ML110840441
| ML110840441 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | South Texas  |
| Issue date: | 03/02/2011 |
| From: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | |
| References | |
| NRC-740 | |
| Download: ML110840441 (52) | |
Text
Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Title: South Texas Project Units 1 and 2 License Renewal
- Public Meeting - Afternoon Session Docket Number: (n/a)
Location: Bay City, Texas Date: Wednesday, March 2, 2011 Work Order No.: NRC-740 Pages 1-50 FORIGIAL 2
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 ENVIRONMENTAL SCOPING MEETING 5 FOR THE SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT 6 UNITS 1 AND 2 LICENSE RENEWAL 7 PROCESS 8
9 Wednesday, March 2, 2011 10 11 Auditorium 12 201 7th Street 13 Bay City, Texas 14 1:30 p.m.
15 NRC STAFF:
16 SUSAN SALTER 17 ALISON RIVERA 18 TAM TRAN 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 1P R 0 C E E D I NG S 2 MS. SALTER: Good afternoon. Welcome to 3 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's public meeting.
4 My name is Susan Salter, and I'm with the NRC, and I'm 5 going to be your facilitator this afternoon, and 6 Alison Rivera is co-facilitating with me. If you have 7 any questions or issues during the evening, please 8 don't hesitate to come up and ask us if you need 9 assistance or help.
10 The purpose for tonight's meeting is to 11 discuss the license renewal process and the 12 environmental evaluation for the South Texas Project 13 Units 1 and 2 license renewal application review. And 14 the agenda for our meeting this afternoon and this 15 evening, if you're sticking around, we're going to 16 start with a presentation by the NRC staff talking 17 about the license renewal process, the environmental 18 evaluation, the process for making comments, what 19 happens after this and the process moving forward.
20 After that we'll have quick time for some 21 questions and answers on the process, and during that 22 time I'll come out with a mobile microphone and come 23 to you the best I can, and you might have to come out 24 into the aisle, so that you can ask any questions you 25 have on what you've heard from the NRC staff tonight NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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3 1 on the process.
2 And following that we will begin the 3 comment period, and that's when we hear from you. So 4 during that time we don't really engage in a back-and-5 forth; we just give you an opportunity to come up and 6 tell the NRC what you think we should be considering 7 as we move forward with the evaluation, the 8 environmental evaluation. During that time you will 9 come up to the podium to make your comments, and I 10 will announce the next three speakers so you'll always 11 know, when you're in the queue, to be on deck.
12 And housekeeping-wise, the restrooms are 13 on either side. If you go out these front doors, you 14 can go to the right or to the left, and there are 15 restrooms. And again, I'll let you know when the next 16 three speakers so that you won't miss out if you need 17 to leave the auditorium.
18 Finally, if you have cell phones or 19 electronic devices, we ask that you put them on stun 20 or vibrate, because we are transcribing the meeting, 21 and we have Leslie Berridge right over here who will 22 be transcribing the meeting, and we want her to get a 23 clear transcript. So we ask that if you need to take 24 a call -- we certainly understand that, but we ask 25 that you exit out into the lobby area to do that, and NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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4 1 that you also keep side conversations or sidebar 2 conversations down to a minimum because, again, it 3 will interfere with our ability to get a nice clean 4 transcript.
5 If you want to make a comment, you do need 6 to fill out a yellow card. If you haven't done that 7 already, please feel free to go in the back and fill 8 out the card and you can bring up to either myself or 9 Alison and we will add you to the list. But we really 10 need for anyone who is going to speak to fill out the 11 card so we can call you to come up to the podium so 12 that we can clearly hear what your comment is and get 13 it in the transcript.
14 When you make your comment or when you ask 15 your question, we ask that you introduce yourself by 16 stating your name and any affiliation, if you have 17 any, so please remember to start any comment or 18 question in that way. Again, then we can identify in 19 our transcript who was speaking and made the comments.
20 So I think I've covered everything. Any 21 questions on the agenda for this afternoon? We will 22 be here again this evening. I would just like to 23 remind you if you are staying for the evening, I will 24 need you to fill out another yellow card this evening 25 so you know that you want to make another comment.
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5 1 So with that, I am going to turn it over 2 to Tam Tran, the project manager for the South Texas 3 Project license renewal.
4 MR. TRAN: Thank you. Good afternoon. My 5 name is Tam Tran. I'm one of the two project managers 6 for the NRC's Division of License Renewal associated 7 with the South Texas Project license renewal. The 8 other project manager's name is John Daily. He's not 9 here today but you will have a chance to meet with him 10 at a later date. Thank you for taking the time to 11 come out to help us with this public meeting, to 12 provide your comments. We value your comments.
13 Today will provide an overview of the 14 license renewal review process which includes both a 15 safety review and an environmental review. We will 16 also describe in more detail the environmental review 17 process associated with license renewal for the South 18 Texas Project, but the most important piece of today's 19 meeting is to receive any comment that you may have on 20 the scoping of the environmental review. We will also 21 give you some information about how you can submit 22 comments outside of this meeting.
23 I hope the information we provide will 24 help you to understand the license renewal review 25 process, and the role that you can play in helping us NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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6 1 make sure that our environmental review considers the 2 relevant information that it should.
3 Before I get into the discussion of the 4 license renewal process, I'd like to briefly talk 5 about the NRC in terms of what we do and our mission.
6 The NRC is a federal agency established by 7 the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 that regulates 8 the civilian use of nuclear material in the commercial 9 sense. The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 authorized the 10 NRC to grant a 40-year operating license for nuclear 11 power reactors. This 40-year term was based primarily 12 on economic considerations and anti-trust factors, not 13 on safety or technical limitations. The Atomic Energy 14 Act also allows for license renewal.
15 The National Environmental Policy Act of 16 1969 established the national policy for considering 17 the impact of federal decisions on the human 18 environment. As a matter of policy, the Commission 19 determined that reactor license renewal constitutes a 20 major federal action for which an environmental impact 21 statement is warranted.
22 In exercising its regulatory authority, 23 the NRC mission is threefold: to ensure adequate 24 protection of the public health and safety, to promote 25 the common defense and security of the nation, and to NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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7 1 protect the environment.
