ML063030195
| ML063030195 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | FitzPatrick  |
| Issue date: | 10/12/2006 |
| From: | Hernandez-Quinones S NRC/NRR/ADRO/DLR/REBB |
| To: | |
| References | |
| NRC-1260 | |
| Download: ML063030195 (29) | |
Text
Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Title:
James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant Public Meeting - Afternoon Session Docket Number:
050-00333 Location:
Oswego, New York Date:
Thursday, October 12, 2006 Work Order No.:
NRC-1260 Pages 1-28 NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC.
Court Reporters and Transcribers 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 234-4433
1 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS 1
LICENSE RENEWAL PROCESS AND 2
ENVIRONMENTAL SCOPING FOR 3
JAMES A. FITZPATRICK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT 4
5 6
Held 7
Thursday, October 12, 2006 8
1:30 p.m.
9 10 11 Town of Scriba Municipal Building 12 42 Creamery Road 13 Oswego, New York 14 15 16 17 Transcript of Proceedings 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
2 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 I N D E X 1
Welcome and Overview Statement, Stephen 2
Hoffman, Facilitator, NRC 3
3 Presentation by Tommy Le, Senior Project Manager, 4
NRC 6
5 Presentation by Sam Hernandez, Environmental 6
Project Manager, NRC 14 7
Public Comment:
8 Ed Putnam 21 9
Closing Comments, Rani Franovich, Branch Chief, 10 Environmental Review Branch, NRC 27 11 Adjourn 28 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
3 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 P R O C E E D I N G S 1
1:30 P.M.
2 MR. HOFFMAN: I think we'll go ahead and 3
get started. Looks like everyone is here today. My 4
name is Steve Hoffman. I'm a Senior Project Manager 5
at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or NRC as we 6
refer to it often.
7 I'd like to welcome you here today to the 8
NRC's public meeting to discuss Entergy's license 9
renewal application for the James A. FitzPatrick 10 Nuclear Power Plant.
11 I'm going to serve as your facilitator 12 today, trying to make sure we all have a productive 13 meeting and make sure, hopefully, everybody gets their 14 comments and questions in.
15 Before we start, I want to cover a few 16 basic things on the meeting process so you all know 17 what to expect. The first thing we're going to do is 18 we're going to go over the format for the meeting, 19 then some simple ground rules and then I'll introduce 20 the NRC presenters.
21 Regarding the format, it's going to be a 22 two-part presentation. The first part, we're going to 23 have presenters give some background on the license 24 renewal process and much more detail on the 25
4 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 environmental review process.
1 Hopefully then you'll have an 2
understanding of how the license renewal review 3
process is going to go, kind of understand what is in 4
the application itself.
5 The second part of the meeting is really 6
why we're here. We want to hear from you guys. We 7
want to get your comments, specifically on the 8
environmental review process, but also comments on the 9
overall process.
10 You'll hear the term scoping meeting used 11 probably. Scoping is a term that's used in the 12 preparation of environmental impact statements and 13 essentially what that does is it helps us define what 14 needs to be looked at in the environmental impact 15 statement, what the possible issues there are out 16 there and also what alternatives we might want to be 17 evaluating.
18 The staff is going to talk to you about 19 submitting written comments. There's a period, open 20 period now for submitting written comments. I'll 21 explain that a little bit more. But any comments that 22 we receive today are going to carry the same weight as 23 comments submitted in writing.
24 Ground rules for the meeting, after the 25
5 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 presentations, we're going to have a short session to 1
answer questions on the process, make sure you 2
understand the process, if you need any clarification.
3 After that, we're going to go into the more formal 4
comment period to get the comments on the 5
environmental review process.
6 We're going to ask that only one person 7
speak at a time. We have a small group here. I don't 8
think that's going to be a problem. But that way 9
we've got a court reporter, Pete's over here reporting 10 this. Make sure he understands what is being said and 11 who is making the comment. So along that line, when 12 you go to speak, if you could say your name and any 13 affiliation that's applicable.
