In the Matter of Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation; Wolf Creek Generating Station, 37688-37693 [2019-16367]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 148 (Thursday, August 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37688-37693]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-16367]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 050-00482; NRC-2019-0159]


In the Matter of Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation; Wolf 
Creek Generating Station

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Confirmatory order; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a 
confirmatory order to Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation on July 
18, 2019. The purpose of the confirmatory order was to document 
commitments that were made as part of a settlement agreement between 
Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation and the NRC to address an 
apparent

[[Page 37689]]

violation related to craft personnel deliberately falsifying records 
regarding a work order associated with the cleaning and inspection of 
control rod drive mechanisms.

DATES: The confirmatory order was issued and effective on July 18, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0159 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0159. Address 
questions about NRC dockets IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges; 
telephone: 301-287-9127; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section of this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS 
Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public 
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or 
by email to [email protected]. The Confirmatory Order to Wolf Creek 
Nuclear Operating Corporation is available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML19198A313.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Kramer, Region IV, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Arlington, TX 76011-4511; telephone: 817-200-
1121, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Order is attached.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day of July, 2019.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Scott A. Morris,
Regional Administrator, NRC Region IV.

Attached--Confirmatory Order.

I

    Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation (Wolf Creek or Licensee) 
is the holder of Facility Operating License No. NPF-42 issued by the 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to Part 
50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic 
Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities.'' The license 
authorizes the operation of Wolf Creek Generating Station (facility) in 
accordance with conditions specified therein. The facility is located 
on the Licensee's site in Burlington, Kansas.
    This Confirmatory Order is the result of a preliminary settlement 
agreement reached during an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) 
mediation session conducted on May 30, 2019.

II

    On November 22, 2017, the NRC's Office of Investigations (OI), 
Region IV Field Office, opened an investigation (OI Case 4-2018-008) at 
the Wolf Creek facility to determine whether craft personnel 
deliberately falsified records regarding a work order. On November 13, 
2018, the investigation was completed. Based on the evidence developed 
during its investigation, the NRC identified an apparent violation of 
10 CFR 50.9, ``Completeness and accuracy of information,'' in that, on 
October 31, 2016, a maintenance worker and a supervisor documented 
inaccurate information regarding the cleaning and inspection of control 
rod drive mechanisms. By letter dated April 2, 2019 (Agencywide 
Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession ML19092A335), 
the NRC notified Wolf Creek of the results of the investigation with 
the opportunity to attend a predecisional enforcement conference or to 
participate in an ADR mediation session in an effort to resolve the 
concern.
    In response to the NRC's offer, Wolf Creek requested the use of the 
NRC's ADR process to resolve the concerns. On May 30, 2019, the NRC and 
Wolf Creek met in an ADR session mediated by a professional mediator 
arranged through the Cornell University's Institute on Conflict 
Resolution. The ADR process is one in which a neutral mediator, with no 
decision-making authority, assists the parties in reaching an agreement 
on resolving any differences regarding the dispute. The terms of this 
Confirmatory Order are based on the elements of the agreement reached 
during the ADR session.

III

    During the ADR session held on May 30, 2019, Wolf Creek and the NRC 
reached a preliminary settlement agreement. Corrective actions already 
taken by Wolf Creek that were discussed included:
    A. The Chief Nuclear Officer issued a communication to the entire 
plant regarding expectations for accurately performing and documenting 
work activities, focusing on ``Your Signature Is Your Word'' and ``Look 
for, Understand, and Mitigate Risk'' related to making assumptions.
    B. Wolf Creek performed remediation with the individuals involved 
to reinforce and institutionalize Wolf Creek standards and expectations 
with a focus on complete and accurate documentation, which included 
face-to-face discussion with the plant manager and the site vice 
president.
    C. Wolf Creek developed a procedure AP18-001, ``Emerging 
Concerns,'' to improve the quality of investigations, including 
investigations involving deliberate misconduct.
    D. Wolf Creek conducted an internal investigation into employee 
deliberate misconduct with external counsel.
    Additional commitments made in the preliminary settlement 
agreement, as signed by both parties, consist of the following:

