81 FR 39720 - Duke Energy Florida, LLC; Levy Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 117 (June 17, 2016)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) will convene an evidentiary session to receive testimony and exhibits in the uncontested portion of this proceeding regarding the application of Duke Energy Florida, LLC (DEF) for combined licenses (COLs) to construct and operate two units (Units 1 and 2) in Levy County, Florida. This mandatory hearing will concern safety and environmental matters relating to the requested COLs.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 117 (Friday, June 17, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39720-39721]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-14383]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 52-029 and 52-030; NRC-2008-0558]


Duke Energy Florida, LLC; Levy Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Combined license application; hearing.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) 
will convene an evidentiary session to receive testimony and exhibits 
in the uncontested portion of this proceeding regarding the application 
of Duke Energy Florida, LLC (DEF) for combined licenses (COLs) to 
construct and operate two units (Units 1 and 2) in Levy County, 
Florida. This mandatory hearing will concern safety and environmental 
matters relating to the requested COLs.

DATES: The hearing will be held on July 28, 2016, beginning at 9:00 
a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. For the schedule for submitting pre-filed 
documents and deadlines affecting Interested Government Participants, 
see Section VI of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this 
document.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 52-029 and 52-030 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:
     NRC's Electronic Hearing Docket: You may obtain publicly 
available documents related to this hearing online at http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/adjudicatory.html.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection 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 referenced (if it 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: Denise McGovern, Office of the 
Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, telephone: 301-415-0681; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Commission hereby gives notice that, pursuant to Section 189a 
of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), it will convene 
an evidentiary session to receive testimony and exhibits in the 
uncontested portion of this proceeding regarding DEF's \1\ July 28, 
2008, application for COLs under part 52 of title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), to construct and operate two new units 
(Units 1 and 2) in Levy County, Florida http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/levy/documents.html#application. This mandatory 
hearing will concern safety and environmental matters relating to the 
requested COLs, as more fully described below. Participants in the 
hearing are not to address any contested issues in their written 
filings or oral presentations.
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    \1\ The application was initially submitted by Progress Energy 
Florida, Inc. The applicant changed its name in April 2013 following 
a July 2012 corporate merger between Progress Energy, Inc. and Duke 
Energy Corporation.
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II. Evidentiary Uncontested Hearing

    The Commission will conduct this hearing beginning at 9:00 a.m., 
Eastern Daylight Time on July 28, 2016, at the Commission's 
headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. The hearing on these issues will 
continue on subsequent days, if necessary.

III. Presiding Officer

    The Commission is the presiding officer for this proceeding.

IV. Matters To Be Considered

    The matter at issue in this proceeding is whether the review of the 
application by the Commission's staff has been adequate to support the 
findings found in 10 CFR 52.97 and 10 CFR 51.107. Those findings that 
must be made for each COL are as follows:

Issues Pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as Amended

    The Commission will determine whether (1) the applicable standards 
and requirements of the Act and the Commission's regulations have been 
met; (2) any required notifications to other agencies or bodies have 
been duly made; (3) there is reasonable assurance that the facility 
will be constructed and will operate in conformity with the license, 
the provisions of the Act, and the Commission's regulations; (4) the 
applicant is technically and financially qualified to engage in the 
activities authorized; and (5) issuance of the license will not be 
inimical to the common defense and security or the health and safety of 
the public.

Issues Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 
1969, as Amended

    The Commission will (1) determine whether the requirements of 
Sections 102(2)(A), (C), and (E) of NEPA and the applicable regulations 
in 10 CFR part 51 have been met; (2) independently consider the final 
balance among conflicting factors contained in the record of the 
proceeding with a view to determining the appropriate action to be 
taken; (3) determine, after weighing the environmental, economic, 
technical, and other benefits against environmental and other costs, 
and considering reasonable alternatives, whether the combined licenses 
should be issued, denied, or appropriately conditioned to protect 
environmental values; and (4) determine whether the NEPA review 
conducted by the NRC staff has been adequate.

