ML18127A033
| ML18127A033 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Pilgrim |
| Issue date: | 05/07/2018 |
| From: | NRC Region 1, Neal R. Gross & Co. |
| To: | |
| Dimitriadis A | |
| References | |
| NRC-3660 | |
| Download: ML18127A033 (160) | |
Text
Memo to File: May 7, 2018 Attached is the transcript of the Annual Assessment Meeting for Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station on March 27, 2018.
Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Title:
Annual Assessment Meeting for Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station Docket Number: 50-293 Location: Plymouth, Massachusetts Date: March 27, 2018 Work Order No.: NRC-3660 Pages 1-158 NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC.
Court Reporters and Transcribers 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 234-4433 ML18127A033
1 1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 2 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 3 + + + + +
4 ANNUAL ASSESSMENT MEETING FOR 5 PILGRIM NUCLEAR POWER STATION 6 DOCKET NO. 50-293 7 + + + + +
8 PUBLIC MEETING 9 + + + + +
10 TUESDAY, 11 MARCH 27, 2018 12 + + + + +
13 The Public Meeting met in the Regency 14 Ballroom, Hotel 1620 Plymouth Harbor, 180 Water 15 Street, Plymouth, Massachusetts 02360 at 6:00 p.m.,
16 Donna M. Janda and Brett Klukan, Facilitators, 17 presiding.
18 PRESENT:
19 DONNA M. JANDA, Regional State Agreements Officer, 20 Division of Nuclear Materials Safety and 21 Safeguards, Facilitator 22 BRETT KLUKAN, Regional Counsel, Region I, 23 Facilitator 24 ERIN CARFANG, Senior Resident Inspector, Pilgrim 25 Nuclear Power Station NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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2 1 ANTHONY DIMITRIADIS, Chief, Projects Branch 5, 2 Division of Nuclear Projects, Region I 3 DAVID LEW, Acting Regional Administrator, Region I 4 DAVID PELTON, Acting Director, Division of Reactor 5 Projects, Region I 6 BRUCE WATSON, Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Office 7 of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards 8 JUSTIN VAZQUEZ, Project Engineer, Division of 9 Reactor Projects, Region I 10 11 ALSO PRESENT:
12 BRUCE CHENARD, Senior Manager of Operations, Pilgrim 13 Nuclear Power Station 14 RORY CLARK, Office of Senator Edward J. Markey 15 MICHAEL JACKMAN, Office of Congressman Bill Keating 16 DAVID NOYES, Director of Recovery Efforts, Pilgrim 17 Nuclear Power Station 18 REPRESENTATIVE SARAH PEAKE, Massachusetts 19 Legislature, 4th Barnstable District 20 DRAKE PITTS, General Manager of Plant Operations, 21 Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station 22 ALICIA REBELLO-PRADAS, Massachusetts Attorney 23 General's Office 24 MIKE ROMEO, Director of Regulatory and Performance 25 Improvement, Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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3 1 BRIAN SULLIVAN, Site Vice President, Pilgrim Nuclear 2 Power Station 3 ADRIENNE VIARENGO, Office of Senator Elizabeth 4 Warren 5
6 7
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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4 1 T-A-B-L-E O-F C-O-N-T-E-N-T-S 2 Introduction and Opening Remarks . . . . . . . . 5 3 Confirmatory Action Letter Inspection 4 Status Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 5 Plant Operations, Equipment Reliability, and 6 Deferments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 7 Current Plant Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 8 Elected Official Written Remarks . . . . . . . . 34 9 Public Q&A Session with the NRC . . . . . . . . . 46 10 NRC Closing Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 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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5 1 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 2 6:00 p.m.
3 MR. KLUKAN: Welcome everyone to this 4 evening's annual assessment meeting for the Pilgrim 5 Nuclear Power Station. My name is Brett Klukan.
6 Normally by day I'm the Regional Counsel for Region I, 7 but tonight I'll be serving as the facilitator for 8 this meeting.
9 Donna Janda -- raise your hand -- will be 10 facilitating as well during the second half of the 11 meeting.
12 The structure of the meeting tonight is 13 discussed in the meeting notice is bifurcated. The 14 first half will consist of discussion between the U.S.
15 Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Entergy to discuss 16 the NRC's assessment of safety performance at Pilgrim 17 for 2017.
18 The portion of the meeting will 19 principally include discussion of the oversight 20 results over the past year, an opportunity for Entergy 21 to respond to provide its own remarks on its 22 performance, and finally NRC closing remarks.
23 After a short intermission, which I'm 24 going to try to keep to 10 minutes or less, the second 25 half will be an opportunity for members of the public NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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6 1 to ask the assembled NRC staff questions concerning 2 performance issues at Pilgrim or to present comments 3 regarding the same.
4 We will begin the second half with a short 5 discussion by Erin Carfang, the Senior Resident 6 Inspector at Pilgrim, of current plant status.
7 With respect to the second half of the meeting, on the 8 registration table just outside these doors, there's 9 a sign-up list for public speakers.
