ML042800284
| ML042800284 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Vermont Yankee File:NorthStar Vermont Yankee icon.png |
| Issue date: | 10/25/2004 |
| From: | Lyons J NRC/NRR/DLPM |
| To: | Shadis R New England Coalition |
| Wang A, NRR/DLPM, 415-1445 | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML042800306 | List: |
| References | |
| 2.206, G20040284, LTR-04-0249, TAC MC2745 | |
| Download: ML042800284 (30) | |
Text
October 25, 2004 Mr. Raymond Shadis Staff Technical Advisor New England Coalition Post Office Box 98 Edgecomb, ME 04556
Dear Mr. Shadis:
On September 10, 2004, we received your supplement to your petition filed under Section 2.206 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations dated April 23, 2004. You provided supplemental information regarding your request that, until such time as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has verified that Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee LLC and Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Entergy) has rendered an accurate and NRC verified account of the location, disposition, and condition of all irradiated fuel, including fuel currently loaded in the reactor core, that the NRC order a halt to all fuel movement at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (Vermont Yankee). I would like to express my appreciation for your effort in bringing these matters to the attention of the NRC.
In a teleconference on September 22, 2004, you discussed with our Petition Review Board (PRB) your supplemental letter. You clarified that in your opinion, the inspections to date to verify assembly locations and numbers were not of the veracity to ensure that the all fuel rods or pieces have been correctly identified and accounted for. In addition, you stated that the identification of the fuel rod pieces was questionable. That teleconference has been transcribed and the transcription will be considered a supplement to the petition. We have enclosed a copy of the transcript of this call for your information. The results of that discussion will be considered in the PRBs determination regarding your request.
To assist in its review of your concerns, the NRC has issued a letter dated October 5, 2004, to Entergy requesting that the following information be provided within 30 days of receipt of the letter:
(1)
Describe actions to confirm that Entergy has located the misplaced pieces. In particular, other than the comparison of the lengths of the pieces, what other evidence does Entergy have that the misplaced pieces were located? For instance, can Entergy verify that the diameters of all the broken pieces are consistent with the fuel rod pieces that were missing. General Electric makes a distinction between pieces and segments (i.e.,
segments are precut sections of fuel rods). Have any pieces or segments of irradiated fuel rods ever been sent to General Electric at Vallecitos or other facilities and has Entergy ever received any irradiated fuel pieces or segments from Vallecitos or other facilities? Can Entergy confirm the sections of fuel rods in the canister were pieces and not segments?
(2)
Describe Entergys process for the movement and control of fuel rods during your reconstitution efforts. How has Entergy verified that individual fuel rod movements were properly documented and controlled? How have all individual rods removed from an assembly, or moved from one assembly to another been accounted for? Describe any
R. Shadis other conditions not addressed in the above questions, where fuel has been handled as less than complete assemblies (e.g., pieces, segments, pellets, rods, etc.) and how this fuel was accounted for. How many assemblies have been involved in the reconstitution efforts?
(3)
Provide the root-cause analysis for this event.
We reviewed your concern in your supplemental letter regarding material misrepresentation to the NRC. We have concluded that the statements in the March 26, 2004, email from David Mannai to the NRC resident inspectors do not constitute a material false statement.
Mr. Mannais email provided the information available, at the time it was sent, concerning a visual verification of the fuel rod pieces and clearly indicated that additional effort was planned to get photographs of the fuel rod pieces during fuel inspections. The information provided reflected an observation during the initial phase of the ongoing activities planned by Entergy. At the time of the resident inspectors receipt of the email, the inspectors and Entergy both recognized the need for more definitive proof that the fuel rod pieces were in the container.
Entergy planned to perform this more definitive look at the time of their upcoming refueling outage. As such, while the performance of Entergys planned activities later proved that the statement in the email was incorrect, the statement was not "material" in that it was not used as a basis to conclude that the fuel rod pieces were in the container. Also, the NRC saw no indication that Mr. Mannai was trying to mislead the NRC with regard to the location of the fuel rod pieces.
We have extended our planned review time for review of your petition. We anticipate issuing a proposed Directors Decision by December 30, 2004. This will allow us time to consider your supplemental information. Alan Wang is the petition manager for your petition and if you have any additional comments or questions, please contact Mr. Wang at 301-415-1445.
