ML023530120
| ML023530120 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Ginna  |
| Issue date: | 11/06/2002 |
| From: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | |
| schaaf R, NRR/DRIP/RLEP, 301-415-1312 | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML023530171 | List: |
| References | |
| -nr, NRC-623 | |
| Download: ML023530120 (57) | |
Text
Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Title:
R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant License Renewal Application Environmental Scoping Process Public Meeting - Evening Session Docket Number:
50-244 Location:
Webster, New York Date:
Wednesday, November 6, 2002 Work Order No.:
NRC-623 Pages 1-57 NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC.
Court Reporters and Transcribers 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 234-4433
1 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 1
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2 R. E. GINNA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT 3
ENVIRONMENTAL SCOPING PROCESS 5
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6 PUBLIC MEETING - EVENING SESSION 7
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8 Wednesday, 9
November 6, 2002 10
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11 The meeting was held at 7:00 p.m. at the 12 Betty Rissberger Community Room, Webster Public 13 Library, 980 Ridge Road, Webster, NY, Chip Cameron, 14 Facilitator, presiding.
15 PRESENT:
16 CHIP CAMERON, FACILITATOR 17 JOHN TAPPERT 18 ROBERT SCHAAF 19 RUSS ARRIGHI 20 FRANK GILLESPIE 21 KENNETH KOLACZYK 22 23 24 25
2 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 A-G-E-N-D-A 1
Page 2
Welcome - Facilitator Cameron.......... 3 3
............ 8 4
Overview of License Renewal Process 5
Russ Arrighi 10 6
Overview of Environmental Review Process 7
Bob Schaaf 17 8
Formal Comments 9
Dick Clark 36 10 Bob Mecredy............
39 11 Ron Fellows............
50 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
3 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 1
(7:00 p.m.)
2 FACILITATOR CAMERON: Good evening, 3
everyone. We are going to get started with tonights 4
meeting. My name is Chip Cameron, Im the Special 5
Counsel for Public Liaison, in the Office of General 6
Counsel at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
7 And I would like to welcome you to the 8
Nuclear Regulatory Commissions public meeting 9
tonight. And it really is your meeting, it is a 10 public meeting. And the topic that we are going to 11 talk about tonight is the NRCs review of a request 12 that we received from Rochester Gas and Electric, to 13 renew the operating license for the Ginna Nuclear 14 Power Plant.
15 And my job tonight will be to serve as 16 your facilitator for the meeting, and in that role Im 17 going to try to help all of you to have a productive 18 meeting.
19 You will hear some more detail on what the 20 objectives of the meeting are tonight. But basically 21 we want to make sure that we clearly explain the NRCs 22 review process on this license application that we 23
- received, and to hear your
- comments, your 24 recommendations, your advice on what the scope of the 25
4 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 environmental review should be for this license 1
application, what types of information should we look 2
at, what types of impacts should we consider, what 3
alternatives should be looked at.
4 You will be able to submit written 5
comments on these issues, if you want, and the Staff 6
will tell you how to do that. But we are here to talk 7
to you in person tonight. And let me emphasize, that 8
anything that you say tonight will carry the same 9
weight as a written comment that we receive.
10 In terms of the format for the meeting, 11 basically, we are going to have two parts to the 12 meeting. The first part is to give you information 13 about the NRCs review process for license renewal, 14 and answer your questions on that process.
15 The second part of the meeting is to give 16 you an opportunity to give us some more formal 17 comments on these issues, and we will ask you to come 18 up here to address us later on tonight.
19 The ground rules are real simple. If you 20 have something that you want to say, just signal me 21 and I will bring you this talking stick, and please 22 give us your name and affiliation, if appropriate.
23 We are taking a transcript of the meeting, 24 that is the record of the meeting, that will be 25
5 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 available to anybody who wants to get a copy of it.
1 I would ask that only one person speak at a time, so 2
that we can give our full attention to whomever has 3
the floor.
4 A third ground rule, try to be concise, if 5
possible. I think we are going to have plenty of time 6
tonight, but I do want to make sure that we get to 7
hear everybody who wants to talk. So try to be as 8
brief as you can. I know this is a complicated issue, 9
so that can be difficult.
10 When we get to the formal comments, a 11 guideline that I would like everybody to follow is to 12 try to keep it in the five to seven minute range. If 13 you go over that is fine, and I dont think we will 14 have a problem with that, but try to follow a five 15 minute guideline.
16 In terms of the agenda for tonights 17 meeting, what we are going to be covering, and who is 18 going to be giving presentations, we are going to 19 start off with Mr. John Tappert, who is right here, 20 who is going to give you a brief welcome.
21 And I asked John to do that because he is 22 the section leader of the Environmental Section in the 23 License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program 24 within the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
25
6 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 Johns staff are responsible for doing all 1
of the environmental reviews for any applications that 2
we get for license renewal, such as the one that we 3
received for the Ginna plant, but also for other types 4
of environmental reviews, other types of facilities.
5 And in way of background, John been with 6
the agency for approximately 11 years, he was a 7
resident inspector at operating nuclear power plants.
8 He has a bachelors in ocean and aerospace engineering 9
from Virginia Tech, and a masters degree in 10 environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins 11 University.
12 We are going to go to Russ Arrighi, who is 13 right here. And Russ is going to give you the 14 overview of the license renewal evaluation process, 15 the safety review, the environmental review, how all 16 that fits together.
17 And after Russ is done we will go out to 18 you for questions. Russ is the project manager for 19 the safety evaluation on the Ginna license renewal 20 application. And he will tell you what goes into that 21 safety evaluation.
22 Russ has also been with the agency for 23 about 11 years. Before that he was at the Norfolk 24 Naval Shipyard. He has served, as has John, as a 25
7 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 resident inspector at operating nuclear power plants.
1 And in terms of educational background, Russ has a 2
bachelors in chemical engineering from the University 3
of Rhode Island.
4 So we will go out for questions after 5
that. Then we are going to come back for a final 6
presentation, and we are going to go to Bob Schaaf, 7
who is right up here. Bob Schaaf, who is right here.
8 Bob is the project manager on the 9
environmental review side of the Ginna license renewal 10 application. I didnt mention it, but Russ is the 11 project manager on the safety part of that review for 12 the Ginna application.
13 Bob is going to tell you about the 14 environmental review process that the NRC conducts, 15 and he has been with the NRC for about 12 years. He 16 has been a project manager for various nuclear 17 reactors. These are the NRC staff that are 18 responsible for supervising activities at that 19 reactor, along with our resident inspectors, and we do 20 have our residents with us tonight.
21 And Bob has worked at, I guess it is 22 Charleston Naval Shipyard. He has a bachelors degree 23 in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech. So that 24
8 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 is going to be the NRC team who is going to be making 1
presentations.
2 We have other NRC folks here to answer any 3
questions that you might have. I would just thank all 4
of you for being here with us tonight, for taking the 5
time to help us with this important decision.
