This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

4911 

Vol. 74, No. 17 

Wednesday, January 28, 2009 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

10 CFR Part 50 

[Docket No. PRM–50–69; NRC–2000–0019] 

Westinghouse Electric Company LLC; 

Consideration of Petition in 

Rulemaking Process 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Resolution of petition for 

rulemaking and closure of petition 

docket. 

SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) will consider the 

issues raised in a petition for 

rulemaking (PRM) submitted by 

Westinghouse Electric Company LLC 

(petitioner) in the NRC’s rulemaking 

process. The petition was dated 

November 4, 1999, and was docketed as 

PRM–50–69. The petitioner requested 

that Table 1 in 10 CFR Part 50, 

Appendix G, be amended by removing 

requirements related to the metal 

temperature of the closure head flange 

and vessel flange regions. Specifically, 

the petitioner requested that footnotes 

(2) and (6) be removed from Table 1. 

DATES: The docket for the petition for 

rulemaking PRM–50–69 is closed on 

January 28, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: You can access publicly 

available documents related to this 

petition for rulemaking using the 

following methods: 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Further 

NRC action on the issues raised by this 

petition will be considered in the 

rulemaking activity directed at revising 

10 CFR Part 50, Appendix G. This 

rulemaking activity is entitled, 

‘‘Modifications to Pressure-Temperature 

Limits,’’ in NUREG–0936, ‘‘NRC 

Regulatory Agenda: Semiannual 

Report,’’ and is designated with 

rulemaking identification number RIN 

3150–AG98. Information on this 

rulemaking activity can be monitored at 

the Federal rulemaking portal, http:// 

www.regulations.gov, by searching on 

rulemaking docket ID NRC–2008–0582. 

The regulatory history regarding PRM– 

50–69, including the public comments 

received, can be found by searching on 

docket ID NRC–2000–0019. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Carol 

Gallagher 301–415–5905; e-mail 

Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. 

NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR): 

The public may examine and have 

copied for a fee, publicly available 

documents at the NRC’s PDR, Public 

File Area Room O1–F21, One White 

Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, 

Rockville, Maryland. 

NRC’s Agencywide Document Access 

and Management System (ADAMS): 

Publicly available documents created or 

received at the NRC are available 

electronically at the NRC’s Electronic 

Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/ 

NRC/reading-rm/adams.html. From this 

page, the public can gain entry into 

ADAMS, which provides text and image 

files of NRC’s public documents. If you 

do not have access to ADAMS or if there 

are any problems in accessing the 

documents located in ADAMS, contact 

the NRC PDR Reference staff at 1–800– 

397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by e-mail 

at PDR.resource@nrc.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Barry Miller, Mail Stop O–9E3, Office of 

Nuclear Reactor Regulation, United 

States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone 

(301) 415–4117, or e-mail 

Barry.Miller@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

The Petition 

The NRC received a petition for 

rulemaking (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML003683190) from Westinghouse 

Electric Company LLC (the petitioner) 

dated November 4, 1999, which was 

docketed as PRM–50–69. The petitioner 

requested that the NRC eliminate reactor 

vessel closure head flange temperature 

requirements in 10 CFR Part 50, 

Appendix G, Table 1, by removing 

footnotes (2) and (6). On February 8, 

2000, the NRC published a notice of 

receipt for this petition in the Federal 

Register (65 FR 6044) and requested 

public comment. The public comment 

period ended on April 24, 2000. 

Thirteen comments were received, all in 

support of the petition. These comments 

can be found by following the 

instructions given in the ADDRESSES

section of this notice. 

Resolution of Petition 

The NRC will consider the issues 

raised in PRM–50–69, including the 

underlying issues relevant to the 

petition, and the comments submitted 

on PRM–50–69, in the ongoing 

rulemaking activity to modify the 

pressure and temperature limits 

contained in 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix 

G. The NRC believes that the underlying 

technical considerations regarding the 

reactor vessel closure head flange 

temperature are sufficiently related to 

the ongoing rulemaking activity on 10 

CFR Part 50, Appendix G, that the 

issues raised in PRM–50–69 should be 

considered in the rulemaking activity. 

The NRC is continuing work to 

develop the technical basis for this 

rulemaking. The technical basis 

provided by the petitioner in WCAP– 

15315, ‘‘Reactor Vessel Closure Head/ 

Vessel Flange Requirements Evaluation 

for Operating PWR and BWR Plants,’’ 

Revision 1, is being considered in the 

development of the technical basis for 

the 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix G 

rulemaking. Although the NRC will 

consider the issues raised in the 

petition, the petitioner’s concerns may 

not be addressed exactly as the 

petitioner has requested. After the 

conclusion of the NRC’s development of 

the technical basis for the 10 CFR Part 

50, Appendix G rule, the NRC will 

determine whether to adopt the 

petitioner’s requested rulemaking 

changes. During the rulemaking process, 

the NRC will solicit comments from the 

public and will consider all comments 

before issuing a final rule. 

If the ongoing work to establish the 

technical basis for this rulemaking does 

not support the issuance of a proposed 

rule, the NRC will issue a supplemental 

Federal Register notice that addresses 

why the petitioner’s requested 

rulemaking changes were not adopted 

by the NRC. With this resolution of the 

petition, the NRC closes the docket for 

PRM–50–69. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day 

of January, 2009. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Bruce S. Mallett, 

Acting Executive Director for Operations. 

[FR Doc. E9–1372 Filed 1–27–09; 8:45 am] 

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