ML030640592
| ML030640592 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Davis Besse  |
| Issue date: | 02/11/2003 |
| From: | FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co |
| To: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| Download: ML030640592 (53) | |
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1 1
2 3 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION FIRST ENERGY NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANY 4 PUBLIC MEETING 5
Meeting held on Tuesday, February 11, 2003, at 6 7:00 p.m. at Camp Perry, Clubhouse #600, Port Clinton, Ohio, taken by me, Marlene S. Rogers-Lewis, 7 Stenotype Reporter and Notary Public in and for the State of Ohio.
8 9
10 PANEL MEMBERS PRESENT:
11 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 12 Jack Grobe, Chairman for Davis-Besse facility Oversight Panel 13 Christine Lipa, Branch Chief, NRCs Region III 14 Anthony Mendiola, Section Chief PDIII-2, NRR 15 David Passehl, Project Engineer, Region III 16 Jon Hopkins, Project Manager - Davis-Besse, NRR 17 Douglas Simpkins, Resident Inspector - Davis-Besse 18 Jay Collins, Project Engineer - Davis-Besse 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
2 1 MS. LIPA: Its about 7:00.
2 Were about ready to begin.
3 MR. GROBE: I dont think your 4 mike is on.
5 MS. LIPA: Can you hear me? Its 6 about 7:00, lets go ahead and get ready to begin.
7 Ill try to see if I can get my mike working. Does 8 that sound better? Okay, good.
9 Well, welcome, and this is the monthly 10 meeting of the 0350 Panel. We had a business 11 meeting during the day, and the purpose of tonights 12 meeting is to inform members of the public of what we 13 discussed during the business meeting, and then give 14 you an opportunity to ask us questions or provide 15 comments to us.
16 What Id like to do is start off with some 17 introductions for some of the NRC folks that are 18 here. Im Christine Lipa, and Im a Branch Chief in 19 NRCs Region III office near Chicago, Illinois.
20 Jack Grobe is a Senior Manager in the Region 21 III office, as well, and hes also the Chairman of 22 the Oversight Panel. We also have some other NRC 23 folks here today.
24 We have Tony Mendiola, who is the Section 25 Chief at NRR.
MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
3 1 We have Jon Hopkins. Hes the Project 2 Engineer in NRR, which is in Rockville, Maryland.
3 We also have Doug Simpkins. Hes the 4 Resident Inspector at the Davis-Besse facility.
5 We have Dave Passehl, and hes the Project 6 Engineer in the Region III office.
7 We have Jay Collins. Hes a General 8 Engineer. Hes from headquarters, but hes actually 9 on rotation at the Davis-Besse site.
10 We also have Ivy Netsell Netzel. Shes the 11 Resident Inspector at Cook.
12 We have Viktoria Mitlyng. Shes is the 13 Public Affairs Representative here.
14 We have Roland Lickus. Hes our State 15 Affairs Representative, and we have Nancy Keller.
16 Shes the Site Secretary at the Davis-Besse NRC 17 office, and we have a transcriber, Marlene is here 18 today. I think thats about it. Okay. Good.
19 Well, what Id like to start off with is Tony 20 Mendiola will give you a summary of what we discussed 21 during the business portion of the meeting, and then 22 well go ahead and turn it over to public comments 23 and questions, so go ahead, Tony.
24 MR. MENDIOLA: Thank you, Christine.
25 The meeting today started about 2:00, and as per all MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
4 1 our other meetings basically began with a summary and 2 a -- a summary from both sides indicating current 3 projects and milestones met and current other 4 highlights that are ongoing, and this one was no 5 different. The NRC began with their Restart 6 Checklist, which is the checklist that we use to 7 determine that we are following our process.
8 Basically the process steps as we follow along when 9 the plant prepares for restart. We did indicate 10 primarily that we are currently in the inspection 11 mode. We have a number of inspections at various 12 degrees of initiation or completion, and we did 13 indicate some of the program findings today on some 14 of our inspections. After that brief opening 15 portion there, FirstEnergy began their presentation, 16 and I do believe that there is still copies of the 17 slides out in the lobby. If anybody wants to get a 18 copy of FirstEnergy slides, theyre just basically 19 14, 15 pages of slides.
20 The FirstEnergy presentation, first of all, 21 began to discuss the Restart Readiness by discussing 22 various ongoing projects on site. The first project 23 they discussed was the fuel, the actual reactor fuel 24 that is going to be used for refueling the reactor 25 and some of the inspections and corrective actions MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
5 1 have been performed on the fuel. They discussed 2 improving the experience of their operational team to 3 handle that fuel, and, additionally, discussed the 4 training that was ongoing for their fuel handlers and 5 how they were changing some roles and 6 responsibilities with the fuel in order to put, if 7 you will, appropriate amount of experience as the 8 plant prepares to refuel.
9 They discussed other engineering issues at 10 the plant. They discussed the refurbishment of two 11 of the four reactor coolant pumps, their current 12 status of the redesign and construction of the 13 containment emergency sump. They discussed their 14 current status on the decay heat valve pit, which is 15 now basically called the decay heat valve tank, I 16 think is what theyre calling it, and discussed 17 additionally their containment air coolers that were 18 actually in containment and their refurbishment and 19 replacement of those coolers. Then there was a 20 discussion of the completion and refurbishment of the 21 containment dome area basically to repaint the dome 22 and to put it up -- to put the appropriate type paint 23 inside the containment. Then they discussed the 24 process for readiness to restart, how they were going 25 through reviews and management oversight and certain MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
6 1 observations, how they were reacting to observations 2 as they prepare for restart that management 3 determined needed to be discussed prior to actual 4 refueling and to restart. One of the tests which is 5 necessary for restart is the Containment Integrated 6 Leak Rate Test, and it briefly gave us an explanation 7 of what was going to be involved with that test and 8 basically the schedule for that test, hoping to 9 finish the completion of that test in early March 10 2003.
11 The discussion then branched off to a topic 12 on System Health Assurance. Basically, System 13 Health Assurance involved the operational readiness 14 and readiness basically of certain systems for 15 operation. They had standard reviews already in the 16 plant, Operational Readiness Reviews, System Health 17 Readiness Reviews, Latent Issues Reviews. Additional 18 reviews have come to pass as part of the 0350 process 19 and basically the process thats been going on at 20 Davis-Besse for the past year or so. Of course, 21 they did -- these additional reviews involved 22 self-assessments, and, of course, the NRC 23 inspections. All these issues, all these plans and 24 reviews developed a list of issues, and, from that 25 point, they discussed the three paths for issue of MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
7 1 resolution. Path A is -- and they named them Path 2 A, B, and C. Path A was basically the Corrective 3 Action Program, the standard Corrective Action 4 Program that you find at most all utilities. They 5 focus instead on Path B, which is entitled the Safety 6 Function Validation Project, and they were coming to 7 closure, coming to conclusion with this project, 8 which in a sense evaluated the safety functions of 15 9 safety systems to determine that they provide a 10 significant contribution to core damage frequency, 11 and that they were getting, if you will, the right 12 response from the systems. This involved evaluating 13 the methodology, and then based on the calculations 14 that came out of these reviews, determining whether 15 there were any non-conformances and then 16 appropriately entering them into a program that would 17 follow up on these non-conformances. Of the 15 18 systems they evaluated, they felt several systems 19 were fully validated and additional systems needed --
20 Im sorry, and additional system needed additional 21 analysis, and they were using a variety of ways of 22 following through on this additional analysis, 23 including, I believe, a use of a contractor to 24 determine what additional actions needed to be done, 25 what technical evaluations and other actions needed MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
8 1 to be done in order to fully validate these systems.