2 The NRC accomplishes its mission through 3 a combination of regulatory programs and processes, 4 such as establishing rules and regulations, conducting 5 inspections, issuing enforcement action, assessing 6 licensee performance, and evaluating operating 7 experience from nuclear plants across the country and 8 internationally. The NRC has resident inspectors at 9 all operating nuclear power plants. These inspectors 10 are considered the eyes and ears for the agency. They 11 carry out our safety mission on a daily basis and are 12 on the front lines of ensuring acceptable safety 13 performance and compliance with regulatory 14 requirements for the plant.
15 Now turning to the South Texas Project.
16 Units 1 and 2 were licensed to operate in 1988 and 17 1989, respectively. The current operating licenses 18 expire on August 20, 2027 and December 15, 2028. STP 19 Nuclear Operating Company filed an application for 20 license renewal of the South Texas Project with a 21 letter dated October 25, 2010.
22 A license renewal application is required 23 to contain certain sets of information:
24 General information such as the 25 applicant's name and address, business and NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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8 1 administrative information; Technical information 2 which pertains to aging management. This information 3 is the focus of the safety review.
4 The application also includes an 5 environmental report which is the applicant's 6 assessment of the environmental impacts of continued 7 operation. This information serves as the starting 8 point for the staff to review the environmental aspect 9 of the license renewal for the South Texas Project.
10 License renewal involves two parallel 11 reviews: the safety review and the environmental 12 review. These two reviews evaluate separate aspects 13 of the license renewal application.
14 The safety review focuses on aging effects 15 of passive and long lived components and structures 16 that the NRC deems important to the plant safety. The 17 staff's main objective in this review is to determine 18 whether the effects of aging will be adequately 19 managed by the applicant. The review also considers 20 generic and site-specific operating experience related 21 to managing the effects of aging. The results of the 22 safety review are documented in a safety evaluation 23 report, the so-called SER -- that's the acronym of it.
24 For the environmental review, the staff 25 considers, evaluates and discloses the environmental NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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9 1 impacts of continuing to operate the plant for an 2 additional 20 years. The staff also evaluates the 3 environmental impacts of alternatives to license 4 renewal. The objective of the review is to determine 5 if the environmental impact of license renewal are so 6 great that license renewal would not be a reasonable 7 option or, more plainly, is license renewal acceptable 8 from an environmental standpoint. The staff prepares 9 an environmental impact statement to document its 10 environmental review.
11 I would like to mention a few aspects of 12 NRC oversight that routinely come up during 13 interaction with members of the public. NRC staff 14 address these areas of performance every day as part 15 of the ongoing regulatory oversight provided for all 16 currently operating reactors. They include emergency 17 planning, security, and current safety performance as 18 defined by NRC inspection findings, violations or 19 general assessments of the plant performance.
20 For specific information on this review of 21 the South Texas Project you can use the link listed on 22 this slide. This is also listed on the handout that 23 you can pick up at the table when you came in or going 24 out.
25 The NRC monitors and provides regulatory NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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10 1 oversight of activity in this area on an ongoing basis 2 under the current operating license. Thus, we do not 3 reevaluate them in license renewal. That's not to day 4 that they are not important; we just do not duplicate 5 the regulatory process in these areas for license 6 renewal.
7 This diagram illustrates the safety and 8 environmental review processes. It also features two 9 other considerations in the Commission's decision of 10 whether or not to renew an operating license.
11 One of these considerations is the 12 independent review performed by the Advisory Committee 13 on Reactor Safeguards. Mandated by the Atomic Energy 14 Act of 1954, the ACRS is a group of scientists and 15 nuclear safety experts who serve as a consulting body 16 to the Commission. The ACRS reviews the license 17 renewal application and the NRC's safety evaluation 18 report. The ACRS reports their findings and 19 recommendations directly to the Commission.
20 Hearings may also be conducted.
21 Interested stakeholders may submit concerns or 22 contentions and request a hearing. A panel from the 23 Atomic Safety Licensing Board will be established to 24 review the contentions for admissibility. If a 25 hearing is approved, the Commission would consider the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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11 1 outcome of the hearing process in its decision of 2 whether or not to issue a renewed operating license.
3 Next I'm going to describe the license 4 renewal process with more detail.
5 The regulations governing license renewal 6 has two guiding principles which are based on the 7 concept of licensing basis. Licensing basis consists 8 of a wide range of design and operational requirements 9 and conditions that must be met for a plant to comply 10 with the operating license. This serves as the basis 11 upon which the NRC licenses a plant. To continue to 12 operate, a plant must conform with its licensing 13 basis.
14 The first principle is that the current 15 regulatory process is adequate to ensure that the 16 licensing basis of all operating plants provides and 17 maintains an acceptable level of safety.
18 The second principle is that the current 19 plant-specific licensing basis must be maintained 20 during the renewal term in the same manner and to the 21 same extend as during the original license term. In 22 other words, the same rules that apply under the 23 current license will apply in the renewal term.
24 In addition, a renewed license will 25 include conditions that must be met ensuring aging of NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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12 1 structures and components important to the safety are 2 adequately managed so that the plant's current 3 licensing basis is maintained during the period of 4 extended operation.
5 For safety, the staff performs multi-6 levels review. First, the staff reviews the license 7 renewal application and supporting documentation.
8 This review includes an evaluation of new and existing 9 programs and surveillance activity to determine, with 10 reasonable assurance, that effects of aging of certain 11 plant structures and components will be adequately 12 managed or monitored.
13 Second, the staff performance site audits 14 to verify the technical basis of the license renewal 15 application and to confirm that the applicant's aging 16 management programs and activities conform with how 17 they are described in the application. The staff 18 documents the basis and conclusions of its review in 19 the safety evaluation report which is publicly 20 available.
21 In addition, a team of specialized 22 inspectors from NRC Region IV travel to the reactor 23 site to verify that aging management programs are 24 being implemented, modified or planned consistent with 25 the license renewal application.
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13 1 Finally, as I have mentioned, the Advisory 2 Committee on Reactor Safeguards performs an 3 independent review of the license renewal application 4 and the staff's safety evaluation report and makes a 5 recommendation to the Commission regarding the 6 proposed action to issue a renewed operating license.
7 For the environmental review, the staff 8 will perform an environmental review in accordance 9 with the NEPA Act of 1969. NEPA provides the basic 10 architecture for federal environmental review 11 requirements. It requires that all federal agencies 12 follow a systematic approach in evaluating potential 13 impacts associated with major federal actions and 14 alternatives to those actions. By law, the NEPA 15 process involves public participation and public 16 involvement, and the same thing with public 17 disclosure.
