ML11171A518

G20110418/LTR-11-0322/EDATS: SECY-2011-0328 - Ltr to Rep. Nita M. Lowey from R. W. Borchardt Nrc'S Annual Assessment Meeting for Indian Point Energy Center

ML11171A518
Person / Time
Site:	Indian Point
Issue date:	06/22/2011
From:	Borchardt R NRC/EDO
To:	Lowey N US SEN (Senate)
Rihm R
Shared Package
ML11171A505	List: ML11159A138 ML11171A518
References
G20110418, LTR-11-0322, SECY-2011-0328
Download: ML11171A518 (3)

Text

June 22, 2011 The Honorable Nita M. Lowey United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Congresswoman Lowey:

On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am responding to your letter of May 26, 2011, concerning the scheduled June 2, 2011, annual assessment meeting for Indian Point Nuclear Generating Units 2 and 3.

The annual assessment meeting was conducted as scheduled and was very well attended. As you know, a staff member from our Office of Congressional Affairs spoke with your staff representative during and after this meeting about the issues addressed. As this public meeting was an NRC meeting to exchange information with the public, Entergy representatives were not required to attend.

During the course of the meeting, many members of the public made clear their very strong views regarding the continued operation of Indian Point and NRCs oversight efforts. As a result, the NRC staff was not able to complete all of its prepared remarks, and instead transitioned to a public question and answer session that exceeded three hours in duration.

During that time, over 40 members of the audience raised questions and made statements.

NRC staff members stayed well past the scheduled end time of the meeting, and remained afterwards to field questions one-on-one. However, due to the large number of attendees, they were unable to accommodate all of the individuals who wished to speak before the required time to vacate the facility. At that time, members of the public were offered the opportunity to submit their remarks in writing to the NRC.

Because this meeting was not a public hearing on a licensing or regulatory action, it was not recorded or transcribed by the NRC. In contrast, meetings such as the Indian Point license renewal meetings conducted from 2007 to 2009 for the purpose of gathering comments on the impacts of a proposed licensing action, were transcribed so that the publics comments could be recorded and later addressed, as required by the licensing process. The NRC is fully committed to transparency in its regulation and oversight of nuclear licensees. I am pleased and grateful that the NRC staff at the Indian Point meeting on June 2 elected to continue with this public dialogue despite numerous audience interruptions and harsh criticism expressed by some audience members. The professionalism and dedication of NRC staff that evening allowed numerous members of the public to raise questions and express their concerns regarding Indian Point to the NRC.

N. Lowey Should you need any additional information or have any questions, please contact me or Ms. Rebecca Schmidt, Director of the Office of Congressional Affairs, at (301) 415-1776.

Sincerely,

/RA by Martin Virgilio for/

R. W. Borchardt Executive Director for Operations

ML11171A505 (PKG) ML11171A518 (LTR) ML11159A138 (INCOMING)

OFFICE OEDO OCA OGC RGNI EDO NAME RRihm EDacus STurk WDean R.W. Borchardt (via email) (via email) (MVirgilio for)

DATE 6/20/11 6/15/11 6/14/11 6/16/11 6/22/11