Communications

    A. Within 1 month of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order, 
Wolf Creek will issue a stand-alone communication from the Chief 
Nuclear Officer to all employees and contractor personnel that willful 
violations will not be tolerated. The communication will stress the 
importance of procedural adherence, ensuring that documents are 
complete and accurate, and of potential consequences for engaging in 
willful violations. This message will be balanced with the recognition 
that people do make mistakes and when that happens, it is Wolf Creek's 
expectation that its employees and contractors will identify and 
document issues in accordance with licensee procedures.
    B. Within 4 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order, 
Wolf Creek will hold meetings with all employees and long-term 
contractor personnel to address integrity and trustworthiness. The 
meetings will: (1) Stress the importance of procedural adherence, 
ensuring that documents are complete and accurate, and of potential 
consequences for engaging in willful violations; (2) describe the 
circumstances of this case, the results of the root cause evaluation, 
and Wolf Creek's corrective actions; (3) include the expectation to 
immediately raise safety concerns when observed; (4) address how to 
proceed when work order documentation is incomplete.
    C. Within 4 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order, 
Wolf Creek will reinforce expectations with regards to 10 CFR 50.9, 
completeness and accuracy of information, and 10 CFR 50.5, deliberate 
misconduct, by providing an overview of the last 5 years

[[Page 37690]]

of pertinent NRC enforcement actions with Operations, Fire Watch, 
Maintenance, and Radiation Protection staff.
    D. Within 6 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order, 
Wolf Creek will complete its efforts to reinforce site expectations 
through posters and the morning brief communications, which will 
specifically address 10 CFR 50.9 and 10 CFR 50.5, and its applicable 
``Professional to the Core'' behaviors meant to ensure high quality 
work and high-quality work products.
    E. Within 6 months of the issuance date of this Confirmatory Order, 
Wolf Creek will develop a presentation to be delivered to an 
appropriate industry forum (e.g., Regional Utility Group or Strategic 
Teaming and Resource Sharing) subject to acceptance of the conference 
organizing committees.
    1. This presentation will include the significance of the incident 
that formed the basis for this violation, the consequences of the 
actions, the responsibilities of personnel involved, and the completed 
and planned corrective actions.
    2. Wolf Creek will provide its proposed presentation to the NRC for 
its review. The NRC will communicate to the licensee any concerns 
regarding the presentation within 30 days of submittal.
    F. Within 18 months of the issuance date of this Confirmatory 
Order, Wolf Creek will deliver the presentation developed in Element E 
to an industry forum.

Evaluation

    G. Within 3 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order, 
Wolf Creek will complete a root cause analysis of the circumstances 
that led to the incomplete and inaccurate information violation and 
develop corrective actions.
    H. Within 6 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order, 
Wolf Creek will benchmark 2 other licensee sites to determine how other 
licensees detect and address incomplete and inaccurate information, 
including falsified records, and then develop actions from the 
benchmarks as appropriate.

Training

    I. Within 4 months of the issuance date of this Confirmatory Order, 
Wolf Creek will provide in-person training to station staff (employees 
and long-term contractors) that emphasizes expectations for 
completeness and accuracy in documentation, the expectation to stop 
when unsure, the expectation to write a condition report if 
encountering unexpected conditions, and what it means when an 
individual signs or initials a document. Wolf Creek will add training 
on these subjects to initial or ``onboarding'' training. The scope of 
the initial training may differ between Wolf Creek employees and 
contractors.
    J. Within 12 months of the issuance date of this Confirmatory 
Order, Wolf Creek will provide training to all maintenance personnel 
(craft, supervisors, and managers) that describes work order process 
timeliness, signature or initial requirements, and the process to 
follow if documents are incomplete (e.g., missing signatures). 
Subsequently, a training request will be initiated to analyze training 
frequency on this topic and Wolf Creek will follow its training process 
to completion.
    K. Within 12 months of the issuance date of this Confirmatory 
Order, Wolf Creek will implement annual compliance and ethics training 
to all employees to address 10 CFR 50.9 and 10 CFR 50.5, compliance 
therewith, and consequences for non-compliance. In addition, the 
training will describe what it means when an individual signs or 
initials a document.

