ML103400279
| ML103400279 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Salem, Hope Creek  |
| Issue date: | 11/17/2010 |
| From: | Division of License Renewal |
| To: | |
| Perkins L, NRR/DLR/RPB1 415-2375 | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML103400283 | List: |
| References | |
| NRC-553, FOIA/PA-2011-0113 | |
| Download: ML103400279 (46) | |
Text
Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Title: License Renewal for Salem Units 1 and 2 Hope Creek Generating Station Public Meeting: Evening Session Docket Number: 50-272, 50-311, 50-354 Location: Woodstown, New Jersey Date: Wednesday, November 17, 2010 Work Order No.: NRC-553 Pages 1-45 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 DRAFT SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT 5 PUBLIC MEETING 6 + + + + +
7 Wednesday.
8 November 17th, 2010 9 + + + + +
10 Woodstown, New Jersey 11 The Public Meeting was held at 7:00 p.m., at the 12 Salem County Emergency Services Building, 135 Cemetery 13 Road, Woodstown, New Jersey, Michael Rodriguez, 14 Facilitator, presiding.
15 APPEARANCES:
16 MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ 17 WILLIAM BURTON 18 LESLIE PERKINS 19 BO PHAM 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 A-G-E-N-D-A 2 WELCOME AND PURPOSE OF MEETING 3 Facilitator William Burton ......................... 3 4 OVERVIEW OF LICENSE RENEWAL PROCESS 5 Leslie Perkins ..................................... 5 6 PUBLIC COMMENTS ................................... 14 7 CLOSING COMMENTS 8 Bo Pham ........................................... 44 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 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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3 1 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 2 7:00 p.m.
3 FACILITATOR RODRIGUEZ: My name is Michael 4 Rodriguez, from the Office of Administration, and I 5 will be serving as your evening facilitator, this 6 evening, along with Butch Burton, Branch Chief from 7 the Office of New Reactors.
8 The purpose of this evening's meeting is 9 to present the preliminary site-specific results of 10 the license renewal Environmental Review for Hope 11 Creek Generating Station, and Salem Nuclear Generating 12 Station Units 1 and 2.
13 It is also known as a Supplemental 14 Environmental Impact Statement, the SEIS. Following 15 the presentation, you will have an opportunity to 16 question and comment, on the presentation material 17 presented this evening.
18 We ask you to limit the comments and 19 questions to the material presented this evening, 20 please. And also to the process.
21 So that you may follow along copies of the 22 presentation are provided, at the table in the back of 23 the room. Also, if you desire, printed copies of the 24 Supplemental Report, which is the Supplement 45, is 25 available back in the table as well.
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4 1 In addition to the draft report copies of 2 the meeting agenda, the NRC Public Meeting comment 3 form, and also the yellow card to speak are available 4 at the back table.
5 In addition to that we have electronic 6 copies of the draft report that you can use for your 7 laptop computers, or your desktop computers.
8 If you desire to comment, we ask that you 9 clearly print your name, on the cards, for us to call 10 upon you to speak. At this time please allow me to 11 provide some basic guidance on emergency egress items.
12 The emergency exit route is down the 13 stairs behind you and, also, down the stairs and to 14 the left, over here, behind us.
15 We ask that you assemble, in the front of 16 the building, so we can account for all personnel. If 17 you need to use the rest rooms, we have two rest 18 rooms, a male and a female over here, and a co-ed rest 19 room in the very back of the room.
20 I would like to lay out some basic ground 21 rules that we ask you to follow during this meeting's 22 agenda time frame.
23 The presentation, and the question and 24 comment sessions are being transcribed by Ed Johns, at 25 the back. So we ask you to speak clearly into the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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5 1 microphone, when speaking.
2 We ask that you limit your questions and 3 comments to five minutes, with some exceptions that 4 have been pre-arranged. We ask that you minimize side 5 conversation, and respect the opinions of others.
6 We also ask that you silence any 7 contention devices, except for our law enforcement 8 staff, here. If you haven't done so, a sign-in sheet 9 is located on the desk, in the back.
10 As a recap of tonight's meeting, our 11 program manager, Leslie Perkins, will present the 12 material, and we will follow with a question and 13 answer session, and we will continue on with the 14 public comment period.
15 At this point I'm going to turn it over to 16 Leslie. Leslie, if you don't mind?
17 MS. PERKINS: Good evening. Again, my 18 name is Leslie Perkins, and I am the environmental 19 project manager for Hope Creek and Salem license 20 renewal reviews.
21 Today I'm going to give you the results of 22 the NRC's review of the site-specific issues related 23 to the proposed license renewal of Hope Creek 24 Generating Station, and Salem Nuclear Generating 25 Station, Units 1 and 2.
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6 1 I will discuss the NRC's regulatory role, 2 environmental issues and areas that were addressed and 3 our findings. I will also give our schedule for 4 receiving comments on our Environmental Impact 5 Statement, as well as for completing our final 6 Environmental Impact Statement.
7 At the end of my presentation there will 8 be time for you to present your comments. For those 9 of you who would prefer to send in your comments, I 10 will explain some options for doing so. Next slide, 11 please.
12 The NRC was established to regulate 13 civilian uses of nuclear materials, including 14 applications that produce electric power.
15 The NRC conducts license renewal reviews 16 for plants whose owners wish to operate them beyond 17 their initial license period.
18 The NRC's license renewal reviews address 19 safety issues related to managing the effects of 20 aging, and environmental issues related to an 21 additional 20 years of operation, as well as any 22 potential major refurbishment activities the plant 23 owner, or operator, may undertake during or in 24 preparation for additional 20 years of operation.