14 Comments that we receive are important to 15 us for a couple of reasons. It lets us know what 16 issues might be there so we can get a head start 17 looking at them and it also gives us the opportunity 18 to talk with you in more detail in case we need to get 19 clarification or better understanding of what your 20 issue is.
21 The second benefit to having the comments 22 here today is it lets other people here know what 23 issues other people might have with the issue, the 24 process. So like I said, we're going to have one 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 person speak at a time and when we get to the question 1
session I'll be coming around with a wireless 2
microphone to let you ask your questions.
3 Now as far as the speakers go, the first 4
speaker is going to be Tommy Le. He's the Project 5
Manager responsible for the safety review. He's going 6
to give you an overview of the license renewal 7
process. After that Sam Hernandez who is the 8
Environmental Project Manager responsible for the 9
environmental review, he's going to give you the 10 overview of the environmental process.
11 So and then after that, like I say, we'll 12 open it up for questions.
13 So Tommy?
14 MR. LE: Thank you, Steve. Good 15 afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Tommy Le.
16 I am the Senior Project Manager responsible for the 17 review of the FitzPatrick license renewal application.
18 The NRC considers public involvement in, and 19 information about, our activities to be a cornerstone 20 of strong, fair regulation of the nuclear industry.
21 The purpose of today's meeting is first to 22 describe the NRC's license renewal process; second, to 23 describe the safety and environmental review 24 processes; third, to share with you the license 25
7 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 renewal review schedule for FitzPatrick; and fourth, 1
to discuss your opportunity to comment on the scope of 2
our environmental review.
3 At the conclusion of this afternoon's 4
presentation, the NRC staff will be happy to answer 5
any questions and receive any comments that you might 6
have on our process and the scope of our review.
7 However, the staff will ask you to limit your 8
participation to questions only and hold your comments 9
until the appropriate time during the course of this 10 meeting. Once all questions are answered, we can 11 begin to receive any formal comments that you have on 12 the scope of our environmental review.
13 Before I get to the discussion of the 14 license renewal process, I would like to take a minute 15 to talk about the NRC in terms of what we do and what 16 our mission is.
17 The Atomic Energy Act and Energy 18 Reorganization Act authorized the NRC to regulate the 19 civilian use of nuclear material. In exercising its 20 authority as a regulator for the nation's nuclear 21 activities, the NRC's mission is threefold: to ensure 22 adequate protection of public health and safety, to 23 protect the environment, and to promote the common 24 defense and security.
25
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 The NRC accomplishes its mission through 1
a combination of regulatory programs and processes 2
such as conducting inspections, issuing enforcement 3
- actions, assessing licensee performance, and 4
evaluating operating experience from nuclear plants 5
across the country and internationally. A 6
representative of our inspection program is here 7
today. Mr. Gordon Hunegs is the NRC Senior Resident 8
Inspector stationed at FitzPatrick. In case you 9
didn't know, the NRC has resident inspectors at each 10 of the commercial nuclear power reactor sites. These 11 inspectors carry out the safety mission of the NRC on 12 a daily basis and are on the front lines of ensuring 13 conformance to NRC regulations.
14 The Atomic Energy Act authorized the NRC 15 to grant a 40-year operating license for nuclear power 16 reactors and allowed for license renewal. It is 17 important to note that this 40-year term was based 18 primarily on economic considerations and antitrust 19 considerations, as opposed to safety or technical 20 limitations.
21 The National Environmental Policy Act of 22 1969, called NEPA, defined a national policy for the 23 environment and established the basis for considering 24 environmental issues in the conduct of federal 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 activities.
1 The specific regulations that the NRC 2
enforces are contained in Title 10 of the Code of 3
Federal Regulations, which is commonly referred to as 4
10 CFR. 5 The current Operating License at 6
FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant will expire on October 7
17, 2014. By letter dated July 31, 2006, Entergy, 8
owner of the plant, submitted an application for the 9
renewal of the FitzPatrick Operating License for an 10 additional 20 years.
