E5-3223. Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC and Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.; Receipt of Request for Action Under 10 CFR 2.206

Notice is hereby given that by petition dated May 3, 2005, the New England Coalition (NEC or the petitioner) has requested that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) take action with regard to the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (Vermont Yankee). The NEC petition requested that the NRC promptly restore reasonable assurance of adequate protection of public health and safety with regard to the fire barriers in electrical cable protection systems at Vermont Yankee, or otherwise to order a derate of Vermont Yankee until such time as the operability of the fire barriers can be assured. Specifically, the petition requested that the Commission take the following actions: (1) Require Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee (ENVY) to promptly conduct a review at Vermont Yankee to determine the extent of condition, including a full inventory of the type, amount, application, and placement of Hemyc, and an assessment of the safety significance of each application; (2) require ENVY to promptly provide justification for operation in nonconformance with 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix R; and (3) upon finding that Vermont Yankee is operating in an unanalyzed condition and/or that assurance of public health and safety is degraded, promptly order a power reduction (derate) of Vermont Yankee until such time as it can be demonstrated that ENVY is operating in conformance with 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix R, and all other applicable regulations.

The request is being treated pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Section 2.206, of the Commission's regulations. The request has been referred to the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. As provided by 10 CFR 2.206, appropriate action will be taken on this petition within a reasonable time. Mr. Raymond Shadis, in his capacity as the petitioner's Staff Technical Advisor, participated in a telephone conference call with the NRC's Petition Review Board (PRB) on May 17, 2005, to discuss the petition. The results of that discussion were considered in the PRB's determination regarding the petitioner's request for action and in establishing the schedule for the review of the petition. During the May 17, 2005, PRB conference call, the petitioner requested that the licensee review fire barriers beyond the Hemyc electric raceway fire barrier system. This request will not be accepted under the 2.206 process because the petitioner did not provide adequate information to justify expanding the scope of the review.

A copy of the petition and the transcript of the telephone conference call are available for inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland, and from the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), Public Electronic Reading Room, on the Internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/​reading-rm/​adams.html (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML051370182 and ML051610042). Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to [e-mail].

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of June 2005.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

R.W. Borchardt,

Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.