2 Like I mentioned, there were three paths for issue 3 resolution. Path A, if you will, is a one time 4 project, the Safety Function Validation Project, 5 which, as I say, was nearly complete.
6 The second path they were using was Path C, 7 which is basically a Collective Significance Review.
8 The purpose of this Path C was to identify those 9 issues which are -- if you will, are cross-cutting 10 issues. Issues, if you will, that are across 11 program areas -- could be found in several program 12 areas and some of these were identified such as 13 Seismic Qualification, Environmental Qualification, 14 Fire Protection. Those issues can be found across 15 several systems, and they took it upon themselves 16 using a corporate operating procedure -- actually, 17 they call it Nuclear Operating Business Procedure to 18 perform, if you will, a Collective Significance 19 Review, to provide a consistent process and format 20 for the evaluation of these cross-cutting issues and 21 determine the corrective actions for these 22 cross-cutting issues and then meet with the 23 Engineering Assessment Board to review the results 24 and then to close these issues out. Like I 25 mentioned, they had these three paths. They felt MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
9 1 fairly comfortable these three paths would resolve 2 the issues that were identified during the System 3 Health Reviews. They summarized the issues 4 basically indicating -- they summarized this portion 5 of their presentation basically indicating there was 6 good correlation among these three paths to complete 7 the issues. However, they did indicate there was 8 more analytical work that was needed, but they had 9 not identified any major modifications which needed 10 to be performed prior to restart, and they felt that 11 they needed to provide some more rigor in their 12 calculations. Then there was another presentation 13 to discuss the safety culture using the FirstEnergy 14 model. Id really rather prefer to point this to 15 the folks that have the slides. If you still have a 16 copy of it in front of you, its basically Slide 30 17 of their presentation, its easier to see it than for 18 me to describe it, but it basically builds on three 19 levels of commitment, Individuals Commitment, 20 Managers Commitment and then Policy Level Commitment 21 and the success of those three commitments helps 22 build, if you will, the safety culture. Using that 23 model rather simplistically described there, they 24 went about and used it to determine their safety 25 culture for fuel load, one of their next major steps.
MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
10 1 They went back and looked at each of the indicators 2 to support those commitments and colorized them as 3 necessary, you got the white, green, yellow or red.
4 Green being, of course, the best, and red being an 5 area that does not meet acceptable standards and 6 requires immediate management attention, and each of 7 the groups associated with fuel load were invited to 8 come in and have their areas assessed by a team of 9 managers to determine whether they were ready for 10 fuel load. When the ratings were all issued, these 11 ratings provided feedback to the individual 12 organizations on their readiness for restart, as well 13 as their current safety culture assessments, and then 14 they summarized the entire group, if you will, the 15 entire site-wide findings into a common safety 16 culture assessment and found themselves somewhat 17 ready for fuel load, although they had some areas 18 that needed some additional work. Basically, they 19 summarized this issue as very unique and state of the 20 art for assessing their safety culture assessment, 21 and, if you will, their readiness for fuel load, and 22 they felt it was very innovative, currently still 23 needing some refinement, but it was a tool that was 24 of some value to indicate rather objectively how 25 ready they are to do certain -- how ready their MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
11 1 safety culture is to do certain planning issues.
2 The next presentation was from the Nuclear 3 Quality Assessments. Basically Nuclear Quality 4 Assessments is an organization that needs to find out 5 things others have not found basically is how that 6 was explained, and they characterized their current 7 activities into three main groups, basically what 8 theyve done in the recent past and not for -- the 9 list they have worked, that they were working, you 10 can see in the slides, basically discussed their 11 current and ongoing activities, and then their future 12 observations and assessments theyre going to have in 13 the very near future, which included, of course, such 14 things as the Restart Test Plan, Fuel Movement 15 Activities and other activities associated with 16 restart.
17 At that point we found ourselves rather 18 limited on time. We moved quickly to the closing 19 remarks, Lew Myers made. Basically he summed it up 20 with the four main points; that fuel load would not 21 occur until everyone is ready. Containment testing 22 will occur after that, which is planned in March.
23 System review progress continues, and he was very 24 complimentary about the safety culture evaluation and 25 motto model that was used for determining readiness for MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
12 1 load fuel. At that point we adjourned and took 2 questions. Thats all I have.
3 MS. LIPA: Okay, thank you, 4 Tony. I also wanted to point out that there were 5 some other handouts in the foyer. One of those is a 6 February edition of the NRC Update, and this has 7 recent activities, ongoing activities, and then some 8 background information. We also have a public 9 meeting feedback form that is a one page with both 10 sides, and you can use this to fill out and provide 11 comments to us. A lot of you have done that in the 12 past, and we think its helped us to improve our 13 meetings, and we also have some of the licensees 14 slides were still there, and then some of the slides 15 we used during the business portion of todays 16 meeting were still there.
17 I also wanted to point out the transcript of 18 what we discussed during the business portion of 19 todays meeting will be on our web site in about 20 three to four weeks, so what we would like to do next 21 is go into public question and comment unless you 22 have anything else, Jack?
23 MR. GROBE: No.
24 MS. LIPA: Wed like to start 25 with -- thank you, Tony, local members of the public MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
13 1 first, and we want to really hold everybody to three 2 to five minutes. Thats one of the feedbacks that 3 we have been getting is how important it is, so, with 4 that, I invite anybody -- local members of the public 5 to come on up and sign your name and speak your name 6 clearly for the transcriber.
7 MR. HELLE: Yes, my name is Mark 8 Helle, H-E-L-L-E. First of all, I am an employee of 9 FirstEnergy. I have been with the company for 18 10 years. During that time, I have been at Davis-Besse 11 since 1988. Im a resident. I have been in the --
12 actually went to Oak Harbor High School, graduated 13 from Oak Harbor High School. With that said, Ive 14 got many family, friends in the area, and every 15 time -- this is my third public meeting I have been 16 to, and every time I come up here, or every time I 17 come, I always want to say something because its 18 always the same issues that are brought up, so I 19 thought I would jump up here and maybe say a couple 20 things before the others got their chance.
21 First of all, I mean, when they come up, 22 why -- if they could address why -- why would I work 23 out there if I didnt think it was safe?