Sincerely,
/RA/
James E. Lyons, Deputy Director Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Enclosure:
As stated cc w/encl: See next page
R. Shadis October 25, 2004 other conditions not addressed in the above questions, where fuel has been handled as less than complete assemblies (e.g., pieces, segments, pellets, rods, etc.) and how this fuel was accounted for. How many assemblies have been involved in the reconstitution efforts?
(3)
Provide the root-cause analysis for this event.
We reviewed your concern in your supplemental letter regarding material misrepresentation to the NRC. We have concluded that the statements in the March 26, 2004, email from David Mannai to the NRC resident inspectors do not constitute a material false statement.
Mr. Mannais email provided the information available, at the time it was sent, concerning a visual verification of the fuel rod pieces and clearly indicated that additional effort was planned to get photographs of the fuel rod pieces during fuel inspections. The information provided reflected an observation during the initial phase of the ongoing activities planned by Entergy. At the time of the resident inspectors receipt of the email, the inspectors and Entergy both recognized the need for more definitive proof that the fuel rod pieces were in the container.
Entergy planned to perform this more definitive look at the time of their upcoming refueling outage. As such, while the performance of Entergys planned activities later proved that the statement in the email was incorrect, the statement was not "material" in that it was not used as a basis to conclude that the fuel rod pieces were in the container. Also, the NRC saw no indication that Mr. Mannai was trying to mislead the NRC with regard to the location of the fuel rod pieces.
We have extended our planned review time for review of your petition. We anticipate issuing a proposed Directors Decision by December 30, 2004. This will allow us time to consider your supplemental information. Alan Wang is the petition manager for your petition and if you have any additional comments or questions, please contact Mr. Wang at 301-415-1445.
Sincerely,
/RA/
James E. Lyons, Deputy Director Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Enclosure:
As stated cc w/encl: See next page DISTRIBUTION:
See next page Package: ML042800306 Incoming: ML041180245 dated 4/23/04; Supplement: ML042680084 dated 9/10/04 Response: ML042800284 w/enclosure NRR-106 OFFICE PDI-2/LA PDIV-2/PM PDI-2/PM PDI-1/PM REG/DRP/SC PDI-2/VYSC DLPM/DD NAME CRaynor AWang REnnis DSkay CAnderson AHowe JLyons DATE 10/15/04 10/14/04 10/15/04 10/15/04 10/14/2004 10/18/2004 10/25/04 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
LETTER TO RAYMOND SHADIS REGARDING 2.206 PETITION ON VERMONT YANKEE SPENT FUEL INVENTORY DISTRIBUTION:
PUBLIC LReyes EMerschoff WKane MVirgilio PNorry WDean JDyer BSheron EDO OGC OPA OCA SBurns/KCyr, OGC SECY (LTR-04-0249)
NRR Mail Room (G20040284)
KGrimes LCox CHolden AHowe CRaynor REnnis AWang DSkay JGoldberg, OGC SCollins, Region I CBixley, Region I CAnderson, Region I
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station cc:
Regional Administrator, Region I U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19406-1415 Mr. David R. Lewis Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge 2300 N Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20037-1128 Ms. Christine S. Salembier, Commissioner Vermont Department of Public Service 112 State Street Montpelier, VT 05620-2601 Mr. Michael H. Dworkin, Chairman Public Service Board State of Vermont 112 State Street Montpelier, VT 05620-2701 Chairman, Board of Selectmen Town of Vernon P.O. Box 116 Vernon, VT 05354-0116 Operating Experience Coordinator Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station 320 Governor Hunt Road Vernon, VT 05354 G. Dana Bisbee, Esq.
Deputy Attorney General 33 Capitol Street Concord, NH 03301-6937 Chief, Safety Unit Office of the Attorney General One Ashburton Place, 19th Floor Boston, MA 02108 Ms. Deborah B. Katz Box 83 Shelburne Falls, MA 01370 Ms. Carla A. White, RRPT, CHP Radiological Health Vermont Department of Health P.O. Box 70, Drawer #43 108 Cherry Street Burlington, VT 05402-0070 Mr. James M. DeVincentis Manager, Licensing Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station P.O. Box 0500 185 Old Ferry Road Brattleboro, VT 05302-0500 Resident Inspector Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission P.O. Box 176 Vernon, VT 05354 Director, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency ATTN: James Muckerheide 400 Worcester Rd.