10 When you register to speak, you should 11 have received a ticket, or at least one half of a 12 ticket, the other half of which we put into a 13 collection container. The speaking order tonight will 14 be determined from numbers pulled from this container, 15 the intent of which is that the speaking order be 16 determined at random.
17 Just so you have some advanced warning 18 when it's your turn to speak, we will be posting on 19 the screen at the center on the stage the numbers 20 pulled from that list. I would like to thank Justin 21 and Peter for assisting with this task. If you would 22 like to speak this evening and have already done so, 23 please step outside and add your name to the list 24 prior to the end of intermission.
25 Once intermission is finished and we NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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7 1 reconvene for the second half of the meeting, you will 2 not be able to add your name to the speaking list 3 unless we exhaust the speaking list, or the people who 4 have added their names to the list already. Based on 5 my experience in past years, that is unlikely to 6 occur.
7 I just want to emphasize a few additional 8 remarks regarding tickets. There is no prohibition 9 from donating tickets meaning when your ticket is 10 called, you can give it to someone else to speak.
11 However, when that happens, or if you would like to 12 donate your ticket, you have to announce that at the 13 time your ticket number is called and both parties 14 have to be present at that time, both the person 15 donating the ticket and the person receiving the 16 ticket.
17 This is different from last year. One 18 additional rule. If a person has already spoken 19 during the meeting whether it's because their ticket 20 has been called or someone has donated their ticket to 21 them, they may not get up to speak again if their 22 number is subsequently called or someone tries to 23 donate their ticket to that individual meaning you 24 only get three minutes at the microphone.
25 If you've already spoken because someone NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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8 1 has donated their ticket to you, you can, however, 2 donate your ticket to someone else but you can't use 3 that to speak again. In short, everyone, if your 4 number is called, you get three minutes at the 5 microphone. You can't subsequently then use donated 6 tickets to speak again.
7 I would ask that we keep the area beyond 8 the front row clear. If you would like to give 9 something to the NRC staff, please hand it to me, 10 Donna, or Justin.
11 Now, for some very basic ground rules.
12 First off, I recognize that many of you may have 13 strongly held beliefs concerning the matters to be 14 discussed here tonight regarding the performance of 15 Pilgrim. I ask you, nonetheless, adhere to simple 16 decorum. You've done that in past years and I am 17 greatly appreciative of that.
18 In essence, please respect each other.
19 Just as you wouldn't want to be interrupted during 20 your time at the microphone, I ask that you please 21 respect the speaking time of others.
22 Threatening gestures, however, will under 23 no circumstances be tolerated and will be cause for 24 immediate ejection from the meeting room. If you feel 25 that you've been threatened, please let me know or NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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9 1 tell one of the NRC security personnel standing around 2 the room, or the local law enforcement officials who 3 are also positioned around the room.
4 A few minor housekeeping issues. The 5 bathrooms are just outside these doors. The exits are 6 to the back and front, again through these doors.
7 While cameras are permitted, please try not to 8 obstruct the view of audience members. Would you be 9 so kind at this time to please silent your cell 10 phones.
11 At this point I would like to introduce 12 the following representatives -- following elected 13 officials or representatives thereof. First we have 14 Representative Sarah Peake from the 4th Barnstable 15 District.
16 (Applause.)
17 MR. KLUKAN: We have Michael Jackman 18 representing the Office of Congressman Keating.
19 (Applause.)
20 MR. KLUKAN: We have Alicia Rebello-Pradas 21 representing the Massachusetts Attorney General's 22 Office.
23 (Applause.)
24 MR. KLUKAN: Then we have Adrienne 25 Viarengo -- I apologize -- representing Senator NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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10 1 Elizabeth Warren's Office.
2 (Applause.)
3 MR. KLUKAN: Finally, we have Rory Clark 4 representing Senator Ed Markey's Office.
5 (Applause.)_
6 MR. KLUKAN: Are there any other elected 7 officials who would like to be recognized at this 8 time? You will have an opportunity to give prepared 9 remarks at the second half of the meeting. Anyone 10 else who would like to stand and be recognized at this 11 time? Okay. Thank you.
12 All right. Now on to some staff 13 introductions. Dave Lew is currently the Acting 14 Regional Administrator for Region I. Normally he 15 serves as the Deputy Regional Administrator and has 16 since served in that position since January of 2011.
17 Prior to his appointment in the NRC Senior 18 Executive Service in February 2004 he was a Resident 19 Inspector at Oyster Creek at Indian Point Unit 2 and 20 a Senior Resident Inspector at Indian Point Unit 3.
21 Dave Pelton is the current Acting Director 22 of the Division of Reactor Projects. He normally 23 serves as the Deputy Director in that division. His 24 previous assignments include three branch chief 25 positions in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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11 1 including the Division of License Renewal, the 2 Division of Policy Rulemaking, and the Division of 3 Operating Reactor Renewal.