24 Second of all, why would hundreds of people 25 work out there if they didnt think it was safe and MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
14 1 why would I allow my family to be in this area if I 2 didnt think it was safe? With that -- it goes back 3 to like being in the area. I know hundreds, if not 4 thousands, of people in this area. If it was not 5 safe, I would not work out there, and just one other 6 point was, I try to think of some other industry 7 where youre paid to find problems at your work area 8 so you can attempt to shut down that line or shut off 9 the reactor. What other industry does that? And 10 thats what were paid to do out there, so, with that 11 said, thank you.
12 MS. LIPA: Thank you for your 13 comments.
14 MR. GROBE: Thank you.
15 THEREUPON, the audience applauded.
16 MS. FARIS: My name is 17 Priscilla Faris, and Im a lifelong resident of 18 Ottawa County and proud to say that I have worked at 19 Davis-Besse for 21 years. I am grateful for the 20 continued support of Davis-Besse by FirstEnergy, our 21 parent company, and I am thankful for the leadership, 22 guidance and perseverance of the FENOC senior 23 management team at Davis-Besse. I am also grateful 24 for the support and assistance we have received from 25 our peers at our sister plants, Beaver Valley and MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
15 1 Perry.
2 I would also like to voice my thanks to the 3 Ottawa County Commissioners, Steve Arndt, Carl 4 Koebel, and John Papcun, and to County Administrator, 5 Jere Witt, for their continued visible and verbal 6 support of Davis-Besse and for the swift and public 7 stance they took against Dennis Kucinichs demand to 8 pull our operating license. Their letter to Mr.
9 Kucinich questioning his motives and lack of 10 knowledge was right on the money. I have the utmost 11 confidence in the Davis-Besse management team and my 12 fellow workers, and I believe that we will safely and 13 successfully return this plant to service. Thank 14 you.
15 MR. GROBE: Thank you.
16 THEREUPON, the audience applauded.
17 MR. MARTIN: My name is Steve 18 Martin. I, too, am an employee at FirstEnergy.
19 Ive worked in the nuclear industry and commercial 20 end for about 22 years. Im currently an 21 instructor, operations instructor, at the Davis-Besse 22 nuclear facility. Ive been involved in this 23 industry, like I said, for 22 years. I started my 24 career in operations, got to Three-Mile Island about 25 a year after the accident happened, and so I have MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
16 1 been through a lot as far as seeing plants that have 2 problems get back in the line. We do find ourselves 3 in an unfortunate state of events right now at 4 Davis-Besse, but Ive not seen a group of employees 5 in my 22 years that have really been so safety 6 oriented as the group of employees at Davis-Besse.
7 Weve worked hard to ensure safety, and many of us 8 have asked questions about why we had a problem with 9 the hole in the head and how we got there, and I 10 think most of us our supporting our managements 11 efforts to ensure we going forward have a very good 12 safety culture. Weve done a lot. Our management 13 has come up with a very, very unique and specific 14 program of what we are going to do to ensure that we 15 are ready to restart the plant.
16 My question for the 350 committee is, when 17 weve -- Ive seen all things in my management steps 18 that were going to take to ensure that we are safely 19 going to restart the plant, but Ive not seen 20 anything from the committee saying that -- what 21 specific measurements theyre going to measure to 22 ensure that were there and at what specific time 23 theyre going to allow us to restart, so I guess that 24 would be my question to the committee is, what 25 specific measurements are you going to take to ensure MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
17 1 that were ready to restart?
2 MS. LIPA: Well, I would like 3 to start off by answering that we have our Restart 4 Checklist that youve seen, right, and has the 5 specific items that we want to make sure are 6 addressed before we would consider restart, and I 7 think what youre talking about, too, is a sub-set of 8 those is the safety culture efforts that the Utility 9 is taking.
10 MR. MARTIN: Right, right.
11 MS. LIPA: Right now we have a 12 plan to do three phase inspection of that area, and 13 we really are waiting to see the plan, see what its 14 based on that FirstEnergy is putting together and 15 then send our inspectors in and our inspectors are 16 getting some expertise from consultants and then our 17 inspectors are going to assess it, so I dont have 18 any specific criteria that I can share with you 19 today.
20 MR. MARTIN: Well, I guess a 21 follow-up question would be is, then, are you going 22 to assess whether or not our safety culture program 23 is adequate to allow us to restart, or are you going 24 to come up with your own recommendations, or do you 25 have a specific plan?
MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
18 1 MS. LIPA: What our plan is 2 really to tie it back to the root cause of the event, 3 what specific corrective actions have been taken and 4 what corrective actions are planned and how effective 5 are those corrective actions in being implemented, so 6 thats the focus were going to use.
7 MR. MARTIN: So if the committee 8 feels that we have adequately addressed those areas 9 then, I assume it will be successfully allowed to 10 restart?
11 MS. LIPA: That will be what 12 were doing for that section of it, and then the rest 13 of the restart checklist has to be reviewed also.
14 MR. MARTIN: Thank you.
15 MS. RIDLON: My name is Jessica 16 Ridlon, R-I-D-L-O-N. I live in Perrysburg, and my 17 dad, Tim Ridlon, has worked at Davis-Besse for 16 18 years now. Davis-Besse has served northwest Ohio 19 for many years now, and every day its employees come 20 in to tend to its energy. For years, we have taken 21 its beautiful energy -- or its beautiful plant --
22 this beautiful plant for granted and nothing is 23 perfect and we know that. We know that the plant is 24 not perfect, nor the people that work there, but one 25 mistake doesnt mean that the people are bad. We MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
19 1 need to learn to trust the workers and -- that give 2 us energy so we can see in the dark and that keep our 3 food cold. We trust our President to make the right 4 decision about war. He makes us -- if he makes the 5 wrong decision, it could be destructive, but we trust 6 him as a person. If we made a mistake -- if he made 7 a mistake, would we try to shut him down as well?
8 We need to trust, forgive, and give second chances to 9 those who are trying to keep us safe and healthy like 10 the workers at Davis-Besse. There are no guarantees 11 in this world, but there are commitments to try.
12 This is why I believe that Davis-Besse should be 13 allowed to continue to run with all support. Thank 14 you.
15 MS. LIPA: Thank you, Jessica.
16 THEREUPON, the audience applauded.
17 MR. WAGNER: My name is Terry 18 Wagner. Im an electrical engineer at the 19 Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station. I have worked in 20 the nuclear industry all my life. From my six years 21 in the U.S. Navy Nuclear Power Program, to my 24 22 years at Davis-Besse, I have seen the many positive 23 effects nuclear power has had on the country. I 24 believe -- I live near Davis-Besse. My family and 25 friends live near Davis-Besse. We would not live MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
20 1 here if we thought that Davis-Besse were unsafe. I 2 attend these meetings quietly listening while half 3 the nuclear activists come from far-flung regions to 4 seize the opportunity to grandstand for their single 5 minded goal of eliminating nuclear power. To those 6 individuals, I say it wont happen in this lifetime.
