ML090840063
| ML090840063 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Cooper  |
| Issue date: | 02/25/2009 |
| From: | NRC/OCM |
| To: | |
| References | |
| NRC-2687 | |
| Download: ML090840063 (38) | |
Text
Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Title: Cooper Nuclear Station License Renewal Pubic Meeting - Afternoon Session Docket Number: (n/a)
Location: Brownville, Nebraska Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 Work Order No.: NRC-2687 Pages 1-33 NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC.
Court Reporters and Transcribers 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 234-4433
1 1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 2 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 3
4 THE COOPER NUCLEAR STATION 5 LICENSE RENEWAL PROCESS 6 AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCOPING MEETING 7
8 Wednesday, February 25, 2009 9 Brownville Concert Hall 10 126 Atlantic Street 11 Brownville, Nebraska 12 13 The above-entitled public meeting was 14 conducted at 1:30 p.m.
15 MEETING FACILITATOR: David Pelton 16 PROJECT MANAGERS: Emmanuel Sayoc 17 Tam Tran 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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2 1 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 2 (1:30 p.m.)
3 MR. PELTON: How's everybody doing this 4 afternoon? By the way, we did order the weather 5 specifically for this meeting. I just wanted you to 6 know that.
7 My name is Dave Pelton. I'm a supervisor 8 with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission representing 9 our Division of License Renewal, and we're here today 10 to talk about our license renewal process as we're 11 going to apply it or are currently applying it at the 12 Cooper Station.
13 Now, before I get going, I just wanted to 14 say a couple of thank yous to Luther and Haney, who 15 both helped us out today with setting up the Concert 16 Hall. We really appreciate their help. And we also 17 appreciate the Brownville -- the town's willingness to 18 help support us with just letting us use the concert 19 hall. It's great. It's a great opportunity to get 20 out and meet folks, and put faces and names to a 21 process. And I'll tell 'you just personally that, you 22 know, it helps me. It helps me appreciate, you know, 23 what we do to protect people and the environment. It 24 really drives it home. And so I really appreciate all 25 of you coming out today.
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3 1 Today we're going to -- the purpose of 2 this meeting is to really talk about our process, both 3 from a safety perspective and from an environmental 4 perspective. And we're going to do that kind of in 5 three parts. We'll talk specific to just the kind of 6 a safety overview. We'll talk about our environmental 7 process. We'll talk about all the opportunities 8 you'll have for the public to participate in our 9 process, and then we're going to -- We'll open up the 10 floor and allow folks with comments to go ahead and 11 share those comments.
12 We're going to -- you know, today, the 13 Government, we sometimes like to use acronyms and 14 jargon, but we're going to try our darnedest to avoid 15 that. So, when we use terms like "scoping," we'll 16 make sure that we're talking about, you know, hey, 17 these are the things that we choose to review to help 18 us understand Cooper Station both from a safety and an 19 environmental perspective, versus just sticking with 20 scopings and screenings and acronyms.
21 Like I said, there were cards available to 22 you on the way in that you could fill out with your 23 name if you wanted to make a comment today. It helps 24 us to attach a name to a comment. We've got a court 25 reporter here today. She's Wendy, who's helping us NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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4 1 out and she's taking, you know, feverishly taking 2 notes, but filling out the cards just helps us attach 3 a name with a comment. What will also be helpful is, 4 you'll see a couple of microphones off on the sides 5 here. Once we get to the section for public -- or the 6 portion for public comment, I'm going to, if you 7 would, as we call your name, please step up to the 8 mike. That also helps ensure that our recorder can 9 hear everything, and that we get your comments 10 recorded appropriately. If you're uncomfortable 11 standing at the mike, they can be detached and we can 12 bring the mike to you, so that's not a problem at all.
13 14 By the way, the bathrooms are downstairs, 15 I believe on the right -- your right-hand side of the 16 building in the back. We also brought some water up 17 with some cups. If you get thirsty during the 18 presentation, please, you know, it's not a problem.
19 Get up, go get yourself a cup of water.
20 Let me just take a quick moment to 21 introduce a few folks from the NRC that we brought 22 with us today to provide this presentation. Tam Tran 23 is the project manager for the -- in charge of putting 24 our safety evaluation together. And Manny Sayoc is 25 our project manager who will be in charge of putting NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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5 1 together the environmental impact statement. And 2 these two work together very well, and actually share 3 a lot of duties through this process. So, while one 4 is largely in charge of each part of the process, they 5 are both very knowledgeable and work together really 6 well as a team, so I'm really pleased to have them on 7 board.
8 We also have Victor Dricks with us today.
9 He represents our Region IV office as Public Affairs.
10 And we appreciate Victor coming up. You know, talking 11 with the public and giving the public opportunities to 12 participate in our process is important, as you'll see 13 Manny and Tam talk about. But it's also important to 14 our regional offices, you know, down near Arlington, 15 Texas, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Chicago. And we've 16 got public affairs folks there, too, whose job is to 17 make sure that the public's voice is heard and that 18 we're responsive to questions and comments.