11 A copy of the FitzPatrick license renewal 12 application is available for review at your local 13 libraries. One is at the Pennfield Library, 14 University of New York in Oswego and the other is at 15 the Oswego public library in downtown Oswego.
16 Two guiding principles form the basis of 17 the NRC's approach in performing the safety review.
18 The first principle is that the current 19 regulatory process is adequate to ensure that the 20 licensing basis of all currently operating plants 21 provides and maintains an acceptable level of safety.
22 The second principle is that the current 23 plant-specific licensing basis must be maintained 24 during the renewal term in the same manner, and to the 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 same extent, as during the original license term.
1 To maintain the plants current licensing 2
basis, the effects of aging during extended period of 3
operation are given special attention through the 4
license renewal process. Additional programs and 5
surveillance activities are required for managing the 6
effects of aging on certain plant structures, systems, 7
and components.
8 The FitzPatrick license renewal 9
application was submitted by Entergy on August 1, 10 2006. It contained numerous assessments, analysis, 11 and drawings. The application also contained an 12 environmental report. Essentially, the application 13 contains the following information:
14 Integrated Plant Safety Assessment, which 15 the Applicant describes and justifies the methods used 16 to determine the systems and the structures within the 17 scope of license renewal and the structures and 18 components subject to aging management review.
19 Time-Limited Aging
- Analysis, which 20 includes the identification of the component and an 21 explanation of the time-dependent aspects of the 22 calculation or analysis.
23 And then the Final Safety Analysis Report 24 Supplement, which provides a summary description of 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 programs and activities for managing the effects of 1
aging for the period of extended operation.
2 The next is a Technical Specification 3
Changes. The application for FitzPatrick indicated 4
that there are no changes in technical specifications 5
are anticipated.
6 And lastly, the Environmental Report. In 7
evaluating the information provided in this report the 8
staff conducts on-site audits; collects formal 9
comments from the public; and consults with other 10 local, state and federal agencies.
11 The first thing to notice from the diagram 12 shown is that the license renewal process consists of 13 both a safety review and an environmental review 14 conducted in parallel. Safety is on top and 15 environmental is on the bottom. These processes are 16 used by the staff to evaluate two separate aspects of 17 the license renewal application. The safety review 18 produces a safety evaluation report. We call it SER.
19 The environmental review produces an environmental 20 impact statement or EIS.
21 During the safety review, the NRC staff 22 evaluates technical information in the license renewal 23 application to verify, with reasonable assurance, that 24 the plant can continue to operate safely during the 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 extended period of operation. It focuses attention on 1
aging management. The technical evaluation is 2
documented in a safety evaluation report.
3 This safety evaluation report is forwarded 4
to the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards or 5
ACRS for their review. The ACRS is a group of 6
scientists and nuclear industry experts who serve as 7
a consulting body to the Commission. The ACRS 8
performs an independent review of both the license 9
renewal application and the NRC staff's safety 10 evaluation. Then the ACRS reports their findings and 11 recommendations directly to the Commission.
12 In addition, plant inspections are also 13 conducted by a team of NRC inspectors who verify that 14 the Applicant's license renewal program, including 15 supporting activities, are implemented consistent with 16 the application that was submitted.
17 My colleague, Sam in the Environmental 18 P.M., will come up and explain about the environmental 19 audit in the bottom line of the diagram there.
20 The NRC Office of Nuclear Reactor 21 Regulation reviews the Applicant's renewal application 22 and supporting documentation and conducts on-site 23 audits. The review results in a safety evaluation 24 report which documents the basis and conclusions of 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 the NRC staff's safety review, called the SER and it 1
will be publicly available. In addition, as part of 2
the overall NRC license renewal review process, a team 3
of specialized inspectors travel to the reactor site 4
-- FitzPatrick in this case -- to verify that the 5
aging management programs have been or are ready to be 6
implemented.