7 There are too many rational people in the United 8 States who understand the important role nuclear 9 power plays in our countrys energy future to let 10 that happen. There are too many people who support 11 our nuclear plants across the country that provide 12 more than 20% of the nations electrical power to 13 allow the wishes of a few to negatively impact the 14 benefits to the many. To our elected officials who 15 count themselves in the camp of the anti-nuclear 16 activists, I say stop using the problems at 17 Davis-Besse to grab at the headlines. Focus your 18 energies on issues that will actually benefit the 19 people you were elected to serve. Concentrate on 20 helping us to win the war on terrorism. I have 21 heard the anti-nuclear activists compare Davis-Besse 22 to Three-Mile Island. The only comparison that 23 could honestly be drawn is that like Three-Mile 24 Island the lessons learned at Davis-Besse will be 25 used to improve programs and systems throughout the MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
21 1 nuclear industry. Let me put Three-Mile Island in 2 perspective. The accident there was the worst case 3 scenario for a nuclear power plant, a core meltdown.
4 Yet no one died and no one was injured as a result of 5 TMI. What other industry could experience its worst 6 calamity and not result in the loss of human life?
7 Not many. The reason is because nuclear power 8 plants are built on the concept of defense and depth, 9 redundant backup systems to ensure public safety is 10 maintained even in the event of a design basis 11 accident. Yes, Davis-Besse has had problems lately, 12 but remember these problems come on the heels of a 13 decade where Davis-Besse was ranked high in the 14 worldwide nuclear industry in terms of safety and 15 performance. We are working through these problems, 16 and we will correct them. More importantly, we will 17 learn from them. One of the things that the nuclear 18 industry does better than nearly every other industry 19 is to utilize lessons learned to raise the bar. To 20 the anti-nuclear community I say, go ahead and kick 21 us while we are down, but we will not be down much 22 longer. We will be back, and we will be better than 23 before. Thank you.
24 THEREUPON, the audience applauded.
25 SHERIFF EMAHISER: My name is Craig MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
22 1 Emahiser, and, as you can tell, Im the Ottawa County 2 Sheriff. As the Sheriff of this County, its my 3 sworn duty, amongst others, to preserve the peace and 4 to protect the citizens of this County. During the 5 over 10 years that I have had the honor to serve as 6 the Sheriff and to work with the employees at 7 Davis-Besse to ensure the security of the facility, 8 Ive gotten to know the employees of the power 9 station and consider many of them to be my friends, 10 and they have earned my respect. Many of these 11 employees make their homes here in our County.
12 Their families, their homes are here. Their 13 children attend our schools. I have gotten to know 14 these citizens as highly educated, trained 15 professionals, who I personally trust to know what is 16 happening at that power station. They certainly 17 know what the consequences are if there was a serious 18 problem at the nuclear power station and the results 19 if it was not run safely. I believe that the safe 20 operation of the plant is certainly in the best 21 interest of all the employees at Davis-Besse, their 22 families, their relatives and their friends. It 23 makes absolutely no sense to me to suggest in any 24 regard these professionals would put their families 25 and our community at risk certainly not just for the MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
23 1 sake of a paycheck. Some have suggested that we 2 should convert Davis-Besse to be a coal fire plant or 3 use some other fossil fuel. Coal would result in an 4 endless line of trains bringing in coal and hauling 5 out by-ash by-products. In my over 30 years of law 6 enforcement experience, I have responded to far too 7 many car/train accidents resulting in the needless 8 loss of many lives. Do you know how many nuclear 9 power accidents I responded to in that same period of 10 time? Zero. Not even the first minor injury.
11 Gas pipelines create their own set of 12 problems and dangers that would extend for miles past 13 the boundary of the plant and pass through our lands 14 and through our communities.
15 The radioactive material thats currently on 16 site would not magically disappear if the plant were 17 to close today and would still have to abide by all 18 the regulations associated with the nuclear power 19 plants that produce power.
20 Davis-Besse has produced power for over 25 21 years, but most important is the fact that --
22 excluding with the damage of the reactor head, the 23 power station has had an excellent operating and 24 safety record during that time. Davis-Besses 25 generation of electricity is a vital part of our MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
24 1 economy and our communities and the entire region.
2 It generates approximately half of the electricity 3 that is needed for northwest Ohio. It also provides 4 more than 850 local jobs and has provided over 200 5 million dollars in taxes over the past 25 years.
6 Our community has greatly benefited by having 7 Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station here in our County.
8 Ever since September 11, 2001, Ottawa County 9 Sheriff Deputies have stood shoulder to shoulder with 10 the men and women of the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power 11 Station to protect the station from the new dangers 12 that exist in the changed world that we live in 13 today, and we are proud to do so.
14 THEREUPON, Ms. Lipa exited the room.
15 SHERIFF EMAHISER: We are confident 16 that these professionals can run this plant safely, 17 and when they have done their jobs as they can do to 18 make sure the plant is safe, we have the highest 19 confidence in their ability and their commitment to 20 that high level of safety that nuclear power 21 requires. It is my strong belief that Davis-Besse 22 Nuclear Power Station should be allowed to restart 23 without unnecessary delay. Thank you.
24 MR. GROBE: Thank you, sir.
25 THEREUPON, the audience applauded.
MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
25 1 MR. HIRT: Dave Hirt, Danbury 2 Township Trustee, Ottawa County. Weve certainly 3 heard from the employees tonight, and its good that 4 they could be committed to be here and speak so well 5 for themselves, but Davis-Besse is a life blood of 6 Ottawa County, and, more than that, it is one of the 7 life blood industries of the State of Ohio. All of 8 its employees, all of them who work there are our 9 residents. Theyre our neighbors. Theyre our 10 friends. Theyre the familiar faces who have a great 11 number of years of seniority here. They are the 12 people who have so safely operated this plant in the 13 past and have the ability to run this plant again in 14 a very safe manner. Theyre good, frontline 15 employees with commitments securely rooted in Ottawa 16 County, commitment to safety as they have the 17 knowledge and the experience to securely and safely 18 run this plant. They have a commitment to the 19 community. Just look where they live, and they have 20 a commitment to the company. Look at their seniority 21 records. Management can change, but frontline, 22 dedicated employees have the commitment for safety.
23 Please dont let this restart become politically 24 motivated by congressmen posturing themselves for 25 their own political agendas, but concentrate upon the MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
26 1 reason, the logic, and the science of safety. We 2 hope that youre moving forward with the restart, but 3 do so with safety. Thank you very much.
4 MR. GROBE: Thank you, David.
5 THEREUPON, the audience applauded.
6 MS. LUEKE: Donna Lueke, 7 L-U-E-K-E. Im a citizen of Marblehead in Ottawa 8 County, and Im proud to live in this area and know 9 lots of people at the plant, and I think that 10 community loyalty and company loyalty is a wonderful 11 thing. I also think it can be a liability, and 12 thats why were counting on the NRC to see through 13 that, to see through economic concerns, loyalties, 14 concerns about jobs, and I just want to reinforce 15 that point of view, that in spite of all the good 16 intentions something did go wrong here and more and 17 more its becoming evident how serious it went wrong, 18 and it did not happen -- and, correct me if Im 19 wrong, but it did not happen in one month or one 20 week, it was an accumulation, and there must have 21 been signals to the employees that worked there.