19 With that, I will turn it over to Manny to 20 continue the presentation.
21 MR. SAYOC: Good afternoon. My 22 name is Emmanuel Sayoc. I am one of the two project 23 managers for the NRC's Division of License Renewal.
24 We are coordinating this meeting associated with the 25 Cooper Nuclear Station's license renewal application.
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6 1 The other project manager, as you heard before, is Mr.
2 Tam Tran. Thank you for taking the time to come to 3 this meeting.
4 Today we will provide an overview of the 5 license renewal review process, which includes both a 6 safety review and an environmental review. We also 7 describe in more detail the environmental review 8 process associated with license renewal review, but 9 the most important part of today's meeting is to 10 receive any comments you may have on the scope of 11 environmental review. We will also give you some 12 information about how you can submit comments outside 13 of this meeting.
14 At the conclusion of today's presentation, 15 we will be happy to answer any questions that you may 16 have on the license renewal review process. However, 17 I must ask you to limit your participation to 18 questions only and hold your comments until the 19 appropriate time during today's meeting. Once all the 20 questions are answered, we can begin to receive any 21 comments you may have on the scope of our 22 environmental review. I hope the information we 23 provide you will help you to understand the license 24 renewal review process and the role you can play in 25 helping us make sure that our environmental review NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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7 1 considers relevant information.
2 Before I get into the discussion of the 3 license renewal review process, I'd like to take a 4 minute to talk about NRC in terms of what we do and 5 what our mission is.
6 The NRC is a federal agency established by 7 the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974. It regulates 8 the civilian use of nuclear material. The Atomic 9 Energy Act of 1954 authorized the NRC to grant a 40-10 year operating license for nuclear power reactors.
11 This 40-year term was based primarily on economic 12 considerations, not on safety or technical 13 limitations. The Atomic Energy Act also allows for 14 license renewal.
15 The National Environmental Policy Act of 16 1969, or NEPA, established a national policy for 17 considering the impact of federal decision-making on 18 the human environment. As a matter of policy, the 19 Commission determined that the reactor license renewal 20 constitutes a major federal action for which an 21 environmental impact statement is warranted.
22 The NRC's regulations governing nuclear 23 safety, security and environmental protection are 24 contained in Title 10 of the Code of Federal 25 Regulations, which is commonly referred to as 10 CFR.
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8 1 In exercising its regulatory authority, the NRC's 2 mission is threefold: To ensure adequate protection 3 to the public health and safety, to promote common 4 defense and security, and to protect the environment.
5 The NRC accomplishes this mission through a 6 combination of regulatory programs and processes, such 7 as establishing rules and regulations, conducting 8 inspections, issuing enforcement actions, assessing 9 license performance, and evaluating operating 10 experience from nuclear plants across the country and 11 internationally.
12 The NRC has resident inspectors at all 13 operating nuclear power plants. These inspectors are 14 considered as the eyes and ears of the NRC. They 15 carry out a safety mission on a daily basis and are in 16 the front lines of ensuring acceptable safety 17 performance and compliance with the regulatory 18 requirements.
19 Now, turning to Cooper Nuclear Station.
20 The plant was licensed to operate in 1974. The 21 current operating license expires on January 18, 2014.
22 The Nebraska Public Power District filed an 23 application for license renewal on September 24, 2008.
24 25 A Licensure Renewal Application is NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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9 1 required to contain certain elements. It contains 2 general information such as the applicant's name, 3 address, business and administrative information. It 4 also contains technical information which pertains to 5 aging management. This information is the focus of 6 the staff safety review. It contains, also, technical 7 specifications which define operating parameters of 8 the plant. The applicant indicates what, if any, 9 changes or additional technical specifications are 10 necessary to manage the effects of aging during the 11 period of extended operation. The application also 12 includes an environmental report, which is the 13 applicant's assessment of the environmental impacts of 14 continued operation. This information served as a 15 starting point for the staff's environmental review.
16 17 License renewal involves two parallel 18 reviews, the safety review and the environmental 19 review. These two reviews evaluate separate aspects 20 of the license renewal application. The safety review 21 focuses on aging effects of passive and long-lived 22 components and structures that NRC deems important to 23 plant safety. The staff's main objective in this 24 review is to determine whether the effects of aging 25 will be adequately managed by the applicant. The NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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10 1 review also considers generic and site-specific 2 operating experience related to the effects of aging.
3 The results in the safety review are documented in a 4 Safety Evaluation Report or SER.
5 For the environmental review, the staff 6 considers evaluates and discloses the environmental 7 impacts of continued plant operation for an additional 8 20 years. The staff also evaluates the environmental 9 impacts of alternatives to license renewal. The 10 objective with their review is to determine if the 11 environmental impacts of license renewal are so great 12 that the license renewal would not be a reasonable 13 option, or plainly, is a license renewal acceptable 14 from an environmental standpoint? The staff prepares 15 an environmental impact statement, or EIS, to document 16 its environmental review.
17 I would like to mention a few very 18 important areas of NRC's oversight that routinely come 19 up during our interactions with members of the public.
20 NRC staff addresses these areas of performance every 21 day as part of the ongoing regulatory oversight 22 provided for all currently operating power reactors.
