ML070720763
| ML070720763 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Palisades  |
| Issue date: | 03/20/2007 |
| From: | Strosnider J Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards |
| To: | Lodge T - No Known Affiliation |
| Hall J, NMSS/SFPO (301) 415-1336 | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML070720752 | List: |
| References | |
| 50-255, 72-7 (2.206), DD-07-02, G20060369, RAS 13885 | |
| Download: ML070720763 (7) | |
Text
March 20, 2007 Mr. Terry J. Lodge Counsel for Petitioners 316 N. Michigan Street, Suite 520 Toledo, Ohio 43624-1627
SUBJECT:
ISSUANCE OF DIRECTORS DECISION UNDER 10 CFR 2.206 - PALISADES NUCLEAR PLANT
Dear Mr. Lodge:
This letter responds to the petition you filed, on behalf of five organizations and other members of the public, with Mr. Luis A. Reyes, Executive Director for Operations, of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission), pursuant to Section 2.206 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR 2.206) on April 4, 2006. In your petition, you requested that NRC take enforcement action against the licensee for the Palisades Nuclear Plant, Nuclear Management Company, LLC (NMC), by condemning and stopping the use of the two independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) concrete pads holding dry spent fuel storage casks on the plant site. As the basis for your request, you stated that the concrete cask storage pads do not conform with NRC regulations for earthquake stability, specifically, that they do not meet the requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(b)(2)(i)(B) and 72.212(b)(3) and therefore pose a hazard in the event of an earthquake.
Your representatives spoke with our Petition Review Board on April 26, 2006, to discuss your petition. You were sent a transcription of the teleconference on May 3, 2006. By letter dated May 4, 2006, the staff acknowledged receipt of your petition and enclosed a copy of NRC publications regarding the 10 CFR 2.206 process, Management Directive 8.11, "Review Process for 10 CFR 2.206 Petitions, and NUREG/BR-0200, Public Petition Process.
On June 27, 2006, you were informed by letter that NRC accepted your petition for review in part, specifically with respect to slope stability of the newer concrete ISFSI pad constructed in 2003. However, those portions of your petition concerning the older concrete pad constructed in 1992, and concerning soil amplification, related to the newer pad, were not accepted for review, because those issues had already been evaluated and resolved by the NRC staff. The staff concluded in a September 1994 assessment that the location of the older ISFSI storage pad at the Palisades site was acceptable to support the concrete storage casks against all effects of the design basis earthquake for the site. NRC Inspection Report 05000255/2006002, dated May 11, 2006, documented the staffs findings concerning potential amplification effects of earthquakes on the newer pad. In that inspection report, the staff concluded that the potential soil-structure interaction and soil liquefaction due to earthquakes were correctly factored into the licensees seismic analysis of the newer pad.
We also informed you, in the June 27, 2006, letter, that the NRC staff had determined that your request to condemn and stop the use of the two ISFSI concrete pads at Palisades did not require immediate action.
T. Lodge The staff accepted for review your concern about the adequacy of the slope/subsurface stability evaluation for the newer ISFSI pad at Palisades. This issue was already under NRC review as an unresolved item, as documented in a September 2004 NRC inspection report. In October 2006, NMC documented a revised slope stability evaluation for the newer ISFSI pad, which the NRC staff has reviewed and found acceptable. Therefore, the NRC staff concludes that the concerns about the stability of the newer ISFSI pad during an earthquake have been adequately resolved and no further action by the licensee is needed.
The NRC staff sent copies of the proposed Directors Decision to you and to NMC for comment, by letters dated November 28, 2006. You requested 2 extensions of time to provide comments, by emails dated January 4 and January 18, 2007, and subsequently provided comments by email dated February 2, 2007. The NRC staff has reviewed your comments and the staffs responses are documented in Enclosure 2. NMC did not provide any comments. In general, we found that the comments did not warrant any significant revisions to the proposed Directors Decision. Several of the comments were not related to the requested actions, or were otherwise considered outside the scope of the staffs review of the petition, as defined in the NRC staffs letter to you, dated June 27, 2006.