[[Page 39721]]

V. Schedule for Submittal of Pre-Filed Documents

    No later than July 7, 2016, unless the Commission directs 
otherwise, the staff and the applicant shall submit a list of its 
anticipated witnesses for the hearing.
    No later than July 7, 2016, unless the Commission directs 
otherwise, the applicant shall submit its pre-filed written testimony. 
The staff previously submitted its testimony on June 10, 2016.
    The Commission may issue written questions to the applicant or the 
staff before the hearing. If such questions are issued, an order 
containing such questions will be issued no later than June 24, 2016. 
Responses to such questions are due July 7, 2016, unless the Commission 
directs otherwise.

VI. Interested Government Participants

    No later than June 27, 2016, any interested State, local government 
body, or affected, Federally-recognized Indian tribe may file with the 
Commission a statement of any issues or questions to which the State, 
local government body, or Indian tribe wishes the Commission to give 
particular attention as part of the uncontested hearing process. Such 
statement may be accompanied by any supporting documentation that the 
State, local government body, or Indian tribe sees fit to provide. Any 
statements and supporting documentation (if any) received by the 
Commission using the agency's E-filing system \2\ by the deadline 
indicated above will be made part of the record of the proceeding. The 
Commission will use such statements and documents as appropriate to 
inform its pre-hearing questions to the Staff and applicant, its 
inquiries at the oral hearing and its decision following the hearing. 
The Commission may also request, prior to July 14, 2016, that one or 
more particular States, local government bodies, or Indian tribes send 
one representative each to the evidentiary hearing to answer Commission 
questions and/or make a statement for the purpose of assisting the 
Commission's exploration of one or more of the issues raised by the 
State, local government body, or Indian tribe in the pre-hearing 
filings described above. The decision of whether to request the 
presence of a representative of a State, local government body, or 
Indian tribe at the evidentiary hearing to make a statement and/or 
answer Commission questions is solely at the Commission's discretion. 
The Commission's request will specify the issue or issues that the 
representative should be prepared to address.
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    \2\ The process for accessing and using the agency's E-filing 
system is described in the December 8, 2008, notice of hearing that 
was issued by the Commission for this proceeding. See Progress 
Energy Florida, Inc.; Application for the Levy County Nuclear Power 
Plant Units 1 and 2; Notice of Order, Hearing, and Opportunity To 
Petition for Leave To Intervene 73 FR 74532. Participants who are 
unable to use the electronic information exchange (EIE), or who will 
have difficulty complying with EIE requirements in the time frame 
provided for submission of written statements, may provide their 
statements by electronic mail to [email protected].
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    States, local governments, or Indian tribes should be aware that 
this evidentiary hearing is separate and distinct from the NRC's 
contested hearing process. Issues within the scope of contentions that 
have been admitted or contested issues pending before the Atomic Safety 
and Licensing Board or the Commission in a contested proceeding for a 
COL application are outside the scope of the uncontested proceeding for 
that COL application. In addition, although States, local governments, 
or Indian tribes participating as described above may take any position 
they wish, or no position at all, with respect to issues regarding the 
COL application or the NRC staff's associated environmental review that 
do fall within the scope of the uncontested proceeding (i.e., issues 
that are not within the scope of admitted contentions or pending 
contested issues), they should be aware that many of the procedures and 
rights applicable to the NRC's contested hearing process due to the 
inherently adversarial nature of such proceedings are not available 
with respect to this uncontested hearing. Participation in the NRC's 
contested hearing process is governed by 10 CFR 2.309 (for persons or 
entities, including States, local governments, or Indian tribes, 
seeking to file contentions of their own) and 10 CFR 2.315(c) (for 
interested States, local governments, and Indian tribes seeking to 
participate with respect to contentions filed by others). Participation 
in this uncontested hearing does not affect the right of a State, local 
government, or Indian tribe to participate in the separate contested 
hearing process.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day of June, 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Rochelle C. Bavol,
Acting, Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2016-14383 Filed 6-16-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P