23 They include emergency planning, security, current 24 safety performance, as defined by NRC inspections, 25 findings, violations, and general assessments of plant NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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11 1 performance.
2 For specific information on current 3 performance of Cooper Nuclear Station, use the link 4 provided at the bottom of this slide. It is also in 5 your handout. The NRC monitors and provides 6 regulatory oversight of activities in these areas on 7 an ongoing basis under the current operating license.
8 Thus, we do not re-evaluate them in license renewal.
9 That is not to say that they are not important, we 10 just do not duplicate the regulatory process, in these 11 areas of license renewal.
12 This diagram illustrates the safety and 13 environmental review process. It also features two 14 other considerations in the Commission's decision of 15 whether or not to renew an operating license. One of 16 these considerations is the independent review 17 performed by the Advisory Committee of Reactor 18 Safeguards. Statutorily mandated by the Atomic Energy 19 Act of 1954, the ACRS is a group of scientists and 20 nuclear safety experts who serve as a consulting body 21 to the Commission. The ACRS reviews the license 22 renewal application and the NRC staff's safety 23 evaluation. The ACRS reports their findings and 24 recommendations directly to the Commission.
25 Hearings may be conducted. Interested NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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12 1 stakeholders may submit concerns or contentions and 2 request a hearing. An adjudicatory panel from the 3 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will be established 4 to review contentions for admissibility. If a hearing 5 is granted, the Commission considers the outcomes of 6 the hearing process in its decision of whether or not 7 to issue a renewed operating license.
8 Now, I'm going to describe the license 9 renewal review process in a little more detail, 10 starting with the safety review. The regulations 11 governing license renewal are based on two guiding 12 principles. To effectively communicate these 13 principles, I need to describe a concept or term of 14 art used by the NRC. That concept is licensing basis.
15 16 Licensing basis consists of a wide range 17 of design and operational requirements and conditions 18 that must be met for the plant to comply with its 19 operating license. It serves as the basis upon which 20 the NRC originally licensed a plant. To continue to 21 operate, the plant must conform with its licensing 22 basis.
23 As I mentioned, the regulations governing 24 license renewal are based on two guiding principles 25 that relate back to licensing basis. The first NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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13 1 principle is that the current regulatory process is 2 adequate to ensure that the licensing basis for all 3 operating plants provides and maintains an acceptable 4 level of safety.
5 The second principle is that the current 6 plant-specific licensing basis must be maintained 7 during their renewal term in the same manner and to 8 the same extent as during the original licensing term.
9 In other words, the same rules that apply under the 10 current license will apply in the renewal term. In 11 addition, a renewed license will include conditions 12 that must be met to ensure aging of structures and 13 components important to safety and are adequately 14 managed so that the plant's current licensing basis is 15 maintained during the period of extended operation.
16 The safety review is rigorous. The staff 17 reviews the applicant's license renewal application 18 and supporting documentation. This review includes an 19 evaluation of new and existing programs and 20 surveillance activities to determine with reasonable 21 assurance that the effects of aging on certain plant 22 structures and components will be adequately managed 23 or monitored.
24 The safety review also includes site 25 audits to verify technical bases of the license NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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14 1 renewal application and to confirm that the 2 applicant's aging management programs and activities 3 conform with how they're described in the application.
4 The staff documents the basis and considers if its 5 review in a safety evaluation report and make sure 6 that it's public and available. In addition, a team 7 of specialized inspectors travel to their reactor site 8 to verify that aging management programs are being 9 implemented, modified, or planned consistent with the 10 license renewal application.
11 Finally, as I have mentioned, the Advisory 12 Committee of Reactor Safeguards performs an 13 independent review of the license renewal application 14 and the staff safety evaluation report and makes a 15 recommendation of the Commission regarding the 16 proposed action to issue a renewed operating license.
17 18 Now, turning to the environmental review 19 for license renewal. The review is performed in 20 accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act 21 of 1969, or NEPA. NEPA provides a basic architecture 22 for federal environmental review requirements. It 23 requires that all federal agencies follow a systematic 24 approach in evaluating potential impact associated 25 with major federal actions and alternatives to those NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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15 1 actions. By law, the NEPA process involves public 2 participation and public disclosure. The National 3 Environmental Policy Act established the U.S. Council 4 on Environmental Quality within the Executive Office 5 of the President. CEQ establishes policy of 6 implementation of NEPA. The NRC's environmental 7 regulations contained in 10 CFR Part 51 are largely 8 based on those that CEQ developed.
9 Our environmental reviews consider the 10 impact of license renewal and mitigation for those 11 impacts we consider to be significant. We also 12 consider the impacts of alternatives for license 13 renewal, including impacts of not issuing the license.
14 The staff documents an environmental review in an 15 environmental impact statement.
16 That concludes my presentation of license 17 renewal process. Next, Mr. Tam Tran will provide more 18 detail on the environmental review and scoping 19 process.
20 Tam?
21 MR. TRAN: Thank you, Manny. My name is 22 Tam Tran. I'm the second project manager for the 23 Cooper Nuclear Station license renewal application 24 review. I will cover the environmental review process 25 next.
