57900 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 191 / Tuesday, October 4, 2005 / Notices 

Palisades Plant, located in Van Buren 

County, Michigan. Therefore, as 

required by 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC is 

issuing this environmental assessment 

and finding of no significant impact. 

Environmental Assessment 

Identification of the Proposed Action 

The proposed action would exempt 

NMC from the requirements of 10 CFR 

50.68, ‘‘Criticality Accident 

Requirements,’’ Subsection (b)(1) during 

the handling and storage of spent 

nuclear fuel in a 10 CFR part 72 

licensed spent fuel storage container 

that is in the Palisades’ spent fuel pool. 

The proposed action is in accordance 

with NMC’s application of June 21, as 

supplemented August 25, 2005. 

The Need for the Proposed Action 

Under 10 CFR 50.68(b)(1), the 

Commission sets forth the following 

requirement that must be met, in lieu of 

a monitoring system capable of 

detecting criticality events: 

Plant procedures shall prohibit the 

handling and storage at any one time of more 

fuel assemblies than have been determined to 

be safely subcritical under the most adverse 

moderation conditions feasible by unborated 

water. 

Section 50.12(a) allows licensees to 

apply for an exemption from the 

requirements of 10 CFR part 50 if the 

regulation is not necessary to achieve 

the underlying purpose of the rule and 

other conditions are met. NMC stated in 

its August 25, 2005, letter that applying 

the 10 CFR 50.68(b)(1) criticality 

prevention standards to dry shielded 

canister loading operations, conducted 

in connection with a 10 CFR part 72 

license would result in undue hardship 

or other costs that are significantly in 

excess of those contemplated when the 

regulation was adopted, or that are 

significantly in excess of those incurred 

by others similarly situated. 

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed 

Action 

The NRC has completed its evaluation 

of the proposed action and concludes 

that if the exemption described above is 

not granted, it would result in an undue 

hardship. The details of the NRC staff’s 

safety evaluation will be provided in the 

exemption that will be issued as part of 

the letter to the licensee approving the 

exemption to the regulation. 

The proposed action will not 

significantly increase the probability or 

consequences of accidents. No changes 

are being made in the types of effluents 

that may be released offsite. There is no 

significant increase in the amount of 

any effluent release off site. There is no 

significant increase in occupational or 

public radiation exposure. Therefore, 

there are no significant radiological 

environmental impacts associated with 

the proposed action. 

With regard to potential nonradiological impacts, the proposed 

action does not have a potential to affect 

any historic sites. It does not affect nonradiological plant effluents and has no 

other environmental impact. Therefore, 

there are no significant non-radiological 

environmental impacts associated with 

the proposed action. 

Accordingly, the NRC concludes that 

there are no significant environmental 

impacts associated with the proposed 

action. 

Environmental Impacts of the 

Alternatives to the Proposed Action 

As an alternative to the proposed 

action, the staff considered denial of the 

proposed action (i.e, the ‘‘no-action’’

alternative). Denial of the application 

would result in no change in current 

environmental impacts. The 

environmental impacts of the proposed 

action and the alternative action are 

similar. 

Alternative Use of Resources 

The action does not involve the use of 

any different resources than those 

previously considered in the Final 

Addendum to the Final Environmental 

Statement Related to Operation of the 

Palisades Nuclear Plant dated February 

1978. 

Agencies and Persons Consulted 

On September 30, 2005, the staff 

consulted with the Michigan State 

official, Mary Ann Elzerman, of the 

Michigan Department of Environmental 

Quality, regarding the environmental 

impact of the proposed action. The State 

official had no comments. 

Finding of No Significant Impact 

On the basis of the environmental 

assessment, the NRC concludes that the 

proposed action will not have a 

significant effect on the quality of the 

human environment. Accordingly, the 

NRC has determined not to prepare an 

environmental impact statement for the 

proposed action. 