6 The Staff of the NRC, and also our expert 7
consultants, who you will hear more about, will be 8
here after the meeting to talk about any issues that 9
you might want to talk about.
10 And with that I would ask John to come up 11 and start us off. Thanks, John.
12 MR. TAPPERT: Well, good evening, and 13 welcome. My name is John Tappert, and Im the Section 14 Chief of the Environmental Section in the Office of 15 Nuclear Reactor Regulation. And on behalf of the NRC 16 I would like to thank everyone for coming out tonight, 17 and participating in our process.
18 As Chip said, there are several things we 19 would like to cover today. I would like to briefly go 20 over the purposes of todays meeting.
21 First of all, we want to provide a brief 22 overview of the entire license renewal process, and 23 this includes both the safety review, as well as the 24
9 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 environmental review, which is the principal focus of 1
todays meeting.
2 Then we will give you some additional 3
information about our environmental review, which will 4
assess the environmental impacts associated with 5
extending the operating life of Ginna for an 6
additional 20 years.
7 We will give you an idea of the issues 8
that we are going to look at, the schedule that we 9
will follow, and the opportunities for the public to 10 participate in that process.
11 At the conclusion of the staffs 12 presentation we will be happy to receive any questions 13 or comments that you may have today.
14 But first, let me provide some context for 15 the entire license renewal process. The Atomic Energy 16 Act gives the NRC the authority to issue operating 17 licenses to commercial nuclear power plants for a 18 period of 40 years.
19 For Ginna that operating license will 20 expire in 2009. Our regulations also make provisions 21 for extending that operating license for an additional 22 20 years, as part of the license renewal program. And 23 RG&E has requested license renewal for Ginna.
24
10 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 As part of the NRCs review of that 1
license renewal application we will be conducting an 2
environmental impact statement. The initial part of 3
that is called the scoping process, where we identify 4
those issues which will require the greatest focus 5
during our review.
6 And the principal purpose of this meeting, 7
here today, is to receive your input into that scoping 8
process.
9 And with that I would like to ask Russ to 10 walk us through the safety portion of license renewal.
11 MR. ARRIGHI: Thank you, John. As John 12 mentioned, my name is Russ Arrighi, Im the project 13 manager for the safety review portion of the license 14 renewal application for the Ginna nuclear power plant.
15 The license renewal application is 16 essentially broken down into two parallel paths.
17 There is a safety review, which Im in charge of, and 18 there is also an environmental review.
19 The safety review essentially focus on the 20 review and the inspection of the aging management 21 programs for passive long-lived structure systems and 22 components. And the reason why the Commission felt 23 that these programs should be the focus of the license 24 renewal regulation, is because the current regulatory 25
11 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 process already ensures that the current licensing 1
basis is maintained.
2 And things like emergency planning, and 3
security plans are acceptably implemented. Now, there 4
are components and systems that need to be constantly 5
attended to. However, the maintenance processes dont 6
explicitly look at the design capability to cope with 7
long-term degradation of equipment.
8 So the renewal application focuses on 9
those inspection programs, and the maintenance 10 practices that are used to maintain the margins of 11 safety.
12 The second review process is the 13 environmental review, which Bob Schaaf will discuss 14 shortly. I also want to mention that there is an 15 independent review conducted by the Advisory Committee 16 on Reactor Safeguards, or ACRS.
17 They review the renewal application, as 18 well as the staffs safety evaluation. The Committee 19 reports their findings directly to the Commission.
20 This figure, which is probably a little 21 hard to see, but you have in your handout, 22 demonstrates the license renewal process. The upper 23 portion, we have the safety review, and the lower, we 24 have the environmental review.
25
12 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 As you can see from the illustration, the 1
Staffs review of the application results in a safety 2
evaluation report. That report is then reviewed by 3
the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safety, ACRS. And, 4
again, as I mentioned, they perform their own review 5
of the application, in addition to our safety 6
evaluation.
7 The ACRS will then hold a public meeting, 8
that meeting is transcribed, oral and written 9
statements can be provided during that meeting, in 10 accordance with the instruction described in the 11 notice in the Federal Register.
12 In parallel with the safety review, the 13 staff performs a review of the environmental impact 14 for continued operation of the plant. And, as Bob 15 Schaaf will discuss later, the staff will issue an 16 environmental impact statement on the facility, after 17 it completes that review.
18 Now, the NRCs licensing process also 19 includes a process for public involvement through 20 hearings. These hearings are conducted by a panel of 21 Administrative Law Judges, who are called the Atomic 22 Safety and Licensing Board, or ASLB.
23
13 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 That process requires a petition to be 1
submitted to hold hearings. However, there were no 2
petitions to intervene for the Ginna proceedings.
3 At the end of the review process the final 4
safety evaluation report, the final environmental 5
impact statements, the results of the NRC 6
inspections, and ACRS recommendations, are used by the 7
Agency in determining whether we should grant the 8
license application, the renewal application.
9 Throughout the process, interested members 10 of the public who are concerned about nuclear safety 11 issues can raise those issues in various public 12 meetings.
13 There are meetings on particular technical 14 issues which are normally held in the NRC headquarters 15 in Rockville, Maryland. However, there are occasions 16 where we may come in the local area to hold those 17 meetings.
18 Also, at the end of our inspection, the 19 result of that inspection will be held locally in the 20 area, and the public is invited to attend those 21 meetings.
22 In addition to those meetings, the staff 23 holds two sets of public meetings to discuss the 24 environmental aspects of the application. There are 25
14 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 two meetings held on the scoping review, and today, 1
this is the second of those two meetings.
2 And also there are two meetings that are 3
held on the results of the review, during which the 4
public can provide comments.
5 Essentially that is a brief overview of 6
the license renewal process. I will now take 7
questions regarding that.
8 FACILITATOR CAMERON: Thank you, Russ.
9 Are there questions on the process, anything that we 10 could explain a little bit more fully?
11 Yes, sir, if you could just give us your 12 name, please?
13 MR. ARNOLD: Charles Arnold. Im a little 14 confused as to who does the on-site inspection. Is 15 that -- where does that come from? And then on the 16 basis of that, of the evaluation reports, seem to be 17 people reading paper, relative to somebody else saying 18 it is all wonderful.
19 MR. ARRIGHI: The inspections are 20 conducted by the NRC staff, normally for Ginna that 21 will be Region One inspectors, there may also be 22 inspectors from some of our other regions.
23 Regarding the review of the application, 24 the safety review as you mentioned, that is 25
15 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 essentially a review of the application that the 1
licensee does provide us. From that review we do come 2
up with questions that we have from the application.
3 At that point in time we will hold 4
meetings with the utility, or with the Applicant. And 5
also if there are other questions, as part of the 6
inspection on site we will forward those questions to 7
the NRC inspectors, who will then review the results 8
at the site.