7 Again, ACRS is an Advisory Committee on 8
Reactor Safeguards providing an independent review of 9
the license renewal application and the staff's safety 10 evaluation report. The Committee offers a 11 recommendation to the Commission after it has 12 completed its review.
13 I would like to highlight activities that 14 are separate from the license renewal process. They 15 include security, emergency planning, and current 16 safety performance. The NRC monitors and provides 17 regulatory oversight of these issues on an ongoing 18 basis under the current operating license. The NRC 19 addresses these current operating issues on a 20 continuing basis as well. Thus, we do not re-evaluate 21 them in license renewal process. For more information 22 about the oversight process for operating reactors, 23 you can follow the link at the bottom of the page or 24 you can go on to www.nrc.gov and they will also bring 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 you to this link.
1 This ends my part of the presentation, and 2
next will be a presentation by Sam regarding the 3
environmental review and I do thank you for your time 4
and attention.
5 MR. HOFFMAN: Thank you, Tommy. If 6
there's any questions, you'll have the opportunity to 7
ask Tommy some questions afterwards.
8 MR. HERNANDEZ: Hi, my name is Sam 9
Hernandez. I'm an environmental project manager for 10 the NRC. I am responsible for coordinating all the 11 activities of the NRC staff and various environmental 12 experts at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 13 to prepare an environmental impact statement 14 associated with the proposed license renewal of the 15 FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant.
16 The National Environmental Policy Act of 17 1969 requires that all federal agencies follow a 18 systematic approach in evaluating potential impacts 19 associated with certain actions. We at the NRC are 20 required to consider the impact of the proposed action 21 and also any mitigation for those impacts we consider 22 to be significant.
23 We are also required to consider 24 alternatives to the proposed action, in this case, the 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 license renewal of FitzPatrick and other alternatives 1
include the no-action alternative. In other words, if 2
we decide not to approve the license renewal for 3
FitzPatrick, what are the environmental impacts?
4 The NRC has determined that an 5
environmental impact statement or EIS, will be 6
prepared for any proposed license renewal of nuclear 7
plants. In preparing an EIS, the NRC conducts a 8
scoping process. The purpose of the scoping process 9
is to identify any important issue and information to 10 be analyzed in depth. We are now in the scoping 11 process for FitzPatrick and are here today gathering 12 information and collecting public comments on the 13 scope of our review.
14 Simply put, what special issues should the 15 staff consider in preparing the environmental impact 16 statement for FitzPatrick?
17 In that framework, I want to provide an 18 overview of the environmental review. In the 1990s, 19 the NRC staff developed a generic environmental impact 20 statement or GEIS. The GEIS documented the 21 environmental impacts of renewing the operating 22 licenses for all the nuclear plants in the nation. As 23 a result of that analysis, the NRC was able to 24 determine that several environmental issues were 25
16 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 common or similar to all nuclear power plants. The 1
environmental impact associated with those issues was 2
small for all issues and at all sites.
3 The NRC staff will also, in our review, 4
evaluate any new and significant information that 5
might call into question the conclusions that were 6
previously reached on the GEIS for those issues that 7
were common to all power plant sites.
8 Now, the NRC also concluded that there are 9
several issues to which a generic determination could 10 not be reached. For these issues, the NRC will prepare 11 a site-specific supplemental environmental impact 12 statement or SEIS. And that's why we are here today, 13 requesting your comments on the scope of the site-14 specific environmental impact statement for 15 FitzPatrick that will be prepared as part of the 16 license renewal review.
17 When the review is completed, the GEIS and 18 the site-specific environmental impact statement will 19 be the complete record of the environmental review.
20 Next slide. This slide, diagram shows 21 basically an overview of all the subject areas that 22 we'll be looking and we'll be evaluating on our 23 review. You can see all of those and those are also 24 in the handouts that you received at the registration 25
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 table.