For further details with respect to the 

proposed action, see NMC’s letter of 

June 21, as supplemented August 25, 

2005. Documents may be examined, 

and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC’s 

Public Document Room (PDR), located 

at One White Flint North, 11555 

Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, 

Maryland. Publicly available records 

will be accessible electronically from 

the Agencywide Documents Access and 

Management System (ADAMS) Public 

Electronic Reading Room on the NRC 

Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/readingrm/adams.html. Persons who do not 

have access to ADAMS or who 

encounter problems in accessing the 

documents located in ADAMS, should 

contact the NRC PDR Reference staff at 

1–800–397–4209 or 301–415–4737, or 

send an e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day 

of September 2005. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

L. Raghavan, 

Chief, Section 1, Project Directorate III, 

Division of Licensing Project Management, 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. 

[FR Doc. 05–19921 Filed 10–3–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

Advisory Committee on the Medical 

Uses of Isotopes: Meeting Notice 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Updated notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission will convene a meeting of 

the Advisory Committee on the Medical 

Uses of Isotopes (ACMUI) on October 25 

and 26, 2005. A sample of agenda items 

to be discussed during the public 

sessions includes: (1) Discussion of the 

Energy policy Act of 2005, which 

provides for NRC regulation of 

accelerator-produced radioactive 

material and discrete sources of Ra-226; 

(2) Status of Specialty Board 

applications for NRC recognition; (3) 

Electronic signature in written 

directives; (4) Revision of NRC Form 

313A; (5) RIS on dose control and 

assessment; (6) Review of the medical 

events definition commission paper. To 

review the agenda, see http:// 

www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/acmui/agenda/ or contact, 

via e-mail mss@nrc.gov. 

Purpose: Discuss issues related to 10 

CFR 35, Medical Use of Byproduct 

Material. 

Date and Time for Closed Session 

Meeting: October 25, 2005, from 8 a.m. 

to 11 a.m. This session will be closed so 

that NRC staff can brief the ACMUI on 

discussing information relating solely to 

internal personnel rules. 

Dates and Times for Public Meetings: 

October 25, 2005, from 11 a.m. to 5 

p.m.; and October 26, 2005, from 8 a.m. 

to 5 p.m. 

Address for Public Meetings: U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Two 

White Flint North Building, Room 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 191 / Tuesday, October 4, 2005 / Notices 57901 

T2B3, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 

MD 20852–2738. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mohammad S. Saba, telephone (301) 

415–7608; e-mail mss@nrc.gov of the 

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 

Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555–

0001. 

Conduct of the Meeting 

Leon S. Malmud, M.D., will chair the 

meeting. Dr. Malmud will conduct the 

meeting in a manner that will facilitate 

the orderly conduct of business. The 

following procedures apply to public 

participation in the meeting: 

1. Persons who wish to provide a 

written statement should submit a 

reproducible copy to Mohammad S. 

Saba, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Mail Stop T8F03, 

Washington, DC 20555. Alternatively, 

an e-mail can be submitted to 

mss@nrc.gov. Submittals must be 

postmarked or emailed by October 3, 

2005 and must pertain to the topics on 

the agenda for the meeting. 

2. Questions from members of the 

public will be permitted during the 

meeting, at the discretion of the 

Chairman. 

3. The transcript and written 

comments will be available for 

inspection on NRC’s Web site 

(www.nrc.gov) and at the NRC Public 

Document Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, 

Rockville, MD 20852–2738, telephone 

(800) 397–4209, on or about January 26, 

2006. This meeting will be held in 

accordance with the Atomic Energy Act 

of 1954, as amended (primarily Section 

161a); the Federal Advisory Committee 

Act (5 U.S.C. App); and the 

Commission’s regulations in Title 10, 

U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Part 7. 

4. Attendees are requested to notify 

Mohammad S. Saba at (301) 415–7608 

of their planned attendance if special 

services, such as for the hearing 

impaired, are necessary. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day 

of September, 2005. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Andrew L. Bates, 

Advisory Committee Management Officer. 

[FR Doc. 05–19791 Filed 10–3–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meetings 

DATE: Weeks of October 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, 

November 7, 2005. 

PLACE: Commissioners’ Conference 

Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 

Maryland 

STATUS: Public and Closed. 