9 FACILITATOR CAMERON: Does that straighten 10 out a little bit of the confusion?
11 MR. ARNOLD: Yes.
12 FACILITATOR CAMERON: Okay. And if you 13 have any more questions on that, just feel free to ask 14 them. I thought maybe we should take the opportunity 15 to introduce our senior resident at the Ginna plant.
16 And maybe you could just tell them a 17 little bit about what the resident does, that might be 18 useful.
19 MR. KOLACZYK: Thanks, Chip. My name is 20 Ken Kolaczyk, Im the senior resident inspector of the 21 Ginna station.
22 And basically the daily life of an 23 inspector involves coming to the facility, going to 24 the control room, looking -- assessing how the plant 25
16 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 is operating, then performing independent inspections 1
of the utility, how they are performing maintenance on 2
the facility, how well they are operating it.
3 And also, as you asked the question, 4
perform document reviews, verifying that documents 5
that have been submitted to the NRC are, in fact, 6
accurate and truthful.
7 It is an ongoing process. I have an 8
assistant working for me, and we are both covering the 9
plant. We have free access to the facility, we can 10 come on any, various hours. I will come in on a back 11 shift to watch some of the testing that is done on 12 midnight shifts, during the weekends and holidays.
13 And generally if there is any issue at all 14 I have pagers, beepers, and Im called and I will 15 respond to the facility. So I could go into much more 16 detail, but I think I only have five minutes to talk, 17 so I will hold to that.
18 FACILITATOR CAMERON: Thank you very much.
19 Our residents are the NRC on-site presence at the 20 plant, and in the community, also.
21 Other questions on the safety aspects of 22 the review?
23 (No response.)
24
17 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 FACILITATOR CAMERON: All right. Thank 1
you very much.
2 MR. ARRIGHI: If there are no other 3
questions I will turn it over to Bob Schaaf to discuss 4
the environmental review.
5 FACILITATOR CAMERON: All right.
6 MR. SCHAAF: Thank you, Chip, thank you 7
Russ.
8 My name is Bob
- Schaaf, Im the 9
environmental project manager for the Ginna license 10 renewal application. Im going to spend a few minutes 11 discussing the environmental review process, and how 12 you can participate in that process.
13 The National Environmental Policy Act, or 14 NEPA, was enacted in 1969, and requires all federal 15 agencies to use a systematic approach to consider 16 environmental impacts during certain decision-making 17 proceedings.
18 NEPA is a disclosure tool which involves 19 the public. It involves the process in which 20 information is gathered to enable federal agencies to 21 make informed decisions. And then, as part of that 22 process, we document that information and invite 23 public participation to evaluate it.
24
18 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 The NEPA process for license renewal 1
results in an environmental impact statement, also 2
called an EIS, which describes the results of the 3
detailed review we do to evaluate the environmental 4
impacts of a proposed action that may significantly 5
affect the quality of the human environment.
6 As part of our review, we also consider 7
the environmental impacts of alternatives to the 8
proposed action. These alternatives include the no-9 action alternative, which means simply not approving 10 the license renewal request, in this case, and 11 construction and operation of replacement power 12 generating facilities.
13 The NRC considered the environmental 14 impacts of renewing nuclear power plant operating 15 licenses for up to 20 years, in the Generic 16 Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of 17 Nuclear Plants.
18 Our catalog number for that is NUREG-1437, 19 also known as the GEIS, or commonly referred to as the 20 GEIS. In the GEIS, the Staff identified and assessed 21 92 environmental issues related to license renewal.
22 With regard to these issues the Staff 23 concluded that the environmental impacts for 69 of 24 these issues, referred to in the GEIS as category 1 25
19 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 issues, were adequately addressed for all plants, and 1
would not need to be addressed for individual license 2
renewal applications.
3 Additional plant specific review is 4
required for the remaining 23 issues, and for any 5
category 1 issue for which new and significant 6
information is identified.
7 New and significant information can be 8
identified by the applicant, in this case RG&E, by the 9
NRC, or through public comments that we receive during 10 the scoping process. These plant specific reviews are 11 to be included in a supplement to the GEIS.
12 At this point we are in the process of 13 gathering information we need to prepare the 14 supplement to the GEIS. In particular, at this stage, 15 we are performing what we call scoping.
16 The NRC is having this meeting as part of 17 our scoping process for the purpose of providing you, 18 and other government agencies, with an opportunity to 19 provide us with any information that you believe may 20 have some bearing on our environmental evaluation.
21 In particular we are looking for 22 information that may not be readily available, or 23 environmental concerns that you might have, that may 24 not have been addressed by RG&E in their application.
25
20 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 This slide describes the objective of our 1
environmental review. As stated here the Staff is 2
trying to determine whether the adverse environmental 3
impacts of license renewal, for R.E. Ginna, are so 4
great, that preserving the option of license renewal 5
for energy planning decision makers would be 6
unreasonable.
7 To paraphrase, we are trying to determine 8
whether or not renewing the Ginna license for an 9
additional 20 years is acceptable from an 10 environmental standpoint.
11 I want to emphasize that if we decide, in 12 the end, that license renewal is acceptable from an 13 environmental perspective, all that means is that RG&E 14 will have the option to operate Ginna for up to an 15 additional 20 years.
16 The NRC doesnt determine whether they 17 actually operate for those additional 20 years. Those 18 decisions will be made by RG&E, and by State 19 regulators.
20 It is possible that the utility could 21 determine, after all of this, that it is not 22 economically feasible to continue operating the plant.
23 That is their decision.
24
21 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 This slide gives a little more detail on 1
the schedule time line of our environmental review 2
process. RG&Es application was received on August 3
1st of this year.
4 On October 10th we issued a notice of our 5
intent to perform scoping, which we are doing now, and 6
our intent to develop an environmental impact 7
statement for the proposed action.
8 We are currently in a data gathering phase 9
to determine the environmental impacts of renewing the 10 license. After that we will develop a draft of the 11 environmental impact statement, which we expect to 12 issue for public comment in June of next year.
13 We will come back to this area in August 14 of next year for another public meeting, to talk about 15 the results of our review, and to give you an 16 opportunity to provide us any comments you may have on 17 our draft document.
18 After receiving and evaluating those 19 comments, we will then develop the final environmental 20 impact statement, which we expect to issue in January 21 of 2004.
22 Yesterday, we went to the site to get 23 familiar with the lay of the land, examine plant 24
22 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 features of particular interest, and observe first-1 hand how the site interacts with the environment.
2 This week we are gathering information for 3
evaluation from a number of different sources, 4
including the documents sent to us by RG&E, and by 5
reviewing documents contained at local agencies, and 6
in archives in the area.
7 We also are meeting, and corresponding, 8
with Federal, State, Native American, and other 9
Federal agencies, and interested people from the local 10 community, who may have information that will help us 11 in our environmental evaluation.
12 We will also consider all comments 13 received from the public during the comment period, 14 which is open until December 11th.
15 Our team focuses on many environmental 16 topics. This slide shows the range of areas we are 17 reviewing. Impacts considered include everything from 18 air quality to water use and quality, to effects on 19 plants and wildlife.
