[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 129 (Thursday, July 6, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35237-35239]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-16524]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 72-16, 50-338/339]
Virginia Electric and Power Company; Notice of Consideration of
Issuance of a Materials License for the Storage of Spent Fuel and
Notice of Opportunity for a Hearing
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the NRC) is considering an
application dated May 9, 1995, for a materials
[[Page 35238]]
license, under the provisions of 10 CFR Part 72, from Virginia Electric
and Power Company (the applicant or VEPCO) to possess spent fuel and
other radioactive materials associated with spent fuel storage in an
independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) located in Louisa
County, Virginia. If granted the license will authorize the applicant
to store spent fuel in a dry storage cask system at the applicant's
North Anna Nuclear Power Plant site for Units 1 and 2, (Operating
Licenses NPF-4 and 7). Pursuant to the provisions of 10 CFR Part 72,
the term of the license for the ISFSI would be twenty (20) years.
Prior to issuance of the requested license, the NRC will have made
the findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the
Act), and the NRC's rules and regulations. The issuance of the
materials license will not be approved until the NRC has reviewed the
application and has concluded that approval of the license will not be
inimical to the common defense and security and will not constitute an
unreasonable risk to the health and safety of the public. The NRC will
complete an environmental evaluation, in accordance with 10 CFR Part
51, to determine if the preparation of an environmental impact
statement is warranted or if an environmental assessment and Finding of
No Significant Impact are appropriate. This action will be the subject
of a subsequent notice in the Federal Register. Pursuant to 10 CFR
2.105 and 2.1107, by August 7, 1995, the applicant may file a request
for a hearing; and any person whose interest may be affected by this
proceeding and who wishes to participate as a party in the proceeding
must file a written request for a hearing and a petition for leave to
intervene with respect to the subject materials license in accordance
with the provisions of 10 CFR 2.714. If a request for hearing or
petition for leave to intervene is filed by the above date, the NRC or
an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board designated by the Commission or by
the Chairman of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel will rule
on the request and/or petition, and the Secretary or the designated
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will issue a notice of hearing or an
appropriate order. In the event that no request for hearing or petition
for leave to intervene is filed by the above date, the NRC may, upon
satisfactory completion of all required evaluations, issue the
materials license without further prior notice.
A petition for leave to intervene shall set forth with
particularity the interest of the petitioner in the proceeding and how
that interest may be affected by the results of the proceeding. The
petition should specifically explain the reasons why intervention
should be permitted with particular reference to the following factors:
(1) The nature of the petitoner's right under the Act to be made a
party to the proceeding; (2) the nature and extent of the petitioner's
property, financial, or other interest in the proceeding; and (3) the
possible effect of any order that may be entered in the proceeding on
the petitioner's interest. The petition should also identify the
specific aspect(s) of the subject of the proceeding as to which
petitioner wishes to intervene. Any person who has filed a petition for
leave to intervene or who has been admitted as a party may amend a
petition, without requesting leave of the Board up to 15 days prior to
the holding of the first prehearing conference scheduled in the
proceeding, but such an amended petition must satisfy the specificity
requirements described above.
Not later than fifteen (15) days prior to the first prehearing
conference scheduled in the proceeding, a petitioner shall file a
supplement to the petition to intervene which must include a list of
contentions which are sought to be litigated in the matter. Each
contention must consist of a specific statement of the issue of law or
fact to be raised or controverted. In addition, the petitioner shall
provide a brief explanation of the bases of the contention and a
concise statement of the alleged facts or expert opinion which support
the contention and on which the petitioner intends to rely in proving
the contention at the hearing. The petitioner must also provide
references to those specific sources and documents of which the
petitioner is aware and on which the petitioner is aware and on which
the petitioner intends to rely to establish those facts or expert
opinion. Petitioner must provide sufficient information to show that a
genuine dispute exists with the applicant on a material issue of law or
fact. Contentions shall be limited to matters within the scope of the
action under consideration. The contention must be one which, if
proven, would entitle the petitioner to relief. A petitioner who fails
to file such a supplement which satisfied these requirements with
respect to at least one contention will not be permitted to participate
as a party.