25 In all aspects of the NRC's regulation, NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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7 1 our mission is three-fold. To ensure adequate 2 protection of public health and safety, to promote 3 common defense and security, and to protect the 4 environment. Next slide, please.
5 In this meeting I will discuss the 6 potential site-specific impacts of license renewal for 7 Hope Creek and Salem. The site-specific findings are 8 contained in the Draft Supplemental Environmental 9 Impact Statement that the NRC Staff published on 10 October 21st of 2010.
11 This document contains analyses of all 12 applicable site-specific issues, as well as a review 13 of issues common to many or all nuclear power plants.
14 The issues for which environmental impacts 15 are the same, across some, or all, nuclear power plant 16 sites, are discussed in the Generic Environmental 17 Impact Statement.
18 The NRC staff reviewed these issues to 19 determine whether the conclusions, in the generic 20 environmental impact statement are still valid.
21 The NRC staff also reviewed the 22 environmental impacts of potential alternatives to 23 license renewal, to determine whether the impacts, 24 expected from license renewal, are unreasonable, in 25 comparison to other power generation options.
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8 1 Next slide, please. An earlier part of 2 this review was the scoping period. During this 3 period the NRC solicited comments concerning what to 4 focus the review on.
5 The comments received, during the scoping 6 period, and the responses to those comments, are 7 addressed in Appendix A of the Draft Supplemental 8 Environmental Impact Statement.
9 The comments were grouped into categories 10 shown in the second bullet on this slide. Next slide, 11 please. This slide is a continuation from the 12 previous slide, showing the categories that the 13 comments were placed in. Next slide, please.
14 This slide lists the environmental issues 15 the NRC staff reviewed for Salem and Hope Creek during 16 the proposed license renewal period.
17 Overall the direct and indirect impact, 18 from license renewal, on all these issues were found 19 to be small. Which means that there was some 20 noticeable impacts, but not enough to cause any 21 permanent alterations to the ecology or the 22 environment.
23 Next slide, please. As part of its NEPA 24 review, which is the National Environmental Policy 25 Act, the staff also looked at the potential cumulative NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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9 1 impacts associated with Salem and Hope Creek.
2 These impacts include the effects on the 3 environment from other past, present, and reasonable 4 foreseeable future human actions. It is important to 5 note that these impacts may not even be related to the 6 relicensing of Salem and Hope Creek.
7 Nevertheless, the intent of NEPA is that 8 an agency be cognizant of, and ready to be able to 9 disclose, all the environmental impact activities 10 within the proximity of its action.
11 This slide provides a summary of our 12 findings, with respect to the cumulative impacts.
13 Overall, the one reasonable foreseeable action, in the 14 near future, is the potential for PSEG to proceed with 15 its request to construct additional reactors on-site.
16 Which, as you can see, expands the range 17 of potential impacts for socio-economics, aquatic, and 18 terrestrial resources.
19 We did note, in the Supplemental 20 Environmental Impact Statement, however, that the 21 specific impacts of that future activity is also being 22 captured, and reviewed, in a separate Environmental 23 Impact Statement by the NRC.
24 Our staff has been working closely, with 25 the Office of New Reactors, to make sure we coordinate NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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10 1 and capture the relevant information within scope.
2 Next slide, please. A major step in 3 determining whether license renewal is reasonable or 4 not, is comparing the likely impacts of license 5 renewal with the alternatives, including other methods 6 of power generation, and not renewing Salem and Hope 7 Creek operating licenses.
8 In the Draft Environmental Impact 9 Statement the NRC staff considered super-critical 10 coal- fired generation, natural gas combined cycle 11 generation, new nuclear generation.
12 And, as part of the combination 13 alternative, conservation and efficiency, natural gas 14 combined cycle generation, and solar power.
15 Finally, as required by NEPA, the NRC 16 staff also considered the case of no-action 17 alternative, which equates to no license renewal of 18 Salem and Hope Creek at the end of their licenses.
19 The Staff found, go back to that slide, 20 the staff found that the impacts, from the energy 21 alternatives, would vary widely based on the 22 characteristics of the alternatives.
23 In most cases, construction of new 24 facilities created significant impacts. Overall the 25 NRC staff concludes that continued operation of the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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11 1 existing Hope Creek Generating Station, and Salem 2 Nuclear Generating Station, is the environmentally 3 preferred alternative.
4 Next slide, please. Based on a review of 5 likely environmental impacts from license renewal, as 6 well as potential environmental impacts of 7 alternatives to license renewal, the NRC's preliminary 8 recommendation, and the Draft Environmental Impact 9 Statement, is the environmental impacts of license 10 renewal, for Hope Creek Generating Station, and Salem 11 Nuclear Generating Station, are not so great that 12 license renewal would be unreasonable.
13 Next slide, please. The Environmental 14 Review, however, is not yet completed. Your comments, 15 today, and all written comments received, by the end 16 of comment period on December 17th, will be considered 17 by the NRC Staff as we develop our Final Environmental 18 Impact Statement, which is currently planned to be 19 issued March 2011.
20 The Final Environmental Impact Statement 21 will contain the Staff's final recommendation, on the 22 acceptability of the license renewal, based on the 23 work that we have already performed, and the input we 24 received, in form of comments, during the comment 25 period.
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12 1 Your comments can help change the Staff's 2 findings in the Final Environmental Impact Statement.
3 Next slide, please.
4 I'm the primary contact for the 5 Environmental Review, and Bennett Brady is the primary 6 contact for the Safety Review. Hard copies of the 7 Draft Environmental Impact Statement are available on 8 the back table, as well as CDs.
9 In addition, the Salem Free Library has a 10 hard copy available for the public to review. You can 11 also find electronic copies of the Draft Environmental 12 Impact Statement, along with other information related 13 to Hope Creek and Salem license renewal reviews, on-14 line.
