ML11186A987
| ML11186A987 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Seabrook  |
| Issue date: | 07/05/2011 |
| From: | Bates A NRC/SECY |
| To: | Markey E, Tierney J US HR (House of Representatives) |
| SECY RAS | |
| References | |
| RAS 20568, 50-443-LR, ASLBP 10-906-02-LR-BD01 | |
| Download: ML11186A987 (8) | |
Text
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON , D.C . 20555-0001 July 5,2011 The Honorable Edward J. Markey United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 The Honorable John F. Tierney United States House of Representatives Washington , D.C. 20515
Dear Representatives Markey and Tierney:
I am responding to your IEltter dated June 8,2011, in which you urged the Commission to adopt a general policy of refusing all requests for license renewal submitted earlier than twenty years before current licenses expire, in light of "the Lessons of Fukushima." Moreover, you asked the Commission to immediately announce its intent to deny NextEra Energy Seabrook's request for a twenty-year extension of its operating license for the Seabrook nuclear power plant.
Your first request is the subject of a pending petition for rulemaking submitted to the NRC last year (see the related Fedl9ral Register notice at 75 FR 59158 (September 27, 2010)). I am referring your comments 10 the staff responsible for recommending action on that petition.
With respect to your second request, on July 21,2010, the NRC staff published in the Federal Register (72 FR 42462) a Notice of Opportunity for Hearing regarding renewal of the Seabrook operating license. The staff has since begun its detailed technical review, and several intervenors have requestE!d a hearing before the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.
Appeals of the Board's de'Cision granting a hearing currently are pending before the Commission. In addition, the Commission has received an emergency petition requesting that the NRC complete its review of the safety and environmental implications of the Fukushima events for U.S. facilities b,efore moving forward with reactor-related licensing reviews (including license renewals), adjudications, or design certifications. The Commission is now considering the "emergency petition," which was filed on the Seabrook docket (among others), and will address the petition in its adjudicatory role.
The Commission recognizes the significant public interest in the agency's licensing process in the aftermath of the recent unfortunate incidents in Japan , and takes seriously its role in protecting the public health and safety. However, given the nature of the Commission's adjudicatory role, at this time the Commission cannot comment further on these pending matters outside the confines of the adjudicatory process.
A copy of your letter and this response will be served on the participants in the Seabrook proceeding.
Sincerely,
.~ ~ r3~
Andrew L. Bates, Acting Secretary cc: Seabrook Service List
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of NEXTERA ENERGY SEABHOOK, LLC DOCKET NO. 50-443-LR (Seabrook Station , Unit 1)
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY TO REPS . EDWARD MARKEY AND JOHN TIERNEY, dated July 5, 2011 , have been served upon the following persons by Electronic Information Excha nge.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comm ission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel Office of the General Counsel Mail Stop: T-3F23 Mail Stop: 0-15D21 Washington , DC 20555-0001 Washington , DC 20555-0001 Catherine Kanatas Administrative Judge catherine.kanatas@nrc.gov Paul S. Ryerson , Chair Brian Newell , Paralegal paul. ryerson@nrc.gov brian .newell@nrc.gov David Roth, Esq .
Admin istrative Judge david. roth@nrc.gov Michael F. Kennedy Maxwell Sm ith , Esq .
michael .kennedy@nrc.gov maxwell .smith@nrc.gov Mary Spencer, Esq .
Administrative Judge mary.baty@nrc.gov Richard E. Wardwell Edward Williamson , Esq .
richard .wardwell@nrc.gov elw2@nrc.gov OGC Mail Center Anthony C. Eitreim, Esq. OGCMaiICenter@nrc.gov Chief Counsel ace1 @nrc.gov Hillary Cain , Law Clerk hillary.cain@nrc.gov U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of the Secretary of the Comm ission Office of Commission Appellate Adjudication Mail Stop: 0-16C1 Mail Stop: 0-16C1 Washington , DC 20555-0001 Washington , DC 20555-0001 Hearing Docket ocaamail@nrc.gov hearingdocket@nrc.gov
NEXTERA ENERGY SEABHOOK, LLC (Seabrook Station Unit 1) - Docket No. 50-443-LR LETTER FROM THE SECRE:TARY TO REPS. EDWARD MARKEY AND JOHN TIERNEY NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC Beyond Nuclear 801 Pennsylvania Avenue , N.W., #220 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20004 Takoma Park, MD 20912 Steven C. Hamrick, Esq. Paul Gunter, Director, Reactor Oversight Project steve n.hamrick@fpl .com paul@beyondnuclear.org NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC New Hampshire Sierra Club 700 Universe Boulevard 40 1\1. lVIain Street Juno Beach, FL 33408 Concord , NH 03870 William Blair, Esq. Kurt Ehrenberg, Field Organizer william .blair@fpl .com kurtehrenberg@gmail.com Mitchell S. Ross, Esq.