Based on our review of your petition and other relevant information, the NRC staff concludes that NMC performed written evaluations which establish that the newer cask storage pad at the Palisades ISFSI has been designed to adequately support the static and dynamic loads of the stored casks. Further, the NMC evaluations consider potential effects of earthquakes, specifically with respect to slope/subsurface stability, and are in compliance with 10 CFR 72.212(b)(2)(i)(B) and 72.212(b)(3). Therefore, the requested action, to condemn and stop the use of the two ISFSI concrete pads holding dry spent fuel storage casks at the Palisades site, is denied.
The staff will file a copy of the Directors Decision (DD-07-02) (Enclosure 2) with the Secretary of the Commission, for the Commission to review, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.206(c). As provided for by this regulation, the decision will constitute the final action of the Commission 25 days after the date of the decision, unless the Commission, on its own motion, institutes a review of the decision within that time. The documents cited in the enclosed decision are available at the NRC Public Document Room, located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland, or electronically, from NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room, on the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov.
I have also enclosed a copy of the Notice of Issuance of Directors Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206 (Enclosure 3), which has been filed with the Office of the Federal Register for publication.
T. Lodge Please feel free to contact Mr. James R. Hall, the NRC Petition Manager, at 301-415-1336, to discuss any questions related to this petition.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Jack R. Strosnider, Director Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Docket Nos.: 72-7, 50-255
Enclosures:
- 1. Staffs Response to Petitioners Comments
- 2. Directors Decision DD-07-02 3 . Federal Register Notice cc: Nuclear Management Company, LLC, Mailing List
T. Lodge Please feel free to contact Mr. James R. Hall, the NRC Petition Manager, at 301-415-1336, to discuss any questions related to this petition.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Jack R. Strosnider, Director Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Docket Nos.: 72-7, 50-255
Enclosures:
- 1. Staffs Response to Petitioners Comments
- 2. Directors Decision DD-07-02 3 . Federal Register Notice cc: Nuclear Management Company, LLC, Mailing List Distribution: (Ref. EDO Ticket G20060369, TAC LA0318)
NMSS r/f SFST r/f RidsEDOMailCenter RidsNmssOd DPstrak PGoldberg DStarkey MRodgers BWhite JCameron, RIII MPadovan, NRR ML070720752 OFC SFST E SFST Tech Ed SFST NAME JRHall MDebose EKraus GBjorkman DATE 03/09/07 03/08/07 03/08/07 03/07/07 OFC SFST E SFST SFST NMSS NAME RNelson WRuland EWBrach JStrosnider DATE 03/08/07 03/08/07 03/13/07 03/20/07 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
Palisades Plant cc:
Robert A. Fenech, Senior Vice President Michigan Department of Attorney General Nuclear, Fossil, and Hydro Operations Special Litigation Division Consumers Energy Company 525 West Ottawa St.
1945 Parnall Rd. Sixth Floor, G. Mennen Williams Building Jackson, MI 49201 Lansing, MI 48913 Arunas T. Udrys, Esquire Michael B. Sellman Consumers Energy Company President and Chief Executive Officer 1 Energy Plaza Nuclear Management Company, LLC Jackson, MI 49201 700 First Street Hudson, MI 54016 Regional Administrator, Region III U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Jonathan Rogoff, Esquire Suite 210 Vice President, Counsel & Secretary 2443 Warrenville Road Nuclear Management Company, LLC Lisle, IL 60532-4351 700 First Street Hudson, WI 54016 Supervisor Covert Township Douglas E. Cooper P. O. Box 35 Senior Vice President and Covert, MI 49043 Chief Nuclear Officer Nuclear Management Company, LLC Office of the Governor 700 First Street P. O. Box 30013 Hudson, WI 54016 Lansing, MI 48909 Stephen T. Wawro, Director U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission of Nuclear Assets Resident Inspector's Office Consumers Energy Company Palisades Plant Palisades Nuclear Plant 27782 Blue Star Memorial Highway 27780 Blue Star Memorial Highway Covert, MI 49043 Covert, MI 49043 Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Laurie A. Lahti, Manager Waste and Hazardous Materials Division Regulatory Affairs Hazardous Waste and Radiological Nuclear Management Company, LLC Protection Section Palisades Nuclear Plant Nuclear Facilities Unit 27780 Blue Star Memorial Highway Constitution Hall, Lower-Level North Covert, MI 49043 525 West Allegan Street P.O. Box 30241 Lansing, MI 48909-7741