Framingham, MA 01702-5399 Jonathan M. Block, Esq.
Main Street P.O. Box 566 Putney, VT 05346-0566 Mr. John F. McCann Director, Nuclear Safety Assurance Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. Gary J. Taylor Chief Executive Officer Entergy Operations 1340 Echelon Parkway Jackson, MS 39213
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station cc:
Mr. John T. Herron Sr. VP and Chief Operating Officer Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. Danny L. Pace Vice President, Engineering Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. Brian OGrady Vice President, Operations Support Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. Michael J. Colomb Director of Oversight Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. John M. Fulton Assistant General Counsel Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. Jay K. Thayer Site Vice President Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station P.O. Box 0500 185 Old Ferry Road Brattleboro, VT 05302-0500 Mr. Kenneth L. Graesser 38832 N. Ashley Drive Lake Villa, IL 60046 Mr. James Sniezek 5486 Nithsdale Drive Salisbury, MD 21801 Mr. Ronald Toole 1282 Valley of Lakes Box R-10 Hazelton, PA 18202 Ms. Stacey M. Lousteau Treasury Department Entergy Services, Inc.
639 Loyola Avenue New Orleans, LA 70113 Mr. James P. Matteau Executive Director Windham Regional Commission 139 Main Street, Suite 505 Brattleboro, VT 05301 Mr. William K. Sherman Vermont Department of Public Service 112 State Street Drawer 20 Montpelier, VT 05620-2601 Mr. Michael Kansler President Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601
Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Title:
New England Coalition 2.206 Petition Docket Number:
50-271 Location:
(telephone conference)
Date:
Wednesday, September 22, 2004 Work Order No.:
NRC-034 Pages 1-18 NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC.
Court Reporters and Transcribers 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 234-4433 ENCLOSURE
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 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 2
+ + + + +
3 OFFICE OF INVESTIGATION 4
5
x 6
NEW ENGLAND COALITION 7
2.206 PETITION Docket No. 50-271 8
9
X 10 11 Wednesday, 12 September 22, 2004 13 14 Telephonic Conference 15
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 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 1
(10:00 a.m.)
2 MR. BLOCK: Who's on, just you and me?
3 MR. CHATTIS: Oh, that's Mr. Block.
4 MR. BLOCK: Yes, and Mr. Chattis as well.
5 MR. CHATTIS: Well, we have Jim DeMantonis 6
from Entergy auditing this call and Paul Blanche, 7
yourself and I are on at this point waiting for NRC.
8 MR. ANDERSON: Yes, this is Cliff Anderson 9
in Region 1, both sitting in on the call.
10 MR. CHATTIS: Good morning, Cliff.
11 MR. ANDERSON: Yes, good morning, Ray.
12 MR. BLOCK: Good morning, Cliff.
13 MR. ANDERSON: Good morning. Who's this?
14 MR. BLOCK: John Block.
15 MR. ANDERSON: Yes, hi, John.
16 MR. MENIGH: Also Gabe Menigh from Entergy.
17 MR. BLANCHE: And Paul Blanche here, too.
18 MS. DESLUCAS: Rhonda Deslucas and Mike 19 Hamus from Entergy.
20 MR. WALK: Hello, Raymond?
21 MR. CHATTIS: Good morning, yes?
22 MR. WALK: Good morning. I won't put you on 23 the speaker.
24 MR. CHATTIS: That's fine.
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 MR. WALK: Mr. Chattis?
1 MR. CHATTIS: Yes.
2 MR. WALK: This is Alan Walk. I'm the 3
petition manager. I guess before we start, I'd just 4
like to have everyone introduce themselves. If you 5
would just let us know who's on the line from your 6
side.
7 MR. CHATTIS: Certainly. First off, this is 8
Raymond Chattis with the New England Coalition, and I 9
have with me this morning Jonathan Block, who is a New 10 England Coalition member and has one particular aspect 11 of this to address, and Mr. Paul Blanche, who is 12 advising and who participated in the last Petition 13 Review Board.