1 Next slide, please. So how does the 2
public provide input for the decision making? This 3
diagram shows all the sources of information that are 4
used for the license renewal decision. Today, we are 5
here soliciting your comments on the scope of the 6
environmental review and we will consider all comments 7
received during the scoping in developing the draft 8
supplemental environmental impact statement. That's 9
how comments that you provide here today will play 10 into the overall process.
11 Also, I want to point out that there is an 12 opportunity to request a hearing in the license 13 renewal proceedings. The opportunity for hearing 14 closes on November 20, 2006 and additional information 15 about the hearing process is attached in the handouts 16 that you received at the registration
- table, 17 specifically if you look at the Federal Register 18 notice, there's the information on how to request a 19 hearing in the proceedings.
20 Now I would like to clarify that the 21 hearing opportunity and the public comments on the 22 scope of the environmental review are two different 23 processes. Today, we will consider your comments for 24 the scope of the environmental review.
25
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 Next slide. So there are several ways you 1
can provide your comments on the scope of the 2
environmental review. You can provide those today at 3
the comment period of this meeting, and those, as 4
Steve said will carry the same weight as any other 5
comment that you might submit in writing. If you want 6
to provide a comment by mail, this is in your handouts 7
also. You can send your comments to this address 8
that's here. You can also send us your comments on 9
the scope to the email address that we have set up 10 specifically for requesting your comments. It's 11 FitzPatrickEIS@nrc.gov.
12 And you can also submit comments in person 13 at the NRC.
14 I want to mention also that the scoping 15 period closes on November 14, so to assure 16 consideration of your comments we request that you 17 provide those by November 14.
18 Next slide. This is the review schedule, 19 proposed review schedule for FitzPatrick. All these 20 items that are highlighted in yellow are the 21 opportunities for public involvement. Also, you can 22 see all these in your slides, so I won't bore you 23 going over them.
24 Right now we are in the scoping process.
25
19 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 The scoping process ends on November 14. There's also 1
an opportunity for hearing going on right now and that 2
opportunity for hearing closes on November 20 and this 3
is all in that Federal Register notice, the notice of 4
acceptance that was issued on September 20, 2006.
5 Once we receive your comments, we will 6
develop a scoping summary report and if you provided 7
your address at the registration table, we will send 8
you a copy of that scoping summary report. We expect 9
to issue that in March.
10
- Also, we will develop the draft 11 supplemental environmental impact statement and we 12 anticipate publishing that in June 2007 and when we 13 issue that draft SEIS, it's subject to a 75-day public 14 comment period. We'll be back in the community having 15 a draft SEIS public meeting requesting comments from 16 the public on that document. And we expect that 17 probably will be in July 2007.
18 The rest of the schedule is there, you can 19 look at that.
20 Next slide. Some additional information, 21 this is the point of contact for any information you 22 might have on the environmental review.
23 It's also in your handouts, you can reach 24 any of the persons listed here. Also, several 25
20 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 documents like the application, the draft SEIS, when 1
we develop that document, the scoping summary report 2
and the final SEIS, and some other documents, will be 3
available at these two public libraries and you can 4
also find those documents at the NRC at the address 5
located at the bottom of the page.
6 If you have any problem locating any 7
document, you can contact any of the people on the 8
list of contact information.
9 That concludes my remarks.
10 MR. HOFFMAN: All right. We'll take some 11 questions. If you have questions on the process or 12 you want a clarification on anything you've heard here 13 today, if you would hold your comments to the formal 14 comment period, if you have more questions if you need 15 to clarify anything.
16 Anybody have any concerns, questions?
17 Okay, you're making it easy.
18 All right, then we'll go into the formal 19 comment period. We have one person, Ed Putnam has 20 signed up to speak.
21 Ed, if you wouldn't mind coming up, 22 announce your affiliation if you have any, if you 23 would like. You can use that mic or the front, 24 whichever you like.