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16 1 For the license renewal review, the NRC 2 looks at a wide range of environment impacts as a part 3 of preparing the environmental impact statement. In 4 conducting our environmental review, we consult with 5 various federal, state, and local officials, as well 6 as leaders of Native American nations, and gather 7 pertinent information from these sources to ensure 8 they're considered in our analysis.
9 As illustrated on this slide about 10 cooperating agencies, examples include U.S. Fish and 11 Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency, 12 Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, State Bureau 13 of Radiation Protection, Nebraska State Historical 14 Preservation Office, and so on.
15 The environmental review begins with a 16 scoping process. The purpose of the scoping process 17 is to identify significant issues that should be 18 considered in the environmental review. We are now 19 gathering information that we will use to prepare an 20 environmental impact statement for the license renewal 21 of Cooper Nuclear Station. As part of that process, 22 we're here to collect your comments on the scope of 23 the environmental review, that is, environmental 24 impacts that the staff should consider in our 25 analyses. The staff has developed the generic NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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17 1 environmental impact statement that addressed a number 2 of issues common to all nuclear power plants. The 3 staff is supplementing that generic environmental 4 impact statement with a site-specific environmental 5 impact statement, in which we will address issues that 6 are specific to the Cooper Nuclear Station.
7 The staff also re-examines the conclusions 8 reached in the generic environmental impact statement 9 to determine if there is any new and significant 10 information that would change those conclusions.
11 The scoping process started on January 12 2 6th, 2009, when the Notice of Intent to Prepare an 13 Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping was 14 published. The NRC will be accepting comments on the 15 scope of the environmental review until March 27, 16 2009. In general, we are looking for information 17 about environmental impacts from continued operation 18 of Cooper Nuclear Station during the extended 19 operation period. You can assist us in that process 20 by telling us, for example, what aspect of your local 21 community we should focus on, what local 22 environmental, social, and economic issues that the 23 NRC should examine during our environmental review, 24 and what reasonable alternatives are most appropriate 25 for your local regions. These are just some examples NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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18 1 of the input we are looking for and they represent the 2 kind of information we are seeking through the scoping 3 process. Your comments today would be helpful in 4 providing insight of this nature for the environmental 5 analysis.
6 This slide illustrates the NRC's various 7 considerations for deciding if a renewal operating 8 license will be issued. It's a rigorous review 9 involving Safety Evaluation Report, regional 10 inspections, and so on. Also, as indicated on this 11 slide, public comments are an important part of the 12 environmental review process. We consider all of the 13 comments that we receive from the public during the 14 scoping process as a part of preparing the 15 supplemental environmental impact statement for Cooper 16 Nuclear Station.
17 In addition to providing comments at 18 today's meeting, there are other ways that you can 19 submit comments for our environmental review. You can 20 provide written comments by mail to NRC Chief of Rules 21 and Directives Branch at the addresses provided on 22 this slide, which are listed on your handout, or you 23 can send your comments electronically to the e-mail 24 address shown on this slide. You can also make 25 comments in person, if you so happen to be in NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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19 1 Rockville, Maryland. If you choose to do so, please 2 contact Manny Sayoc or myself in advance, to make 3 arrangements. Comments should be submitted by March 4 2 7 th, 2009.
5 This slide shows important milestones for 6 the environmental review process. The opportunity to 7 submit contention for hearing closes on March the 2 nd, 8 2009, and if you have comments you would like to 9 submit outside today's meetings, you have until March 10 27, 2009, to do so. Please note that we plan to issue 11 a draft supplemental environmental impact statement 12 for public comment on December 15, 2009. While this 13 slide lists the milestones for the environmental 14 review and opportunities for public involvement, the 15 safety review will also be performed in accordance 16 with the schedule listed at the NRC website on the 17 next slide.
18 This slide identifies the primary point of 19 contact within the NRC for license renewal of Cooper 20 Nuclear Station, project managers, Tam Tran, myself, 21 and Emmanuel Sayoc. It also identifies where a 22 document related to our review may be found in the 23 local area. The Auburn Memorial Library has agreed to 24 make the license renewal application available for 25 public review. When it is published for comment, the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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20 1 draft supplemental environmental impact statement will 2 also be available at this library. In addition, these 3 documents will be on the NRC website at the website 4 address shown on the bottom of this slide.
5 As you came in, you were asked to fill out 6 a registration card at our reception desk. If you 7 have included your address on that card, we will mail 8 a copy of the draft and the final environmental impact 9 statement for your information, to your address for 10 your information.
11 This concludes my presentation. I will 12 turn it over to our meeting facilitator. Thank you.
13 MR. PELTON: Thanks, Mann and Tam. I 14 appreciate that. It's a great presentation.
15 A couple things before we get going in the 16 public comment section. If you would, on each of your 17 chairs, we provided meeting comment forms and we would 18 really like you to, after the meeting, if you took the 19 time to fill that out and let us know what you think.