22 There must have been signs that something was wrong, 23 and Id just like to ask, Mr. Grobe, did you find 24 that to be true in your investigations so far?
25 MR. GROBE: Absolutely, Donna.
MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
27 1 I appreciate all your comments. I also appreciate 2 the forbore and dedication that a number of employees 3 have expressed tonight, but, as you know, you have 4 been to many of our meetings, our only focus is 5 safety and the plant will not be restarted until 6 were comfortable it can be restarted safely and will 7 be operated safely. There was a number of 8 indicators that the damage to the head was 9 progressing over a series of years. Those 10 indicators were not properly assessed and responded 11 to. FirstEnergy has articulated clearly, I think, 12 on a number of occasions, that the principal -- or 13 cause of what happened over a period of years was a 14 reduced focus on safety at the management level and 15 an increased emphasis on production, and that 16 contributed to operating the plant at a level of 17 minimum standards and contributed to missing 18 indicators of what was going on.
19 MS. LUEKE: When do you think 20 youll be comfortable that the safety culture has 21 enough -- the new safety culture, which is very 22 impressive from everything Ive seen, and the efforts 23 that theyre putting into it seem to be really 24 genuine and thorough, when do you feel that theres 25 enough of a track record from that that youll be MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
28 1 able to assess whether its working?
2 MR. GROBE: Well, the first 3 thing that has to happen is FirstEnergy has presented 4 to us on January 30th in a public meeting in Chicago, 5 presented to us their plans for how theyre going to 6 measure safety culture at Davis-Besse, and, as Tony 7 articulated earlier, its got three levels of 8 assessment. The first level is the Policy Level or 9 the corporate level. The second level is the 10 Management level, and the third level is the 11 Individual Worker Level, and in each of those levels 12 theres a series of indicators that feed into 13 assessment of the adequacy of those levels. We have 14 not seen the details of how those assessments are 15 going to be completed. Weve heard in public 16 meetings the articulation of that information, but 17 until we see it on paper and have a chance to really 18 look at it, its difficult to express a judgment on 19 its adequacy. Safety culture is a difficult area to 20 measure. There are some quantitative or objective 21 indicators that can be used. Other indicators are 22 less quantitative and more subjective than 23 qualitative. The outcome of a good safety culture 24 is easy to see. It affects not only decision making 25 and operations and engineering and maintenance, but MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
29 1 the way in which workers accomplish their jobs, the 2 way in which managers make decisions. Our inspectors 3 are observing those types of activities every day, so 4 its going to be a process of melting together our 5 inspection observations for a variety of activities 6 and our assessment of the method by which FirstEnergy 7 is choosing to measure safety culture and bringing 8 that all together. Did I answer your question, 9 Donna?
10 MS. LUEKE: Yes, I think I saw 11 March as one of the deadlines, I looked at those 12 slides, and they said that would be when theyre 13 finished with their first level of assessment.
14 MR. GROBE: They presented today 15 an assessment. It was the first assessment theyd 16 done of this nature of the organizational culture.
17 They did that assessment in their evaluation of 18 readiness to load fuel back into the reactor, and 19 they, as Tony articulated earlier, they colorized 20 their assessment in the various areas. I dont know 21 what date you were specifically referring to, but 22 there are no deadlines from my perspective. We need 23 to receive their plans in detail on paper so that we 24 can evaluate them. We need to observe how theyre 25 implementing those plans, and, as I said, it will all MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
30 1 come together as far as a collective judgment of all 2 the observations the NRC has.
3 MS. LUEKE: Okay. One thing I 4 would suggest would be that when a safety culture has 5 been achieved, one of the things that will be evident 6 is welcoming questions and challenges from those who 7 are asking the tough questions about what happened.
8 MR. GROBE: Uh huh.
9 MS. LUEKE: And not to diminish 10 the loyalty and the team work -- I think thats a 11 wonderful thing, but when each employee at 12 Davis-Besse who was there while this was happening 13 can take an honest look and say, what could I have 14 done differently, when did I see those signs, and 15 whether its a role play or whatever, come to some 16 answers with that, and also be able to say and answer 17 anybody who asks questions from the outsider, who 18 brings challenges about the safety culture and 19 welcome those because they know that their safety 20 culture is so solid that it can answer any 21 challenges, so I would offer that as a guideline.
22 MR. GROBE: Okay. Were 23 probably over our five minutes.
24 MS. LUEKE: Pardon?
25 MR. GROBE: I said --
MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
31 1 MS. LUEKE: All right. Thank 2 you.
3 MR. GROBE: Thank you, Donna.
4 MR. ARNDT: Steve Arndt, 5 President of the Board of Ottawa County 6 Commissioners. Good evening. Last month I talked 7 about my 23 years as an elected official, my primary 8 responsibility, I believe, is the health, safety and 9 welfare of the general public, and I sort of broke my 10 questions down into two particular areas; one on the 11 physical side of the plant, as well as on the soft 12 side or the safety culture type activities that both 13 the industry is putting in place as well as the 14 observations from the NRCs perspective. I 15 certainly recognize that from the mechanical side 16 this plant has probably gone under more review and 17 more analysis than at any other time in its 18 particular life which is really a very good thing as 19 far as being able to identify any future problems.
20 I have one particular question as far as on the soft 21 side of the NRC. I truly believe with the 22 management staff that we have at Davis-Besse, the 23 dedication and commitment from the employees at this 24 particular time well be able to get the mechanical 25 side, as well as the soft issues, addressed to the MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
32 1 point that we will be considering the restart of 2 Davis-Besse, but what happens beyond that? How do we 3 assure the citizens of Ottawa County the plant will 4 continue to operate in a safe environment? Has the 5 NRC come up with a way that theyre going to evaluate 6 to make sure the safety culture programs that the 7 industry has spent a lot of time on incorporating 8 continue on once restart has been achieved?
9 MR. GROBE: Thats an excellent 10 question, Steve, thank you. The process that were 11 under, its named in accordance with the procedure 12 that we have. Its called the Manual Chapter O350.
13 The 0350 procedure has criteria by which -- by which 14 were supposed to evaluate plant operations, and it 15 has termination criteria for the panel. The panel 16 will be in existence long after restart. Well 17 still be here conducting public meetings, discussing 18 performance. If and when the plant gets to the 19 point of restart, well be talking about different 20 types of issues. Well be talking about continuing 21 assessments that theyre conducting, well be talking 22 about the continuing evaluation of the safety 23 culture. Well be talking about operational safety 24 issues, performance of plant systems, things of that 25 nature in the process of operations, so the panel MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
33 1 will be here for a period of time after the restart, 2 continuing to evaluate the ongoing safety of the 3 plant.
