[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 81 (Thursday, April 25, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18447-18449]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-10178]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 72-17, 50-344]


Portland General Electric Company, Eugene Water and Electric 
Board, Pacificorp; Notice of Consideration of Issuance of a Materials 
License for the Storage of Spent Fuel and Notice of Opportunity for a 
Hearing

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering an application 
dated March 26, 1996, as supplemented April 1, 1996, for a materials 
license, under the provisions of 10 CFR Part 72, from Portland General 
Electric Company, et al., (the applicant or PGE) to possess spent fuel 
and other radioactive materials associated with spent fuel storage in 
an independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) located in 
Columbia County, Oregon. If granted, the license will authorize the 
applicant to store spent fuel in a dry storage cask system at the 
applicant's Trojan Nuclear Plant site. Pursuant to the provisions of 10 
CFR Part 72, the term of the license for the ISFSI would be twenty (20) 
years.
    Prior to issuance of the requested license, the NRC will have made 
the findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the 
Act), and the NRC's rules and regulations. The issuance of the 
materials license will not be approved until the NRC has reviewed the 
application and has concluded that approval of the license will not be 
inimical to the common defense and security and will not constitute an 
unreasonable risk to the health and safety of the public. The NRC will 
complete an environmental evaluation, in accordance with 10 CFR Part 
51, to determine if the preparation of an environmental impact 
statement is warranted or if an environmental assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact are appropriate. This action will be the subject 
of a subsequent notice in the Federal Register. Pursuant to 10 CFR 
2.105 and 2.1107, by May 28, 1996, the applicant may file a request for 
a hearing; 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 with respect to the subject materials license in accordance 
with the provisions of 10 CFR 2.714. If a request for hearing or 
petition for leave to intervene is filed by the above date, the NRC 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. In the event that no request for hearing or petition 
for leave to intervene is filed by the above date, the NRC may, upon 
satisfactory completion of all required evaluations, issue the 
materials license without further prior notice.
    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 a 
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 that 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 a 
petition, without requesting leave of the Board up to 15 days prior to 
the holding of the first pre-hearing conference scheduled in the 
proceeding, but such an amended petition must satisfy the specificity 
requirements described above.
    Not later than fifteen (15) days prior to the first pre-hearing 
conference scheduled in the proceeding, a petitioner shall file a 
supplement to the petition to intervene which must include a list of 
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 action 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 satisfied 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.
    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, Attention: Docketing and Services 
Branch, or may be delivered to the Commission's Public Document Room, 
Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC, by the above date. 
Where petitions are filed during the last ten (10) days of the notice 
period, it is requested that the petitioner promptly so inform the NRC 
by a toll-free telephone call to Western Union at 1-(800) 248-5100 (in 
Missouri 1-(800) 342-6700). The Western Union operator should be given 
Datagram Identification Number N1023 and the following message 
addressed to Dr. William D. Travers, Director, Spent Fuel Project 
Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards; petitioner's 
name and telephone number; date petition was mailed; plant name; and 
publication date and page number of this Federal Register notice. A 
copy of the petition should also be sent to the Office of the General 
Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, and 
to Mr. Alvin Alexanderson, Esq., Portland General Electric Company, 121 
SW Salmon Street, Portland, Oregon, 97204, General Counsel for the 
applicant.
    Non-timely 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).
    The Commission hereby provides notice that this proceeding concerns 
an application for a license falling within the scope of Section 134 of 
the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA), 42 U.S.C. 10154. Under 
Section 134 of NWPA, the NRC, at the request of any petitioner or any 
party to the proceeding, must use hybrid hearing procedures with 
respect to ``any matter

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which the Commission determines to be in controversy among the 
parties.'' The hybrid procedures in Section 134 provide for oral 
argument on matters in controversy, preceded by discovery under the 
Commission's rules, and the designation, following argument, of only 
those factual issues that involve a genuine and substantial dispute, 
together with any remaining questions of law, to be resolved in an 
adjudicatory hearing. Actual adjudicatory hearings are to be held on 
only those issues found to meet the criteria of Section 134 and set for 
hearing after oral argument.
    The Commission's rules implementing Section 134 of the NWPA are 
found in 10 CFR Part 2, Subpart K, ``Hybrid Hearing Procedures for 
Expansion of Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Capacity at Civilian Nuclear 
Power Reactors,'' (published at 50 FR 41662, October 15, 1985). Under 
those rules, any party to the proceeding may invoke the hybrid hearing 
procedures by filing with the presiding Officer a written request for 
oral argument under 10 CFR 2.1109. To be timely, the request must be 
filed within ten (10) days of an order granting a request for hearing 
or petition to intervene. (As outlined above, the Commission's rules in 
10 CFR Part 2, Subpart G, continue to govern the filing of requests for 
a hearing or petitions to intervene, as well as the admission of 
contentions.) The presiding Officer may grant an untimely request for 
oral argument only upon a showing of good cause by the requesting party 
for the failure to file on time and after providing the other parties 
an opportunity to respond to the untimely request. If the presiding 
Officer grants a request for oral argument, any hearing held on the 
application shall be conducted in accordance with the hybrid hearing 
procedures. In essence, those procedures limit the time available for 
discovery and require that an oral argument be held to determine 
whether any contentions must be resolved in an adjudicatory hearing. If 
no party to the proceeding requests oral argument or if all untimely 
requests for oral argument are denied, then the usual procedures in 10 
CFR Part 2, Subpart G, apply.
    For further details with respect to this action, see the 
application dated May 9, 1995, which is available for public inspection 
at the Commission's Public Document Room, 2120 L Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20555, and at the local public document room at the 
Portland State University, Branford Price Millar Library, 934 SW 
Harrison Street, Portland, Oregon 97207. The Commission's license and 
Safety Evaluation Report, when issued, may be inspected at the above 
locations.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19 day of April 1996.

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
William D. Travers,
Director, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety 
and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 96-10178 Filed 4-24-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P