20 You know, what do you think of our presentation? Be 21 bold, be daring, be critical. You know, the feedback 22 helps us, you know, make a better presentation for 23 you, because that's really why we're here is to inform 24 you what we're doing, why we're doing it, and how 25 we're doing it. So let us know what you think. So, NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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21 1 please, and if you fill them out today, you can hand 2 them back to myself, Manny, Tam, or any of the NRC 3 folks, or I believe the form has a mailing address on 4 it where they could mail that in.
5 The other thing is, is that I wanted to 6 make sure that if there were any local, public, or 7 state officials who wanted to say hello, or just 8 introduce themselves that I didn't provide that 9 opportunity before up front, if there was anyone who 10 wanted to stand up and say hello, please, by all 11 means.
12 MR. SCHUMAN: I'm Howard Schuman, State of 13 Nebraska's Department of Health and Human Services, 14 Division of Public Health.
15 MR. PELTON: Nice to meet you. Thanks for 16 coming today.
17 MR. COLE: I'm Bob Cole. I'm the Nemaha 18 County Emergency Manager.
19 MR. PELTON: Great. Thanks for coming.
20 Thanks for doing your job.
21 MR. COLE: Thanks for allowing me the 22 opportunity to come and say hello.
23 MR. PELTON: Anyone else?
24 (No response.)
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22 1 a means by which we can just, you know, understand 2 people's names and give you an opportunity to speak, 3 anyone who has a comment, you know, you can, with or 4 without a card, you can feel free to stand up. I 5 prefer you use the microphone, but please, if you have 6 a comment, question, or whatever, just feel free to, 7 in a controlled fashion, as much as possible, go ahead 8 and share that comment. But we will start with the 9 cards. And the first card we have is Martin Hansen.
10 11 MARTIN HANSEN 12 My name is Martin Hansen, a member of the 13 Village Board of Brownville. I'm filling in for our 14 chairman, Marty Hayes, today. I would like to 15 welcome the members of the Nuclear Regulatory System 16 to our community for this meeting. Brownville, while 17 being a small community, we see the importance of 18 Cooper Nuclear Station. It is, of course, the largest 19 employer in our community and throughout southeastern 20 Nebraska. But for our community, it is a little more 21 than that. This community was here when the 22 construction on Cooper started nearly 40 years ago.
23 We are here on each day of operation which is around 24 the clock. Cooper continues to operate safely and our 25 community of Brownville appreciates that very much.
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23 1 Cooper is a partner with the community.
2 It has lent us support. One of the examples is the 3 Village of Brownville Volunteer Fire Department. The 4 management of Cooper has allowed our group of 5 dedicated fire fighters to utilize their training 6 facilities that has enhanced its firefighting 7 capabilities and has cooperated in an effort and has 8 enabled our department to upgrade its equipment and 9 training capabilities over a number of years. I ' m 10 sure that you will hear a lot more from other 11 communities about the economic impact of Cooper on the 12 community and the importance it has on the economy.
13 A 2002 economic study found that there would be 14 detrimental impact to not only Brownville, but to 15 other communities in this area, so Cooper is important 16 to continue operation through the license extension of 17 20 years.
18 Emergency response is an important part of 19 Cooper operation, and any need for that action to take 20 place would be handled in a manner that is both 21 professional and done for the protection of the 22 public. Cooper Emergency Response organization takes 23 it very seriously and each resident in a 24 10-mile zone around Cooper always receives the 25 appropriate information about any possible emergency NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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24 1 response activity on the site and would have comfort 2 of knowledge that these plans are in place and tested 3 annually.
4 Earlier this month, the Village Board of 5 Brownville unanimously approved a resolution in 6 support of Nebraska Public Power District at Cooper 7 Nuclear Station license renewal for an additional 20 8 years. I would like to read that resolution into the 9 official record at this time.
10 Resolution No. 2-2-09-1.
11 "WHEREAS, the Nebraska Public Power 12 District Cooper Nuclear Station in Brownville became 13 operational with startup in 1974 and has operated 14 safely and efficiently for more than 30 years and its 15 828 megawatts of electricity generated; and 16 WHEREAS, the Village of Brownville has had 17 a longstanding history with Cooper Nuclear Station 18 since the plant's construction, through refueling 19 outages, and day-to-day operations; and 20 WHEREAS, the Village of Brownville 21 Volunteer Fire Department has been able to utilize 22 training facilities to enhance the firefighting 23 capabilities and this cooperative effort has allowed 24 the department to upgrade equipment in training 25 firefighters over the years; NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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25 1 WHEREAS, Nebraska Public Power District 2 has continually reinvested in the Cooper Nuclear 3 Station facility to access continued safety, clean, 4 reasonable, and affordable production of electricity 5 for Nebraskans across the State; and 6 WHEREAS, the Cooper Nuclear Station is a 7 critical asset as part of Nebraska Public Power 8 District generation resources and the state's unique 9 public power system, continues to assist in keeping 10 state electricity rates among the lowest in the 11 country; 12 WHEREAS, more than 700 permanent jobs at 13 Cooper Nuclear Station and extensive use of 14 contractors in ongoing maintenance and refueling 15 outages are organized and important to the economy of 16 the Village of Brownville, Nemaha County, and 17 surrounding communities in southeastern Nebraska; and 18 WHEREAS, a 2002 economic study of the 19 impact of the loss of Cooper Nuclear Station would be 20 detrimental to the Village of Brownville and other 21 communities in southeast Nebraska; and 22 WHEREAS, the United States Nuclear 23 Regulatory Commission is the federal agency charged 24 with oversight of our nation's vital nuclear 25 facilities and encouraged public input and comment on NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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26 1 license renewal and process from the neighborhood and 2 communities; and 3 WHEREAS, the Cooper Nuclear Station has 4 continued to be a good neighbor to Brownville for more 5 than three decades; 6 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the 7 Village of Brownville Council supports the renewal of 8 the license for the nuclear generation facility at 9 Cooper Nuclear Station, and to assure their continued 10 operations of safe, affordable, and important 11 component of Nebraska's public power supply system for 12 another 20 years; but 13 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Village of 14 Brownville clerk is directed to make available copies 15 of this resolution to the Nuclear Regulatory 16 Commission at its upcoming Environment Scope Public 17 Meeting."