14 All right. Paul, are you on the line?
15 MR. BLANCHE: Yes, I am on the line.
16 MR. CHATTIS: Hey, Paul, and Mr. Block?
17 MR. BLOCK: Yes, I am on the line as well.
18 Good morning.
19 MR. CHATTIS: All right, and I'll just let 20 everyone else introduce themselves.
21 MR. LYONS: Hi, I'm Jim Lyons. I'm the 22 Deputy Director of the Division of Licensing.
23 MR. INNES: Rick Innes, products manager for 24 Vermont Yankee.
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 MR. LILLY: Peter Lilly, general counsel's 1
office.
2 MR. HOLDEN: Dennis Holden, project manager, 3
NRR.
4 MS. STAY: Dawn Stay, Cornair.
5 MR. WOLF: Dan Wolf, and we expect Herb 6
Percal from PRB.
7 MR. CHATTIS: Also, do we have anybody from 8
the region?
9 MR. ANDERSON: Yes, this is Cliff Anderson 10 from Region I.
11 MR. CHATTIS: Do we have anybody from the 12 licensee?
13 MR. TENNIS: Yes, this is Judy Tennis, 14 manager. I believe we have Mave Nye from our reactor 15 engineering organization, Rhonda DeLucas and Mike 16 Hamer from our licensing organization.
17 MR. WALK: Alan, I should also add that we 18 may also be hearing from Deborah Katz, who has some 19 late information on this. I'm not dead certain we're 20 going to get a call from her, but she will want to 21 speak.
22 MR. CHATTIS: All right. Jim, do you want 23 to --
24
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 MR. LYONS: Yes, let me start off. This is 1
Jim Lyons. I'm the PRB Chairman. The subject of this 2
teleconference is a 2.206 petition submitted by the 3
New England Coalition dated April 23, 2004 and 4
supplemented on September 10, 2004.
5 The petitioners requested that the NRC halt 6
all fuel movement from Vermont Yankee until such time 7
as Entergy, the licensee, has rendered, and the NRC 8
has verified, an accurate account of the location 9
disposition and condition of all irradiated fuel, 10 including fuel currently loaded in the reactor core.
11 A supplement dated September 10, 2004 provided 12 additional information but did not change the 13 requested actions.
14 The purpose of this teleconference is to 15 allow the petitioner to add the Petition Review Board.
16 This is an opportunity for the petitioner to provide 17 additional explanations with support with regards to 18 the supplemental information provided on September 10.
19 This is also an opportunity for the staff and licensee 20 to ask any clarifying questions.
21 The purpose of this teleconference is not to 22 debate the merits of the petition. The PRB meeting 23 previously determined that the NRC will delay the 24 director's decision to allow the NRC additional time 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 to address the petitioner's supplemental comments.
1 The NRC has also referred a new allegation in the 2
supplement to the appropriate channels.
3 Again, the PRB meeting today will not 4
determine whether we agree or disagree with the 5
content of the petition.
6 The teleconference is being transcribed so 7
it will help if anyone making a statement first state 8
their name clearly. The transcript will become a 9
supplement for the petition and will be made publicly 10 available.
11 We have requested that the petitioners keep 12 their remarks to about 30 minutes. The NRC will issue 13 an acknowledgment letter to the petitioner to document 14 the new schedule. The petition manager will keep the 15 petitioner and licensee periodically informed of the 16 progress of the staff review.
17 So with that, I would turn it over to you, 18 Mr. Chattis.
19 MR. CHATTIS: Thank you. One very important 20 point, you stated that the New England Coalition did 21 not change the requests from the April petition by the 22 supplement. I'd like to clarify that, if I may.
23 MR. LYONS: Sure.
24
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 MR. CHATTIS: Following or during the PRB 1
meeting on the April submission, we were asked to 2
spell out what we meant by verify and the request for 3
NRC to verify the special nuclear materials inventory.
4 At that point, we said if NRC would write a letter, in 5
essence certifying that the licensee had 6
satisfactorily completed an inventory, that that would 7
do the trick.
8 By this letter, we mean to reassert or 9
reinforce our original request and to get a little 10 clearer in terms of verification. We understand that 11 the licensee did an inventory of the spent fuel by 12 provisionally confirming the presence of the fuel 13 assemblies in each storage cell.