20 We also look at what we call 21 socioeconomics, how does the plant affect peoples 22 lives economically. And we consider environmental 23 justice, which focuses our attention on the question 24 of whether there are minority, or low income 25
23 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 population groups, that may be disproportionately 1
impacted by the proposed license renewal.
2 To prepare for the review we have 3
assembled a team of NRC staff with backgrounds in the 4
specific technical and scientific disciplines required 5
to perform these environmental reviews.
6 In addition, and to supplement the 7
technical expertise of the staff, we have engaged the 8
assistance of several national laboratories to ensure 9
that we have a well-rounded knowledge base to perform 10 our review.
11 We have put together a team of about 15 12 people to conduct this review. And many of them are 13 here today to hear what you have to say, and to be 14 available to answer any questions you have.
15 To summarize a few key dates from an 16 earlier slide our schedule is to complete the scoping 17 process by December 11th, when the public comment 18 period ends.
19 After that, as I indicated, we will issue 20 our draft environmental impact statement in June of 21 2003, and we expect to issue a final document in 22 January of 2004.
23 If you would like a copy of these reports 24 sent directly to you, be sure and leave your name and 25
24 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 mailing address with the registration desk, by putting 1
your name and address on one of the blue cards.
2 This slide provides my phone number in 3
case you have additional questions after you leave 4
today. Im the designated point of contact, within 5
the NRC, for the environmental portion of the license 6
renewal review.
7 Russell Arrighi, who spoke previously, is 8
project manager for the safety evaluation report.
9 Although Im providing my phone number here, we still 10 need to get your comments in a form that we can 11 document, either in writing, or as Chip has indicated, 12 through comments given here at this meeting, which is 13 being transcribed.
14 The transcript will become the written 15 record of your comments. Arrangements have been made 16 for the documents associated with the environmental 17 review to be available to you locally. These 18 documents are located at the Ontario and the Rochester 19 public libraries.
20 Also documents are available through our 21 internet webpage. After this meeting comments can be 22 submitted by mail, in person, or by email.
23 You can send specific written comments to 24 us at the address shown. You can stop by in person, 25
25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 if you happen to be in the Rockville, Maryland area.
1 Not too many people take advantage of that option, but 2
it is available. You can also submit comments by 3
email to the address indicated, and that is 4
GinnaEIS@nrc.gov.
5 This concludes our formal presentation on 6
the review processes. In closing I would like to 7
thank you, along with Chip, John, and Russ, for your 8
attention during our presentations, and for your 9
attendance at todays meeting.
10 Public participation is an important part 11 of the license renewal process, and it is especially 12 important for our environmental review, as your 13 knowledge of the area can provide valuable insights.
14 FACILITATOR CAMERON: Thank you very much, 15 Bob. How about questions about the review? Yes, 16 sir.
17 MR. SHEARS: My name is Don Shears, I live 18 in Ontario. I understand the process you are going 19 through, at this point in time, and you are going to 20 issue a report in January of 2004.
21 What, and the license renewal is up in 22 2009. Im just curious as to what your participation 23 is from that period on, until the end of their license 24
26 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 in 2009, and how you would continue to investigate the 1
environment, and impact of the area?
2 MR. SCHAAF: The licensee is required to 3
submit annual reports of environmental monitoring that 4
they perform, both for non-radiological impacts, and 5
the impacts, any potential impacts from radiological 6
effluents, and they maintain a sampling program.
7 They monitor any releases that occur from 8
the site. So they submit the reports, we review 9
those, we have an inspection, I believe, maybe Ken can 10 speak to this, as part of the core inspection program, 11 that looks at their environmental monitoring.
12 And, in particular, it looks at their 13 effluent and radiological environmental monitoring 14 programs.
15 FACILITATOR CAMERON: Does that answer 16 your question? Does anybody else from the NRC want to 17 add anything else on this?
18 MR. KOLACZYK: No, that is a great 19 explanation. We do periodic inspections, we have one 20 scheduled this December, to look at environmental 21 releases and some of the reports. It is an ongoing 22 process.
23
27 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 FACILITATOR CAMERON: Okay, so that 1
inspection, just tell us a bit, for the record, about 2
the December inspection.
3 MR. KOLACZYK: Well, as was already 4
indicated, we do, as part of the routine inspection 5
program, we do look at, we do perform our own 6
independent review of the utilitys effluent releases 7
by performing routine inspections.
8 And, in fact, we do have one scheduled in 9
the first week in December, where we have an inspector 10 from our regional office in King of Prussia to look at 11 some of the environmental reports that the utility 12 submitted to us for reviewing.
13 He, in this instance, will come on site 14 for a week and assess those reports, and any other 15 issues that may rise out of his review, such as a 16 routine program that goes on.
17 FACILITATOR CAMERON: Thank you very much.
18 Any other questions on the license renewal review 19 process? Yes, go ahead and introduce yourself.
20 MR. GILLESPIE: Im Frank Gillespie, Im 21 Deputy Director of the Division of Regulatory 22 Improvement Programs.
23 And let me see if I can answer a part of 24 the question that I dont think got answered yet. And 25
28 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 that is what Im going to call the irrelevance of 1
2009.
2 In the licensing process, what you 3
actually see happening here, is a relicensing of the 4
facility. And when a new license is issued it will be 5
issued for a term that goes 20 years beyond the 6
original license.
7 The original license is, therefore, 8
completely replaced. And it will be replaced with new 9
commitments and conditions that the utility has put in 10 this application, which will be in addition to its 11 current license.
12 So, quite honestly, once we get past the 13 issuance of the new license, the old license has gone 14 away. So 2009 becomes not relevant. And, as Ken 15 said, we then roll back into the normal monitoring 16 process of day to day, which is just what exists 17 today.
18 Did that answer it?
19 FACILITATOR CAMERON: Thank you for adding 20 that, Frank. Lets go over to John. And, John, if 21 you could just give us your name and affiliation?
22 MR. GREENBAUM: My name is Jon Greenbaum, 23 Im with Metro Justice, and thanks for your answer.
24 But actually it raised a question for me, which was 25
29 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 the original application was for two nuclear reactors 1
back in the 60s, and that is currently a possibility 2
for RG&E, if they thought it was economically 3
feasible.
4 That is, at least, my understanding, I 5
talked to Joe Widay, earlier. But now you are saying 6
the new license would change that? Or would that 7
still -- like, here is the scenario.
8 RG&E is relicensed, RG&E sells the nuclear 9
plant, and my understanding is that because it was 10 specd out for two plants, that then the people who 11 bought it, the energy company, would be able to build 12 another one, it would be a possibility.
13 Does the relicensing change that?
14 FACILITATOR CAMERON: There is a couple of 15 moving parts to this question, and one part is, even 16 though there were two plants originally contemplated, 17 can we address that aspect of it?
18 And then I think the second aspect is, as 19 we heard this afternoon, what are the implications, if 20 any, between license renewal, either grant or denial, 21 and what is called the early site permit process, 22 where utilities might try to come in and bank a 23 portion of a site for a future plant.
