ML17283A235
| ML17283A235 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Seabrook  |
| Issue date: | 10/10/2017 |
| From: | Dan Dorman NRC Region 1 |
| To: | Bonavita J Town of Georgetown, MA |
| Tifft D | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML17256A729 | List: |
| References | |
| LTR-17-0336-1, SST-17-1188 | |
| Download: ML17283A235 (3) | |
Text
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION I 2100 RENAISSANCE BLVD., Suite 100 KING OF PRUSSIA, PA 19406-2713 October 10, 2017 Joseph Bonavita, Chairman Town of Georgetown Massachusetts 1 Library Street Georgetown, MA 01833
On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am responding to your letter dated August 21, 2017. Specifically, you concurred with a 2015 letter from State Senator Tarr and requested a public hearing regarding the effectiveness of the evacuation plan for the public within the 10 mile Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) surrounding the Seabrook Nuclear Station.
I previously responded to Senator Tarr in a letter dated May 21, 2015. That response can be accessed from the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under Accession Number ML15141A2001. Since my response to Senator Tarr, Federal and State agencies responsible for offsite emergency preparedness around Seabrook have conducted several public outreach activities in the area.
In the area of emergency preparedness and response, the NRC works in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for ensuring the onsite and offsite emergency plans are adequate. The regulation of onsite emergency response falls within the NRCs purview, while the offsite oversight responsibility rests with FEMA. Per the memorandum of understanding between NRC and FEMA, dated December 7, 2015, (accessed from ADAMS under Accession Number ML15344A371) the NRC relies on FEMA to provide a reasonable assurance finding on the adequacy of offsite emergency response programs, including the means for the timely evacuation of the public, for protecting the public health and safety.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has the overall authority for making protective action decisions (sheltering, evacuation, etc.) for ensuring the safety of their public during a radiological event. The states radiological emergency plan for implementing those decisions was developed by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and subsequently approved by FEMA. Additionally, FEMA evaluates the implementation of the States radiological emergency plan during emergency exercises conducted on a biennial basis to ensure continued reasonable assurance. The most recent exercise for Seabrook was conducted on April 5, 2016. FEMA held a public meeting to discuss the results of the exercise on April 8, 2016. The results of FEMAs exercise evaluation can be found in the Seabrook Station After Action Report issued July 8, 2016, and can be accessed from ADAMS under Accession Number ML16363A414. The next FEMA evaluated exercise will take place in April 2018.
1 Designation refers to an Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) accession number. Documents referenced in this letter are publicly-available using the accession number in ADAMS at https://adams.nrc.gov/wba/ For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRCs Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov.
J. Bonavita, Town of Georgetown, MA 2
To date, the NRC has not received any concerns from FEMA regarding the States capability for implementing their plan, including their capability for evacuating the general public in a timely and safe manner.
In part due to the concerns raised in the letter received from State Senator Tarr, MEMA made a presentation in a public forum before the Rowley, MA, Board of Selectmen on June 1, 2015 regarding the Commonwealths Emergency Plan. Minutes from this meeting are available on the Town of Rowley website: http://www.townofrowley.net/pdf/150601_BOS_Minutes.pdf In addition to the meetings described in this letter, the NRC holds Annual Assessment Meetings to discuss the results of Seabrook Station performance. These meetings are held in the 10 mile EPZ and are typically held in late spring or early summer. The most recent meeting was held on June 7, 2017. A summary of this meeting can be accessed from ADAMS under Accession Number ML17172A132. While the purpose of the Annual Assessment Meeting is focused on current plant performance, the NRC takes questions from the public on a variety of topics including emergency preparedness. As noted above, evaluation of the adequacy of offsite emergency plans is FEMAs responsibility, so the NRCs response to these questions is limited to the adequacy of the licensees onsite emergency preparedness program.
Thank you for your interest in this issue. We will continue to provide regular opportunities to address any public concerns regarding Seabrook, including offsite emergency preparedness. If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to contact either myself at (610) 337-5299 or Mr. Doug Tifft, Regional State Liaison Officer at (610) 337-6918.
Sincerely,
/RA/ Original Signed by:
Daniel H. Dorman Regional Administrator cc:
K. Schwartz, Director, MEMA J. Giarrusso, MA State Liaison Officer, MEMA S. Colman, Regional Assistance Committee Chairperson, FEMA, RI Distribution via ListServ
ML17283A235 SUNSI Review Non-Sensitive Sensitive
Publicly Available
Non-Publicly Available OFFICE RI/SLO RI/DRP NSIR RI\\RA NAME
- DTifft/ceo
- FBower/flb
- RKahler/
- DDorman DATE 10/3/17 10/3/17 10/3/17 10/10/17
- concurrence via email
- see previous concurrence page for original signatures