m itch.ross@fpl.com Seacoast Anti-Pollution League Kim Bartels, Sr. Paralegal P.O . Box 1136 kim.bartels@fplcom Portsmouth , NH 03802 Doug Bogen, Executive Director Counsel for the Applicant dbogen@metrocast.net Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP 2300 N Street, N.W. State of New Hampshire Washington, DC 20037-1122 Office of the Attorney General David R. Lewis , Esq. 33 Capitol Street david .Iewis@pillsburylaw.com Concord, NH 03301 K. Allen Brooks, Assistant Attorney General k.allen .brooks@doj. nh.gov Friends of the Coast and Michael A. Delaney, Attorney General New England Coalition (NEC) michae l. a.delaney@doj .nh.gov Post 9ffice Box 98 Peter Roth, Assistant Attorney General Edgecomb, ME 04556 peter. roth@doj .nh .gov Raymond Shad is, Pro Se Representative shadis@prexar.com State of Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General Environmental Protection Division One Ashburton Place , 18th Floor Boston, MA 02108 Matthew Brock, Assistant Attorney General matthew.brock@state .ma.us Jennifer Venezie , Paralegal ien nifer. venezia@state .ma. us Office of the Secretary of the Commission Dated at Rockville, Maryland this ~day of July 2011 2
4l!ougre55 of fife 1ltniult §tuus Dla.ailington. 111([ 20515 June 8, 2011 The Honorable Greg Jaczko Chairman Nuclear Regulatory Commission 11555 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852
Dear Chairman Jaczko:
We write to urge the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to immediately announce its intent to deny NextEra Energy Seabrook, the licensee for the Seabrook nuclear power plant, its June 1, 2010 request! for a twenty year operating license that would begin in 2030 and end in 20502 . In addition, we urge the NRC to adopt a more general policy of disallowing requests by nuclear power reactor licensees for a twenty-year license extension as early as twenty years prior to the time their current lkenses expire.
Granting license extensions so far in advance is particularly unwise in the wake of the Fukushima meltdowns, as the NRC learns of new vulnerabilities at U.S. nuclear power plants that should impact its future licensing decisions related to both new and existing facilities.
Moreover, there are additional aging and other safety issues that could not possibly be contemplated or fully understood a full twenty years in advance of the nuclear reactor's end-of licensed-life, as exemplified by the May 30, 20 11 article in The Boston Globe 3 noting that concrete surrounding a safety-related tunnel at the Seabrook nuclear power plant had lost 22 percent of its strength due to being saturated with water for the past decade. If safety structures that are supposed to help cool the Seabrook nuclear power plant are experiencing such alarming degradation during the reactor's 'adolescence', there is simply no way that the NRC can guarantee that it will remain safe until it enters its 'golden years' almost 40 years from now.
The NRC is currently considering twenty-year license renewal applications for 16 existing reactors at 11 power plant locations. 4 The NRC website states: "A nuclear power plant licensee may apply for a license renewal as early as 20 years before the expiration of its current license."s Indeed, an examination of NRC records indicates that since 2009, the NRC has begun reviewing license renewal applications for eight reactors more than ten years (and in some cases I http://www .nrc.gov/reactors/operatingilicensingirenewalJapplications/seabrook.htm )
2 http://artic\es.boston.com/20 11-03-27/bostonglobe/29352917 _l_seabrook-station-nrc-nuclear-plant 3 http://artic!es .boston.com/20 II-05-30/ lifestyle/29600250 _l_nrc-seabrook-station-nuc!ear-power-plant 4 http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operatingllicensinglrenewallapplications.html 5 http://www.nrc.govlreading-rrn/doc-collections/fact-sheets/license-renewal-bg.htm I PR INTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
Page 2 Letter to NRC June 8, 2011 closer to hventy years) bdore the reactors' current operating license expires. 6 In fact there is at least one case where renewal was granted more than 20 years in advance. According to its renewal application found on NRC's website, the Catawba Nuclear Power Station 1 in South Carolina had its license renewed 21 years and 1 day before the previous license was set to expire. 7 There is little reason for such early consideration of a license renewal application by the NRC, as the NRC expects to complete its review of renewal applications within 30 months from receiving the application, if a hearing is required, or within 22 months if no hearing is required. 8 An examination of NRC re-licensing records indicates that the NRC has approved license renewals for 66 reactors with an average time of 25 months from the time it receives the application to the time the renewal was approved.
If the understanding of the vulnerabilities associated with nuclear power plants never changed, then making a decision in the year 2012 9 to allow (for example) the Seabrook nuclear power plant to operate until the year 2050 might seem reasonable. But this is not the case.
Some Safety and Aging Issues Might Not Be Known Decades In Advance As The Bo_~ton Globe article noted, water seepage beneath the Seabrook power plant fO has led to significant degradation ofthe concrete associated with a tunnel that is part of the reactor's cooling system, and NextEra also identified "corroded steel supports, piping, and anchor bolts in other areas they inspected". As the NRC noted in the May 23 document entitled "NextEra Energy Seabrook - NRC License Renewal Inspection Report 05000443/2011007," "the
[NRC] inspection team was t.mable to arrive at a conclusion about the adequacy of your aging management review for flhe alkali-silica reaction issue," a reaction between concrete and water that is associated with some of the concrete structures at Seabrook. If these problems are surfacing a mere 21 yean: into Seabrook's operating life, it seems impossible to conclude that the reactor can be safely operated between the years 2030-50.
