82 FR 42857 - Northern States Power Company-Minnesota; Entergy Operations, Inc.; FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company; Virginia Electric and Power Company; TEX Operations Company, LLC; South Carolina Electric & Gas Company, Inc.; STP Nuclear Operating Company; Tennessee Valley Authority

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 175 (September 12, 2017)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is giving notice that by petition dated January 24, 2017, Mr. Paul Gunter on behalf of Beyond Nuclear, and representing numerous public interest groups (collectively, Beyond Nuclear, et al., or petitioners), has requested that the NRC take action with regard to licensees of plants that currently rely on potentially defective safety-related components and potentially falsified quality assurance documentation supplied by AREVA-Le Creusot Forge and its subcontractor, Japan Casting and Forging Corporation. The petitioners' requests are included in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 175 (Tuesday, September 12, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42857-42858]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-19216]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-282, 50-306, 50-368, 50-334, 50-338, 50-339, 50-280, 
50-445, 50-395, 50-348, 50-364, 50-498, 50-499, 50-327, 50-390, 50-336, 
50-335; NRC-2017-0188]


Northern States Power Company--Minnesota; Entergy Operations, 
Inc.; FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company; Virginia Electric and 
Power Company; TEX Operations Company, LLC; South Carolina Electric & 
Gas Company, Inc.; STP Nuclear Operating Company; Tennessee Valley 
Authority

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: 10 CFR 2.206 request; receipt.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is giving notice 
that by petition dated January 24, 2017, Mr. Paul Gunter on behalf of 
Beyond Nuclear, and representing numerous public interest groups 
(collectively, Beyond Nuclear, et al., or petitioners), has requested 
that the NRC take action

[[Page 42858]]

with regard to licensees of plants that currently rely on potentially 
defective safety-related components and potentially falsified quality 
assurance documentation supplied by AREVA-Le Creusot Forge and its 
subcontractor, Japan Casting and Forging Corporation. The petitioners' 
requests are included in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this 
document.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0188 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-2017-0188. 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 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 it is mentioned in this 
document.
     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: Merrilee Banic, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2771; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 24, 2017, (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML17025A180) the petitioners requested that the NRC take action with 
regard to licensees of plants that currently rely on potentially 
defective safety-related components and potentially falsified quality 
assurance documentation supplied by AREVA-Le Creusot Forge and its 
subcontractor, Japan Casting and Forging Corporation.
    As a basis for this request, the petitioners provided the expert 
review of John Large & Associates identifying significant 
``irregularities'' and ``anomalies'' in both the manufacturing process 
and quality assurance documentation of large reactor components 
manufactured by the AREVA-Le Creusot Forge for French reactors and 
reactors in other countries.
    The request is being treated pursuant to section 2.206 of title 10 
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) of the Commission's 
regulations. The request has been referred to the Director of the 
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. The petitioners supplemented the 
petition on February 16, March 6, June 16, June 22, June 27, June 30, 
and July 5, 2017 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML17052A032, ML17068A061, 
ML17067A562, ML17174A087, ML17174A788, ML17179A288, ML17184A058, and 
ML17187A026, respectively). The supplements are being considered in 
evaluating the petitioners' request for enforcement action.
    The petitioners addressed the Petition Review Board in a public 
meeting on March 8, 2017; the transcript of that meeting (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML17081A418) is an additional supplement to the petition. 
The results of that meeting were considered in the Board's 
determination regarding the petitioners' request for enforcement 
action. The Director determined that the petitioners' request for 
enforcement action concerning potentially defective safety-related 
components met the criteria for review under the 10 CFR 2.206 process, 
but that the request about potentially falsified quality assurance 
documentation would be referred to another NRC process for appropriate 
action. Because the allegation process provides an opportunity for the 
petitioners to address these concerns, the issue of potentially 
falsified quality assurance documentation will not be reviewed as part 
of this 2.206 petition. The NRC will take appropriate action on this 
petition within a reasonable time.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of August 2017.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michele G. Evans,
Deputy Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2017-19216 Filed 9-11-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P