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: 

Week of October 3, 2005 

There are no meetings scheduled for 

the Week of October 3, 2005. 

Week of October 10, 2005—Tentative 

There are no meetings scheduled for 

the Week of October 10, 2005. 

Week of October 17, 2005—Tentative 

Tuesday, October 18, 2005 

9:30 a.m.—Briefing on 

Decommissioning Activities and 

Status (Public Meeting) 

This meeting will be webcast live at 

the Web address—http://www.nrc.gov. 

Week of October 24, 2005—Tentative 

Wednesday, October 26, 2005 

1:30 p.m. Discussion of Security Issues 

(Closed-Ex. 1) 

Thursday, October 27, 2005 

10 a.m. Discussion of Security Issues 

(Closed-Ex. 1) 

Week of October 31, 2005—Tentative 

Tuesday, November 1, 2005 

9:30 a.m.—Briefing on Implementation 

of Davis-Besse Lessons Learned Task 

Force (DBLLTF) Recommendations 

(Public Meeting) 

This meeting will be webcast live at 

the Web address—http://www.nrc.gov. 

Week of November 7, 2005—Tentative 

There are no meetings scheduled for 

the Week of November 7, 2005. 

The schedule for Commission 

meetings is subject to change on short 

notice. To verify the status of meetings 

call (recording)—(301) 415–1292. 

Contact person for more information: 

Michelle Schroll, (301) 415–1662. 

* * * * * 

The NRC Commission Meeting 

Schedule can be found on the Internet 

at: http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/ 

policy-making/schedule.html. 

* * * * * 

The NRC provides reasonable 

accommodation to individuals with 

disabilities where appropriate. If you 

need a reasonable accommodation to 

participate in these public meetings, or 

need this meeting notice or the 

transcript or other information from the 

public meetings in another format (e.g. 

braile, large print), please notify the 

NRC’s Disability Program Coordinator, 

August Spector, at 301–415–7080, TDD: 

301–415–2100, or by e-mail at 

aks@nrc.gov. Determinations on 

requests for reasonable accommodation 

will be made on a case-by-case basis. 

* * * * * 

This notice is distributed by mail to 

several hundred subscribers, if you no 

longer wish to receive it, or would like 

to be added to the distribution, please 

contact the Office of the Secretary, 

Washington, DC 20555 (301–415–1969). 

In addition, distribution of this meeting 

notice over the Internet system is 

available. If you are interested in 

receiving this Commission meeting 

schedule electronically, please send an 

electronic message to dkw@nrc.gov. 

Dated: September 29, 2005. 

Debra L. McCain, 

Office of the Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 05–19920 Filed 9–30–05; 9:58 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–M 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

Notice of Availability of Draft Report 

for Comment: ‘‘Estimating Loss-ofCoolant Accident (LOCA) Frequencies 

Through the Elicitation Process,’’

NUREG–1829 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of availability and 

request for comments. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

provided by November 30, 2005. 

Background: In support of an effort to 

develop a risk-informed revision of the 

emergency core cooling system (ECCS) 

requirements for commercial nuclear 

power plants, estimates of loss-ofcoolant accident (LOCA) frequencies 

have been developed which will enable 

redefinition of the design-basis break 

size for these requirements. These 

LOCA frequency estimates have been 

developed using an expert elicitation 

process by consolidating service history 

data and insights from probabilistic 

fracture mechanics (PFM) studies with 

knowledge of plant design, operation, 

and material performance. This expert 

elicitation to develop LOCA frequency 

estimates is described in draft NUREG–

1829, ‘‘Estimating Loss-of-Coolant 

Accident (LOCA) Frequencies Through 

the Elicitation Process’’ (June 2005). 

The ECCS requirements in the United 

States are contained in 10 CFR 50.46, 

Appendix K to Part 50, and General 

Design Criterion (GDC) 35. Specifically, 

ECCS design, reliability, and operating 

requirements exist to ensure that the 

system can successfully mitigate 

postulated LOCAs. Consideration of an