18 Again, I wish to thank the Nuclear 19 Regulatory Commission for hosting this important 20 public meeting, and we'll make ourselves available to 21 you if you have any questions of us, thank you.
22 MR. PELTON: Thank you, Martin.
23 The next speaker we have is Glen Krueger.
24 25 GLEN KRUEGER NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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27 1 My name is Glen Krueger and I was the 2 hospital administrator, and I don't think the 3 present one is here at this time. I was the 4 hospital administrator. I came in 1971, so was 5 there when it was started and I retired in 2002.
6 And I would like to say that we have had full and 7 wonderful cooperation with the Nebraska Public Power 8 District for emergency services. We was able to 9 send an employee to -- down to Tennessee to learn 10 more about radiation. Yes, we was learning more 11 when it first started up, but we finally came that 12 we were very comfortable, that we knew how to take 13 care of if an accident did happen over here. We had 14 full cooperation from them and I would totally 15 support this new license.
16 But, also, as a citizen of Auburn, I 17 would like to restate and I would like to have this 18 new permit be renewed, because of the need that we 19 have in the City of Auburn, if the need -- the 20 people that work there. We have a lot of those 21 employees who work in our church and a lot of those 22 employees, in fact, I have three of those employees 23 in my block where I live. Very appreciative of 24 them.
25 MR. PELTON: Thank you very much, Glen.
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28 1
2 Becky Cromer.
3 BECKIE CROMER 4 I also would like to thank you for the 5 opportunity to speak here this afternoon. My name is 6 Beckie Cromer. I'm Executive Director of our Falls 7 City Economic Development and Growth Enterprise. And 8 I'm here this afternoon on behalf of the economic 9 development team from Falls City. We would like to 10 confirm our unwavering support for the 20-year license 11 extension of Cooper Nuclear Station. Falls City EDGE 12 did pass a resolution of support for the 20-year 13 license extension, and we have forwarded that 14 resolution to NPPD officials, although, after reading 15 the materials here today, I think we'll also forward 16 that NRC with the information provided within the 17 packets today. And in addition to that, our mayor 18 will be speaking in support of Nebraska Public Power 19 District this evening, as well.
20 Cooper Nuclear Station is an economic 21 development gem that injects millions into our local 22 economy by providing almost 800 jobs that pay more 23 than double the Nebraska state average. The 24 decommissioning of Cooper Nuclear Station would result 25 in monumental loss of revenue and jobs for our NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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29 1 southeast Nebraska area. Additionally, Cooper Nuclear 2 Station runs a very safe operation. It allows 3 Nebraska to offer a diverse portfolio of power to our 4 citizens.
5 I had the opportunity to tour Cooper 6 Nuclear Station this week with many Falls City 7 community leaders. The facility was top notch. The 8 staff was professional and knowledgeable, and the 9 safety measures in place for workers and the 10 surrounding public exceeds benchmarks set by 11 government agencies.
12 Southeast Nebraska is proud to have Cooper 13 Nuclear Station as a partner in economic development 14 and we ask that you grant the licensing request being 15 made by Cooper Nuclear Station. Thank you.
16 MR. PELTON: Thank you, Beckie.
17 Arnold Ehlers.
18 ARNOLD EHLERS 19 Good afternoon. My name is Arnold Ehlers, 20 City Clerk/Treasurer for the City of Nebraska City, 21 Nebraska. I am here to present a resolution passed 22 unanimously by the City Council and Mayor of Nebraska 23 City, supporting the license renewal of Cooper Nuclear 24 Station. I would also like to make you aware of the 25 economic impact Cooper Nuclear Station has on NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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30 1 southeast Nebraska, as well as southwestern Iowa and 2 northwest Missouri, an economic impact that is over 3 $500 million a year. But the economic impact is just 4 one part of the contribution made by Nebraska Public 5 Power District and its employees. NPPD employees 6 belong to volunteer fire departments, serve on library 7 boards, school boards, and many other boards and 8 committees too numerous to mention. Their spouses and 9 families are also very important contributors to the 10 communities in which they live.
11 Over the years, Cooper has been a good 12 safe partner and good neighbor to all of us. They 13 have attracted employees from around the world, 14 enhancing the multicultural experiences of the area.