18 The NRC's environmental regulations, 19 contained in 10 CFR Part 51, are largely based on 20 other implementing regulations for NEPA.
21 Our environmental reviews consider the 22 impact of the license renewal and any mitigation for 23 those impacts we consider to be significant. We also 24 consider the impacts of alternatives to the license 25 renewal, including the impacts of not issuing a NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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14 1 renewed license. The staff documents its 2 environmental review in an environmental impacts 3 statement.
4 I will now discuss the environmental 5 scoping process in more detail.
6 For a license renewal review, the NRC 7 looks at a wide range of environmental impacts as a 8 part of preparing the EIS. In conducting our 9 environmental review, we consult with various federal, 10 state and local officials, as well as leaders of 11 Native American Nations, and gather pertinent 12 information from these sources to ensure it is 13 considered in our analysis.
14 As illustrated on this slide about 15 consulting agencies, examples include: U.S. Fish and 16 Wildlife Service, EPA, state historical preservation 17 officer, and so on.
18 The environmental review begins with a 19 scoping process. The purpose of the scoping process 20 is to identify significant issues that should be 21 considered in the environmental review. We are now 22 gathering information that we will use to prepare the 23 environmental impact statement for the license 24 renewal. As part of that process, we are here to 25 collect your comments on the scope of the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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15 1 environmental review -- that is, the environmental 2 impacts that the staff should consider.
3 The staff has developed a generic 4 environmental impact statement that addressed a number 5 of issues common to all nuclear power plants. The 6 staff is supplementing that generic EIS with a site-7 specific EIS in which we will address issues that are 8 specific to the South Texas Project. The staff also 9 re-examines the conclusions reached in that generic 10 EIS to determine if there is any new and significant 11 information that would change those conditions.
12 The scoping period started on January 31, 13 2011 when a notice of intent to prepare an EIS and 14 conduct scoping was published. The NRC will be 15 accepting comments on the scope of the environmental 16 review until April 1, 2011.
17 In general, we are looking for information 18 about environmental impacts from the continued 19 operation of the South Texas Project during the period 20 of extended operation. You can assist us in that 21 process by telling us, for example, what aspects of 22 your local community we should focus on, what local 23 environmental, social and economic issues the NRC 24 staff should examine during the environmental review, 25 and what reasonable alternatives are most appropriate NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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16 1 for your local region.
2 These are just some examples of the input 3 that we are looking for and they represent the kinds 4 of information we are seeking through the 5 environmental scoping period. Your comments today 6 would be helpful in providing insight of this nature 7 for the environmental analysis.
8 This slide illustrates the NRC's various 9 considerations for deciding if a renewed operating 10 license will be issued. It's a rigorous review, 11 involving the safety evaluation report, regional 12 inspections, and so on.
13 Also, as indicated on this slide, public 14 comments are an important aspect of the environmental 15 review process. We consider all the comments that we 16 receive from the public during the scoping process and 17 as a part of preparing the environmental impact 18 statement.
19 In addition to providing comments at 20 today's meeting, there are other ways that you can 21 submit comments for our environmental review. You can 22 provide written comments by mail to the NRC Chief of 23 Rules and Directives Branch at the address provided 24 here which are listed also on your handouts that you 25 can pick up. Or you can send your comments NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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17 1 electronically by going to regulations.gov as 2 indicated on the slide. That's the website that we 3 use for electronic means.
4 You can also make comments in person if 5 you happen to be in Rockville, Maryland. If you 6 choose to do so, pleas contact me in advance so that 7 I can make arrangements.
8 Comments should be submitted by April 1, 9 2011.
10 This slide shows important milestones that 11 the environmental review process will follow. The 12 opportunity to submit contentions for a hearing closes 13 on March 14, 2011. And if you have comments you would 14 like to submit outside of today's meeting, you have 15 until April 1, 2011 to do so. Please note that we 16 plan to issue a draft supplemental environmental 17 impact statement for public comment by March 2012.
18 While this slide lists milestones for 19 environmental review and opportunities for public 20 involvement, the safety review will also be performed 21 in accordance with the schedule listed on the NRC 22 website on the next slide.
23 This slide identifies the primary points 24 of contact within the NRC for license renewal of the 25 South Texas Project, mainly for environmental review.
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18 1 Project managers are Tam Tran and the other person is 2 John Daily is a safety project manager who is not here 3 today.
4 It also identifies where documents related 5 to our review may be found in the local areas. The 6 Bay City Public Library has agreed to make the license 7 renewal application available for public. When it is 8 published for comment, the draft supplemental 9 environmental impact statement will also be available 10 at this library. In addition, these documents will be 11 on the NRC website at the web address shown at the 12 bottom of this slide.
13 As you came in, you were asked to fill out 14 a registration card at our reception table there. If 15 you have included your address on that card, we will 16 mail a copy of the draft and the final EIS to you for 17 your information.
18 This concludes my presentation and I will 19 turn it over to the facilitator.
20 MS. SALTER: Thank you, Tam.
21 So now we're going to take just a few 22 minutes to see if you have any questions on any of the 23 information that Tam presented on the process for the 24 license renewal or the evaluation, the environmental 25 evaluation. So if you have a question, just raise NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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19 1 your hand. And we ask that you don't make comments 2 during this time and hold your comments till the 3 comment period, but if you have questions on process, 4 we're happy to entertain those right now, and remember 5 to state your name and if you have an affiliation.
6 MR. VANCE: Yes. Hello. My name is 7 Timothy Vance and I'm an associate of LaRouche Pac.
8 Just on this question of environmental 9 reviews and the impact, is it for the specific 10 locality of the site of the plant itself or does it 11 take into consideration a region or the environment of 12 the nation as a whole, or is it specifically just the 13 acreage on which the site rests?
14 MS. SALTER: Okay. Bo, did you want to 15 talk about that?
16 MR. PHAM: My name is Bo Pham. I'm the 17 branch chief at headquarters for this review.
18 We do look primarily at the environmental 19 impact of the plant operating for another 20 years, 20 however, as part of our environmental impact statement 21 we do consider what we call cumulative effects, 22 cumulative impacts, so that includes anything else 23 that's happening and not just at the actual plant 24 itself. That's just the intent of the NEPA law was 25 that in looking at the action you don't blind NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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20 1 yourself from everything else that's happening around 2 you.
3 So I hope that answers your question.
4 MS. SALTER: Anyone else? Going once, 5 twice.
6 (No response.)