14 However, that is some 2700 assemblies, by 15 our understanding. However, there was not a 16 confirmation made that these assemblies were full, 17 that there were not pins missing from the assemblies 18 or that there were not broken fragments contained in 19 those assemblies.
20 What we are asking for here in terms of a 21 complete inventory and one verified is that NRC verify 22 by inspection whether or not those cells and those 23 fuel assemblies are indeed full and complete or broken 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 or partial as they are represented in the inventory 1
documents.
2 MR. LYONS: Okay.
3 MR. CHATTIS: So, and I guess I'm presuming 4
that because NRC did an audit type verification, in 5
other words, they inspected a sampling of the storage 6
cells to verify that the correctly numbered, you know, 7
fuel assemblies were identified in those cells, that 8
that action being complete satisfied NRC's 9
understanding of what we meant by a complete 10 inventory.
11 So now I am trying to make it more clear 12 that since what the licensee lost control of in the 13 first past was not fuel assemblies. What they lost 14 control of were fuel fragments, or pieces, that the 15 inventory should be detailed enough to assure that 16 there are not additional fuel fragments or pieces 17 missing from these assemblies.
18 So, I think what it would require would be 19 at least pulling a representative sample of the 2700 20 assemblies and determining if they are full, complete, 21 partial, whatever the inventory documents say they 22 are.
23 I'm wondering if you have questions about 24 that. So, if we can get clear as to what it is we're 25
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 asking for as distinguished from what we settled on in 1
the initial petition.
2 MR. LYONS: I think we understand that.
3 MR. CHATTIS: Okay.
4 MR. LYONS: And everyone needs to identify 5
themselves for the benefit of the court reporter.
6 MR. CHATTIS: I'm sorry. Did I fail to do 7
that? This is Ray Chattis.
8 The other thing that I want to emphasize is 9
that the question is raised here of whether or not NRC 10 can place complete reliance on the representations of 11 the licensee with respect to the disposition of these 12 special nuclear materials. We tried to make the point 13 in our petition by including the e-mail correspondence 14 from Entergy to the resident inspector of March 26, 15 asserting that the spent fuel had been confirmed, 16 visually confirmed to be in its open container on 17 March 26 as an indicator.
18 I think in terms of what evidence is and 19 what evidence demands, with your permission I'd like 20 to have Mr. Block address that question.
21 MR. LYONS: Yes, we would be willing to hear 22 from Mr. Block.
23 MR. LEWIS: This is Steve Lewis. Mr. Block, 24 are you functioning as the attorney for the coalition?
25
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 MR. CHATTIS: No, he is not. I'm sorry to 1
answer the question for him. Go ahead, Mr. Block.
2 MR. BLOCK: Thank you. This is Jonathan 3
Block. No, I'm not functioning as an attorney.
4 Rather, I'm a member of the New England Coalition, and 5
Mr. Chattis has used me as a consultant in the past, 6
and it's in that capacity that he asked me to make a 7
comment if I had an interest in it. So, with your 8
permission, could we go forward on this?
9 MR. CHATTIS: Yes, that's fine.
10 MR. BLOCK: As I understand the situation, 11 the event that took place was an e-mail on or about 12 March 26 in which a representation was made by the 13 licensee concerning whether the fuel had been located.
14 On that basis, the public was addressed by a member of 15 the NRC, providing assurances that the fuel had been 16 located at a public meeting.
17 I think that this is prima facie evidence 18 that, how should we put it, that it would be imprudent 19 to rely on the licensee's representations in this 20 matter further. What I mean by that is that it's not 21 a circumstance or an inference that's involved. It's 22 not circumstantial evidence. It's not inferential 23 evidence, but rather direct evidence of less than 24 absolute candor of the sort that would be required in 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 terms of not making material misrepresentations to the 1
regulator.
2 I would think that given that the NRC is now 3
being asked to rely on the licensee's representation 4
that the container that was shipped in, in fact, and 5
located there was in fact not full when it came or 6
full when it came. These are things that are now in 7
doubt. Unfortunately, the NRC is put in a position of 8
relying on the representation in the same incident or 9
continuing incident of somebody who has just made a 10 material misrepresentation to them.