25
21 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 MR. PUTNAM: This is fine, if it's okay 1
with you.
2 MR. HOFFMAN: Yes.
3 4
MR. PUTNAM: My name is Ed Putnam. I live 5
in Skaneateles, New York, which may be miles from 6
Scriba, but in one way or another the presence of the 7
James FitzPatrick Nuclear Plant affects everyone in 8
central New York.
9 My purpose in standing before you today is 10 to bring several concerns which I believe deserve 11 consideration as you consider the possibility of re-12 licensing the FitzPatrick for another two decades.
13 Not the least of these concerns is the question of the 14 safety of the current facility, and your ability to 15 guarantee the people of this region that re-licensing 16 is something which will assure them that they need not 17 be concerned about the possibility of a nuclear 18 accident in this aging behemoth.
19 When I pulled up the information about the 20 FitzPatrick plant on the computer and looked at the 21 license agreement carefully, I found myself reading a 22 laundry list of cracks, fissures, weaknesses and 23 "needed repairs" which began to make me a little more 24 than nervous. I have no doubt that the skilled and 25
22 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 committed workers of this plant can make the needed 1
repairs and reconstructions are simply holding a 2
crumbling shell together. I may not be a structural 3
engineer, but I don't think you need to be a rocket 4
scientist to figure out that a leak from a nuclear 5
reactor is bad news. If, indeed, this building is not 6
capable of the level of safety required to assure the 7
nearby residents that they need not worry, but I would 8
ask that you reject the license application and begin 9
the process of dissembling the plant. As I said, I am 10 not qualified to make that decision. I can only ask 11 that you re-affirm your intent to be objective about 12 the findings of your research over the next couple of 13 years. And I have heard a good amount of that 14 already.
15 Secondly, though, I want to address a 16 related issue of families struggling under the heavy 17 cost of carrying out their lives in this county. One 18 of the costly features they mention frequently is the 19 high cost of energy to heat their homes and provide 20 them with the utilities they require. For some, their 21 utility bills are as great as their monthly rent or 22 their mortgage payment.
23 I find myself incredulous as I listen to 24 such stories. This county, Oswego County, produces 25
23 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 more energy in a day than any other county east of the 1
Mississippi. Despite that massive production, the 2
cost of electric power in this county exceeds most of 3
the other counties in New York State. How do you 4
figure? Is there something wrong with this picture?
5 This is a unique moment in the life of 6
this county. The re-licensing of the FitzPatrick 7
Power Plant is an event that only occurs every 20 8
years. We must seize the opportunity and help our 9
families and our economy by ensuring that our families 10 have access to low cost power. It is a moment to 11 demand that the owners of the plant agree to assist 12 the people of Oswego County in surviving the economic 13 crisis many of them find themselves. It is an ideal 14 moment to demand of the owners of the plant that they 15 distribute the exorbitant profits emerging from the 16 operations involved.
17 This is not a time to be timid. Rather, 18 the people need to seek assurances from the owners of 19 the plant that there will be sizeable and perpetual 20 benefits which will come to them by the continuing 21 presence of this plant. The risks that they have 22 taken to make room for nuclear power production in 23 this community deserve some greater benefits than the 24 minimal Payments in Lieu of Taxes which have been 25
24 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 forthcoming from the owners of this plant to date.
1 Before you agree to re-license this plant 2
and set it free for another generation, I'd ask you to 3
require a new contract with the people of Oswego 4
County.
5 It is time for the producers of power in 6
this community to extend greater benefits to the 7
domestic consumers of power who live here which will 8
dramatically reduce their monthly utility bills.
9 It is appropriate for the owners of this 10 plant and the legislators of this county to negotiate 11 a new contract which will assure the income from taxes 12 which will lift the economic capabilities of this 13 county and allow it to provide much-needed services 14 for the residents.