Those permitted to intervene become parties to the proceeding,
subject to any limitations in the order granting leave to intervene,
and have the opportunity to participate fully in the conduct of the
hearing.
A request for a hearing or a petition for leave to intervene must
be filed with the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555, Attention: Docketing and Service
Branch, or may be delivered to the Commission's Public Document Room,
the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, D.C., by the above
date. Where petitioners are filed during the last ten (10) days of the
notice period, it is requested that the petitioner promptly so inform
the NRC by a toll-free telephone call to Western Union at 1-(800) 248-
5100 (in Missouri 1-(800) 342-6700). The Western Union operator should
be given Datagram Identification Number N1023 and the following message
addressed to William D. Travers, Director, Spent Fuel Project Office,
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards: Petitioner's name and
telephone number; date petition was mailed; plant name; and publication
date and page number of this Federal Register notice. A copy of the
petition should also be sent to the Office of the General Counsel, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555, and to Michael
W. Maupin, Esq., Hunton and Williams, Riverfront Plaza, East Tower, 951
E. Byrd Street, Richmond, Virginia, 23219, General Counsel for the
applicant.
Nontimely filings of petitions for leave to intervene, amended
petitions, supplemental petitions and/or requests for hearing will not
be entertained absent a determination by the Commission, the presiding
officer or the presiding Atomic Safety and Licensing Board that the
petition and/or request should be granted based upon a balancing of the
factors specified in 10 CFR 2.714(a)(1)(i)-(v) and 2.714(d).
The Commission hereby provides notice that this proceeding concerns
an application for a license falling within the scope of section 134 of
the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA), 42 U.S.C. 10154. Under
section 134 of NWPA, the NRC, at the request of any petitioner or any
party to the proceeding, must use hybrid hearing procedures with
respect to ``any matter which the Commission determines to be in
controversy among the parties.'' The hybrid procedures in section 134
provide for oral argument on matters in controversy, preceded by
discovery under the Commission's rules, and the designation, following
argument, of only those factual issues that involve a genuine and
substantial dispute, together with any remaining questions of law, to
be resolved in an adjudicatory hearing. Actual adjudicatory hearings
are to be held on only those issues
[[Page 35239]]
found to meet the criteria of section 134 and set for hearing after
oral argument.
The Commission's rule implementing section 134 of the NWPA are
found in 10 CFR Part 2, subpart K, ``Hybrid Hearing Procedures for
Expansion of Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Capacity at Civilian Nuclear
Power Reactors,'' (published at 50 FR 41662, October 15, 1985). Under
those rules, any party to the proceeding may invoke the hybrid hearing
procedures by filing with the presiding officer a written request for
oral argument under 10 CFR 2.1109. To be timely, the request must be
filed within ten (10) days of an order granting a request for hearing
or petition to intervene. (As outlined above, the Commission's rules in
10 CFR Part 2, subpart G continue to govern the filing of requests for
a hearing or petitions to intervene, as well as the admission of
contentions.) The presiding officer may grant an untimely request for
oral argument only upon a showing of good cause by the requesting party
for the failure to file on time and after providing the other parties
an opportunity to respond to the untimely request. If the presiding
officer grants a request for oral argument, any hearing held on the
application shall be conducted in accordance with the hybrid hearing
procedures. In essence, those procedures limit the time available for
discovery and require that an oral argument to held to determine
whether any contentions must be resolved in an adjudicatory hearing. If
no party to the proceeding requests oral argument, or if all untimely
requests for oral argument are denied, then the usual procedures in 10
CFR Part 2, subpart G apply.
For further details with respect to this action, see the
application dated May 9, 1995, which is available for public inspection
at the Commission's Public Document Room, 2120 L Street, NW.,
Washington, D.C. 20555, and at the local public document room at the
Special Collections Department, Second Floor Alderman Library,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903-2498. The
Commission's licenses and Safety Evaluation Report, when issued, may be
inspected at the above locations.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day of June, 1995.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
William D. Travers, Director,
Spend Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 95-16524 Filed 7-5-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M