11 So, it's my humble opinion, as both an 12 ordinary citizen but also somebody who has some 13 familiarity with the law, that the agency is being put 14 in the position of having to rely for assurances about 15 the actual accounting of the missing fuel on someone 16 who has just made a misrepresentation to them about 17 whether the fuel, in fact, was there or not.
18 That was the opinion that I had to offer.
19 I hope it's useful to you in some way.
20 MR. LYONS: Okay, thank you. This is Jim 21 Lyons again.
22 MR. CHATTIS: Thank you, Jim. This is Ray 23 Chattis. Are you all clear on the container to which 24 Mr. Block was referring?
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 MR. LYONS: Yes, this is Jim Lyons. Yes, we 1
are.
2 MR. CHATTIS: Okay. This would be the 3
container described as a stainless steel tube, three 4
feet in length and three inches in diameter, sealed on 5
both ends. The reason that I want to be clear on that 6
is because of our concern expressed in part in our 7
supplemented petition that it was the practice of 8
licensees to send the fuel for reexamination and 9
analysis out to General Electric in Valacetis, 10 California.
11 We are uncertain whether any of that fuel 12 was returned to licensees for storage, and if so, when 13 it was returned to licensees for storage. At this 14 point, so far as we know, there is no documentation or 15 tracking or positive material identification of this 16 particular cylinder. I had been hoping the Deborah 17 Katz would be joining us at this point, but I will go 18 ahead with my understanding of what she would be 19 bringing forward, and then if she does join us, you 20 know, by the time we're done, she can confirm it.
21 Basically, it is that Ms. Katz represented 22 to me this morning that she had spoken with the 23 resident inspector at Vermont Yankee at the time that 24 the fuel was reported missing and that he represented 25
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 to her that Vermont Yankee had called down to Yankee 1
Row and inquired if they had any knowledge of the 2
location of this fuel.
3 Does that tone signal indicate that we have 4
another call on the line?
5 MR. LYONS: We didn't hear it. Did someone 6
just join the bridge?
7 MR. CHATTIS: I guess not.
8 MR. LYONS: Okay.
9 MR. CHATTIS: Our concern is that by 10 anecdote by the record of the investigation at 11 Millstone, it appears that there was in the historic 12 time frame, 1979, late 1970's, early 1980's, what 13 appears to be fairly heavy traffic in fuel moving 14 around to and from New England plants.
15 So, what it indicates to us is the necessity 16 for a very careful examination of the origin of this 17 cylinder and the time frame in which it appeared.
18 MR. LYONS: I think we understand that.
19 MR. BLANCHE: This is Paul Blanche. I have 20 a brief statement I'd like to make and I guess more of 21 a question. Can you hear me?
22 MR. CHATTIS: Yes, we can hear you.
23 MR. BLANCHE: Okay. Ray and John, I heard 24 words that you mentioned about the licensee providing 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 inaccurate, incomplete information. Is that an 1
allegation that is either 50.5 or 50.9 that you're 2
making here?
3 MR. LYONS: I had simply provided that 4
information to the Petition Review Board. I believe 5
they have passed it on as an allegation. I'm not 6
certain, you know, what part of 10 C.F.R. Part 50 it 7
would fall under, but my understanding is that it has 8
been now entered as an allegation.
9 MR. BLANCHE: Okay. This is Paul Blanche 10 again. So, it's either 50.5 or 50.9. Can the NRC 11 confirm that that has been taken as an allegation 12 against one of those regulations?
13 MR. WALK: This is Alan Walk. Yes, it has.
14 Cliff?
15 MR. ANDERSON: We'll address this issue in 16 responding to the letter, excuse me, in response to 17 the petition.
18 MR. LYONS: This is Jim Lyons again. Is 19 there anymore that you want to provide, information 20 that you want to provide to the Petition Review Board?
21 MR. ANDERSON: There is one small item, and 22 that is that, as we pointed out in our petition, the 23 recovered fuel pieces have been identified by their 24 approximate diameter, and there is some confusion on 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 the diameter. Primarily they've been identified by 1
length, and what I have in hand here is a description 2
of the missing fuel segments from the Humboldt 3
reactor, which as you know, is currently under 4
investigation.