7 MS. SALTER: Okay. So what we're going to 8 do now is we're going to go into the comment period.
9 And what I want to remind everyone is to keep side 10 conversations down. We're going to hear lots of 11 comments from everyone that signed up. If you want to 12 sign up still, you can go in the back and fill out a 13 card.
14 In the interest of time and to be 15 respectful of your time, we want to end the meeting as 16 close to posted time as possible, so I would ask 17 everyone to be concise in making their comments and 18 try to keep it between three and five minutes, and if 19 we're able to d that, then we should be able to close 20 the meeting on time. And five minutes really should 21 be enough to make the comment, to summarize your 22 comments. If you want to have more detailed comments, 23 you're welcome to provide those in writing and we can 24 accept those written comments tonight or you can send 25 them in as Tam explained. We also have information on NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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21 1 the back table, I want to remind folks, as well.
2 So if we can keep to three to five 3 minutes, I think we'll be good. I know it's difficult 4 when you get up here and you start commenting and very 5 passionate about what you want to say, and there's no 6 clock in this room so I will try to give you some non-7 verbal reminders if you've really exceeded your time, 8 and if you really are exceeding it, then I will have 9 to probably just ask you to wrap it up, and please 10 don't be offended by that. The purpose is to make 11 sure that we have enough time to hear from everyone.
12 So what we're going to do is we have some 13 elected officials or representatives of those 14 officials in the audience, so we wanted to give them 15 an opportunity to make their comments first.
16 So we're going to start with the Matagorda 17 County Judge Nate McDonald, and if you can come up to 18 the podium, that would be great. Again, remember to 19 introduce yourself before making your comment.
20 JUDGE McDONALD: I think I'll just turn it 21 up and speak loudly enough. Can you all hear me 22 fairly well?
23 My name is Nate McDonald. I'm the 24 Matagorda County judge.
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22 1 judicial privilege and, frankly, read an offering here 2 from someone who ranks quite higher than I do. We 3 have Janet Rizzo here today from Representative Randy 4 Weber's office, and she's his chief of staff from 5 Brazoria County. The good representative, of course, 6 is working very hard for us in Austin today and is not 7 able to be here with us, so to that end, he's sent a 8 letter via Ms. Rizzo, who is a bit under the weather, 9 and she asked if I wouldn't mind reading this into the 10 record. So I hope you all won't mind if I do that at 12 this time.
12 It's addressed to Cindy Bladey, and it 13 reads:
14 "
Dear Ms. Bladey:
15 "I am writing to strongly support the 16 license renewal for an additional 20 years of Units 2 17 and 2 at the South Texas Project Nuclear Operating 18 Company in Matagorda County.
19 "STP is the largest employer in Matagorda 20 County with more than 1,200 employees and for 30 years 21 has been a key part of the county and local 22 communities. The company's employees are active in 23 the local community, serving on school boards, 24 chambers and in civic and service organizations.
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23 1 have supplied safe, clean and reliable energy to more 2 than 2 million Texas homes while also providing 3 permanent, well-paying jobs. The facility is a 4 recognized industry leader in production, reliability 5 and safety, as well as being focused and committed to 6 the safety of its employees and the surrounding 7 communities.
8 "I believe nuclear energy plays an 9 important role in the long-term energy future of 10 Texas. There is a growing recognition of nuclear 11 energy's environmental benefits and its role in 12 providing much-needed generating capacity in our state 13 for many years to come.
14 "I strongly support the license renewal 15 for Unites 1 and 2 at STP and urge the Nuclear 16 Regulatory Commission's favorable consideration.
17 "Please know that I and may staff stand 18 ready to assist in any way possible.
19 "Sincerely, Randy K. Weber, State 20 Representative, District 29, State of Texas."
21 I'd like to tender this for Representative 22 Weber, and thank you for allowing me to speak on his 23 behalf.
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24 1 within the five-minute rule.
2 First off, I want to thank the Nuclear 3 Regulatory Commission for hosting this gathering for 4 us today. As you all know, and I support as a member 5 of the judiciary, this is a very, very important venue 6 that we're engaged in today, the right to free speech 7 and the right to be heard, and I thank you all for 8 protecting that and enabling it. So let me just go on 9 record as being a big fan of the Nuclear Regulatory 10 Commission and your good works. Thank you for that.
11 With regards to Units 1 and 2, the culture 12 of excellence that these gentlemen and women have 13 brought forth here at STP Nuclear Operating Company is 14 unparalleled in America, it's well recognized in the 15 industry but also outside the industry now. And we 16 have an opportunity today here, ladies and gentlemen, 17 to move this agenda forward for another 20 years.
18 It's to the benefit of Matagorda County, the State of 19 Texas and all the nation to have folks that do 20 business in this manner continue to do business for 21 just as long as they're viable and willing to do that 22 type of business.
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25 1 place safety above profit, they've gone down that path 2 many, many times, and they continue on that path every 3 day. That's the way they conduct themselves. And I 4 can tell you, as the county's top official, it's very, 5 very gratifying to have a company such as this who 6 does place safety of its employees and its citizenry 7 over profits. That's a very, very rare thing in the 8 corporate world, ladies and gentlemen, but it goes on 9 right here in Matagorda County every day.
10 So, NRC, I thank you again for hosting us.
11 I'd ask, as Representative Weber did, that you would 12 give strong consideration to this renewal. This is 13 one that you won't ever have to back away from. These 14 ladies and gentlemen are committed to excellence and 15 they're going to do a very, very good job for another 16 20 years should you decide to grant this renewal.
17 Thank you very, very much.
18 MS. SALTER: Thank you, Judge McDonald.
19 Our next speaker is Bay City Mayor Mark 20 Bricker.
21 MAYOR BRICKER: Thank you. As mayor, I do 22 not have the luxury to speak from personal opinions or 23 beliefs. My priority, alone, is the City of Bay City.
24 All the questions that I have evolve from the impacts 25 to the city environment, jobs and finances.
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26 1 With that being stated, STP makes it 2 obvious. STP is the largest employer to the county, 3 their employees stay active in numerous organizations, 4 and many serve as elected officials. They have a very 5 high importance to safety as well as the environment.
6 Their employees set the standard for their industry.
7 Just last October, STP was named one of America's 8 safest companies, the first nuclear facility to ever 9 be honored with that award.
