80 FR 53591 - North Anna Power Station, Units 1 and 2; Virginia Electric and Power Company

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 172 (September 4, 2015)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is giving notice that the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation has issued a final Director's Decision with regard to a petition dated October 20, 2011, filed by Paul Gunter et al, herein referred to as ``the petitioners.''

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 172 (Friday, September 4, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53591-53592]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-22048]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-338 and 50-339; NRC-2012-0258; License Nos.: NPF-4 and 
NPF-7]


North Anna Power Station, Units 1 and 2; Virginia Electric and 
Power Company

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Director's Decision under 10 CFR 2.206; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) 
is giving notice that the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation has issued a final Director's Decision with regard to a 
petition dated October 20, 2011, filed by Paul Gunter et al, herein 
referred to as ``the petitioners.''

DATES: September 4, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0258 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 Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0258. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; 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 access publicly available documents online in the NRC 
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the 
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then 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 ADAMS accession number 
for each document (if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided 
the first time that a document is referenced.
     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: V. Sreenivas, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2597; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that the Director of 
the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation has issued a Director's 
Decision with regard to a petition dated October 20, 2011 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML11293A116), filed by the petitioners. The petition was 
supplemented on November 2, 2011 (ADAMS Accession No. ML11308A027) and 
December 15, 2011 (ADAMS Accession No. ML12060A197). The petition 
concerns the operation of the North Anna Power Station, Units 1 and 2 
(North Anna 1 and 2), by the Virginia Electric and Power Company (VEPCO 
or the licensee). The petition requested that the NRC suspend the 
operating licenses for North Anna 1 and 2, until the completion of a 
set of activities described in the petition. The petitioner also 
requested that a public meeting be held to discuss this matter in the 
Washington, DC area.
    As the basis for the October 20, 2011, request, the petitioner 
raised several concerns, of which 12 were accepted for review by the 
NRC staff by letter dated March 16, 2012 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML12060A090). These summarized as follows:
    (1) Prior to the approval of restart for North Anna 1 and 2, after 
the earthquake of August 23, 2011, Virginia Electric and Power Company 
(the licensee) should be required to obtain a license amendment from 
the NRC that reanalyzes and reevaluates the plant's design basis for 
earthquakes and for associated necessary retrofits.
    (2) Prior to the approval of restart for North Anna 1 and 2, after 
the earthquake of August 23, 2011, the licensee should be required to 
ensure that North Anna 1 and 2, are subjected to thorough inspections 
of the same level and rigor.
    (3) The licensee should be required to reanalyze and reevaluate the 
North Anna Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (lSFSI) due to 
damage caused by the earthquake of August 23, 2011, and ensure that no 
threat is posed to public health and safety by its operation.
    (4) The licensee should ensure the reliability and accuracy of the 
seismic instrumentation at North Anna 1 and 2.
    (5) The NRC staff made hasty decisions about the restart of North 
Anna 1 and 2, and gave priority to economic considerations. The long-
term action plan was not even complete before the NRC staff gave 
authorization to restart.
    (6) Regulatory commitments are an inadequate regulatory tool for 
ensuring that the critical long-term tasks identified in the NRC 
staff's

[[Page 53592]]

confirmatory action letter dated November 11, 2011, are completed.
    (7) The licensee needs to address the possibility of both boildown 
and rapid draindown events at the North Anna 1 and 2, spent fuel pool.
    (8) The long-term storage of spent fuel in the spent fuel pool at 
North Anna 1 and 2, and at the North Anna ISFSI poses challenges to the 
public health and safety.
    (9) ``Hardened on-site storage'' strategies for spent fuel should 
be used at North Anna 1 and 2.
    (10) Concerns exist about the response of North Anna 1 and 2, to a 
prolonged station blackout.
    (11) The current emergency evacuation plans for North Anna 1 and 2, 
need to be revised to reflect the possible need to evacuate a larger 
area than that identified in the current emergency planning zone.
    (12) Concerns exist about damage to the structural integrity of the 
spent fuel pool structure at North Anna 1 and 2, as represented on 
pages 41 and 42 of the NRC staff's technical evaluation for the restart 
of North Anna 1 and 2, dated November 11, 2011.
    On December 12, 2012 and February 2, 2012, the petitioners and the 
licensee met with the NRC staff's petition review board (meeting 
transcripts under ADAMS Accession Nos. ML12033A025 and ML12047A240), 
regarding the petition. These meetings gave the petitioner and the 
licensee an opportunity to provide additional information and to 
clarify issues raised in the petition.
    The NRC staff issued a partial DD on October 19, 2012 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML12262A156). Twelve of the concerns were accepted for 
review by the NRC staff. As detailed in the partial DD, eight of these 
concerns were closed. The remaining four concerns accepted for review 
were identified as those that may take longer than the target timeframe 
for reaching a decision on a petition based on the fact they were 
undergoing NRC review as part of the agency's response to the Fukushima 
event in Japan.
    Regarding the four remaining concerns, the NRC staff sent a copy of 
the proposed DD to the Petitioners and to the licensee for comment on 
April 17, 2015 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML14311A616 and ML15061A133, 
respectively). The Petitioners provided comments in a response dated 
May 18, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15138A277) and the licensee 
provided comments in a response dated May 20, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML15147A517). The comments and the NRC staff's response to them are 
included with this director's decision.
    The Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation has 
determined that the request to suspend the operating licenses for North 
Anna 1 and 2, until the completion of a set of activities described in 
the petition, be partially granted and partially denied. The reasons 
for this decision are explained in the director's decision DD-15-09 
pursuant to Section 2.206 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) of the Commission's regulations.
    The NRC will file a copy of the director's decision with the 
Secretary of the Commission for the Commission's review in accordance 
with 10 CFR 2.206. 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 in that time.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of August, 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michele G. Evans,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2015-22048 Filed 9-3-15; 8:45 am]
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