4 The other part of the question I think you 5 asked is, what changes are -- is the agency making in 6 its routine inspection programs to ensure that these 7 kinds of issues dont happen again, and, as youre 8 aware there was a Lessons Learned Task Force that 9 identified some 50 recommendations and the Commission 10 approved a prioritization of those recommendations.
11 Our Executive Director in Washington has requested 12 six month performance reports on how were improving, 13 and Im confident that he will keep us to task of 14 reevaluating our programs and improving our programs, 15 so I think I have answered both sides of your 16 question.
17 MR. ARNDT: Yes, you did. I have 18 two other requests; one, I believe on behalf of 19 Ottawa County and its residents. I understand that 20 your Resident Inspectors are on site. They do 21 quarterly reports based on those inspections, share 22 those with the Utility. Im not aware of ever 23 having the opportunity to have direct contact and 24 dialogue with the NRCs Resident Inspectors and the 25 basis of those reports. I understand that MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
34 1 potentially those could be considered not a public 2 hearing, and, of course, with elected officials, 3 public meetings, the like, but, certainly, once those 4 reports are finalized I think I would like to see a 5 commitment from the NRC to sit down with the local 6 elected officials to go over those findings and those 7 quarter reports and have that continued dialogue, not 8 only from the physical standpoint of the plant, but 9 as well as because of the soft issues that remain.
10 MR. GROBE: As youre aware, the 11 Commission just conducted a meeting in the Washington 12 area regarding Davis-Besse, and they invited three 13 groups of folks to speak to them about Davis-Besse.
14 The first was FirstEnergy, the second was the NRC 15 staff, and the third group was a panel of 16 stakeholders, and, Jere Witt, Ottawa County 17 Administrator, was one of the people that the 18 Commission invited to Washington to speak to them and 19 a similar recommendation was made by Jere at that 20 meeting.
21 MR. ARNDT: Our message is 22 consistent.
23 MR. GROBE: Thats right. I like 24 it. Among other recommendations, Jere had maybe 25 half a dozen or so recommendations going forward.
MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
35 1 Were evaluating all those recommendations. Ive 2 had the opportunity to meet with you on several 3 occasions, and I plan on continuing my interface with 4 Ottawa County officials while the panel continues in 5 its performance function, and were evaluating Jeres 6 recommendations as well going forward also.
7 MR. ARNDT: I think it will go a 8 long way for the residents of Ottawa County of 9 reestablishing trust from the NRC that we have a 10 direct dialogue, and we understand what is going on 11 at the facility. We have the ability to answer 12 questions or ask questions, and maybe get some 13 answers to some of the things that were hearing, and 14 I think it would be a great opportunity for some good 15 dialogue.
16 MR. GROBE: I appreciate that.
17 MR. ARNDT: The other request 18 that I have is, I really believe that the 19 reorganization or restructuring of FENOCs --
20 especially with the creation of Bill Pearces 21 position is very well -- something that maybe might 22 have helped us avert the situation had that position 23 been in place before, but I guess I have a request of 24 the Utility that the Commissioners and especially in 25 light of what happened now, we think we can do one MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
36 1 step further that would be valuable, that is the --
2 they created the Restart Oversight Panel. We 3 really, truly believe that panel should continue on.
4 I think its a great opportunity for the peers of the 5 industry to take a look at independent eyes, I think 6 is one that benefits the entire industry, not just 7 FirstEnergy or FENOC, and I think having local 8 representation on that -- certainly were not the 9 experts, thats why I believe to have the dialogue 10 between the NRC as well as a peer review would be 11 invaluable for elected officials of making sure that 12 were all looking at it objectively as to whats 13 going on in our community, so I would lay that 14 challenge to -- I see a number of representatives 15 here from FirstEnergy and FENOC, if they would take 16 that back to corporate, that is certainly a request 17 that we would like to see that request being honored.
18 MR. GROBE: Thank you.
19 MR. ARNDT: Thank you.
20 THEREUPON, the audience applauded.
21 MR. WHITCOMB: Good evening. What 22 is the status of the NRCs criminal investigation?
23 MR. GROBE: The NRC doesnt do 24 criminal investigations, but our Office of 25 Investigations is conducting an inquiry into the root MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
37 1 cause of violations that occurred at Davis-Besse and 2 that investigation is ongoing.
3 MR. WHITCOMB: Thank you.
4 MR. GROBE: That was Howard 5 Whitcomb.
6 MR. WHITCOMB: Thank you, sorry.
7 MR. GROBE: Thats all right.
8 MS. THOMAS: My name is Lisa 9 Thomas, and Im an employee at Davis-Besse. I am a 10 wife, and Im a mother, and growing up as a child, my 11 father died when I was very young, and as a result, 12 for many years I only had one parent. As a parent 13 myself now, I would do anything to make certain that 14 my child doesnt have to go through that. As a 15 result, I wouldnt work at a facility that I didnt 16 feel was safe. I have an MBA. I have strong work 17 ethics. My parents came from Europe. We work very 18 hard. I know I can get another job. I dont have 19 to work there. I work at Davis-Besse because I 20 choose to work at Davis-Besse. I feel confident 21 that the employees focus on safety, and that is their 22 priority. I am confident that the management is 23 focused on safety and thats their priority, and Im 24 confident that our Presidents focus is on safety, 25 and Im confident with your support we will run again MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
38 1 as a safe plant. Thanks.
2 MR. GROBE: Thank you.
3 THEREUPON, the audience applauded.
4 MR. GROBE: You folks are more 5 timid that you usually are.
6 (BRIEF PAUSE).
7 Is there anybody else that would like to come 8 forward and speak or ask a question?
9 MR. LOCHBAUM: Hi, my name is Dave 10 Lochbaum, Im with the Union of Concerned Scientists 11 in Washington, D.C. I just have three observations.
12 First, I monitored the restarts of the Salem 13 plant, and the D.C. Cook plant, Millstone and several 14 other plants that went through the 0350, 0350 like 15 process, and, in doing so, each of those plants by 16 the end of the day had reported dozens of Licensee 17 Event Reports that were found during the discovery 18 phase of their restart. I did a search on 19 Davis-Besse, and there have been only five Licensee 20 Event Reports submitted to date that had to do with 21 discovery during the current outage, which is 22 actually less than the plant reported in the year 23 2000 when it was operating. I understand from the 24 presentation this afternoon theres a number of 25 issues that might ultimately become LERs, but its MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
39 1 our observations that we would hope the NRC would 2 ensure the scrubbing that was done during the system 3 reviews in discovery was as thorough as the other 4 plants and that the operability of the more than 5 2,500 problems that had been found has been thorough 6 and all those that need to be reported have been 7 reported or will be reported.