10 In 2008, STP started its educational 11 incentive program as part of its workforce development 12 efforts. It represents a $4.2 million investment that 13 provides great opportunities for well-paying jobs in 14 this community. For over 20 years the facility has 15 produced safe, reliable energy to the citizens of 16 Texas, and for the past seven consecutive years, STP 17 has produced more electricity than any other two-unit 18 nuclear plant in the country.
19 The license extension of STP will continue 20 to provide jobs and economic benefits to our local 21 community. STP is and will continue to be a proud 22 staple of our community, and I am pleased to support 23 the license extension of STP of Units 1 and 2 for an 24 additional 20 years.
25 Thank you.
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27 1 MS. SALTER: Thank you, Mayor Bricker.
2 Our next speaker will be Dianna Kile from 3 Congressman Paul's office.
4 MS. KILE: Good afternoon. On behalf of 5 Congressman Paul, I am pleased to endorse the proposed 6 license extension of the South Texas Project.
7 The South Texas Project has been an 8 integral part of the 14th Congressional District and 9 the Matagorda County community for more than 20 years, 10 producing clean, safe and reliable electricity to 2 11 million Texans.
12 At this time, Texas is the second largest 13 state in the country, with more than 25 million 14 residents. Along with this growth, the demand for 15 electricity has increased. With the challenges of 16 climate change, Congressman Paul believes that nuclear 17 energy must play a role in our state's energy future 18 for decades to come.
19 Congressman Paul believes that nuclear 20 generation has significant environmental advantages.
21 Electricity from nuclear is carbon-free, producing no 22 greenhouse gases. And on behalf of Congressman Paul, 23 we fully support the license extension of STP Units 1 24 and 2 for an additional 20 years.
25 Thank you for giving us this opportunity.
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28 1 MS. SALTER: Thank you, Ms. Kile.
2 Our next speaker is Ed Halpin, president 3 and CEO of STP, who will be followed by Carolyn 4 Thames, Don Booth, and Cheryl Stewart.
5 MR. HALPIN: Good afternoon, everyone, and 6 thank you very much for being here this afternoon.
7 Again, my name is Ed Halpin. I'm the president and 8 chief executive officer of STP Nuclear Operating 9 Company.
10 And I wanted to thank, as well, the 11 Nuclear Regulatory Commission for what you do. You do 12 your job which is to provide the right oversight, and 13 this is a part of the process. It's a part of the 14 process of providing really independence and input 15 from the public which is essential to the decision-16 making process. So thank you very much.
17 Let me mention that we recognize, as the 18 operating company, that we have a very special trust 19 that you have given us, and that's the trust of 20 putting safety first, so you have our commitment.
21 We've done that for 20-plus years and you have my 22 personal commitment that we'll continue to do so in 23 the future, putting safety first.
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29 1 today, the local, state and federal leadership. We 2 appreciate what you do for STP, it's been outstanding.
3 Residents, we have a very special 4 relationship. It's one that's gone on for almost 5 three decades, past three decades, and it's one where 6 you have provided your support through thick and thin, 7 and we thank you for that.
8 Our employees try to contribute and try to 9 continue to do what they can to improve life within 10 this community by serving, as the judge said, on 11 various board and providing leadership positions, and 12 we're thankful that you give us that opportunity.
13 I'll mention as well, some have asked me 14 in the back: Why so early on this licensing process?
15 There are many, many reasons for why we're doing this 16 now. One is predictability and stability. I would 17 just mention the fact that Texas has got over 25 18 million people as a part of it, every day it grows by 19 a thousand-plus, so from an energy 20 stability/predictability standpoint, it is essential 21 that we have it when it comes to electricity. And one 22 only has to look at some of the blackouts that 23 occurred in February and then look really towards the 24 Middle East to appreciate stability.
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30 1 predictable and we've been safe. When you take a look 2 at our track record, really over the last 20 years, 3 and more specifically over the last seven years, STP 4 Units 1 and 2 have led the nation in total generation 5 of electricity of any two-unit plant. And I'll point 6 out that we've led the world for the last five years 7 in total generation of any two-unit plant or 8 equivalent, throughout the world, and STP Units 1 and 9 2 are not the largest.
10 We also, from a cost standpoint, actually 11 have had some performance that's been outstanding for 12 the last 20 years, but last year in 2010 we were the 13 fourth lowest producer in the nation, and all of this 14 is with putting safety first. It is all because we 15 have outstanding employees who do the right things 16 constantly from a human performance standpoint, it's 17 because we've invested in our equipment reliability, 18 and as well, it's because we do put safety first.
19 And finally, we couldn't do this without 20 the support of this community which has been topnotch.
21 So again, we thank you for that support, you have our 22 commitment, and we appreciate you. Thank you.
23 MS. SALTER: Thank you, Mr. Halpin.
24 So next we have Carolyn Thames, followed 25 by Don Booth, Cheryl Stewart, and then David Dunham.
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31 1 MS. THAMES: Good afternoon. My name is 2 Carolyn Thames. I'm a City of Bay City council member 3 representing Position 5 which is a citywide elected 4 position.
5 I want to thank you for coming to Bay City 6 and for your help in this process. The Nuclear 7 Regulatory Commission's work here today will ensure 8 our continued safety here in Matagorda County. You're 9 here today to see if the current two units are running 10 safely and continue to provide power for Texas for an 11 additional number of years.
12 I have worked closely with our South Texas 13 Project Nuclear Operating Company in my position with 14 Workforce Solutions which is Texas Workforce 15 Commission's local agency. My position with the 16 employer services division allows me to work one-on-17 one with local companies. It also allows me to 18 observe the way employers test and choose the future 19 workforce here in Matagorda County.
20 The process that the NRC and STP use to 21 pick future employees is impressive. Background 22 checks for any employee, very thorough. In fact, my 23 daughter interned with STP for her senior year in 24 college; her interview process was very detailed just 25 to be a temporary summer help.
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32 1 I want to share with you my perception of 2 the operation of the South Texas Project Nuclear 3 Operating Company. I work with, worship with and know 4 the employees of this nuclear plant. I trust their 5 work and their judgment in running one of the best 6 nuclear plants in the United States. I wasn't born 7 here; my family chose to live and work here. Our 8 nuclear plant has operated here safely for over 25 9 years and we feel very safe with STP providing 10 reliable power to our state.
11 During the record low temperatures when 12 there were problems in Texas with other sources of 13 power, our local plant didn't have any problems 14 keeping the power generating for Texans.