15 Next slide, please. The NRC staff will 16 address written comments in the same way we will 17 address the spoken comments received today. You can 18 submit written comments, by email, to either one of 19 the email addresses, listed on the slide, or you can 20 send in your comments by mail, conventional mail.
21 You can also submit your comments at 22 regulation.gov and just search the docket numbers. If 23 you have written comments, this evening, you may give 24 them to any NRC staff member.
25 Thank you, and that concludes my NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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13 1 presentation. I will turn it back over to Mike.
2 FACILITATOR BURTON: Thank you, Leslie.
3 We are going to begin with the question and answer 4 session. And following the question and answer 5 session, we will entertain your comments. I have some 6 comment cards.
7 Those of you who care to speak, who 8 haven't filled out a yellow comment card, or a little 9 NRC card, please feel free to do so, we will collect 10 them and put you in a sequence to speak.
11 Any questions regarding the presentation 12 material tonight? Yes, sir.
13 PARTICIPANT: I have a question just for 14 something to be put on the record. As far as the 15 ownership of this facility, what percentage does PSEG 16 own, and who are the other owners of this facility, 17 and what percentage do they own? Just for people to 18 know who actually does own this facility.
19 FACILITATOR RODRIGUEZ: Bo?
20 MR. PHAM: Hi, my name is Bo Pham, I'm the 21 Branch Chief at the NRC. I don't have the -- you 22 know, if I get a question like that, we would pull out 23 the license and actually review it.
24 On the license, in the license for the 25 plant, there is language regarding designating who is NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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14 1 the operator, and who is the owner of the facility.
2 So I would have to review that, and get back to you.
3 FACILITATOR RODRIGUEZ: Any additional 4 questions?
5 (No response.)
6 FACILITATOR RODRIGUEZ: Okay, we will turn 7 it over to our comment period. For those individuals 8 that I call up, can you please go up to the podium and 9 speak into the microphone for us? Mr. Louis Joyce, 10 from the County of Salem.
11 MR. JOYCE: Good evening. My name is 12 Louis Joyce, I'm the Director of the Planning 13 Department for the county of Salem, also a licensed 14 professional planner, and familiar with Environmental 15 Impact Statements in a general sense.
16 I bring a message, tonight, from the Board 17 of Chosen Freeholders. You will excuse me if I read 18 this, because I want to get this correct from their 19 perspective.
20 I am coming before you, this evening, to 21 let you know that PSEG Nuclear is a valuable asset to 22 our county. Not only are they great community 23 partners, but they are the county's largest employer.
24 A majority of their employees are local 25 residents, who live in our community. In tough NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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15 1 economic times PSEG Nuclear provides an example of 2 integrity and commitment, to positive growth, that we 3 all need to see.
4 PSEG takes a very proactive role in 5 developing positive relationships with members of the 6 Salem County community, whether it is providing 7 funding and support to local community groups, or 8 attending every community event.
9 They are always demonstrating their 10 commitment to Salem County's proud heritage, and great 11 future.
12 We understand the hesitation of those 13 within and surrounding our county, towards PSEG 14 Nuclear. Their concerns regarding safety and plant 15 performance are valid.
16 However PSEG Nuclear has consistently, and 17 without hesitation, demonstrated its commitment to 18 safety and excellence, through proper planning and 19 transparency.
20 Furthermore, they have not only been a 21 partner but a leader, in this county, in the area of 22 conservation of our environment. With unemployment, 23 in the county, hovering around 12 percent, the 24 economic possibilities of this renewal, and continued 25 operation of this plant cannot be understated.
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16 1 We hope that PSEG will have your support 2 to move forward, as they already have our support, as 3 a valued partner in our community.
4 We support PSEG Nuclear and the renewal of 5 their operating license. We have found that, over the 6 years, they have demonstrated that they do understand 7 the importance to our environment.
8 And in terms of safety and operations they 9 have proven, through their long record of continued 10 safe operations, and without incident, that they are a 11 very competent and qualified operator of the nuclear 12 plant.
13 We have had a long, long history, in this 14 county, in experiencing both the construction and the 15 subsequent operations at the nuclear plant, and we 16 find that it is very compatible with our environment, 17 and the way that it is being run.
18 And we do not see that there are concerns 19 that should stand in the way of renewal of the 20 operational license for this facility.
21 And, just as a final note, I know you had 22 mentioned the issue of the possibility of construction 23 of another reactor at this facility will be separate, 24 and part of a different study. But we do want to 25 offer our support and would say that this is an NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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17 1 appropriate site for the continuation and the 2 expansion of the nuclear power generation that is 3 here. Thank you.
4 FACILITATOR RODRIGUEZ: Michael Burke, 5 Salem County Improvement Authority.
6 MR. BURKE: Good evening, everyone. Once 7 again, my name is Michael Burke, and I currently serve 8 as the Chairman of the Salem County Improvement 9 Authority, which oversees the landfill, nursing home 10 and, more importantly, the reason I am here tonight, 11 economic development for the county.
12 I am here representing our board, and our 13 125 employees, in supporting PSEG's effort to extend 14 the operating licenses for Salem 1 and 2, and Hope 15 Creek Nuclear Generating units.
16 Part of the responsibility, of our 17 Improvement Authority, here in Salem County, is 18 directing the economic development efforts, and 19 supporting both large and small businesses, by helping 20 them expand, and maintaining their facilities, and 21 support them in any way possible.
22 The Improvement Authority has developed 23 the principles which were recently adopted in our 24 economic development strategy. Those principles are 25 green technologies, and construction methods; NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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18 1 sustainability, focused location, with preservation of 2 open space; regional cooperation, creation of a wide 3 range of employment opportunities; reduction in 4 property taxes, and transparency in civic involvement.