24 Who would like to start us off with that?
25
30 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 MR. TAPPERT: Regarding, I guess the first 1
one was, it was scoped out for two units originally.
2 And there were a number of sites around the country 3
which were originally planned for more units than were 4
actually built.
5 They dont have any special status as far 6
as building new plants at any given time. If an 7
Applicant were to apply to build and operate a nuclear 8
power plant, it would have to come to the agency, and 9
go through all the reviews that would be required of 10 any new site.
11 So there is no special status, and 12 certainly license renewal doesnt convey any 13 additional status to the site, as well. It only 14 applies to the unit that is there, it will be given a 15 license to 2029.
16 If they were to apply to build a new power 17 plant there, we would do another environmental impact 18 statement, we would do another safety review, and we 19 would look at those in the context of the environment 20 as it is.
21 So we look at the cumulative impacts of 22 the new project, as well as the existing plant. So 23 does that cover your question? Is that consistent, 24 Frank?
25
31 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 MR. GILLESPIE: Yes.
1 FACILITATOR CAMERON: Thank you. Other 2
questions about the license renewal process, and what 3
is going to be happening in the future, the NRCs role 4
in this?
5 Yes, sir, and give us your name, again.
6 MR. ARNOLD: Charles Arnold. Im curious 7
as to whether or not the original license had some 8
kind of a life span predicted for this facility? Also 9
Im very interested in whether or not the environment 10 has been taken into account in terms of what happens 11 to exhausted fuel.
12 Im not good on terminology, I assume you 13 can predict what Im talking about?
14 MR. SCHAAF: I understand.
15 MR. ARNOLD: I assume that before we had 16 this plant we did not have this as a problem.
17 FACILITATOR CAMERON: First question goes 18 to the original license term. And I think it might be 19 important to tell people why, what that original 20 license term means in terms of safety, why was that 21 selected.
22 And then there is the spent fuel question.
23 Bob, do you want to start us off on the first one?
24
32 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 MR. SCHAAF: Ill take a run at that. The 1
Atomic Energy Act permitted, restricted I guess I 2
should say, license terms to 40 years. That is not a 3
safety determination, per se.
4 I believe it was more based on antitrust 5
considerations. And so that is the basis for the 40 6
year term. That is not to say, you know, the plant 7
has been maintained, and parts replaced, and part of 8
the review that will be conducted is whether, on the 9
safety side is really Russ area, but part of the 10 review will look at the aging of structures and 11 components that have not undergone replacement, to 12 ensure that they are capable of operating for the 13 additional 20 year period.
14 FACILITATOR CAMERON: So the 40 years on 15 Ginna would be 1969 to 2009?
16 MR. SCHAAF: To 2009. And it is not a 17 design life of the facility, it was -- the 40 year 18 term is based on the restrictions in the Atomic Energy 19 Act.
20 FACILITATOR CAMERON: And the second 21 question has to do with, it was Mr. Arnold used the 22 phrase exhausted fuel, but the term we use is spent 23 fuel that comes out of the reactor. Maybe it would be 24 useful to just give people a brief overview of how do 25
33 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 we regulate spent fuel, where is it going to 1
eventually go to.
2 I think that is what you want to know?
3 MR. ARNOLD: Yes.
4 FACILITATOR CAMERON: Okay. Mike Masnik, 5
NRC staff.
6 MR. MASNIK: Yes, Mike Masnik. Spent 7
fuel, of course, is produced as the plant operates.
8 And when these plants were initially licensed the 9
expectation was that there would be a high level waste 10 repository to ship the fuel for permanent disposal.
11 Im sure most people here know about the 12 ongoing efforts to license a facility, and it is 13 called the Yucca Mountain facility.
14 The licensee has, at least initially, 15 shipped some of its fuel, when it first started 16 operating, to a facility here in New York state.
17 However, that facility closed. So the spent fuel that 18 has been generated since that time is being stored on-19 site.
20 Again, the expectation is that at some 21 future date there will be a high level waste 22 repository that that fuel will be shipped to. Some 23 utilities have, quite frankly, run out of room to 24
34 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 store their spent fuel, and have placed the fuel in 1
dry storage in facilities on-site.
2 My understanding is that the licensee has 3
a number of years before that is a consideration here.
4 So it is sort of a trade-off. If the high level waste 5
repository becomes operational they will be able to 6
ship it there.
7 If it is somehow delayed, they may have to 8
make provisions to store it either elsewhere or on 9
site for some extended period of time.
10 FACILITATOR CAMERON: And Mike, just one 11 footnote to that. If the licensee wants to do dry 12 storage, is that something that the NRC -- could you 13 just talk about what the NRCs role is in that?
14 MR. MASNIK: A number of facilities have, 15 quite frankly, run out of room, and have to store the 16 fuel on-site. It normally is stored in a pool on the 17 site, in the spent fuel pool. When they run out of 18 room, they typically take the oldest fuel that has 19 cooled the most, and place it in dry storage.
20 And that fuel, then, is placed inside of 21 a container, which is hermetically sealed, and 22 shielded, and placed in an ISFSI, another jargon. It 23 is an independent spent fuel storage installation.
24
35 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 And that is an on-site pad where the fuel 1
is stored in these containers, inside the shielded 2
over packs. And, again, the expectation is that in 3
the future they will be able to transfer that fuel to 4
the high level waste repository.
5 FACILITATOR CAMERON: And the NRC has to 6
approve this independent spent fuel storage 7
installation. Thank you.
8 Other questions?
9 (No response.)
10 FACILITATOR CAMERON: All right, thank you 11 Bob, thanks, Russ. We are going to go to the second 12 part of the meeting now, which is where we want to 13 hear from you, any comments that you want to give us 14 on these issues.
15 And I would like to go to the local 16 officials, government officials first, and we are 17 fortunate to have Mr. Dick Clark with us, who is the 18 supervisor from the town of Ontario.
19 And, Dick, I just would welcome you to 20 talk to us.
21 MR. CLARK: I always introduce myself as 22 Dick Clark from American Bandstand. Those of you that 23 are old enough know what that is.
24
36 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 I debated a little bit, with myself, about 1
whether I should say something tonight, but some of my 2
town board members convinced me that I should speak.
3 I actually prepared something, so it will be easier if 4
I try to read it.
5 Good evening, my name is Dick Clark, you 6
already know that, Im the supervisor of the town of 7
Ontario. Ive lived in Ontario for over 40 years, and 8
for the 30 plus years that RG&E has been operating the 9
plant on Lake Road in Ontario.
10 It is located approximately two miles west 11 of me, and Im on the Lake Shore, as well. And when 12 the leaves are off the trees in the fall I can 13 actually see the lights of the plant, so Im 14 relatively close to it.
15 During this period of time that the plant 16 has been in operation I have had no concerns for my 17 safety, nor those of my family. RG&E has expressed 18 their commitment to safe operation of the plant, and 19 I believe the company employees feel the same way.