8 The second observation is, I read in todays 9 Plain Dealer of Bill Deans comment to the effect 10 that it would take the resources of the Homeland 11 Security Department to fully inspect every inch of 12 the plant, and clearly our expectation isnt that the 13 NRC inspect every inch of the plant. We think 14 thats unrealistic, but I think it is our expectation 15 that the NRC inspectors would be able to find one or 16 two of the more than 2,500 problems that are listed 17 on that wall over there. Again, were not expecting 18 every inch to be found, but some were in the past --
19 I mean, some of those problems should have been found 20 by the NRC, and were concerned that that didnt 21 happen.
22 In the meeting last month at NRC 23 headquarters, Art Howell, the Chair of the NRCs 24 Lessons Learned Task Force, said that that Task Force 25 consumed over 7,000 hours0 days <br />0 hours <br />0 weeks <br />0 months <br /> in that effort, which is MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
40 1 about the same, if not more, than the total amount of 2 NRC inspection efforts spent at Davis-Besse in the 3 years 1999, 2000 and 2001 combined.
4 As, Jack, you said earlier, that the NRC has 5 embraced 49 of those recommendations that came out of 6 that effort. I guess our recommendation would be 7 that the 0350 Panel should remain in place until the 8 NRC resolves all 49 of those lessons learned because 9 that would help assure this community that future 10 lapses in the NRC are less likely to occur.
11 And, lastly, the NRC last week issued a 12 special inspection of organizational effectiveness or 13 operational effectiveness, and, as was presented this 14 afternoon, that effort identified some areas, some 15 possible root causes that the company had not 16 evaluated, engineering, and the input it had in 17 decision making and corporate support in terms of 18 casual and other issues. I guess what this suggests 19 to us, what this inspection suggests to us, is that 20 FirstEnergy isnt doing a very good job of root cause 21 because it required NRC effort to come in and help 22 and encourage them along. You know, if I was in 23 class -- if I had multiple choice questions and if I 24 said, D, and they said, no, you know, ultimately, Im 25 going to get the right answer. It looks like MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
41 1 FirstEnergy is not getting to the first answer by 2 itself. The NRC is still having to help them in 3 root cause, so were of concern that that inspection 4 didnt demonstrate to us that the root cause 5 evaluation by the companys thorough and exhaustive 6 efforts still relies on a crutch from the NRC to get 7 to that answer. It was good that the NRC is there, 8 but it would be better if the company got there first 9 by itself. Thank you.
10 MR. GROBE: Thank you. Couple 11 of comments, Dave.
12 MR. LOCHBAUM: Ill stay here.
13 MR. GROBE: Good. You and I 14 have been together on some of those other plant 15 restarts. Theres a unique characteristic to the 16 effort that I have seen at Davis-Besse. One aspect 17 that was unique was a very rapid simulation of all of 18 the learnings from the other plants into their 19 activities here at the plant. They brought in a lot 20 of folks who had experience at Cook and Salem and 21 Millstone and Crystal River and other plants in doing 22 these kinds of efforts, so the activity while there 23 were some initial bumps and bruises, but the activity 24 got off to a fairly strong start.
25 As you observed from this afternoons MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
42 1 meeting, there was a number of engineering issues 2 that are still under evaluation. My overall 3 assessment is that the engineering evaluations that 4 are done here were as rigorous as the ones done at 5 D.C. Cook. They were done with essentially the same 6 process and with many of the same people. I dont 7 believe that there was as many findings. If you 8 recall Cook, there were some 150 modifications that 9 were necessary with plant equipment. The majority 10 of the modifications that are going on at Davis-Besse 11 are modifications that they chose to make, not 12 because of design basis concerns or deficiencies, but 13 to upgrade the plant, so I dont believe the design 14 of the systems was as challenged as some of those 15 other ones. I dont have experience at Millstone or 16 Salem, but I do at Cook.
17 The other thing is this discovery effort 18 proceeded much more rapidly, and, as youre aware, 19 engineering issues take time to evaluate, so because 20 of the rapid progress that they made in discovery, 21 the engineering issues resolution of those as far as 22 looking at past operability, which would be what we 23 have reported in the NER LER has taken over that time, so 24 I think those observations might help explain your 25 sense of the difference between Davis-Besse and other MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
43 1 plants.
2 The schedule for implementation of Lessons 3 Learned Task Force is laid out and theres no 4 alignment or connection between Davis-Besse and 5 restart and the resolution of those issues. The 6 high priority issues that the Commission identified 7 for implementation are happening on a very rapid time 8 line, but there is no connection between Davis-Besse 9 and the program improvements that are going on as a 10 result of the Lessons Learned Task Force. I think I 11 responded to the major issues that you talked about.
12 MR. LOCHBAUM: Can I just ask 13 for one follow-up for clarification?
14 MR. GROBE: Sure.
15 MR. LOCHBAUM: I take it from 16 your response that the NRC is looking at the 17 operability or reportability process to ensure that 18 theyre at the right point?
19 MR. GROBE: Absolutely, 20 absolutely.
21 MR. LOCHBAUM: Okay.
22 MR. GROBE: Thank you.
23 Thank you very much.
24 THEREUPON, the audience applauded.
25 MR. OPFER: Jack, and MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
44 1 members of the panel, I -- my name is Darrell Opfer, 2 Im currently Director of the Ottawa County 3 Improvement Corporation, former Commissioner and 4 State Representative, schoolteacher and long time 5 resident of Ottawa County, and, in fact, born here.
6 One of the things that I appreciate your 7 commenting on is the positive attitude of the 8 Davis-Besse folks and their ability and interest in 9 putting together the collective engineering and 10 learning from other plants.
11 As a County Commissioner and State 12 Representative, Ive always found the folks at 13 Davis-Besse, whether its management or workers, to be 14 very helpful and answer questions and to help people 15 learn and understand whats going on at the plant.
16 I do want to leave a copy of a Letter to the Editor 17 that I sent to our local papers, and just excerpting 18 a couple of points from that. While hundreds of 19 Davis-Besse power plant folks have been spending a 20 great deal of time and hours working on the plant, 21 and now that things are becoming -- are beginning to 22 come together very obviously, its clear that outside 23 interest such as Congressman Kucinich, programs like 24 the Bill Moyers Program and reportedly 60 Minutes and 25 now the Cleveland Plain Dealer seek to use the plant MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
45 1 shutdown to advance their own agendas to influence 2 process under a decision about which they know so 3 little. It is interesting that the television 4 "news" commentators and the political "leaders" 5 opposed to restart have done so little investigation 6 into the causes of the current shutdown and what is 7 being done to operate the plant safely in the future.
8 Unfortunately, these opportunists are using the 9 current problems to advance their agendas, whether it 10 is to oppose nuclear power philosophically, build 11 their own membership or organizations membership by 12 appealing to public fears, increasing their listener 13 or reader base or even running for President. They 14 have little real concern for our area residents, 15 workers or our community and services. Why should 16 uninformed individuals who have not taken the time to 17 research the issues determine the fate of the largest 18 employer, taxpayer and environmental advocate in 19 Ottawa County and those of us who work, produce goods 20 and services and enjoy living in a wonderful area?
21 I encourage the NRC to continue to 22 constructively review the hard work and the plans of 23 hundreds of employees here at the plant to assure a 24 safe restart and plant operation and not be diverted 25 by the misguided political attacks and the agenda of MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
46 1 Presidential candidates and others.