5 We believe PSEG's request for the renewal 6 and extension of operating licenses meets or exceeds 7 all the principles that govern our economic 8 development efforts.
9 As the county's economic engine, we have 10 partnered with PSEG, in the past, on various projects.
11 A couple of those being the gateway business park, 12 the Salem County Emergency Services building.
13 It has always been our experience, in 14 dealing with PSEG, they operate at the highest levels 15 of integrity and business standards. They are 16 involved in a large number of civic and non-profit 17 organizations, that support the overall economic 18 development efforts in the county and region.
19 PSEG's management constantly provides us 20 with updates on their operational and civic issues.
21 They also have a tremendous impact on local economy 22 throughout the county.
23 They currently are the largest employer, 24 with over 1,500 employees. The salaries for those 25 full-time employees are roughly 154 million dollars.
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19 1 PSEG also pays 2.1 million in local 2 property taxes. They also support and maintain the 3 EERC in Salem, and out of those 1,500 employees, 600 4 are full-time employees that live in this county.
5 Along with the full-time employee 6 benefits, PSEG also has two scheduled outages each 7 year. This creates employment for 1,600 highly 8 skilled contractors, for up to eight to ten weeks.
9 Millions of dollars are injected into the 10 local economy. Along with the employment benefits, 11 created by PSEG, they also support the local economy 12 by using their purchasing power to buy and rent 13 products from local Salem County businesses.
14 Salem County is now recognized as the 15 alternative energy capital of the northeast. Not only 16 are we fortunate enough to have the three operating 17 nuclear power plants, we also recently broke ground on 18 a significant solar project that will develop 92 19 megawatts of energy.
20 We firmly believe, and know, that PSEG 21 operates their existing units at the highest safety 22 and quality levels. We also believe their employees 23 are a huge part of their success, and support, due to 24 the training commitment they provide.
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20 1 many challenges for PSEG as this application process 2 moves forward. We also want you to know that the 3 Salem County Improvement Authority, will be there to 4 support the efforts, of PSEG, in any way possible to 5 help this move forward.
6 Thank you for the opportunity to be here 7 this evening.
8 FACILITATOR RODRIGUEZ: Michael De Luca, 9 Rutgers University.
10 MR. DE LUCA: Good evening, my name is 11 Mike De Luca, I'm with the Institute of Marine and 12 Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University, where I serve 13 as the senior associate director. And I also manage 14 one of 28 national estuarine research reserves in the 15 country.
16 I have been at Rutgers for 20 years now.
17 And during that time I have become very familiar with 18 PSEG, and their corporate and environmental record.
19 I'm also very familiar with the environmental impacts 20 of the Hope Creek and Salem power plants, and the 21 record of PSEG in addressing those impacts, 22 particularly as they affect the Delaware River, and 23 estuary.
24 And I think it should be noted that this 25 is an ecosystem that is an urban ecosystem, and it has NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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21 1 been altered by many human activities, ranging from 2 port operations, industrial uses, dredging, channel 3 maintenance for shipping and, of course, water 4 withdrawal and subsequent discharge for power plant 5 operations.
6 With respect to the Salem and Hope Creek 7 generating facilities, I don't think anyone questions, 8 you know, that the plants impact the environment.
9 Primarily these include impacts to fish eggs and 10 larvae, and the thermal discharges.
11 Quite appropriately efforts have, and must 12 continue, to focus on mitigating of these impacts.
13 And I think PSEG has done a very good job in 14 addressing those in the past, and outlining what they 15 will do in the future with respect to the relicensing.
16 There are many approaches that can be 17 taken to mitigating impacts of a power plant 18 operation. And these include preservation and 19 restoration of wetlands, enhancement of fish stocks in 20 the habitat that they use, or rely upon.
21 And, also, educational programs that help 22 prepare our youth to be tomorrow's informed decision-23 makers. And it is clear, to me, again over a 20 year 24 history of experience working with this company, that 25 they have a very strong track record of contributing NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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22 1 to and advancing these strategies, not just in the 2 Delaware River, and estuaries, but other ecosystems in 3 the New Jersey and mid-Atlantic region.
4 I think there is a poster in the back that 5 illustrates the effort associated with the Estuary 6 Enhancement Program, which was a major environmental 7 achievement, restoring 20,000 acres of wetlands to 8 natural function in the Delaware ecosystem.
9 They certainly enhance productivity of fin 10 fish and shell fish, and engaged experts from around 11 the country, scientists, technicians, and this program 12 continues to date.
13 And I have to note that the success is not 14 lost on my colleagues in the scientific community, 15 because it has been featured at a variety of national 16 science conferences.
17 Another program that I am familiar with, 18 that also relates to the relicensing, is the Coastal 19 Wetlands Restoration Program, which is administered by 20 PSEG in the mid-Atlantic.
21 And this organizes regional efforts to 22 restore wetlands. And I think it provides a very good 23 example of private sector, government, academia 24 partnership, that preserves wetlands for future 25 generations of users.
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23 1 They have also been very active in stock 2 enhancement, and habitat restoration. I think a few 3 good examples of this are the fish ladders, and fish 4 passages that they have developed to enable an 5 endangered species to reach their spawning grounds.
6 That is to get beyond human barriers, like dams.
7 And then, finally, environmental 8 education. I think it is well known that PSEG 9 supports a variety of efforts, programs, and 10 facilities, that are aimed at science enrichment, that 11 help enable today's youth to be tomorrow's 12 environmental decisionmakers, to have a strong 13 environmental ethic, and to be informed stewards of 14 the environment.