15 We've actually become a global community due to this.
16 It is a privilege to live in a public power state and 17 in a city that owns its own utilities. Nebraska City, 18 in fact all of Nebraska, benefits from the low-cost 19 electricity that Cooper Nuclear plays a significant 20 role in providing.
21 I have a resolution that I would like to 22 have entered into the record. I won't bore you with 23 the reading of it, unless it needs to be read. I 24 thank you for this opportunity.
25 (Exhibit 1 was marked for identification.)
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31 1 MR. PELTON: Thank you, Arnold.
2 Jim Gerwick.
3 JIM GERWICK 4 Good afternoon. Many thanks to the 5 Nuclear Regulatory Commission for hosting this 6 public forum. My name is Jim Gerwick, and I'm the 7 Emergency Management Director for Richardson County, 8 Nebraska, the county just south of here.
9 In my position, hardly a month has gone 10 by where some form of interchange has not transpired 11 between Cooper Nuclear Station's Emergency 12 Management Department and other nuclear operations 13 staff and my office in Richardson County. The 14 referenced activities include quarterly emergency 15 communication drills, unannounced communications 16 checks, written correspondence involving 17 improvements in emergency plans and training in many 18 forms, to include FEMA, Federal Emergency Management 19 Agency, evaluated radiological emergency 20 preparedness exercises.
21 Other joint training activities include 22 NPPD staff involvement in annual training of our 23 local radiological emergency response organization, 24 and our joint quarterly off-site training meetings.
25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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32 1 Cooper Nuclear Station has fully 2 demonstrated its ability to provide safe, reliable 3 electricity for the citizens of the state of 4 Nebraska. Richardson County has supported Cooper 5 Nuclear Station in its off-site responsibilities to 6 protect the public and property for many years, 7 since the plant started, actually, and is glad to be 8 part of the team that supports nuclear power. The 9 bottom line in our realm of experience, the staff at 10 NPPD and Cooper Nuclear Station is thoroughly 11 professional and meticulous in attention to detail 12 concerning their approach to public safety. In 13 short, they are fully integrated and a key member of 14 our public safety team.
15 And in view of their professional 16 performance and contributions to our community, we 17 support NPPD's application to continue to operate 18 Cooper Nuclear Station for another 20 years.
19 In closing, Richardson County is proud 20 to have Cooper Nuclear Station in the Richardson 21 County area.
22 MR. PELTON: Thanks, Jim. Hey, thanks 23 to everybody for having patience with my 24 pronunciation of some of the last names. So, thanks 25 for that.
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33 1 If any of you had a transcript or other 2 document that you wanted submitted, please make sure 3 that Manny, Tam, or Wendy get a copy of that. That 4 would help us out.
5 Is there anyone else who had a comment 6 at this point?
7 (No response.)
8 We are going to be available once we 9 adjourn from the meeting, you know, here, as we kind 10 of buzz about to answer any questions individually 11 you might have or whatever. We've got a lot of 12 documents in the back that talk about our processes 13 and talk about what the NRC does and then things we 14 do to help protect the public and the environment, 15 so you're free to take any of that information with 16 you.
17 And hearing no other comments right now, 18 I want to thank you once again for having us in your 19 community and for spending some time with us today.
20 Have a great day.
21 (Exhibits 2 and 3 were marked for 22 identification.)
23 (Whereupon, at 2:45 p.m., on February 24 25, 2009, the public meeting was concluded.)
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CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the attached proceedings before the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the matter of: Cooper Nuclear Station License Renewal Name of Proceeding: Public Meeting, Afternoon Docket Number: (n/a)
Location: Brownville, Nebraska were held as herein appears, and that this is the original transcript thereof for the file of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission taken by me and, thereafter reduced to typewriting by me or under the direction of the court reporting company, and that the transcript is a true and accurate record of the foregoing proceedings.
Wendy C ~ing Officia`i Reporter Neal R. Gross & Co., Inc.
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RESOLUTION No. 2401-09 Resolution Supporting Nebraska Public Power District's Cooper Nuclear Station License Renewal WHEREAS, Nebraska Public Power District's Cooper Nuclear Station at Brownville became operational with startup in 1974 and has submitted an application to renew Cooper Nuclear Station's operating license to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission on September 29, 2008; and WHEREAS, Cooper Nuclear Station is a critical asset as part of Nebraska Public Power District's generation resources and the state's unique public power system, and continues to assist in keeping state electric rates among the lowest in the country; and WHEREAS, Cooper Nuclear Station has operated safely and efficiently for more than 30 years, its generation of electricity remains vital to Nebraska's economy; and WHEREAS, Nebraska Public Power District has invested nearly $400 million in the Cooper Nuclear Station facility to assure continued safe, clean, reliable and affordable production of electricity for Nebraskans across the state; and WHEREAS, with nearly 100 employees at Cooper Nuclear Station residing in Nebraska City and Otoe County, the facility is recognized as vitally important to the economies of Nebraska City and the surrounding communities of southeastern Nebraska; and WHEREAS, an independent economic study conducted in 2002 estimated that Cooper Nuclear Station adds an estimated $548 million into the local economy, including significant ripple impacts in related businesses as dollars are re-spent in the community; and WHEREAS, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission is the federal agency charged with oversight of our nation's vital nuclear facilities and encourages public input and comment on license renewal proceedings from its neighboring communities; and WHEREAS, Cooper Nuclear Station has been a good neighbor to its communities for more than three decades; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Nebraska City, City Council supports the license renewal for the nuclear generating facilities at Cooper Nuclear Station, to assure their continued operation as an integrally important component of safe and affordable public power for the State of Nebraska for another 20 years.
