[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 148 (Monday, August 3, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41301-41302]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-20601]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-445]
TU Electric; Comanche Peak; Confirmatory Order Modifying License,
Effective Immediately
I
TU Electric, (the Licensee) is the holder of Facility Operating
License No. NPF-87, which authorizes operation of Comanche Peak, Unit 1
located in, Somervell County, TX.
II
The staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has been
concerned that Thermo-Lag 330-1 fire barrier systems installed by
licensees may not provide the level of fire endurance intended and that
licensees that use Thermo-Lag 330-1 fire barriers may not be meeting
regulatory requirements. During the 1992 to 1994 timeframe, the NRC
staff issued Generic Letter (GL) 92-08, ``Thermo-Lag 330-1 Fire
Barriers'' and subsequent requests for additional information that
requested licensees to submit plans and schedules for resolving the
Thermo-Lag issue. The NRC staff has obtained and reviewed all
licensees' corrective plans and schedules. The staff is concerned that
some licensees may not be making adequate progress toward resolving the
plant-specific issues, and that some implementation schedules may be
either too tenuous or too protracted. For example, several licensees
informed the NRC staff that their completion dates had slipped by 6
months to as much as 3 years. For plants that have completion action
scheduled beyond 1997, the NRC staff has met with these licensees to
discuss the progress of the licensees' corrective actions and the
extent of licensee management attention regarding completion of Thermo-
Lag corrective actions. The discussions with TU Electric, to resolve
Thermo-Lag corrective actions have been numerous. In addition to
telephone conversations and letter responses, two public meetings were
held, the first on December 5, 1996, at the Region IV Office in
Arlington, Texas and the second on November 12, 1997, at the NRC
Headquarters Office in Rockville, Maryland.
Based on the information submitted by TU Electric, the NRC staff
has concluded that the schedules presented by TU Electric are
reasonable. This conclusion is based on (1) the amount of installed
Thermo-Lag, (2) the complexity of the plant-specific fire barrier
configurations and issues, (3) the
[[Page 41302]]
need to perform certain plant modifications during outages as opposed
to those that can be performed while the plant is at power, and (4)
integration with other significant but unrelated issues that TU
Electric is addressing at its plant. In order to remove compensatory
measures such as fire watches, it has been determined that resolution
of the Thermo-Lag corrective actions by TU Electric must be completed
in accordance with current TU Electric schedules. By letter dated May
20, 1998, the NRC staff notified TU Electric of its plan to incorporate
TU Electric's schedule commitment into a requirement by issuance of an
order and requested consent from the Licensee. By letter dated June 2,
1998, the Licensee provided its consent to issuance of a Confirmatory
Order.
III
The Licensee's commitment as set forth in its letter of June 2,
1998, is acceptable and is necessary for the NRC to conclude that
public health and safety are reasonably assured. To preclude any
schedule slippage and to assure public health and safety, the NRC staff
has determined that the Licensee's commitment in its June 2, 1998,
letter be confirmed by this Order. The Licensee has agreed to this
action. Based on the above, and the Licensee's consent, this Order is
immediately effective upon issuance.
IV
Accordingly, pursuant to sections 103, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182, and
186 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's
regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR Part 50, it is hereby ordered,
effective immediately, that:
TU Electric shall complete final implementation of Thermo-Lag 330-1
fire barrier corrective actions at Comanche Peak, Unit 1, described in
TU Electric submittals to the NRC dated April 9 and May 1, 1998, by
December 31, 1998.
The Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, may relax or
rescind, in writing, any provisions of this Confirmatory Order upon a
showing by the Licensee of good cause.
V
Any person adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order, other
than the Licensee, may request a hearing within 20 days of its
issuance. Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to
extending the time to request a hearing. A request for extension of
time must be made in writing to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555
and include a statement of good cause for the extension. Any request
for a hearing shall be submitted to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff,
Washington, D.C. 20555. Copies of the hearing request shall also be
sent to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555, to the Deputy
Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement at the same address, to the
Regional Administrator, NRC Region IV, 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400,
Arlington, Texas, 76011 and to the Licensee. If such a person requests
a hearing, that person shall set forth with particularity the manner in
which his/her interest is adversely affected by this Order and shall
address criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.714(d).
If a hearing is requested by a person whose interest is adversely
affected, the Commission will issue an Order designating the time and
place of any such hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to be
considered at such hearing shall be whether this Confirmatory Order
should be sustained.
In the absence of any request for hearing, or written approval of
an extension of time in which to request a hearing, the provisions
specified in Section IV above shall be final 20 days from the date of
this Order without further order or proceedings. If an extension of
time for requesting a hearing has been approved, the provisions
specified in Section IV shall be final when the extension expires if a
hearing request has not been received. An answer or a request for
hearing shall not stay the immediate effectiveness of this Order.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 28 day of July 1998.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 98-20601 Filed 7-31-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