15 I would like to mention two opportunities, 16 I guess, with respect to mitigation, if warranted. I 17 think we all recognize that there is always more work 18 to be done to restore a system like the Delaware 19 River, and estuary.
20 Certainly we want to continue to support 21 essential services, like energy production but, at the 22 same time, sustaining environmental quality, and the 23 resources that depend on this system for, again, many 24 users; commercial and recreational fishers, kayakers, 25 boaters, hunters, swimmers, and so on.
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24 1 I'd like to mention two, what I will call 2 signature species, or charismatic mega fauna, that 3 merit attention, the oyster and the sturgeon, that may 4 be factored into future mitigation programs.
5 I think it is well known that the oyster 6 industry has long suffered from over-harvest and 7 disease. However, over the past ten years, through a 8 combination of shell planting, development of disease 9 resistant strains, and stock management, the industry 10 is now in the brink of recovery.
11 And that recovery could use a boost. PSEG 12 is certainly involved in some of the education and 13 stewardship programs that have helped to restore this 14 fishery, and they can make a big difference in the 15 habitat and water quality of the Delaware River, and 16 estuary, by supporting continued restoration of the 17 oyster.
18 Likewise, sturgeon have been over-fished.
19 They were recently listed as a threatened species by 20 the Federal Government. We have also learned that 21 spawning recently has reoccurred, or is reoccurring in 22 the river, which gives us hope that the stocks of 23 sturgeon can be restored there.
24 But we need a lot more information on the 25 critical habitat that sturgeon use, especially their NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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25 1 spawning habitat, and to protect these areas from 2 future disturbance.
3 So, again, if mitigation plans warrant, I 4 think PSEG experience in environmental restoration, 5 species restoration, habitat restoration, could 6 advance the sustainability of these two critical 7 signature species for the Delaware River and estuary.
8 And then, finally, I would just like to 9 note that as the previous speaker, Lou Joyce, noted 10 PSEG is a company that holds itself to very high 11 standards when it comes to their operations, and its 12 impact on the environment.
13 Environmental stewardship is part of their 14 corporate culture. And I don't see this, very often, 15 in other corporate environments. And I certainly 16 believe that there is every reason to believe that, 17 you know, these corporate traits will continue with 18 the relicensing of the Salem and Hope Creek 19 facilities.
20 So the impacts are well recognized, and 21 the company has experience in addressing these. Thank 22 you.
23 FACILITATOR RODRIGUEZ: Andrew Hak from 24 PSEG.
25 MR. HAK: Good evening. My name is Andrew NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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26 1 Hak, and I work at the Hope Creek generating station.
2 I have two years of experience there, I have just 3 graduated from Rowen University with a degree in 4 electrical engineering.
5 My first two years at Hope Creek have been 6 a great learning experience. I have been involved 7 with the license renewal process for the last year.
8 Most specifically the cable aging management program.
9 Through the license renewal process we 10 have been developing these new aging programs to help 11 ensure the reliability of Hope Creek. And through 12 that, the last year, we have already done so much 13 work, and implemented so much testing and inspections.
14 And it has been a great career development 15 for myself, moving forward, as well. So we have 16 another 15 years until license renewal, and I see that 17 as a great career opportunity for myself.
18 I also want to say, working for PSEG, as 19 most others have said, they hold safety to a high 20 standard. It is also encouraging the work force, 21 where they encourage us to raise issues, strive for 22 excellence, and I look forward to working with public 23 service for a long time, in implementing this license 24 renewal process. Thank you.
25 FACILITATOR RODRIGUEZ: Thank you, Mr.
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27 1 Hak. Tom Knoche.
2 MR. KNOCHE: Good evening. I'm a resident 3 of Haddon Township, I teach ecology and planning at 4 Rutgers, and I'm a city planner by trade.
5 I teach about sustainability, and how we 6 make urban areas more sustainable. And the extended 7 licenses, and possible fourth facility really don't 8 agree with what I know about how we make our society 9 more sustainable.
10 Some comments have already been offered 11 concerning the thermal pollution, and the damage to 12 wildlife. I'm more familiar with the damage that has 13 come from the Oyster Creek facility, further north, 14 but it is a significant issue in both places.
15 Environmentalists talk about the 16 precautionary principle, the idea that we shouldn't do 17 things if there is high risk involved. And even 18 though we may not have figured it all out, the science 19 that connects things.
20 But we have serious issues regarding the 21 disposal of nuclear waste and we do not have an 22 adequate solution at the federal level. And so the 23 continued use of nuclear facilities without that is of 24 great concern.
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28 1 direction of developing alternative renewable energy 2 that is risk-free, safer, cleaner, and has less 3 impact, certainly solar and wind.
4 There are countries in the world now where 5 20 percent of their energy comes from those sources.
6 We should be moving in that direction, and the need 7 for nuclear power should gradually be reduced over 8 time.
9 Certainly the economic life of these 10 facilities should be fulfilled. But I think the 11 future, barring a solution to the nuclear waste 12 problem, and other environmental issues, is to try and 13 minimize our need for it.
14 And, certainly, we have a push, 15 nationally, to reduce our energy use, and to increase 16 energy efficiency. I was just part of an evaluation 17 of a building that is getting new elevators, and with 18 new motors, new energy efficient motors for those 19 elevators, the energy consumption can be reduced 25 20 percent.
21 As we do this kind of upgrade, and 22 retrofit, we should be able to reduce our energy 23 demand, and so the need for additional nuclear 24 capacity, given the other issues, strikes me as 25 movement in the wrong direction.
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29 1 And, finally, there are the recently 2 reported, and I'm no expert on the operation and 3 maintenance of nuclear facilities, but the news 4 reports were troubling, concerning the maintenance of 5 the concrete containment, spalling and deterioration 6 of that.