20 However, if the Ginna plant is sold to 21 another entity, I would like to be assured that the 22 new owner is as committed to the safe operation of the 23 plant as RG&E is. And, of course, that is something 24 we dont know at this point in time.
25
37 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 Earlier this year, I went on tour of the 1
Ginna plant to hear about their increased security in 2
light of what happened in New York City on September 3
11th of last year. Im convinced that they take 4
security seriously, and are well prepared.
5 As the downside, the heightened security 6
has ruined the great fishing that is in the warm water 7
plume that exits the plant. Small mouth bass fishing 8
there is tremendous. However, now that we are 9
restricted to a half mile offshore, that good fishing 10 spot is no longer available, so I cant buzz down 11 there in my boat and fish any more.
12 Wayne County and the Ginna plant run 13 periodic drills to evaluate and fine tune the 14 emergency management system that will look after our 15 well being, should there be a problem at the plant.
16 One of my functions is to be part of the county 17 government in Wayne County.
18 For those who dont know it, we dont have 19 a county legislative branch, like Monroe County, but 20 we have a board of supervisors. And Im on the board 21 of supervisors. And one of the jobs that I have is 22 that Im chairman of the public safety committee.
23 Approximately three weeks ago there was a 24 drill, and I participated in it. I was at the center 25
38 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 over in Lyons, when it was being conducted. And I was 1
pretty impressed with the degree of professionalism I 2
saw of all the people involved in the drill.
3 There were probably at least 25 to 30 4
people in the center at the time. And we had direct 5
communications with the plant, and I thought it was 6
well done.
7 I have been told by my town fathers, and 8
there is one of them here tonight, I dont know if he 9
is going to speak or not, that when the plant was 10 first built, RG&E told the town that they would pay 50 11 percent of their taxes.
12 Now, I dont know if that ever was true or 13 not, of course that was 30 years ago. This past year 14 the plant actually paid 30 percent of the tax bill.
15 This revenue has been very useful to the town in terms 16 of developing the town, and also holding down the tax 17 rate.
18 The 15 towns in Wayne county, Ontario has 19 the lowest tax rate. I hope that with the continued 20 presence of the plant, it will continue to support a 21 significant portion of our tax levy. Or in lieu of 22 that, the negotiations, some kind of a pilot agreement 23 between the town and RG&E, and/or the county and the 24 school district, and RG&E.
25
39 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 And in closing I look forward to the 1
technical evaluation by the NRC, of the capability of 2
the plant, and its suitability to operate for another 3
20 years.
4 That is really what I would like to say, 5
and I would be glad to answer questions you have of 6
me, as well.
7 FACILITATOR CAMERON: Okay, thank you very 8
much, Mr. Clark, for those comments, and also the 9
offer to talk to people.
10 It is always useful to hear from the 11 utility who filed the request for renewal, to hear 12 what their rationale is for that. And we have Mr. Bob 13 Mecredy with us tonight. He is the site vice 14 president for Rochester Gas and Electric at the Ginna 15 plant. Bob?
16 MR. MECREDY: Thank you, and good evening.
17 Im vice president of nuclear operations for RG&E and 18 have responsibility for the operation of Ginna.
19 Ginna began operation in 1969 and has been 20 a reliable part of the RG&E system and the states 21 power supply, ever since. The plants power output is 22 about half of RG&Es retail customers use on an annual 23 basis.
24
40 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 The mission of everyone who works at, and 1
who supports Ginna, is simple, safe, reliable, and 2
economical operation, with the safety of the public 3
and the people who work at Ginna being our number one 4
priority.
5 And our core values include being a good 6
neighbor and a steward of the environment in which we 7
operate. Since start-up our focus has been, and is, 8
to continuously improve in all aspects of our 9
operation, the performance of our people, the 10 processes and procedures, and the plant design and 11 equipment.
12 The more than 500 people at Ginna are 13 highly experienced, well-trained, and committed to our 14 mission. Visitors at Ginna regularly comment on the 15 teamwork and commitment that they see demonstrated by 16 our employees.
17 Without exception, every employee at Ginna 18 that is provided with training is subjected to testing 19 to ensure that we can maintain the plants exemplary 20 performance.
21 We continue to improve our training based 22 on improvements in technology, benchmarking and best 23 practices that we bring back from others in the 24 industry, and feedback from our workers as they 25
41 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 identify better ways to gain the skills and knowledge 1
that they need to perform their work.
2 We have a simulator that is an exact 3
duplicate of the main control room, and we use that to 4
train our operators, and other members of our staff.
5 Our operators, for example, spend one week in every 7 6
in training, every single year.
7 And this is after an extensive initial 8
qualification program of over a year that is required 9
for an operator to earn their NRC license. We have 10 extensive processes and procedures that cover 11 virtually every aspect of our operation.
12 We have almost 5,000 procedures that cover 13 operations, maintenance, inspection,
- testing, 14 engineering,
- training, independent assessment, 15 security, as well as abnormal and a wide range of 16 unlikely emergency response scenarios.
17 These also are improved on a continuous 18 basis, based on our experience, and others in our 19 industry, and elsewhere. People, processes and 20 procedures come together in emergency preparedness.
21 Our emergency response is conducted in 22 accordance to a formal plan, and is thoroughly tested 23 by federal agencies. We have drills several times 24 each year to test ourselves.
25
42 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 The emergency preparedness plan also is 1
being continuously improved. But emergency planning 2
at Ginna is not done in a vacuum, it is very much a 3
team effort. Our partners include Wayne and Monroe 4
Counties, and the state of New York, among others.
5 All total about 1,000 people are part of 6
the emergency response team. When we drill the plan 7
we have to meet rigorous standards set by the NRC and 8
FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. And 9
our record is good.
10 We, and our
- partners, constantly 11 demonstrate our ability to protect the health and 12 safety of the public. And emergency planning has only 13 one focus, and that is safety.
14 We began operation in 1969 with a robust 15 plant design, and proven equipment. And over the 16 years we have performed extensive maintenance on the 17 equipment to ensure continued reliable operation.
18 At our refueling and maintenance outages, 19 conducted every 18 months, we perform over 1,000 20 individual maintenance activities, and many more 21 inspections. And this is in addition to the ongoing 22 maintenance and inspections that are performed between 23 the refueling and maintenance outages.
24
43 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 Our goal is to provide our operators with 1
the right equipment performing flawlessly. Over the 2
years we have replaced a wide range of equipment.
3 Most notable, at least from outside the plant, we 4
replaced our two steam generators in 1996, taking 5
advantage of improved materials and technology, and 6
ensuring continued reliable operation.
7 We have also replaced heat exchangers, 8
pumps, and motors. We have taken advantage of 9
technology in replacing our plant process computer, 10 instrumentation, and the like.
11 We replaced the computer that powers our 12 control room simulator, with a PC based technology.
13 This has allowed us to expand the range of training we 14 provide the operators, and to take that PC based 15 system into the classroom, for other training.