Dated this 2 nd day of Februaryl aw tDC
,pDECtL.. 1 lot-Ja obbie, fy6r tIAtl Attes) v-- ,'A*
- .\. *-,*,,u*, .. Arnold M.Ehlers, lerk - Treasurer
Resolution No..z,- Q o Resolution Supporting Nebraska Public Power District's Cooper Nuclear Station License Renewal WHEREAS, Nebraska Public Power District's Cooper Nuclear Station in Brownville became operational with startup in 1974 and has operated safely and efficiently for more than 30 years and its 828 megawatts of electrical generation; and WHEREAS, the Village of Brownville has had a long standing history with Cooper Nuclear Station since the plant's construction, though refueling outages, and day-to-day operations; and WHEREAS, the Village of Brownville's volunteer fire department has been able to utilize training facilities to enhance its fire fighting capabilities and this cooperative effort has allowed the department to upgrade its equipment and training of firefighters over the years; WHEREAS, Nebraska Public Power District has continually reinvested in the Cooper Nuclear Station facility to assure continued safe, clear, reliable and affordable production of electricity for Nebraskans across the state; and WHEREAS, Cooper Nuclear Station is a critical asset as part of Nebraska Public Power District's generation resources and the state's unique public power system, continues to assist in keeping state electric rates among the lowest in the country; and WHEREAS, more t han 700 permanent jobs at Cooper Nuclear Station and the extensive use of contractors for ongoing maintenance and refueling outages are recognized as vitally important to the economies of the Village of Brownville, Nemaha County, and surrounding communities of southeastern Nebraska; and WHEREAS, a 2002 economic study of the impact of the loss of Cooper Nuclear Station would be detrimental to the Village of Brownville and other communities in southeast Nebraska; and WHEREAS, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission is the federal agency charged with oversight of our nation's vital nuclear facilities and encourages public input and comment on license renewal proceedings from its neighboring communities; and WHEREAS, Cooper Nuclear Station has continued to be a good neighbor to Brownville for more than three decades; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Village of Brownville Council supports the renewal of the license for the nuclear generating facilities at Cooper Nuclear Station, to assure their continued operation of safe, affordable and integrally important component of Nebraska's public power electric power supply system for another 20 years; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Village of Brownville village clerk is directed to make available a copy of this resolution to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission at its upcoming Environmental Scoping Public meeting.
Dated this .. ~day of ja~we4y 2009 EXHIBIT
NEMAHA COUNTY
!i EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY Robert Cole, Director 601 J Street, Auburn, NE Office: 402-274-2552 Fax: 402-274-3530 Cell: 402-274-7652 E-mail: nemahaema@windstream.net February 24, 2009 United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 To Whom It May Concern:
I, Robert Cole, the Director of the Nemaha County Emergency Management Agency, am writing this letter in support of the renewal of Nebraska Public Power District's (NPPD) operating permit at Cooper Nuclear Station (CNS).
Our agency is in regular communication with Cooper Nuclear Station in conjunction with monthly communication checks, quarterly emergency exercises, and two major annual exercises. In addition to these training and preparedness drills Cooper Nuclear Station contributes immeasurably to Nemaha County's preparedness for all types of other emergencies; for example, Cooper Nuclear Station is donating replaced sirens to a number of jurisdictions in the region including the Villages of Brock, Johnson, and Julian. It should also be noted that the communities of Brownville, Nemaha, and Peru are receiving siren coverage through the use of the existing Cooper Nuclear emergency warning sirens.
Cooper Nuclear Station has also been an active participant in local emergency responder training for the fire departments and the rescue squads operating in our county. Cooper Fire Brigade training facilities are regularly made available to the local departments.
Cooper Nuclear Station has fully demonstrated its ability to provide safe and reliable electricity for the citizens of the State of Nebraska. Nemaha County has supported Cooper Nuclear Station in its offsite responsibilities to protect the public and property for many years and is glad to be a part of the team that supports nuclear power.
The staff at the Nebraska Public Power District and Cooper Nuclear Station is thoroughly professional and meticulous in attention to detail concerning their approach to public safety. They are fully integrated and a key member of our public safety team and in view of their professional performance and contributions to our community. Nemaha County supports the Nebraska Public Power District's application to continue operating at Cooper Nuclear Station for another 20 years.
In closing, Nemaha County is proud to have Cooper Nuclear Station in the Nemaha County area.
Sincerely yours, Robert A. Cole Nemaha County Emergency Management Director Sc/c: Mark Becker, Media Relations Specialist, NPPD EXHIBIT