Corrective Actions

    L. Within 6 months of the completion of refueling outage 23, Wolf 
Creek will perform a self-assessment on work order documentation 
quality by sampling 40 quality-related sub-work order packages 
performed during the refueling outage. The work order packages selected 
shall include substantial in-field work. The sample scope will be 
approved by the regulatory affairs manager and provided to the Wolf 
Creek NRC resident staff. The assessment team composition shall include 
an external peer in addition to station personnel. The results of the 
self-assessment will be reviewed by the Corrective Action Review Board 
and documented in the corrective action program system.
    M. Within 6 months of the completion of refueling outage 24, Wolf 
Creek will perform a self-assessment on work order documentation 
quality by sampling 40 quality-related sub-work order packages 
performed during the refueling outage. The work order packages selected 
shall include substantial in-field work. The sample scope will be 
approved by the regulatory affairs manager and provided to the Wolf 
Creek NRC resident staff. The assessment team composition shall include 
an external peer in addition to station personnel. The results of the 
self-assessment will be reviewed by the Corrective Action Review Board 
and documented in the corrective action program system.
    N. Within 4 months of the issuance date of the Confirmatory Order, 
Wolf Creek will conduct a nuclear safety culture survey developed by a 
third-party.
    O. Within 30 months of the completion of the survey in Element N, 
Wolf Creek will conduct a second nuclear safety culture survey.
    P. By December 31 of 2020, 2021, and 2022, Wolf Creek will perform 
an annual effectiveness review of its corrective actions associated 
with the Confirmatory Order. The annual effectiveness review will 
include the insights from benchmarks, site performance, self-
assessments, and safety culture surveys. Wolf Creek will modify its 
corrective actions, as needed and consistent with this Confirmatory 
Order, based on the results of the annual effectiveness review.

Administrative Items

    Q. By December 31 of each year until 2023, Wolf Creek will provide 
in writing to the Regional Administrator, Region IV, a summary of the 
actions implemented under this Confirmatory Order, the results 
achieved, and any additional corrective actions initiated as a result 
of this Confirmatory Order.
    R. Wolf Creek will retain a copy, for 5 years from document 
creation, of all documents created as a result of this Confirmatory 
Order.
    S. In the event of the transfer of the license of Wolf Creek to 
another entity, the terms and conditions set forth hereunder shall 
continue to apply to the new entity and accordingly survive any 
transfer of ownership or license.
    T. In consideration of the elements delineated above, the NRC 
agrees not to issue a Notice of Violation for the violation discussed 
in NRC Inspection Report 05000482/2019010 and NRC Investigation Report 
4-2018-008 dated April 2, 2019 (EA-18-165) and not to issue an 
associated civil penalty.
    U. The NRC will consider the Confirmatory Order an escalated 
enforcement action with respect to any future enforcement actions.
    V. The NRC and Wolf Creek agree that the above elements will be 
incorporated into a Confirmatory Order.
    Based on the completed actions described above, and the commitments 
described in Section V below, the NRC agrees to not pursue any further 
enforcement action based on the apparent violation identified in the 
NRC's April 2, 2019, letter.
    On July 11, 2019, Wolf Creek consented to issuing this Confirmatory 
Order with the commitments, as

[[Page 37691]]

described in Section V below. Wolf Creek further agreed that this 
Confirmatory Order is to be effective upon issuance, the agreement 
memorialized in this Confirmatory Order settles the matter between the 
parties, and that it has waived its right to a hearing.

IV

    I find that Wolf Creek's actions completed, as described in Section 
III above, combined with the commitments as set forth in Section V are 
acceptable and necessary, and conclude that with these commitments the 
public health and safety are reasonably assured. In view of the 
foregoing, I have determined that public health and safety require that 
Wolf Creek's commitments be confirmed by this Confirmatory Order. Based 
on the above and Wolf Creek's consent, this Confirmatory Order is 
effective upon issuance.

