ML12276A170

September 12, 2012, Summary of Public Meeting Regarding the Palisades Nuclear Plant

ML12276A170
Person / Time
Site:	Palisades
Issue date:	10/02/2012
From:	Jack Giessner Reactor Projects Region 3 Branch 4
To:	Entergy Nuclear Operations
References
Download: ML12276A170 (10)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION III 2443 WARRENVILLE ROAD, SUITE 210 LISLE, IL 60532-4352 October 2, 2012 LICENSEE: Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

FACILITY: Palisades Nuclear Plant

SUMMARY

OF THE SEPTEMBER 12, 2012, PUBLIC MEETING REGARDING PALISADES NUCLEAR PLANT On September 12, 2012, the U S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) held a two-part Public Meeting at the Beach Haven Event Center in South Haven, Michigan. During the first part of the meeting, members of Palisades Nuclear Plant staff presented their assessment of the results and the corrective actions taken for the 2012 safety culture assessment performed by a contractor. Members of the public observed this part of the meeting, which provided an opportunity to hear Entergys presentation and questions from the NRC. Enclosure 1 is a list of attendees at the meeting. Copies of the slides used by the NRC staff and the licensee during the meeting can be accessed through the NRCs Agencywide Document Access and Management System: ADAMS (ML#s 12249A291 and 12255A009).

The second part of the meeting provided members of the public with the opportunity to interact directly with the NRC staff by asking questions and providing comments. Several members of the public expressed concern that Palisades was not safe and appealed to the NRC representatives to shut down the plant. Various other topics were discussed including emergency preparedness; plant aging; and NRC oversight and assessment of plant performance. Also during this part of the meeting, Mr. Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear requested and the NRC agreed to include his written statement in this meeting summary (Enclosure 2).

In addition to answering questions from members of the public, NRC representatives received written questions the NRC answered for the record and included in the meeting summary (Enclosure 3).

Sincerely,

/RA/

John B. Giessner, Chief Branch 4 Division of Reactor Projects

Enclosures:

As Stated cc w/encl: Distribution via ListServ TM

Enclosure 1 PUBLIC MEETING PRINCIPAL ATTENDEES SEPTEMBER 21, 2012 NRC Attendees C. Casto, Regional Administrator G. Shear, Acting Division Director, Division of Reactor Projects J. Giessner, Chief, Division of Reactor Projects, Branch 4 L. Jarriel, Agency Allegation Advisor, Office of Enforcement T. Taylor, Senior Resident Inspector, Palisades A. Scarbeary, Resident Inspector, Palisades J. Heck, Regional Attorney and Meeting Facilitator D. Alley, Senior Materials Engineer, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation M. Chawla, Project Manager, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation J. Lennartz, Project Engineer, Division of Reactor Projects, Branch 4 K. Martin, Human Factors Engineer, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation T. Riley, Congressional Affairs Specialist, Office of Congressional Affairs S. Sheldon, Senior Reactor Engineer, Engineering Branch 2 Entergy Attendees A. Vitale, Site Vice President, Palisades A. Williams, General Manager Plant Operations, Palisades B. Davis, Engineering Director, Palisades C. Arnone, Nuclear Safety Assurance Director, Palisades Members of the Public Included on attached meeting attendance sheets.

Enclosure 3 Questions for the NRC/Palisades Meeting on Safety Issues, September 12, 2012

1) Have the repairs listed as needed in the 2006 sale of Palisades to Entergy been completed yet?

Answer: Entergy is responsible for adhering to the NRCs safety requirements. The NRC enforces these requirements and verifies that the plant continually meets the conditions of its license. If the company had made commitments to the NRC for additional repairs as a condition of the license to operate Palisades, the agency would make sure the company adhered to these commitments. No such commitments were made to the NRC. The bottom line and our constant focus is the safe operation of this plant and we are on the job every day making sure the NRCs safety standards are met.

2) What if any changes have been made to requirements for Palisades to report safety incidents to NRC and the public, like the 2012 leaks in coolant water which were not reported to former NRC Chief Gregory Jaczko when he toured the Palisades plant May 25, 2012, and then met with citizens who raised safety concerns about leaks and possible water pollution?

Answer: All nuclear plants, including Palisades, are required by the NRC to report situations and events that are significant to plant safety. The NRCs reporting requirements are based on how much impact the issue can have on plant safety. All events reported to the NRC can be viewed at the NRCs public website at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/event/. For example, the leak from the Control Rod Drive Mechanism 24 housing was reported to the NRC and to the public because it exceeded this threshold. The NRC responded aggressively to the leakage from the Safety Injection Refueling Water Tank (SIRWT) and into the control room by dispatching additional inspectors to the plant and monitoring the plants handling of these issues very closely. However, these leaks did not exceed the reportability threshold. These reportability requirements have remained unchanged.

Even though the NRCs requirements have not changed, we have responded to the publics heightened concern of Palisades despite issues not exceeding the regulatory reportability threshold. For example, we provided public information about the service water leak; generated publically available meeting summaries of conversations between NRC and Entergy on topics of public interest (e.g. the Control Rod Drive Mechanism discussions), held additional public meetings and webinars to keep the public informed and made the NRC staff available to answer questions from the public.