16 Security at the plant has received 17 additional scrutiny and attention since the tragic 18 events of September 11th, 2001. RG&E has over 30 19 years experience in nuclear plant security. Our 20 approach has never been relaxed, nor has it been 21 static. It has been continually improved, continually 22 advanced, and continually toughened from the day the 23 plant began into operation.
24
44 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 And since September 11th we have devoted 1
several million dollars in additional resources and 2
equipment. Our security force is numerous, it is well 3
armed, and it is supported by sophisticated technical 4
surveillance, and intrusion detection equipment.
5 Plant security is founded on a sound, very 6
conservative, plant design. The reactor containment 7
is a steel reinforced concrete that is three feet 8
thick. The reactor vessel, itself, is six inches 9
thick, steel, and sunk into bedrock, and we have 10 multiple safety systems.
11 Relative to containment, recent testing 12 indicates that the containment structure will, indeed, 13 withstand aircraft impacts of the type experienced in 14 the World Trade Center. Additional testing continues.
15 And just as with emergency preparedness, 16 plant security is conducted in accordance with a 17 detailed formal plan which is thoroughly reviewed by 18 the NRC.
19 We communicate frequently, and work 20 closely with a wide range of law enforcement and 21 governmental
- agencies, including county law 22 enforcement, state police, the FBI, the Coast Guard, 23 the National Guard, and others.
24
45 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 And to ensure the reliability and 1
trustworthiness of our workforce, everyone who works 2
at Ginna is subject to detailed background checks 3
before they are granted plant access.
4 We do take security seriously. And 5
security at Ginna, and all other nuclear plants is 6
under constant review and evaluation. We welcome, and 7
cooperate fully with these reviews, because we believe 8
any system can be improved.
9 The care and attention that we pay to our 10 people, our processes, our procedures, and our 11 equipment, do make a difference. It has enabled us to 12 achieve continuing improvement in our safety and 13 reliability of our operation.
14 Last year, we set a new record for longest 15 continuous period in operation. And since start-up 16 from our refueling and maintenance outage this past 17 spring, we have been online, and serving our 18 customers, for over 200 days, without interruption.
19 Based on this record of solid performance, 20 and on the research we conducted while preparing our 21 application for the renewal of Ginnas license, for 22 the additional 20 years, we submitted the application 23 and asked the NRC for its approval.
24
46 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 We believe it is important to retain the 1
option to operate the plant in the extended period, 2
thereby contributing to the overall power supply in 3
the state and, importantly, to the energy mix in the 4
state.
5 As I mentioned at the beginning of the 6
presentation, Ginna is one of the key providers of 7
energy for the consumers in the RG&E service 8
territory. Its 490 megawatts are important for 9
moderating energy prices in this region and in the 10 state.
11 Virtually every new power plant in New 12 York depends on natural gas as the fuel of choice.
13 And as we have learned, in the past several years, the 14 price of natural gas can and does fluctuate greatly.
15 This means that the price of electricity from gas-16 fired power plants also fluctuates correspondingly.
17 To further complicate matters, even for 18 those new plants receiving siting approval, plant 19 developers are finding it difficult, to impossible, to 20 secure financing.
21 The New York state power plant siting law 22 is scheduled to expire on December 31st. And a number 23 of older plants may need substantial new investment, 24
47 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 if it is available, to meet new environmental 1
standards.
2 If Ginnas baseload were removed from the 3
inventory of available capacity and energy, the result 4
could be a significant upward pressure on electric 5
prices.
6 But Ginna is more than a power plant 7
operated by highly skilled workers. We are part of 8
the community. Ron Fellows, one of our operations 9
control room supervisors, will speak later on the 10 contribution that our plant branch of the American 11 Nuclear Society makes.
12 But beyond that our employees give back to 13 the community in a variety of ways. They serve on 14 school boards, and town boards, as Scout leaders and 15 sports coaches, they support day care centers, and 16 work at senior centers. They serve on ski patrols, 17 and they train guide dogs.
18 Our people raised money to donate a 19 defibrillator to the Ontario Volunteer Ambulance 20 Service. We partner with the Wayne Central School 21 District by providing them with the space for their 22 Eagles Ventures program, a program for those students 23 who can benefit from an alternative educational 24 program, and setting.
25
48 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 We continue to participate, on an annual 1
basis, in the science and exploration days of the St.
2 John Fisher College, contributing to the interest in 3
science on the part of the young people in the 4
community, and we participate in the Annual Day of 5
Caring through the United Way.
6 Let me speak, now, to the environmental 7
aspect of our operation. It is our goal to have a 8
minimal impact on our environment. Most visibly is 9
the way we have worked from the days of initial design 10 and construction to blend into our environment.
11 While it is difficult to hide a 480 12 megawatt power plant, but we are proud of the apple 13 orchards, the red barns, the flowers, and the wooded 14 settings, that do help us blend into the countryside.
15 Just as we do at home we minimize the 16 impact that our waste stream can have through an 17 active recycling program for paper and cardboard 18 products. Surplus lumber and paint have been donated 19 to the Habitat for Humanity.
20 We work at minimizing all aspects of 21 solid, gaseous, and liquid waste, setting a variety of 22 improvement goals each year. In our environment we 23 enjoy seeing the deer, foxes, muskrat, and occasional 24 turkey. Overall we have seen a very minimal adverse 25
49 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 impact, over the years, on wildlife and aquatic 1
species.
2 In conclusion we remain committed to 3
operating safely, reliably, and economically, and only 4
operating if it is safe to do so.
5 We remain focused on being a good 6
neighbor, and a good steward. I, and the rest of the 7
people back at Ginna, look forward to serving you and 8
meeting the needs of our community in the years to 9
come. Thank you.
10 FACILITATOR CAMERON: Thank you very much, 11 Bob. And we are going to hear from Mr. Ron Fellows in 12 a minute, or so.
13 I would just like to check with a couple 14 of people to see if they did want to say anything.
15 Mr. Herrmann? Do you want to say anything? Im not 16 saying you have to, but I just wanted to give you an 17 opportunity if you wanted to.
18 MR. HERRMANN: Im Roy Herrman, H-E-R-R-M-19 A-N-N. The question I had, youve been doing this at 20 all these locations, where the time is up, or going to 21 be up, or asking for renewal.
22 I would like to know what your decisions 23 have been, if you could give us, you know, how that 24 has worked out.
25
50 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 FACILITATOR CAMERON: That is a good 1
question for people to hear an answer to. John, can 2
I turn to you for this? John Tappert.
3 MR. TAPPERT: Regarding the previous 4
renewals I believe we have ten renewals that have been 5
completed, that the environmental reviews have been 6
completed.
7 And in all those cases, after the 8
completion of the process has been outlined, those 9
license renewals have been granted. And that is the 10 question, right?