V

    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 UPON ISSUANCE, THAT LICENSE NO. NPF-42 IS 
MODIFIED AS FOLLOWS:

Communications

    A. Within 1 month of the issuance date of this Confirmatory Order, 
Wolf Creek will issue a stand-alone communication from the Chief 
Nuclear Officer to all employees and contractor personnel that willful 
violations will not be tolerated. The communication will stress the 
importance of procedural adherence, ensuring that documents are 
complete and accurate, and of potential consequences for engaging in 
willful violations. This message will be balanced with the recognition 
that people do make mistakes and when that happens, it is Wolf Creek's 
expectation that its employees and contractors will identify and 
document issues in accordance with licensee procedures.
    B. Within 4 months of the issuance date of this Confirmatory Order, 
Wolf Creek will hold meetings with all employees and long-term 
contractor personnel to address integrity and trustworthiness. The 
meetings will: (1) Stress the importance of procedural adherence, 
ensuring that documents are complete and accurate, and of potential 
consequences for engaging in willful violations; (2) describe the 
circumstances of this case, the results of the root cause evaluation, 
and Wolf Creek's corrective actions; (3) include the expectation to 
immediately raise safety concerns when observed; (4) address how to 
proceed when work order documentation is incomplete.
    C. Within 4 months of the issuance date of this Confirmatory Order, 
Wolf Creek will reinforce expectations with Operations, Fire Watch, 
Maintenance, and Radiation Protection staff with regards to 10 CFR 
50.9, completeness and accuracy of information, and 10 CFR 50.5, 
deliberate misconduct, by providing an overview of the last 5 years of 
pertinent NRC-wide enforcement actions.
    D. Within 6 months of the issuance date of this Confirmatory Order, 
Wolf Creek will complete its efforts to reinforce site expectations 
through posters and the morning brief communications, which will 
specifically address 10 CFR 50.9 and 10 CFR 50.5, and its applicable 
``Professional to the Core'' behaviors meant to ensure high quality 
work and high-quality work products.
    E. Within 6 months of the issuance date of this Confirmatory Order, 
Wolf Creek will develop a presentation to be delivered to an 
appropriate industry forum (e.g., Regional Utility Group or Strategic 
Teaming and Resource Sharing) subject to acceptance of the conference 
organizing committees.
    1. This presentation will include the significance of the incident 
that formed the basis for this violation, the consequences of the 
actions, the responsibilities of personnel involved, and the completed 
and planned corrective actions.
    2. Wolf Creek will provide its proposed presentation to the NRC for 
its review. The NRC will communicate to the licensee any concerns 
regarding the presentation within 30 days of submittal.
    F. Within 18 months of the issuance date of this Confirmatory 
Order, Wolf Creek will deliver the presentation developed in Element E 
to an industry forum.

Evaluation

    G. Within 3 months of the issuance date of this Confirmatory Order, 
Wolf Creek will complete a root cause analysis of the circumstances 
that led to the incomplete and inaccurate information violation and 
develop corrective actions.
    H. Within 6 months of the issuance date of this Confirmatory Order, 
Wolf Creek will benchmark 2 other licensee sites to determine how other 
licensees detect and address incomplete and inaccurate information, 
including falsified records, and then develop actions from the 
benchmarks as appropriate.

