Northern States Power Company, Prairie Island Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2 Prairie Island Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Receipt of Petition For Director's Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-282, 50-306, and 72-10]

Northern States Power Company, Prairie Island Nuclear Plant,

Units 1 and 2 Prairie Island Independent Spent Fuel Storage

Installation; Receipt of Petition For Director's Decision Under 10 CFR

2.206

Notice is hereby given that by a Petition filed pursuant to 10 CFR

2.206 on August 26, 1997, Prairie Island Coalition (Petitioner)

requested that the NRC (1) suspend Northern States Power Company's (the

licensee) Materials License No. SNM-2506 for cause under Section 50.100

of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR 50.100) until

all material issues regarding the maintenance, unloading, and

decommissioning processes and procedures, as described in the Petition

and a similar Petition filed on May 28, 1997, by the Prairie Island

Indian Community, have been adequately addressed and resolved, and

until the maintenance and unloading processes and procedures in

question are safely demonstrated under the scrutiny of independent

third-party review of the TN-40 cask seal maintenance and unloading

procedure; (2) determine that the licensee violated 10 CFR 72.122(f) by

using a cask design that requires periodic seal maintenance and

emergency seal replacement that must be performed in the plant storage

pool; (3) determine that the licensee violated 10 CFR 72.122(h) by

using a cask that must be placed into the pool for necessary

maintenance and/or unloading procedures; (4) determine that the

licensee violated 10 CFR 72.122(l) by loading casks and storing them

before the licensee had procedures adequate to safely unload and

decommission the TN-40 casks; (5) determine that the licensee violated

10 CFR 72.130 by using the TN-40 cask and failing to make provisions

capable of accomplishing the removal of radioactive waste and

contaminated materials at the time the independent spent fuel storage

installation (ISFSI) is permanently decommissioned; (6) determine that

the licensee violated 10 CFR 72.11 by failing to provide and include

complete and accurate material information regarding maintenance and

unloading of TN-40 casks in the application for the Prairie Island

ISFSI and in subsequent submissions regarding cask maintenance and

unloading issues; (7) determine that the licensee violated 10 CFR 72.12

by deliberately and knowingly submitting incomplete and inaccurate

material information regarding maintenance and unloading of TN-40 casks

in the application for the Prairie Island ISFSI and in subsequent

submissions regarding cask maintenance and unloading issues; (8)

require that the licensee pay a substantial penalty for each cask

loaded in violation of NRC regulations; (9) administer such other

sanctions for the alleged violations of NRC regulations as the NRC

deems necessary and appropriate; (10) provide Petitioner the

opportunity to participate in a public review of maintenance,

unloading, and decommissioning processes and procedures in question and

an opportunity to comment on draft

[[Page 53032]]

findings after investigation by the NRC; (11) order modification of the

licensee's Technical Specifications for the Prairie Island ISFSI to

ensure a demonstrated ability to in fact safely maintain, unload, and

decommission TN-40 casks; (12) review the licensee's processes and

procedures for maintenance, unloading, and decommissioning, and if the

licensee does not possess capability to unload casks, order the

licensee to build a ``Hot Shop'' for air unloading of casks and

transfer of the fuel; (13) initiate a formal rulemaking proceeding to

solicit information and review current information regarding thermal

shock and corrosion inherent in dry cask storage and usage and to

define the parameters of degradation acceptable under 10 CFR 72.122(h);

(14) initiate a formal rulemaking proceeding to define the parameters

of retrievability required under 10 CFR 72.122(l); and (15) initiate a

formal rulemaking proceeding for amendment of current licenses and

rules for prospective licensing proceedings to require demonstration of

a safe cask unloading ability before a cask may be used at an ISFSI.

The Petition has been referred to the Director of the Office of

Nuclear Reactor Regulation. As provided by 10 CFR 2.206, further action

will be taken within a reasonable time. Regarding the requests for

formal rulemaking proceedings as detailed in Items 13, 14, and 15 in

the Petition, the NRC staff is reviewing these requests in accordance

with 10 CFR 2.802, ``Petition for Rulemaking.''

A copy of the Petition is available for inspection at the

Commission's Public Document Room at 2120 L Street, NW., Washington,

DC, and at the local public document room located at the Minneapolis

Public Library, Technology and Science Department, 300 Nicollet Mall,

Minneapolis, MN.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of October 1997.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Samuel J. Collins,

Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 97-26992 Filed 10-9-97; 8:45 am]

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