7 The piping that is part of the steam 8 generator tube, corrosion in the steel liner, 9 underground walls with evidence of groundwater 10 penetration. These have all been covered, recently, 11 in the news.
12 And I assume that these are issues that 13 can all be addressed. But, certainly, probably relate 14 to the age and presence of high, fairly high 15 concentration of salt water and its corrosive effect 16 on the facility.
17 So, you know, I see a future, a 18 sustainable future that is less dependent on nuclear 19 power, and moves us more into cleaner and safer 20 renewables.
21 And I would hope that PSEG will reflect 22 those priorities in its future planning. Thank you.
23 FACILITATOR RODRIGUEZ: Mr. Knoche, thank 24 you for your comments, and I apologize for 25 mispronouncing your name. Paul Davison, PSEG.
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30 1 MR. DAVISON: Thank you, Mr. Rodriguez.
2 Good evening, my name is Paul Davison, I'm the vice 3 president of operation support at PSEG Nuclear. I'm 4 also part of the senior management team that is 5 responsible for the safe and reliable operation at 6 Hope Creek and Salem generating stations.
7 I also am the executive sponsor for the 8 license renewal project. On behalf of PSEG Nuclear, 9 we look forward to today's public meetings, and the 10 opportunity to continue to work with the NRC, and the 11 public, on our license renewal application.
12 As part of the license renewal we have 13 carefully reviewed the environmental impacts 14 associated with continuing to operate Salem and Hope 15 Creek for an additional 20 years.
16 In addition to our assessments, and as 17 part of the National Environmental Policy Act, the NRC 18 hosted two public meetings in November of 2009 to 19 discuss the scoping of its license renewal 20 supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, for Salem 21 and Hope Creek stations.
22 The NRC also spent a week, earlier this 23 year, on-site to gather plant specific documents, 24 related to 92 industry-wide environmental issues 25 associated with the license renewal process.
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31 1 And during that plant visit the NRC put 2 special emphasis on information concerning the 21 3 plant-specific issues. Multiple interviews and tours 4 were conducted, including a tour of our local 5 community.
6 This process has led to the NRC's recent 7 publication of its Draft Supplemental Environmental 8 Impact Statement. Since this meeting is to discuss 9 the Impact Statement, I would like to touch on PSEG 10 Nuclear's positive environmental impacts.
11 In addition to producing no green house 12 gases, the Salem and Hope Creek plants have had no 13 impact, adverse radiological impact on the 14 environment.
15 The NRC requires PSEG Nuclear, and all 16 U.S. nuclear facilities, to maintain an environmental 17 monitoring program, to monitor local radiation levels.
18 We are also closely monitored by the New Jersey 19 Department of the Environmental Protection's Bureau of 20 Nuclear Engineering.
21 The Bureau of Nuclear Engineering, or BNE, 22 independently monitors the local environment around 23 our facility, through remote monitoring systems that 24 collect real time data.
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32 1 adverse impact on the environment. We are also proud 2 stewards of the Delaware estuary through our Estuary 3 Enhancement Program.
4 This program involves on-going 5 restoration, enhancement, and preservation of over 6 20,000 acres of degraded salt marsh, and adjacent 7 uplands within the estuary.
8 Studies have shown overall health of the 9 estuary continues to improve. In addition, analysis 10 of long-term fish population, in the estuary, shows 11 that in most cases the populations are stable, or are 12 increasing.
13 And the fish population trends are similar 14 to other areas along the coast. We recognize our 15 impact on the local community, 1,500 local employees, 16 40 percent directly from Salem County.
17 The purchase of goods and services 18 totaling more than 81 million dollars, from south 19 Jersey businesses, and more than two million dollars a 20 year in local property taxes.
21 We support dozens of local organizations, 22 and have launched innovative partnerships, with local 23 schools, to develop training, and education programs, 24 that provide career opportunities for local residents.
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33 1 with the community is something that we do not take 2 for granted. With them we have no surprises. We 3 proactively engage the community when a plant issue 4 arises, so that they can have their questions answered 5 directly by us.
6 We operate within a culture of safety and 7 transparency. This year we have provided more than 35 8 site tours for key stakeholder groups. Close to 600 9 elected officials, educators, students, community and 10 trade groups, have had an inside look of PSEG Nuclear.
11 What better way to answer questions than 12 to let people see, first-hand, the important role of 13 nuclear power?
14 Earlier this year we opened our new Energy 15 and Environmental Resource Center, housed at our old 16 training center on Chestnut Street in Salem. This new 17 information center uses interactive displays to 18 educate the public about climate change, and various 19 ways we can all have a positive impact on our 20 environment. To date 3,000 people have toured this 21 state of the art facility.
22 In closing, PSEG Nuclear looks forward to 23 continuing to work with the NRC, and the public, as 24 you review our license renewal application, and Draft 25 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.
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34 1 We have worked hard to provide safe, 2 reliable, economic, and green energy, for more than 30 3 years, and look forward to the opportunity to build on 4 our success in the future. Thank you.
5 FACILITATOR RODRIGUEZ: Thank you, Mr.
6 Davison. Richard Schneider, from the Coalition to 7 Protect Fisheries.
8 MR. SCHNEIDER: Hello, my name is Richard 9 Schneider, and the question that I asked earlier, of 10 the NRC gentleman, I believe I spoke earlier tonight 11 with a gentleman from Exelon, and he said it is 60/40; 12 PSEG owns 60 percent, and the other is 40 percent.