Training

    I. Within 4 months of the issuance date of this Confirmatory Order, 
Wolf Creek will provide in-person training to station staff (employees 
and long-term contractors) that emphasizes expectations for 
completeness and accuracy in documentation, the expectation to stop 
when unsure, the expectation to write a condition report if 
encountering unexpected conditions, and what it means when an 
individual signs or initials a document. Wolf Creek will add training 
on these subjects to initial or ``onboarding'' training. The scope of 
the initial training may differ between Wolf Creek employees and 
contractors.
    J. Within 12 months of the issuance date of this Confirmatory 
Order, Wolf Creek will provide training to all maintenance personnel 
(craft, supervisors, and managers) that describes work order process 
timeliness, signature or initial requirements, and the process to 
follow if documents are incomplete (e.g., missing signatures). 
Subsequently, a training request will be initiated to analyze training 
frequency on this topic and Wolf Creek will follow its training process 
to completion.
    K. Within 12 months of the issuance date of this Confirmatory 
Order, Wolf Creek will implement annual compliance and ethics training 
to all employees to address 10 CFR 50.9 and 10 CFR 50.5, compliance 
therewith, and consequences for non-compliance. In addition, the 
training will describe what it means when an individual signs or 
initials a document.

Corrective Actions

    L. Within 6 months of the completion of Refueling Outage 23, Wolf 
Creek will perform a self-assessment on work order documentation 
quality by sampling 40 quality-related sub-work order packages 
performed during the refueling outage. The work order packages selected 
shall include substantial in-field work. The sample scope will be 
approved by the regulatory affairs manager and provided to the Wolf 
Creek NRC resident staff. The assessment team composition shall include 
an external peer in addition to station personnel. The results of the 
self-assessment will be reviewed by the Corrective Action Review Board 
and documented in the corrective action program system.
    M. Within 6 months of the completion of Refueling Outage 24, Wolf 
Creek will perform a self-assessment on work order documentation 
quality by sampling 40 quality-related sub-work order packages

[[Page 37692]]

performed during the refueling outage. The work order packages selected 
shall include substantial in-field work. The sample scope will be 
approved by the regulatory affairs manager and provided to the Wolf 
Creek NRC resident staff. The assessment team composition shall include 
an external peer in addition to station personnel. The results of the 
self-assessment will be reviewed by the Corrective Action Review Board 
and documented in the corrective action program system.
    N. Within 4 months of the issuance date of this Confirmatory Order, 
Wolf Creek will conduct a nuclear safety culture survey developed by a 
third-party.
    O. Within 30 months of the completion of the survey in Element N, 
Wolf Creek will conduct a second nuclear safety culture survey.
    P. By December 31 of 2020, 2021, and 2022, Wolf Creek will perform 
an annual effectiveness review of its corrective actions associated 
with this Confirmatory Order. The annual effectiveness review will 
include the insights from benchmarks, site performance, self-
assessments, and safety culture surveys. Wolf Creek will modify its 
corrective actions as needed, and consistent with this Confirmatory 
Order, based on the results of the annual effectiveness review.

Administrative Items

    Q. By December 31 of each year until 2023, Wolf Creek will provide 
in writing to the Regional Administrator, Region IV, a summary of the 
actions implemented under this Confirmatory Order, the results 
achieved, and any additional corrective actions initiated as a result 
of this Confirmatory Order.
    R. Wolf Creek will retain a copy, for 5 years from document 
creation, of all documents created as a result of this Confirmatory 
Order.
    In the event of the transfer of the license of Wolf Creek to 
another entity, the terms and conditions set forth hereunder shall 
continue to apply to the new entity and accordingly survive any 
transfer of ownership or license. The NRC will consider this 
Confirmatory Order an escalated enforcement action with respect to any 
future enforcement actions at Wolf Creek. The Regional Administrator, 
Region IV, may, in writing, relax or rescind any of the above 
conditions upon demonstration by Wolf Creek of good cause.

