24, which requires in each area

in which special nuclear material is

handled, used, or stored a monitoring

system that will energize clear audible

alarms if accidental criticality occurs.

The proposed action would also exempt

the licensee from the requirements to

maintain emergency procedures for each

area in which this licensed special

nuclear material is handled, used, or

stored to ensure that all personnel

withdraw to an area of safety upon the

sounding of the alarm, to familiarize

personnel with the evacuation plan, to

designate responsible individuals for

safety upon the sounding of the alarm,

and to place radiation survey

instruments in accessible locations for

use in such an emergency. The

proposed action is in accordance with

the licensee’s application for exemption

dated April 24, 1998.

The Need for the Proposed Action

The purpose of 10 CFR 70.24 is to

ensure that if a criticality were to occur

during the handling of special nuclear

material, personnel would be alerted to

that fact and would take appropriate

action. At a commercial nuclear power

plant, the inadvertent criticality with

which 10 CFR 70.24 is concerned could

occur during fuel handling operations.

The special nuclear material that could

be assembled into a critical mass at a

commercial nuclear power plant is in

the form of nuclear fuel; the quantity of

other forms of special nuclear material

that is stored onsite in any given

location is small enough to preclude

achieving a critical mass. Because the

fuel is not enriched beyond 5.0 weight