Additionally, climate change has the potential 1 I to impact nuclear power plants through increased temperatures of cooling water, rising sea levels, more frequent and severe heat waves and more intense rainfall with associated flooding. Rep. Markey made a request to the Government Accountability Office in 2010 to review the adequacy of NRC regulations given 6 The eight reactors (and years remaining on their operating licenses when the re-license applications were filed) are Seabrook (19.S years); Hope Creek (16.7 years); Salem Nuclear Generating Station, Unit 2 (I 0.7 years); Diablo Canyon Power Plant, Unit I (15 years), Unit 2 (15.S years); Columbia Generating Station (13.9 years); South Texas Project, Unit 1 (16.8 years), Unit 2 (1S.1 years).
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operatingllicensinglrenewal.htm I 7 http://www .nrc. gOY Ireactorsl operatingll icens inglrenew aVappl icati ons/mc gu ire-cata w bald uke-I ra. pd f 8 http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/process.htm I 9 http://www.nrc.goy/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/seabrook.htm 1 10 http://articles.boston.comI20 11-05-30/Iifestyle/29600250 I nrc-seabrook-station-nuc lear-power-plant It http://v,'Ww .gl 0 ba Ichange .gov Iw hat -we-dol assessmentlpr;;-v lous-assessm entslgloba I-c Iimate-change- im pacts-in the-us-2009
Page 3 Letter to NRC June 8,2011 climate change. 12 In 2007, the Browns Ferry unit 2 reactor in Alabama had to shut down because the intake water was so warm that, after being warmed nearly 30°F going through the plant, its release back into the environment would have violated the Clean Water ACt. 13 Moreover, for some coastal nuclear power plants such as Seabrook, a January 2011 study shows that the storm surge from a Category 4 or 5 hurricane could completely inundate the plants within their expected operating lifetimes. 14 But sea level rise may be even more rapid than was understood in 2007, given the accelerating melting ofthe Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. IS 16 Current projections of sea level rise suggest an average 4 foot rise from 1990 levels by 2100.
The NRC Has Not Inco:rporated the Lessons of Fukushima Into its Regulations or Analysis The Japanese nuclear meltdown shows how readily a total loss of electricity can result in major radiation release - and many have speculated that this vulnerability may have been especially pronounced in Japan because the nuclear reactors involved are much older designs. A staff report recently issued by Rep. Markey's office 17 details some of the most glaring safety vulnerabilities exposed by the Fukushima events. As operating nuclear power plants reach the end of their initial forty year lifetime and enter their twenty year extended operation periods, there is certain to be new information about aging-related safety issues that the NRC should be continually evaluating.
Additionally, as has been noted previously, 18 we are concerned that the Commission has granted license extensions for four nuclear reactors since the Fukushima meltdown without requiring licensees to comply with the requirements ofNEPA that any "new and significant" information regarding the: environmental consequences of operating the nuclear reactor be included in the application. It is clear that the environmental consequences of Fukushima will be "new and significant" compared to those that had been previously contemplated, and that an assessment of NRC's safety regulations will also reveal "new and significant" vulnerabilities when viewed through the post-Fukushima lens. The NRC should not be approving any license extensions, let alone those that are only needed to continue operations more than a decade from now, before all of these vulnerabilities are both fully understood and addressed.
Given the change~; to our planet, as well as changes to our understanding of safety-related vulnerabilities brought on by either accidents, extreme weather or geologic events, or unanticipated safety probllems, the NRC should end its practice of accepting and granting license extensions twenty years before the license expires - and should reject those that it has already 12 http://markey.house.goY/docs/gaoinspection.pdf IJ http://www. ucsusa.orgiasset!;/documents/nuclear-'power/20071204-ucs-brief-got-water.pdf 14 linkinghub.elseyier.com/relrieYe/pii/S030 1421510007329 15 http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossrefJ20]1I2011GL046583.shtml 16 http://www.nature.com/climate/2010/1004/ful1!c1imate.20 10.29.html 17 http://markey .house.goy/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=4352&Item id= 125 .
I 8http://democrats .natu ra 1resou rces. house. gOY Is itesl dem ocrats. resourcescomm ittee. house. gOY Ifi 1es/docum ents/20 11 05-13_EJMtoNRCNEPA .p:if
Page 4 Letter to NRC June 8, 2011 received until the reactor has operated for more time so that potential safety problems can be identified and more fully understood. The NRC should stop making the dangerous assumption that risks, and our understanding of them, will remain static for decades.
Sincerely, r.~
Ir-O...:.hn'----F-.-T--'ie'--m-ey-~
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