VI

    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR 2.309, any person 
adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order, other than Wolf Creek, 
may request a hearing within thirty (30) calendar days of the date of 
issuance of this Confirmatory Order. 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, DC 20555, and include a statement of good cause for the 
extension.
    All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including a 
request for hearing, a petition for leave to intervene, any motion or 
other document filed in the proceeding prior to the submission of a 
request for hearing or petition to intervene (hereinafter 
``petition''), and documents filed by interested governmental entities 
participating under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in accordance with 
the NRC's E-Filing rule (72 FR 49139; August 28, 2007, as amended at 77 
FR 46562, August 3, 2012). The E-Filing process requires participants 
to submit and serve all adjudicatory documents over the internet, or in 
some cases to mail copies on electronic storage media. Participants may 
not submit paper copies of their filings unless they seek an exemption 
in accordance with the procedures described below.
    To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10 
days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should contact the 
Office of the Secretary by email at [email protected], or by 
telephone at 301-415-1677, to (1) request a digital identification (ID) 
certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or 
representative) to digitally sign submissions and access the E-Filing 
system for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise 
the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a petition or 
other adjudicatory document (even in instances in which the 
participant, or its counsel or representative, already holds an NRC-
issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this information, the 
Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the hearing in this 
proceeding if the Secretary has not already established an electronic 
docket.
    Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is 
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/getting-started.html. Once a participant has obtained a 
digital ID certificate and a docket has been created, the participant 
can then submit adjudicatory documents. Submissions must be in Portable 
Document Format (PDF). Additional guidance on PDF submissions is 
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A filing is considered complete at the 
time the document is submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To be 
timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing system 
no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. Upon receipt of 
a transmission, the E-Filing system time-stamps the document and sends 
the submitter an email notice confirming receipt of the document. The 
E-Filing system also distributes an email notice that provides access 
to the document to the NRC's Office of the General Counsel and any 
others who have advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to 
participate in the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the 
document on those participants separately. Therefore, applicants and 
other participants (or their counsel or representative) must apply for 
and receive a digital ID certificate before adjudicatory documents are 
filed so that they can obtain access to the documents via the E-Filing 
system.
    A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC's Electronic 
Filing Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's 
Public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by 
email to [email protected], or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-
7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m. 
and 6 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, excluding government 
holidays.
    Participants who believe that they have good cause for not 
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, in 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing 
stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and 
requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper 
format. Such filings must be submitted by: (1) First class mail 
addressed to the Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: 
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or 
expedited delivery service to the Office of the Secretary, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, 20852, Attention: Rulemaking and 
Adjudications Staff. Participants filing adjudicatory documents in this 
manner are responsible for serving the document on all other 
participants. Filing is considered complete by first-class mail as of 
the time of deposit in the mail, or by courier, express mail, or 
expedited

[[Page 37693]]

delivery service upon depositing the document with the provider of the 
service. A presiding officer, having granted an exemption request from 
using E-Filing, may require a participant or party to use E-Filing if 
the presiding officer subsequently determines that the reason for 
granting the exemption from use of E-Filing no longer exists.
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the 
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at 
https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an Order of the 
Commission or the presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued 
digital ID certificate as described above, click ``Cancel'' when the 
link requests certificates and you will be automatically directed to 
the NRC's electronic hearing dockets where you will be able to access 
any publicly available documents in a particular hearing docket. 
Participants are requested not to include personal privacy information, 
such as social security numbers, home addresses, or personal phone 
numbers in their filings, unless an NRC regulation or other law 
requires submission of such information. For example, in some 
instances, individuals provide home addresses in order to demonstrate 
proximity to a facility or site. With respect to copyrighted works, 
except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the adjudicatory 
filings and would constitute a Fair Use application, participants are 
requested not to include copyrighted materials in their submission.
    The Commission will issue a notice or order granting or denying a 
hearing request or intervention petition, designating the issues for 
any hearing that will be held and designating the Presiding Officer. A 
notice granting a hearing will be published in the Federal Register and 
served on the parties to the hearing.
    If a person (other than Wolf Creek) requests a hearing, that person 
shall set forth with particularity the manner in which his interest is 
adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order and shall address the 
criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d) and (f).
    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 hearings. 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 V above shall be final 30 days from the date of 
this Confirmatory Order without further order or proceedings. If an 
extension of time for requesting a hearing has been approved, the 
provisions specified in Section V shall be final when the extension 
expires if a hearing request has not been received.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

    Dated this 18th day of July 2019.

Scott A. Morris,

Regional Administrator, NRC Region IV.

[FR Doc. 2019-16367 Filed 7-31-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P