2 Ive also included for you a comment by John 3 Schaffner, who is the editor of the local Beacon, in 4 a story that he is -- will be publishing in the next 5 issue of the Beacon. He takes a very critical view 6 of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the so-called 7 journalism that they have exhibited of late, and one 8 of the things -- the last paragraph of his yet to be 9 printed story suggests that since the Columbia 10 disaster, so many family, friends of the victims have 11 stated along with NASA officials that the space 12 program must go on; that NASA must determine the 13 problem of the shuttle program and move forward.
14 Local officials here in Ottawa County are adamant 15 that the NRC should work closely with FirstEnergy to 16 accomplish the same objectives and leave the topic of 17 safety at Davis-Besse out of the hands of 18 self-serving politicians and keep it within the realm 19 of the technical experts who actually have knowledge 20 of nuclear power, and I would also like to encourage 21 as a former County Commissioner that you consider the 22 suggestions of Commissioner Arndt with regard to 23 continuing a relationship after the restart of the 24 plant. Our County Commissioners have a long history 25 of meeting with the local plant officials to discuss MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
47 1 what issues are on everyones agenda and to try to 2 maintain the safety of all plants for the health and 3 safety of citizens of Ottawa County, so I certainly 4 encourage you to consider Mr. Arndts 5 recommendations. Thank you.
6 MR. GROBE: Okay, thank you very 7 much, sir.
8 MR. COLLINS: Sir, could you sign 9 in?
10 THE REPORTER: Could you sign in?
11 MR. GROBE: Any other questions 12 or comments?
13 (BRIEF PAUSE).
14 MR. WARREN: Good evening, my 15 name is Richard Warren. Im a financial advisor in 16 the area, so I dont work at Davis-Besse, but I have 17 a lot of clients that work there. Ive got 18 residence in the County, I have offices in the 19 County, and I commend you for all the work youre 20 doing. I think safety is very important, but I see 21 850 families that thrive and live in the area, and 22 Ive also seen areas where industry has left, and the 23 devastation on all the individuals, so its very 24 important for me, my clients, and all the people in 25 the area, all the other industry, not only MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
48 1 Davis-Besse, but everything that this program see 2 that everything is safe, but see that this industry 3 continues in the area so the whole area can thrive.
4 Thank you.
5 MR. GROBE: Thank you, sir.
6 THEREUPON, the audience applauded.
7 MR. ELUM: Good evening. Just 8 a few words about me and why Im here.
9 MR. GROBE: Could you introduce 10 yourself?
11 MR. ELUM: Yes, Im Charles 12 Elum. I go by Chic, Chic Elum, E-L-U-M.
13 MR. GROBE: Thank you.
14 MR. ELUM: Im the President 15 and CEO of Scrabble Brand, Incorporated, a 35 year 16 old family business that creates word puzzles and 17 features and books for major publications and 18 newspapers across the country. We also operate Park 19 Press, a commercial printing and mailing company.
20 Both are located in Port Clinton. My wife and I 21 built our home in Ottawa County about 20 years ago, 22 planning at that time to some day retire here.
23 Well, we got some kids in the business, so we didnt 24 retire, and we decided to move the company up here to 25 Ottawa County. We did that five years ago, and MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
49 1 weve never regretted it. We live on Catawba 2 Island, as do our two daughters and their families.
3 We have five grandchildren, all of us living within 4 the sight of the Davis-Besse tower, and, by the way, 5 I fish around there a lot, too.
6 As a retired police chief of more than 25 7 years in law enforcement, I am also very sensitive to 8 public safety issues and have followed the 9 Davis-Besse matter very closely.
10 Although mistakes were made, I believe its 11 important to recognize the fact that Davis-Besse has 12 operated safely for more than 25 years without any 13 radiological related injury to employees or the 14 public, and with no adverse impact on the local 15 environment. Even with the damaged reactor head, 16 the plant operated normally. Its been reported 17 that FirstEnergy has spent hundreds of millions of 18 dollars on safety equipment, training and procedures 19 that have made the chance of a deadly accident 20 practically nil. Most of the 850 people who work at 21 Davis-Besse live in this area, have families and 22 relatives here, and it would seem logical that the 23 safety of the plant is in their own self-interest.
24 It just doesnt make any sense to imply that they 25 would put themselves or their families at risk in any MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
50 1 case. Davis-Besse, I think, is a good neighbor, 2 always has been. They have certainly done wonders 3 for Ottawa County school systems. They have helped 4 install the safety alert, siren alerts throughout the 5 County, which probably can be credited with saving 6 some lives in the tornado that hit Port Clinton not 7 long ago. Its been said here before this evening, 8 its a good neighbor, and its paid more than two 9 million bucks in taxes over the last 25 years. It 10 creates another 20 to 30 million dollars in business 11 state-wide annually.
12 I, too, believe the regulators are to be 13 commended for their efforts and thoroughness, and I 14 encourage them to constructively review the hard work 15 and plans of the company and hundreds of its 16 employees and to remain aware of the agendas of some 17 detractors. Davis-Besse has a long and well-known 18 record of safety and service to the community.
19 After the expenditure of hundreds of millions of 20 dollars to assure the repaired reactor is safe to 21 operate, I and many others are hoping that following 22 a successful test of its reactor in March, 23 Davis-Besse will run again. Thank you.
24 MR. GROBE: Thank you very much, 25 sir.
MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
51 1 THEREUPON, the audience applauded.
2 (BRIEF PAUSE).
3 MR. GROBE: Any other questions 4 or comments?
5 (NO AUDIBLE RESPONSE).
6 MR. GROBE: Okay, well, thank 7 you very much for coming this evening. Well be 8 back -- Christine, do you have the date of our next 9 meeting?
10 MS. LIPA: March 11th.
11 MR. GROBE: March 11th is our 12 next series of public meetings. Thank you.
13 14 15 THEREUPON, the hearing was adjourned.
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900
52 1 CERTIFICATE 2 STATE OF OHIO )
) ss.
3 COUNTY OF HURON )
4 I, Marlene S. Rogers-Lewis, Stenotype Reporter 5 and Notary Public within and for the State aforesaid, duly commissioned and qualified, do hereby certify 6 that the foregoing, consisting of 51 pages, was taken by me in stenotype and was reduced to writing by me 7 by means of Computer-Aided Transcription; that the foregoing is a true and complete transcript of the 8 proceedings held in that room on the 11th day of February, 2003 before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 9 Commission.
I also further certify that I was present in 10 the room during all of the proceedings.
11 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand 12 and seal of office at Wakeman, Ohio this day of
, 2003.
13 14 15 Marlene S. Rogers-Lewis Notary Public 16 3922 Court Road Wakeman, OH 44889 17 My commission expires 4/29/04 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MARLENE S. ROGERS-LEWIS & ASSOC. REPORTERS (419) 929-0505 (888) 799-3900