13 So I just wanted to let people know who 14 owns what, and who actually owns the facility, and its 15 ownership.
16 Hello, my name is Richard Schneider, from 17 Delaware. I'm with the Coalition to Protect 18 Fisheries. We feel that Salem 1 and 2 should not be 19 permitted to operate for another 20 years, because of 20 many areas of concern.
21 If, however, it is allowed to, by the NRC, 22 to operate for another 20 years, the needless and 23 senseless destruction of aquatic life, millions of 24 dead fish and crabs every year, must not be allowed to 25 continue.
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35 1 There are several aspects that are 2 troubling. First, the Salem 1 and 2 units are over 40 3 years old. The projected life of these nuclear plants 4 was designed for 40 years. To extend the operation of 5 these old plants is very risky. It is time to 6 mothball them.
7 Second, Salem 1 and 2 are built at the 8 worst location possible. They are built on mud, and 9 at sea level. They are built on mud, and their 10 foundations are not imbedded in bed rock. Their 11 pilings do not reach the bedrock.
12 They are prone to great damage from 13 earthquakes. Being based on mud, the well-known 14 earthquake liquification process amplifies the damage 15 that can occur.
16 A mild earthquake is amplified, many 17 times, by the liquification effect. The nuclear 18 complex would be shaken severely.
19 Third, Salem 1 and 2 are at sea level.
20 They are prone to flooding from storm surges, and high 21 tides from hurricanes.
22 If the NRC allows Salem 1 and 2 to 23 operate, for another 20 years, the massive fish kill 24 caused by Salem 1 and 2, needs to be stopped, as part 25 of a permit renewal.
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36 1 The outdated, destructive, open loop 2 cooling system used at Salem 1 and 2, needs to be 3 changed to a non-destructive closed loop cooling 4 system, a cooling tower, the same as used at Hope 5 Creek.
6 To allow Salem 1 and 2 to kill billions of 7 fish, every year, for another 20 years, is 8 unacceptable, and unexcusable. Salem 1 and 2 draws in 9 over three billion gallons of water a day. Three 10 billion gallons of water a day, every day.
11 The EPA estimates that Salem 1 and 2 kills 12 over 350 million age 1 equivalent fish every year.
13 And age 1 is a standard of measuring the fish kill.
14 It actually kills billions of little fish, also.
15 But they, for the statistics, they say 16 that 5,000 little fish equals one age one-equivalent 17 fish. But the statistics, and data, uses age one-18 equivalent fish as a standard that is common in the 19 fish analysis industry.
20 This massive amount of fish are needlessly 21 being destroyed. Salem 1 and 2 is, also, in violation 22 of the Federal Clean Water Act, of the 1970s, which 23 requires the best technology available to protect 24 fisheries.
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37 1 technology, a closed loop system. Salem 1 and 2 is 2 the largest destroyer of aquatic life on the Delaware 3 River.
4 It has, and is still, destroying the 5 fishing industry along the Delaware River. To say 6 that Salem 1 and 2 is having no negative effect on the 7 Delaware River fishery is absurd, and outrageous.
8 I'd like to present, as evidence, a 9 Wilmington News Journal Article, dated January 14th, 10 2007, titled, "Cooling Systems Ravage River",
11 subtitled "Big Industrial Sites on the Delaware Kill 12 Tens of Billions of Fish in Crabs Each Year".
13 It is an excellent article about the fish 14 kill along the Delaware River. The EPA estimate of 15 350 age one-equivalent fish kill by Salem 1 and 2, 16 every year, is shown in this article. The facts show 17 the destruction Salem is causing.
18 The NRC needs to know that weakfish are so 19 few in numbers, now in the Delaware River, that the 20 fishing regulation is you can only legally catch one 21 weakfish a day, recreationally, fishing.
22 So the fisherman goes out, on his boat, is 23 only allowed to keep one weakfish, and that is it.
24 All that effort, trying to go fishing recreationally, 25 and that is all he can keep. The weakfish are low.
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38 1 I'd also like to present, as evidence, a 2 fish kill report by Dr. Desmond Kahn, of the Delaware 3 Department of Environmental Control, DENREC, on the 4 fish kill damage to the weakfish, and stripers, in the 5 Delaware River caused by Salem 1 and 2.
6 This is an excellent in-depth report. The 7 report states that Salem 1 and 2 killed more weakfish 8 in one year, than what was caught commercially, and 9 recreationally, in Delaware, in the same year.
10 It is an excellent report. Salem 1 and 11 2's outdate open loop cooling system is one giant 12 aquatic life death machine. It doesn't discriminate, 13 it kills all species, all ages.
14 Salem's effort to fix up a few acres of 15 wet does not even come close to compensate for the 16 years, decades of damage, to the fisheries caused by 17 Salem 1 and 2.
18 Salem 1 and 2 has destroyed, and is 19 continuing to destroy the fishing industry. It is not 20 right that Salem continues to needlessly destroy the 21 fishing industry, while commercial and recreational 22 fishermen suffer.
23 The water intake issue, the fish kill 24 issue, is relegated to be a state permit decision.
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39 1 intake.
2 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as part 3 of a permit renewal, considers environmental impacts.
4 As part of an overall environmental review, the NRC 5 comments on various aspects, the water intake fish 6 kill being one part.
7 For the NRC to say that Salem 1 and 2 8 drawing in over three billion gallons of water a day, 9 and killing over 350 million age one-equivalent fish 10 every year, is causing little harm to the fishery, is 11 totally wrong and unexcusable.
12 The NRC's environmental evaluation on the 13 fish needs to state the truth and the facts. Salem 1 14 and 2 draws in over three billion gallons of water a 15 day, Salem 1 and 2 kills 350 age one-equivalent fish 16 every year.