15 The culture of continuing improvement for 16 all aspects of power generation overflows in the 17 community. STP's contributions to our local 18 charities, our chambers of commerce and civic groups 19 provide the commitment to our future and our joint 20 success. They give both time and money to make sure 21 Matagorda County is the best in all of Texas.
22 I support your efforts and the efforts of 23 STP in extending the operation license for both Units 24 1 and 2.
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33 1 Matagorda County and your efforts in keeping us safe.
2 Any further information you would like for me to 3 provide you, as an elected representative of the 4 citizens of Bay City, please feel free to contact me.
5 Thank you.
6 MS. SALTER: Thank you, Ms. Thames.
7 Our next speaker is Don Booth so I call 8 him to come up. And then he will be followed by 9 Cheryl Stewart, David Dunham and Owen Bludau. Hope I 10 said that right.
11 MR. BOOTH: Good afternoon. I'm Don 12 Booth. I'm the director of organizing and marketing 13 for Pipefitters Local 211, and from 1984 to 1989 I was 14 a worker on STP Units 1 and 2. I was a pipefitter for 15 Ebasco, I was a foreman and a general foreman. I know 16 the pride we built those units with and the safety we 17 built into them, and I know the seriousness that STP 18 has taken with its environmental impact.
19 And as a representative of Pipefitters 20 Local 211 of 3,000 members, many of which live in the 21 surrounding communities, we strongly support the 22 renewal of Units 1 and 2. Thank you.
23 MS. SALTER: Thank you, Mr. Booth.
24 I know invite Cheryl Stewart up to the 25 podium. And Ms. Stewart will be followed by David NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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34 1 Dunham, Owen Bludau and Kesha Rogers.
2 MS. STEWART: My name is Cheryl Stewart, 3 and I'm on the Bay City Community Development 4 Corporation Board and also the Historic Commission, 5 and I'm here today to inform you of the many ways that 6 I have personally seen STP impact our community in a 7 positive way.
8 STP contributed $100,000 to the Center for 9 Energy Development and currently provides staffing to 10 train our community's young adults. STP employees 11 have been strong leaders in our strategic planning for 12 the future of this community with our Bay City 13 Matagorda United Plan. STP employees have also 14 invested in the renovation of our historic downtown 15 district and its beautification efforts. I have also 16 served with STP employees on various community boards 17 and have witnessed firsthand their dedication, their 18 desire to be good neighbors, and their commitment to 19 our community.
20 I am sure that our community would 21 experience a huge loss without the involvement and 22 support of STP. They have set the bar for what a good 23 corporate partner should be, and I fully support the 24 license renewal of Units 1 and 2 for an additional 20 25 years. Thank you.
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35 1 MS. RIVERA: Thank you, Ms. Stewart.
2 Next we'll have David Dunham, followed by 3 Owen Bludau, Kesha Rogers and James Lovett.
4 MR. DUNHAM: I'm David Dunham. I'm here 5 as a citizen of Matagorda County, and to paraphrase a 6 sometimes popular politician, I can see STP from my 7 backyard.
8 My family and I chose to move here to 9 Matagorda County a few years ago and we had the 10 opportunity to do a lot of research on STP's history 11 because it's a long one and it's out there. In our 12 research it showed STP to have an operating history 13 second to none in the industry, so we had no serious 14 concerns about safety in moving here.
15 Since living and working here for a number 16 of years, that commitment of the owners and the 17 operators of STP to safe operation has been confirmed 18 firsthand. In addition, STP's commitment to community 19 support is without peer, both financially and in terms 20 of volunteerism.
21 But I'm really here to speak for a 22 constituency that has little or no public voice in 23 these matters because they're in class today, working 24 hard to ensure their place in the future of our 25 community. The importance of STP to that future can't NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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36 1 be overemphasized. My employer is an educational 2 partner with STP and their contribution to the future 3 of our community through support of education is 4 unprecedented in my 20 years of higher education 5 experience.
6 In my opinion, for the NRC a look at the 7 record of positives associated with the safe operation 8 of the South Texas Project, through its long 9 established operating history, should be the greatest 10 supporting factor in consideration of the extension of 11 their operating license. Thank you.
12 MS. RIVERA: Thank you, Mr. Dunham.
13 Next we'll have Owen Bludau, Kesha Rogers 14 and James Lovett, followed by D.C. Dunham.
15 MR. BLUDAU: Good afternoon. I'm Owen 16 Bludau, executive director of the Matagorda County 17 Economic Development Corporation.
18 On behalf of the Matagorda County Economic 19 Development Corporation, I want to say that we 20 strongly support the renewal of the license for 21 operations of the South Texas Project Nuclear 22 Operating Company for Units 1 and 2.
23 STP personifies the best type of economic 24 development project that a community could want. It's 25 created a large number of jobs that have been filled NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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37 1 with highly educated and highly skilled workers. It 2 pays wages far above the county average. It's greatly 3 enhanced the tax base of Matagorda County and to the 4 taxing entities in whose location it is situation. It 5 makes significant annual financial contributions to 6 civic, educational and promotional programs 7 benefitting all of the county. It has created and 8 funded a major grow-your-own technical education 9 program, providing good career opportunities for all 10 of our local youth. Its employee and their families 11 are extensively involved in all aspects of our 12 community and political life, and by so doing, they 13 make Matagorda County a much better place in which to 14 live for all the rest of us.
15 STP's focus on emergency management 16 planning and training have greatly enhanced the 17 preparations of our emergency responders to address 18 other types of natural disasters such as hurricanes, 19 tornadoes, pipeline explosions, floods, et cetera. We 20 are much better prepared to address such situations as 21 a result of participating with STP Units 1 and 2 in 22 their emergency preparedness plans and training.
23 As you are aware, STP is seeking a 24 construction and operating permit for proposed Units 25 3 and 4. Matagorda County wholeheartedly supports NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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38 1 this expansion. We would not be so wholeheartedly 2 behind the expansion if Units 1 and 2 did not have 3 such an outstanding and performance record. The 4 uncertainty factor that was here before Units 1 and 2 5 began operations have been replaced with wholehearted 6 support by proven performance, management and 7 operations.
8 Matagorda County is pro-nuclear. We fully 9 expect that an extension of the operating permit for 10 Units 1 and 2 will continue STP's outstanding 11 performance, reliability and reputation.
12 Last week I received my copy of the final 13 EIS statement for Units 3 and 4. It was thoroughly 14 done, very comprehensive. I read many sections of it, 15 and I know that the EIS for Units 1 and 2 renewal will 16 be as thorough and as complete.