5 The outer diameter of those fuel segments 6
and the approximate length of them would also 7
accommodate what was found at Vermont Yankee, albeit 8
the Humboldt fuel is supposed to have stainless steel 9
cladding.
10 What I've gotten from the document which was 11 provided by the Humboldt project manager is that when 12 fuel was going to be shipped for testing, it was the 13 practice at least at Humboldt to sever the fuel into 14 approximately 18-inch segments so that the thing that 15 raised my antenna on this is that the, you know, this 16 is in the realm of close enough.
17 So, if it was the practice there, we could 18 surmise it was the practice elsewhere to sever the 19 fuel segmented into approximately 18-inch sections for 20 shipping. This leads us to question again, since fuel 21 segments of that approximate length were available in 22 the industry if the fuel located by Vermont Yankee did 23 indeed originate at Vermont Yankee, whether or not it 24
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 was fuel that had been segmented or sectioned for 1
shipping but then was never shipped in that container.
2 All of the history of this fuel and all of 3
its genealogy, if you will, all of its origins, are 4
brought into question. In any case, I wanted to 5
introduce that question in support of the questions 6
that we asked in our supplemented petition.
7 I wonder if I'm making sense to you.
8 MR. LYONS: This is Jim Lyons. We 9
understand what you're saying.
10 MR. WALK: Thank you. I believe that really 11 concludes the comments that I wanted to add this 12 morning, unless you folks have any other questions.
13 MR. BLOCK: Ray?
14 MR. WALK: Yes.
15 MR. BLOCK: This is John Block. I wonder if 16 I might add just one small point.
17 MR. WALK: It's good by me if it's good by 18 NRC.
19 MR. CHATTIS: Sure.
20 MR. BLOCK: I'm wondering whether, and this 21 would be something I have no idea of, whether the fuel 22 at each facility has a particular fingerprint that 23 would allow it to be identified based on, you know, 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 the way the reactors are set up and the length of the 1
exposure of the fuel. That's what I was wondering.
2 MR. WALK: This is Alan. Each assembly is 3
marked and each fuel pin is also marked, and I believe 4
they can identify each down to the pin level of which 5
assembly should contain which pin.
6 MR. BLOCK: Thank you, Alan.
7 MS. KATZ: This is Deborah Katz from the 8
Citizens Awareness Network. I'm calling because Ray 9
Chattis had asked me to provide some information that 10 I had gotten from the resident inspector from Vermont 11 Yankee this spring about the missing fuel at Vermont 12 Yankee to add to this.
13 What Mr. Pelton raised with me was that when 14 the fuel was lost, or they couldn't find it at Vermont 15 Yankee, they actually called over to Yankee reactor to 16 see if they had it in their fuel core. It's sort of 17 mind boggling to think about, but it was what was told 18 to me.
19 MR. LYONS: All right, Ms. Katz. We 20 appreciate that. Mr. Chattis had informed us that you 21 had had that conversation before, so it's good to hear 22 that we've got the confirmation from you.
23 Did the licensee have any questions?
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 MR. DEMANTONIS: This is Jim Demantonis. We 1
have no comments.
2 MR. LYONS: All right, thank you. Do we 3
have anymore questions from the NRC? I'm looking 4
around the table here. Again, this is Jim Lyons.
5 There's no additional questions here at headquarters.
6 Cliff, do you have any other questions?
7 MR. ANDERSON: Nothing here in Region I.
8 MR. LYONS: Okay. Well, I thank everyone 9
for coming to this call and giving their time to go 10 over this issue. We will be providing the response 11 back and acknowledgement letter back with a new 12 schedule to you, Mr. Chattis. So, you can be looking 13 for that in the next couple of weeks, I guess.
14 MR. CHATTIS: Thank you. We very much 15 appreciate your time and your attention on this.
16 MR. LYONS: Thank you.
17 MR. BLOCK: This is John Block. I also 18 thank you for having provided us with an opportunity 19 to speak with you about this.
20 MR. LYONS: Okay. Thank you very much.
21 This will end the call.
22 (Whereupon, the above-referenced conference 23 call was concluded.)
24 25