License No. NPF-3; FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company Notice of Issuance of Director's Decision, 10409-10410 [2011-4147]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 37 (Thursday, February 24, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10409-10410]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-4147]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-346; NRC-2010-0253]


License No. NPF-3; FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company Notice 
of Issuance of Director's Decision

    Notice is hereby given that the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), has issued 
a Director's Decision with regard to a petition dated April 5, 2010, 
filed by David Lochbaum, hereafter referred to as the ``Petitioner.'' 
The petition concerns the operation of the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power 
Station, Unit 1 (DBNPS).
    The petition requested that the NRC issue a Show Cause Order, or 
comparable enforcement action, preventing the DBNPS from restarting 
following the shutdown in February 2010, until adequate protection 
standards were met.
    As the basis for the April 5, 2010, request, the Petitioner states 
that FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (the licensee for DBNPS) has 
violated Federal regulations and the explicit conditions of its 
operating license by operating for longer than 6 hours with pressure 
boundary leakage. The Petitioner considers such operation to be 
potentially unsafe and to be in violation of Federal regulations. To 
support the Petitioner's belief that the facility is prohibited from 
operating longer than 6 hours with pressure boundary leakage, the 
petition references the facility operating license; the technical 
specifications for DBNPS; Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
(10 CFR) part 50, ``Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization 
Facilities,'' Appendix A, ``General Design Criteria for Nuclear Power 
Plants''; and the Standard Technical Specifications.
    The petition of April 5, 2010, states that the licensee for DBNPS 
has repeatedly violated Federal regulations and the explicit conditions 
of its operating license by operating the reactor longer than 6 hours 
with pressure boundary leakage. In doing so, the Petitioner states that 
the public was exposed to elevated and undue risk. The NRC's 
regulations and the operating license the NRC issued for DBNPS define 
adequate protection standards, which include zero reactor coolant 
pressure boundary leakage during operation, with the requirement to 
shut down the reactor within 6 hours if such leakage exists. The 
Petitioner states that with regard to the DBNPS, evidence demonstrates 
that the adequate protection standard was not met on multiple occasions 
and that it is imperative for the NRC to act now to protect the public.
    The NRC sent a copy of the proposed Director's Decision to the 
Petitioner and to the licensee on November 10, 2010. The Petitioner 
responded with comments on November 23, 2010, and the licensee did not 
provide comments. The final Director's Decision includes a summary of 
the comments and the NRC staff's response to them.
    The Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation has 
determined that the request to issue a Show Cause Order or comparable 
enforcement-related action to the licensee for DBNPS is denied. The 
Director's Decision [DD-11-02] pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206, ``Requests for 
Action under This Subpart,'' explains the reasons for this decision. 
The complete text of the Director's Decision is available for 
inspection in the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System at 
the Commission's Public Document Room, located at One White Flint 
North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), 
Rockville, Maryland, and from the ADAMS Public Library component on the 
NRC's Web site, https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public 
Electronic Reading Room), ADAMS Accession No. ML110250189).
    In summary, the NRC has completed a rigorous Special Inspection and 
determined that enforcement is not required for this matter and that 
the NRC has reasonable assurance that adequate protection standards 
have been met and will continue to be met at DBNPS. NRC Region III 
Inspection Report 05000346/2010-008, dated October 22, 2010, focused on 
these concerns. The NRC Special Inspection Team was chartered to assess 
the circumstances surrounding the identification of the flaws in the 
reactor pressure vessel head control rod drive mechanism (CRDM) nozzle 
penetrations at DBNPS. The NRC has reviewed in detail the CDRM nozzle 
cracking, as well as the circumstances surrounding the causes of this 
cracking and previous opportunities for identification and 
intervention. The NRC's inspection determined that the public health 
and safety have not been, nor are likely to

[[Page 10410]]

be, adversely affected. The inspection determined that the licensee 
conformed to the subject NRC regulatory requirements pertinent in this 
circumstance and applicable to assessing the cause and effect of the 
CRDM nozzle cracking conditions.
    A copy of the Director's Decision will be filed with the Secretary 
of the Commission for the Commission's review in accordance with 10 CFR 
2.206 of the Commission's regulations. As provided for by this 
regulation, the Director's Decision will constitute the final action of 
the Commission 25 days after the date of the decision, unless the 
Commission, on its own motion, institutes a review of the Director's 
Decision within that time.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of February 2011.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Eric J. Leeds,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2011-4147 Filed 2-23-11; 8:45 am]
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