17 Salem 1 and 2 is the largest destroyer of 18 aquatic life in the Delaware River. Salem 1 and 2 19 has, and is, destroying the fishery and will continue 20 to destroy the fishery for another 20 years, if the 21 destructive open loop cooling systems are still used.
22 The NRC needs to recommend that the non-23 destructive closed loop cooling system be used at 24 Salem 1 and 2 to stop the fish kill, and protect the 25 fisheries and the fishing industry.
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40 1 The NRC needs to step up to the plate and 2 do the right thing. We, the Coalition to Protect the 3 Fisheries, are just trying to stop the needless and 4 senseless destruction of the fisheries.
5 If you want to create jobs build the 6 cooling towers, which would create hundreds of 7 construction jobs. Also the fish that are no longer 8 killed by Salem 1 and 2, will create hundreds of jobs 9 in commercial and recreational fishing.
10 The fishing docks at Salem should be 11 packed with fish, fishing boats, and there should be a 12 fishing industry, like there used to be. That is the 13 way Salem should be if you want to create jobs.
14 Another part of my comments pertains to 15 the actual Environmental Statement in the report, 16 there. There are the sentences, and I want to go 17 over, like, three of them that are part of the report, 18 that I need -- that I feel need to be discussed. And 19 I differ on my opinion, or my opinion differs from 20 what was said.
21 The first sentence, in the statement, 22 about the open loop cooling system, and the impact, is 23 "This analysis found that in the vicinity of Salem and 24 HGS, since 1978, when Salem began in operation, fin 25 fish richness has not changed, and species densities NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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41 1 has increased, PSEG 2006C". End of quote.
2 I disagree with that statement, strongly 3 disagree with it. I would like to present, to the 4 NRC, a report that states -- a fish kill report on 5 another facility, but I was a study done, from the 6 weakfish, from 1980 to 1990, the population declined 7 85 percent. In ten years it was 15 percent of the 8 population that it used to be.
9 The fish have declined, the weak fish has 10 declined. Also, the weakfish now are so low, that the 11 regulations for weakfish, in the Delaware River, is 12 you are only allowed to catch one fish, 13 recreationally.
14 And now I would like to provide some 15 information about that. And then also, too, in 16 another fish kill report that I have read, and I will 17 provide information. The stripers were so low, in the 18 1980s, that commercial stripe fishery industry was 19 banned for five years, from 1985 to 1990.
20 For five years no commercial stripe 21 fishing industry in the Delaware River. The 22 commercial stripe fishermen were put out of business.
23 But yet the nuclear plant continued to kill them 24 needlessly.
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42 1 and they have been for decades, is factually wrong.
2 And I will provide this information. And just because 3 PSEG cited it in a particular report, does not mean 4 that it is correct. And I will provide this 5 information on the fish kill, and the decline in the 6 fish population.
7 The second sentence, or the following 8 sentence: "Operation of Salem, during relicensing 9 period, likely would continue to contribute 10 substantially to cumulative impacts on aquatic 11 resources, in conjunction with HCGS, and other 12 facilities, that withdraw water from, or discharge to 13 the Delaware River".
14 This is a true statement. It will continue 15 to cause harm to the fishery, because of all the water 16 being withdrawn. And it is not just the Salem 17 facility. There are dozens of them, all along the 18 river, that draw in. Salem happens to be the one 19 single biggest.
20 But you must consider the cumulative 21 effect of all the facilities. So, you know, it 22 wouldn't be so bad if you only had one facility that 23 took a little bit of water, but you have many, and 24 Salem is the biggest. So that statement is true.
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43 1 contradicts what this one said. The next sentence, 2 "However, given long-term improvements in the 3 estuarine community, during the recent decades while 4 these facilities were operating, NRC expects 5 cumulative impacts expected to be limited, with 6 effects on individual species populations, potentially 7 ranging from negligible, to noticeable."
8 Well, the first part is wrong, because the 9 fish populations have declined. And the last part is 10 just saying, well, there is the fish kill, but it is 11 okay, don't worry about it, you know?
12 It is not okay, they are destroying the 13 fisheries. And this is the statement, and the 14 sentences that I want to critique. And, specifically, 15 I find incorrect.
16 So for the NRC to conclude that, oh, it is 17 okay, it is wrong, it is not okay. And I will provide 18 the data and the information that I was talking about, 19 previously.
20 The moral code we should live by is, if 21 something is causing harm, it should be stopped. The 22 open loop cooling system is causing great harm to the 23 fisheries, and should be stopped.
24 Salem knows they are causing great harm.
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44 1 you very much.
2 FACILITATOR RODRIGUEZ: Thank you for your 3 comments, Mr. Schneider. Are there any additional 4 comments that need to be addressed?
5 (No response.)
6 FACILITATOR RODRIGUEZ: I want to thank 7 everybody that provided comments. We understand that 8 you have taken lots of time to develop these 9 complaints. The staff will take them, they are being 10 recorded, they will review the comments.
11 And since this concludes the public 12 comment period, I'm going to turn it over to Bo Pham.
13 Thank you, sir.
14 MR. PHAM: Good evening. My name is Bo 15 Pham. Once again, I'm the Branch Chief, at the NRC, 16 that oversees this review for the license renewal of 17 Salem and Hope Creek facilities.
18 I just want to reiterate, again, we thank 19 you, everybody, for showing up tonight, and taking the 20 time to give us your comments. Where we will go next, 21 from here, is we will -- the staff will gather up the 22 comments from now until the end of the comment period, 23 which ends on December 17th.
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45 1 incorporate them into the document, or respond to them 2 appropriately.
3 So, once again, thank you very much for 4 your time and patience.
5 (Whereupon, at 8:10 p.m., the above-6 entitled matter was concluded.)
7 8
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