17 On behalf of the MCEDC, Matagorda County 18 Economic Development Corporation, I strongly support 19 the expansion of the permit for Operating Units 1 and 20 2. Thank you.
21 MS. RIVERA: Thank you, Mr. Bludau.
22 As Kesha Rogers is approaching, I'd just 23 like to remind you if anyone else would like to make 24 a comment to please fill out a yellow card and bring 25 it up to Susan or I. And Ms. Rogers will be followed NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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39 1 by James Lovett, D.C. Dunham, and Willie Rollins.
2 MS. ROGERS: Thank you very much for 3 having me here for comments. My name is Kesha Rogers.
4 I'm actually a congressional candidate for the 22nd 5 Congressional District. I ran in the 2010 elections 6 and I also am an advocate for the LaRouche Political 7 Action Committee.
8 And I'm here today because I have been a 9 strong proponent and advocate of a renaissance in 10 nuclear power and development, and I, along with a 11 team of six congressional candidates running 12 nationally, are proposing not only for the advocacy of 13 the South Texas Nuclear Plant but also for the 14 development of a nuclear renaissance throughout the 15 nation and throughout the world.
16 And as many people may know, if you're 17 familiar with the advocacy of Mr. LaRouche, he has 18 been a proponent of fusion energy technology for quite 19 some time, and this has been my collaboration over the 20 years. And as I said, I'm not just here to advocate 21 for the South Texas plant and the project here, but 22 also for a renaissance in nuclear technology and 23 fusion energy throughout the country.
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40 1 now as a total economic breakdown crisis in our 2 economy. As inflation continues, as you see more and 3 more people left without food, as speculation on food, 4 looking at what's happening with our water resources, 5 it is imperative that not only are we addressing the 6 needs for advancements in nuclear fusion technology 7 here but across the planet.
8 What I'd like to say is in addressing this 9 global crisis, it is important to realize that there 10 is going to be no economic recovery worldwide without 11 the commitment on the part of the United States to the 12 development of nuclear power and fusion research.
13 Nuclear energy offers a higher energy flux-density and 14 is currently the most efficient than any other power 15 mastered by man.
16 As a part of the advocacy for a total 17 renaissance in nuclear, I have been a proponent and 18 actively working for the implementation of the North 19 American Water and Power Alliance. It is a large 20 scale bioengineering project which calls for somewhere 21 between 169 million acre feet of water directed from 22 Alaska through Canada, with development of tunnels, 23 pumps, lifts, canals, and the sawtooth lift function 24 of this project will require about 26 gigawatts of 25 power and will require about 30-plus or so nuclear NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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41 1 stations to be operable. We could use the 400 2 megawatts model of nuclear plants such as the GE prism 3 model.
4 This North American Water and Power 5 Alliance is the vision for the future of mankind, it 6 is a means for solving the long-term needs for mankind 7 for the next 50 years plus in water and resource 8 development. This is also going to pave the way for 9 the development and extraterrestrial imperative for 10 space colonization.
11 And what I'd like to do is also to add to 12 the records my support for this project and 13 advancements in nuclear projects throughout the 14 country, throughout the planet is a documentation that 15 was drafted by Nuclear Engineer DeWitt Moss entitled 16 "The Sawtooth Lift Nuclear Power Design" and also an 17 overview of the North American Water and Power 18 Alliance Project. Thank you very much.
19 MS. RIVERA: Thank you, Ms. Rogers.
20 Next we'll have James Lovett, followed by 21 D.C. Dunham, Willie Rogers, and our final registered 22 speaker so far is Ian Overton.
23 MR. LOVETT: My name is James Lovett.
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42 1 including the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, a nuclear 2 fuel fabricator -- not the reactors but the 3 fabricator -- and 17 years with the International 4 Atomic Energy Agency.
5 I think that to the long litany of support 6 for the reactors, about the only thing I can add is to 7 just spend one minute on information that I got from 8 other nations. I saw a statistic just today. The 9 U.S. has fewer than 25 percent of the operating 10 nuclear reactors in the world, we have fewer than 25 11 percent of the proposed or under construction reactors 12 for the next few years. We need more nuclear energy.
13 Several nations have nuclear energy 14 policies. These policies are all variations on one 15 theme: one, oil is not a dependable source of energy, 16 it can be interrupted at any time and it is not 17 feasible to store more than a few months worth of 18 reserve supply; two, nuclear energy is the only source 19 of energy, other than wind and solar -- which I hope 20 come along in the future but at the present have to be 21 considered in the development stage -- nuclear energy 22 is the only source of energy that can produce large 23 quantities of energy without dumping large quantities 24 of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
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43 1 the coal plant and I'm not particularly in favor of a 2 coal plant in Matagorda County, but natural gas is 3 contributing to global warming and we cannot afford to 4 build any more of it than we have to.
5 I'm a strong supporter of nuclear energy, 6 I'm a strong supporter of renewing these, in due 7 course I will be a strong supporter of Units 3 and 4.
8 Thank you.
9 MS. RIVERA: Thank you, Mr. Lovett.
10 Next we have D.C. Dunham, followed by 11 Willie Rollins and Ian Overton.
12 MS. DUNHAM: Good afternoon. I'm D.C.
13 Dunham. I'm the executive director for Bay City 14 Community Development Corporation.
15 And have you ever wondered what Bay City 16 and Matagorda County would be like if we didn't have 17 South Texas Nuclear Operating Company here? There 18 isn't a day that goes by that we don't run into or 19 communicate with STP employees. They're involved 20 throughout our community, and I really have a hard 21 time imagining what it would be like here without them 22 because they're such a huge asset to our community.
23 And of course, we love to show off our 24 assets, and I'm proud to say that every time I meet 25 someone I always talk about we're the home of a NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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44 1 nuclear power plant, because I'm just really proud of 2 that. And because of that, I've also invited all of 3 our surrounding economic development associates to 4 come and visit STP because I want them to see the high 5 level of security and safety that they operate in 6 every day. And I've got them actually scheduled next 7 month, so Mr. Halpin, hopefully you can stop by and 8 say hello.
9 But as an economic developer and resident 10 of Matagorda County, I'm very thankful to have such a 11 great asset in our community, and they will not only 12 have a positive impact but an excellent impact on our 13 taxes, community development and our environmental 14 justice. Thank you.