11 MR. HERRMANN: Have you turned down any?
12 MR. TAPPERT: We have not turned down any.
13 FACILITATOR CAMERON: And I imagine that 14 the issues of concern at each of these plants were 15 different, some were more complex, some the NRC and 16 the licensee had to go through more interaction.
17 Maybe you could give people a flavor for that, even 18 though none were turned down.
19 MR. TAPPERT: None were turned down, but 20 there were a number of issues that were explored.
21 Very large documents outlining the impacts of the 22 environment. And we have a safety evaluation report 23 that also outlines all the programs to manage the 24 aging of the facility.
25
51 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 So, you know, the idea is -- it is not a 1
rubber stamp, it is not a whitewash. I mean, there 2
was a very thorough review that was done by the staff, 3
both in the safety and the environmental side.
4 The fact that all the licenses were 5
granted should not cast doubt on the thoroughness of 6
those reviews.
7 FACILITATOR CAMERON: Thank you. Why 8
dont we hear from Ron Fellows at this point. Ron?
9 MR. FELLOWS: Thank you very much, it has 10 been a long day, 8 oclock, past my bedtime.
11 I want to thank, once again, the 12 Commission for allowing me to speak before the general 13 public, and RG&Es request for license extension at 14 the Ginna facility.
15 A brief introduction. My name is Ron 16 Fellows, Im a control room supervisor at the nuclear 17 facility, where I hold an active senior reactor 18 operators license.
19 I have worked for RG&E since 1985, and 20 have been the American Nuclear Societys Ginna Plant 21 Branch chair for about three years now. What is the 22 American Nuclear Society?
23 The American Nuclear Society is a not-for-24 profit international educational organization that was 25
52 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 established in the 1950s by a group of individuals 1
who recognized the need to unify the professional 2
activities within the diverse fields of nuclear 3
science and technology.
4 Approximately ten to twelve years ago, 5
when the nation faced deregulation in California, a 6
bunch of concerned individuals at the Ginna facility, 7
and myself included, were concerned about the 8
questions being raised by the general public, and the 9
misinformation that we felt was being handed out.
10 So with that we decided to form our own 11 plant branch of the American Nuclear Society. We are 12 called the American Nuclear Societys Ginna Plant 13 Branch, and we fall under the Northeastern section of 14 the American Nuclear Society.
15 We had to formulate a goal, and the goal 16 we came up with was to increase the awareness, the 17 general publics awareness on the aspects of nuclear 18 power, and we do that through a variety of committees 19 structured around public information, education, and 20 recognition.
21 Since 1992, when the branch was formed, we 22 have had thousands of students, elementary, middle 23 school, high school, collegic, professors, various 24 professional groups, various community groups, such as 25
53 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 Boy Scouts, 4H, Girl Scouts, request to visit Ginna 1
and have a conversation with us on nuclear power.
2 We utilized Ginnas training center, where 3
they were educated in various topics from the spread 4
of radiation, or the ways about which we minimize the 5
spread of radiation, we allowed students to go into 6
the simulator, as Bob related to earlier, the 7
simulator is a tool that licensed individuals, such as 8
myself, train on every several weeks.
9 And we allow the community to operate that 10
-- where they are allowed to manipulate the controls, 11 just like we do in the real plant. It provides them 12 with an educational tool, especially the educators, 13 the teachers, and professors that come to the 14 facility, to have a better understanding in how we 15 harness the energy from the atom to make electricity.
16 Area schools and organizations have also 17 requested from our plant branch guest speakers to 18 attend various science fairs, as Bob talked about, the 19 county holds a science fair each year at the St. Johns 20 Fisher College, where various schools from Monroe and 21 Wayne County attend, and are educated in various 22 science topics, and we have been proud to take place 23 in that.
24
54 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 Weve gone out to schools in the areas and 1
awarded, or given recognition to students that have 2
excelled in the field of science. We have distributed 3
savings bonds, gift certificates, and simple ribbons 4
and trophies for their efforts.
5 We also participate in the New York State 6
Adopt A Highway Program. Our plant branch has been 7
involved with keeping two and a half miles of route 8
104 clean from Knickerbocker to North Slocum road.
9 We get great feedback from the community, 10 especially the area businesses along route 104, for 11 keeping that area clean.
12 One of the biggest achievements that my 13 plant branch has accomplished is what we call an 14 excellent SCRAM. For the last 9 years, and I welcome 15 each of you to the display table out front, where we 16 have a plaque we hang in the plant, that shows the 17 recipients of the grant.
18 Each year a different level of education, 19 from elementary, middle, or high school, are nominated 20 by a plant branch member, and the respective schools 21 are then asked how they would use the money in the 22 field of science, in a project not covered by other 23 funding in their school district.
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 They also must attend a day long lecture 1
at Ginna. And up until the September 11th incident we 2
allowed those teachers to go on-site, to address 3
questions that seemed to be common nowadays, in 4
regards to the spent fuel.
5 A lot of teachers that were privy to that 6
luxury of going into the plant, into the auxiliary 7
building, and seeing the high level waste, are amazed 8
that it is so little. Im not coming before you to 9
debate that issue, because that is a separate item of 10 discussion.
11 We award about 1,000 dollars each year for 12 the last nine years. This year we are going to, 13 again, do it in December. This year we are going to 14 cooperate with the Central New York Health Physics 15 Society, where we plan on having speakers for nuclear 16 medicine, and on the fission process.
17 In closing, Im 41 years old, I live 11 18 miles south of the plant. Im proud to be in close 19 proximity to such facility as Ginna. Ive been PTA 20 president for my school district, Ive been on the 21 school board, Ive done the budget committee, I coach 22 football, and attend various functions in the 23 community, as well as the singles, a lot of the 24 members in my plant branch.
25
56 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 In closing, I would just like to say that 1
the American Nuclear Society Ginna Plant Branch would 2
highly recommend that the Commission extend Ginna for 3
the 20 years that was requested.
4 FACILITATOR CAMERON: Thank you very much, 5
Ron. Is there anybody else who would like to say 6
anything while we are here tonight, or anybody that 7
has a question about the NRCs responsibilities, our 8
review process?
9 (No response.)
10 FACILITATOR CAMERON: Okay. Well, the NRC 11 staff, not only from Washington, but from here and the 12 region, the experts that we have on ecology, 13 socioeconomics, are all with us tonight, so avail 14 yourself of the opportunity to talk to them after the 15 meeting.
16 And I would just thank you all for taking 17 the time to be with us tonight, and for all of your 18 comments. And Im going to ask John Tappert, as the 19 leader of the environmental section, to just close 20 this out tonight. John?
21 MR. TAPPERT: Okay. Just to echo Chips 22 final thoughts, thanks for coming out tonight, and we 23 appreciate your participation in this process, it is 24 important to what we do.
25
57 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 And please avail yourself to anyone with 1
the name tags to discuss any additional questions you 2
have tonight. Thank you for coming.
3 FACILITATOR CAMERON: We are adjourned.
4 (Whereupon, at 8:15 p.m. the above-5 entitled matter was concluded.)
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