15 It is timely for the nuclear power 16 industry to take its rightful place in a cooperative 17 and blended collaboration with other power systems to 18 provide the people of New York State and central New 19 York with a safe, inexpensive, and easily accessible 20 power product.
21 It would be important that the re-22 licensing carried with it an assurance that 23 appropriate evacuation plans and response plans have 24 been instituted and meet the criteria for an immediate 25
25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 and effective response to a potential nuclear 1
accident.
2 One of the economic factors which affects 3
the retention of current industry in central New York 4
and which also affects the attraction of new industry 5
to this region is the provision of inexpensive, 6
trustworthy, and accessible power. We need this 7
company to be a player in this attempt to bolster the 8
economy of central New York. The Oswego County Public 9
Utility Service offers "low cost electrical energy" to 10 new and expanding business in Oswego County, in the 11 hope that it will inspire new jobs and retain existing 12 jobs through the low-cost electricity provided by 13 Entergy at the FitzPatrick plant. This is a positive 14 initiative which has begun to be shared with the local 15 economic community.
16 A similar form of utility incentive for 17 domestic usage would be a welcome message to the 18 residents of this region. It seems inconsistent that 19 this community which houses nuclear power plants does 20 not experience significant benefit from the presence.
21 The economic down-turn in this region is desperately 22 in need of signs of recovery, and thus nuclear power 23 industry has the capability of leading the way.
24 Finally, before this plant is re-licensed, 25
26 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 the people of this county and this region deserve the 1
assurances that a due diligence will be in place by 2
your agency and by related agencies charged with 3
safety, efficiency, reliability and good employment 4
practices which will benefit the well-being of our 5
people. Nuclear power is not a "same-old" industry.
6 It carries with it the potential of disaster, but it 7
also carries with it the potential of being a good 8
neighbor.
9 Thank you for allowing me to express 10 myself today. My hope is that you will take the 11 comments you hear today to heart and approach the 12 relicensing of FitzPatrick with objectivity and 13 concern, not only for the profit benefit concerned, 14 but for the human and economic needs of the people of 15 Oswego County and the central New York region.
16 I should have said at the very beginning 17 that I'm Ed Putnam and I live in Skaneateles, but I am 18 a candidate for the New York State Assembly and I hope 19 to be able to be a part of the continuing operation of 20 this, whether I'm elected or whether I'm not elected, 21 I'm going to be very much concerned with what happens 22 here and hope to be an ally with you in this process.
23 Thank you.
24 MR. HOFFMAN: Thank you for your comments.
25
27 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 Ed was the only one who had signed up. Is there 1
anyone else who would like to make a comment?
2 I guess not. I'll ask Rani Franovich who 3
is a Branch Chief in the Environmental Review Branch 4
responsible for the license renewal review at 5
FitzPatrick to do the closing.
6 MS. FRANOVICH: Thank you, Steve. I just 7
wanted to thank you all for coming to the public 8
meeting again. It's your time out of your day and 9
public participation is very important to our 10 environmental review process, so thank you for coming.
11 I wanted to bring to your attention an NRC 12 public meeting feedback form. This form is available 13 at the reception area, right outside of this room. If 14 you can think of a way that we can conduct these 15 meetings better in the future, if we could do 16 something different to better serve you, please fill 17 out the form, leave it on the table, or you can mail 18 it in, if you want to fill it in later. Postage is 19 pre-paid.
20 I also wanted to remind you that we are 21 soliciting comments on the draft of our environmental 22 review through November 14th. Again, Sam Hernandez is 23 the principal point of contact for receiving those 24 comments and I just wanted to remind everyone that the 25
28 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 opportunity for hearing closes on November 20th.
1 So with that, thanks again.
2 MR. HOFFMAN: Okay. Last chance. Anyone 3
with questions, comments?
4 Okay, thank you.
5 (Whereupon, at 2:07 p.m., the public 6
meeting was concluded.)
7