15 MS. RIVERA: Thank you, Ms. Dunham.
16 Next we'll have Willie Rollins, followed 17 by our final speaker, Ian Overton.
18 MR. ROLLINS: Hello. My name is Willie 19 Rollins. I'm a private citizen.
20 I don't have a lot of knowledge on 21 technical skills about nuclear energy, so I'm just 22 going to limit my comments to the social environmental 23 impact that STP has had on this community.
24 Matagorda County, like many rural 25 communities, over the years has suffered from brain NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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45 1 drain where your best and your brightest tend to leave 2 and seek their fortunes other places. Well, STP has 3 helped to reverse that trend in Matagorda County. Not 4 only does it provide great paying jobs for our youth 5 that even go off to college and return to become 6 productive citizens in this community, they have 7 reduced the amount of exodus of kids leaving this 8 community in the first place with the creation of the 9 Center for Energy Development where we can now grow 10 our own.
11 The social environmental impact of that, 12 just in and of itself, has been tremendous. If we 13 were to track the intellectual scale of Matagorda 14 County within the last 20 years, you can begin to see 15 that if you start off with the census of 2000, the 16 number of high school graduated individuals in 17 Matagorda County represented about one-third, another 18 group of individuals that did not have a high school 19 diploma represented another third. So effectively, 20 basically two-thirds of the population of Matagorda 21 County had a high school diploma or less.
22 If you begin to look at the recent trend 23 since the South Texas Project has been in this 24 community, you can see that trend reversing and the 25 numbers of educated citizens of this community going NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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46 1 up.
2 When I returned to Matagorda County 3 several years ago, I became actively involved in a lot 4 of the nonprofit organizations. The premier nonprofit 5 organization for this community was United Way, but at 6 that time, unfortunately, United Way was under poor 7 leadership and dysfunctional.
8 Thanks to the leadership of two employees 9 from STP, one by the name of Gerald Wilson, another by 10 the name of Chris Johnson, who took the leadership of 11 the United Way and made it the organization that it is 12 today that's supporting over 30 other non-profit 13 organizations in this community, there are others that 14 could talk more eloquently about the economic impact 15 of STP, but the ancillary benefit of its employees 16 serving on nonprofit boards, and not to mention our 17 faith-based communities through their tithes, their 18 offerings that support churches and other community-19 based organizations, that contribution is almost 20 immeasurable.
21 So that, for me, is the state of the 22 environmental impact as it relates to the social 23 community in Matagorda County. And I thank you all 24 for this opportunity to give those expressions.
25 MS. RIVERA: Thank you, Mr. Rollins.
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47 1 I'd like call up the final speaker, Ian 2 Overton. And if we've missed anyone, please fill out 3 a yellow card and pass it to Susan or I.
4 MR. OVERTON: Hello. My name is Ian 5 Overton and I'm an organizer with the LaRouche 6 Political Action Committee, and I wanted to come out 7 and show my support for STP.
8 And I think that it's probably best, when 9 talking about the environmental benefits of nuclear 10 power, to compare it with the environmental problems 11 that other forms of power offer. So for example, the 12 amount of energy in one pellet of uranium, about the 13 size of my fingernail here, is equivalent in energy to 14 about 30 barrels of oil or 6.15 tons of coal, or 23-15 1/2 tons of dry wood.
16 When you start going into other examples 17 of energy, such as wind or solar, the amount of return 18 gets even worse because the amount of radiant heat 19 coming down from the sun is only about 200 watts per 20 square meter, and the amount of land area and the cost 21 of building and maintaining solar panels or windmills 22 is far, far greater than the actual benefit you get 23 from them, not to mention that windmills kill birds by 24 the dozen and solar panels, with their polarized 25 lights, kill insects by the countless numbers.
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48 1 So what we have to deal with is actually 2 the most important thing we have to be looking at when 3 we're talking about nuclear power and the necessity of 4 expanding our nuclear industry is that the way in 5 which we're going to be able to create resources in 6 the future. You only get enough heat density in a 7 given area through nuclear power to do things like 8 create fresh drinking water, or distill medical 9 isotopes, or other things that civilized society 10 depends upon to create a dignified standard of living 11 for all of its population.
12 Therefore, one of the most dangerous 13 environmental impacts is the political agenda against 14 nuclear power which, in effect, is also against 15 humanity because humanity needs to progress in the 16 direction of increasing the productive powers of labor 17 and the productive work of society overall -- which is 18 something that STP contributes to, as you've heard, as 19 nuclear power contributes to overall.
20 And I think that the nuclear station here, 21 given the opportunity, will be a very happy 22 contributor to eventually realizing 6,000 gigawatts of 23 nuclear electricity which is about what's going to be 24 needed to bring the world up to a living standard that 25 is actually acceptable for a species such as ours.
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49 1 So thank you for your time.
2 MS. RIVERA: Thank you, Mr. Overton. And 3 thank you to all of our speakers.
4 Having receive no other yellow cards, I'm 5 going to go ahead and turn it over to Bo Pham, the 6 branch chief for the division.
7 MR. PHAM: Good afternoon, everyone. Once 8 again, my name is Bo Pham, and I'm a branch chief at 9 the NRC for the team that's conducting the review of 10 this application for a license renewal for STP. On 11 behalf of the staff, I just want to thank everyone for 12 taking the time to come out today and this evening, if 13 you're returning, to provide us comments.
14 I just want to give you an overview of 15 what's going to happen next here. Our team is going 16 to collate and put together your comments, as well as 17 those that we receive up until April 1. We're going 18 to look through them and consider how to incorporate 19 them into our first draft of the environmental impact 20 statement which we estimate to issue sometime early in 21 2012.
22 Once we issue that first draft, we'll come 23 back again to engage the community and receive 24 additional comments from you. So I look forward to 25 coming back to you to hear more of what you have to NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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50 1 say once we've put our first evaluations on paper.
2 With that, I'd like to close out the 3 meeting and thank you again. And staff will be here 4 for a little bit afterward.s if you do have any 5 questions you want to engage us on. Thank you again.
6 (Whereupon, at 2: 41 p.m., the meeting was 7 concluded.)
8 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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CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the attached proceedings before the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the matter of: South Texas Project Name of Proceeding: Public Meeting:
Afternoon Session Docket Number: (n/a)
Location: Bay City, Texas S....
7..o 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.
"s,r
,.
,-I enr By,1mp Of f iacial Re *3orter Neal R. Gross & Co., Inc.
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com