On the day of former Chairman Jaczkos visit to Palisades, the licensee recorded a leakage rate from the SIRWT of 20 gallons per day into areas of the plant that were adjacent to the control room, but not generally accessed by personnel. All the leakage was collected by the licensee, measured for the purpose of trending the leak, and disposed of as radioactive waste. There was no leakage into the control room during the former Chairmans visit.

3) How can the public access the information on leaks, including dates and amounts and contents of any leakage?

Answer: The NRC requires the plant to monitor leaks from various systems, especially those that are significant to plant safety. Details related to leaks inside nuclear plants that are considered risk and safety significant are documented in NRC inspection reports. The leaks that are not considered risk and safety significant are not documented. The NRC requires leaks released outside of the plant to be reported in publicly available annual effluent and the environmental monitoring reports. The following link to the NRC Website contains an alphabetical listing of all nuclear plants in the United States with an associated link to inspection reports issued from early 2000:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/listofrpts_body.html NRC's inspection reports and other documents can be accessed through ADAMS at:

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html

4) How often are tests for radionuclides conducted of air and groundwater and surface water (including Lake Michigan, the source of our drinking water) to see if there is any risk to air or water quality and public health?

Answer: The NRC requires licensees to monitor the levels of radionuclides in air, water, plants and animals local to the plant:

• Air Sampling is continuous and collected weekly.

• Lake (surface) water at the plant lake water inlet is a monthly sample.

• Lake (drinking) water at the South Haven drinking water supply is a monthly composite sample.

• Lake water control location at the Ludington pump storage is a monthly composite sample.

• Well (drinking) water is a monthly sample at the Palisades Park Community when the well is in operation.

• Fish samples are performed on a semi-annual basis.

The recent reports related to radionuclide sampling and reporting and their frequency can be viewed at:

http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1212/ML12121A010.pdf and http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1113/ML11139A147.pdf

5) Where can the public see the results of these tests?

Answer: The Palisades environmental monitoring report and effluent monitoring report can be accessed through the NRC Website at:

http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ops-experience/tritium/plant-specific-reports/pali.html

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION III 2443 WARRENVILLE ROAD, SUITE 210 LISLE, IL 60532-4352 October 2, 2012 LICENSEE: Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

FACILITY: Palisades Nuclear Plant

SUMMARY

OF THE SEPTEMBER 12, 2012, PUBLIC MEETING REGARDING PALISADES NUCLEAR PLANT On September 12, 2012, the U S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) held a two-part Public Meeting at the Beach Haven Event Center in South Haven, Michigan. During the first part of the meeting, members of Palisades Nuclear Plant staff presented their assessment of the results and the corrective actions taken for the 2012 safety culture assessment performed by a contractor. Members of the public observed this part of the meeting, which provided an opportunity to hear Entergys presentation and questions from the NRC. Enclosure 1 is a list of attendees at the meeting. Copies of the slides used by the NRC staff and the licensee during the meeting can be accessed through the NRCs Agencywide Document Access and Management System: ADAMS (ML#s 12249A291 and 12255A009).

The second part of the meeting provided members of the public with the opportunity to interact directly with the NRC staff by asking questions and providing comments. Several members of the public expressed concern that Palisades was not safe and appealed to the NRC representatives to shut down the plant. Various other topics were discussed including emergency preparedness; plant aging; and NRC oversight and assessment of plant performance. Also during this part of the meeting, Mr. Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear requested and the NRC agreed to include his written statement in this meeting summary (Enclosure 2).

In addition to answering questions from members of the public, NRC representatives received written questions the NRC answered for the record and included in the meeting summary (Enclosure 3).

Sincerely,

/RA/

John B. Giessner, Chief Branch 4 Division of Reactor Projects

Enclosures:

As Stated cc w/encl: Distribution via ListServ TM DOCUMENT NAME: G:\DRPIII\PALI\Palisades Sept 12 2012 Meeting Summary.docx Publicly Available Non-Publicly Available Sensitive Non-Sensitive To receive a copy of this document, indicate in the concurrence box "C" = Copy without attach/encl "E" = Copy with attach/encl "N" = No copy OFFICE RIII RIII NAME JLennartz:dtp JGiessner DATE 10/02/12 10/02/12 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

Letter to Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. from J. Giessner dated October 2, 2012.

SUMMARY

OF THE SEPTEMBER 12, 2012, PUBLIC MEETING REGARDING PALISADES NUCLEAR PLANT DISTRIBUTION:

Cayetano Santos RidsNrrPMPalisades Resource RidsNrrDorlLpl3-1 Resource RidsNrrDirsIrib Resource Chuck Casto Cynthia Pederson Steven Orth Jared Heck Allan Barker Christine Lipa Carole Ariano Linda Linn DRPIII DRSIII Patricia Buckley Tammy Tomczak ROPassessment.Resource@nrc.gov