4 Next we have Mr. Anthony Dimitriadis. I 5 say your name every day but I get up here and now I 6 can't. Mr. Dimitriadis, I apologize. He is the 7 Branch Chief for Branch 5 in Region I Division of 8 Reactor Projects. Branch 5 includes oversight of 9 Pilgrim and Fitzpatrick Nuclear Generating Station.
10 Mr. Dimitriadis joined the NRC in 1991 as 11 a health physicist and has had roles and increasing 12 responsibility over the past 27 years including Branch 13 Chief of Project Branch 1 with responsibility for 14 oversight of Canine, Nine Mile Point, and Calvert 15 Cliffs, and Branch Chief of the Plant Support Branch 16 in the Division of Reactor Safety responsible for 17 security and emergency planning.
18 Next we have Erin Carfang, who I already 19 introduced. She is the Senior Resident Inspector at 20 Pilgrim. She's been in that position since 2014.
21 Prior to that she was a resident inspector at Beaver 22 Valley. Prior to joining the NRC she served as a 23 United States officer aboard the USS The Sullivans and 24 the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.
25 Finally, not seated on the stage but who NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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12 1 will be joining us during the second half of the 2 meeting, we have Bruce Watson. Bruce Watson is the 3 Chief of the Reactor Decommissioning Branch in the 4 Division of Decommissioning Uranium Recovery and Waste 5 Programs in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 6 Safeguards.
7 He has been with the NRC since March 2004.
8 He has extensive experience in decommissioning of 9 reactors and material sites and was the technical lead 10 for the license terminations at Trojan, Main Yankee, 11 Rancho Seco, and Big Rock Point. He will be joining 12 the panel for the second half of the meeting to answer 13 any questions you may have regarding the 14 decommissioning process.
15 With that, I will now turn it over to Dave 16 Lew, Region I Acting Regional Administrator for the 17 NRC presentation. Thank you.
18 MR. LEW: Thank you, Brett.
19 First, let me welcome everyone to the 20 NRC's Annual Assessment Meeting. I recognize that the 21 majority of you here are most interested in the 22 questions and answers portion of the meeting.
23 To be respectful of your time and your 24 interests, we will strive to keep our discussion with 25 Entergy during the first portion of the meeting on NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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13 1 schedule. That discussion will include an NRC 2 presentation on our assessment of Pilgrim's 3 performance followed by a presentation by Entergy.
4 I think Brett covered the sequence after 5 the first portion of the meeting so really, with that, 6 I just want to get down to business. I will ask 7 Entergy now to introduce themselves and make any 8 opening remarks that they may have. At that point I 9 would ask Tony Dimitriadis, the Branch Chief of 10 Oversight of Pilgrim, to start the presentation.
11 Mr. Sullivan, let me turn it over to you 12 to introduce your staff.
13 MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Dave. My name 14 is Brian Sullivan. I'm the Site Vice President at 15 Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. I assumed that role in 16 May of 2017.
17 Prior to joining Pilgrim Station I was at 18 James A. Fitzpatrick Nuclear Power Station for seven 19 prior years. Prior to that I worked at Pilgrim 20 Nuclear Power Station for 21 years in various roles.
21 With me here tonight is Drake Pitts, my 22 Plant Manager of General Operations; Bruce Chenard, my 23 Senior Manager of Operations; Dave Noyes to my left, 24 my Director of Recovery Efforts; and Mike Romeo, 25 Director of Regulatory Affairs and Performance NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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14 1 Improvement.
2 Tony.
3 MR. DIMITRIADIS: Thank you. Good 4 afternoon. I have about seven slides to go over with 5 you. I just want to start with slide 3.
6 For 2017 Entergy operated Pilgrim safely 7 and securely in 2017. Overall performance for 2017 8 warrants continued placement in column 4. While we've 9 seen progress and improvement in the past year, we 10 have not yet determined its sustainability and much 11 more inspection in areas identified in our 12 confirmatory action letter, the CAL as I'll refer to 13 it in the future in a couple slides, remains.
14 With respect to progress and improvement, 15 we saw increased margins in Pilgrim's performance 16 indicators including no scrams in 2017. A scram is an 17 automatic shutdown of the reactor. Solid performance 18 by licensed operators during the 2017 refueling 19 outage. While there was a scram, like I said, an 20 automatic shutdown, in early 2018, plant equipment and 21 licensed operator response were good.
22 All that said, once a plant is placed is 23 column 4, we're not simply looking for progress or 24 improvement. We are looking for sustainability of 25 that progress and improvement. We do that by ensuring NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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15 1 that the licensee identifies and addresses the 2 underlying issues that led to the performance decline 3 back in 2015.
4 These underlying issues are captured in 5 the confirmatory action letter, that I just mentioned, 6 for which the NRC still has much more inspection 7 remaining to ensure they are addressed by Entergy.
8 Next slide, please. To give some 9 background, in 2015 the NRC placed Pilgrim in column 10 4 due to two white PIs and a white finding. Column 4 11 of the NRC's action matrix means that the plant, while 12 safe to operate, had reduced safety margins. More 13 information about column 4 is found in our inspection 14 manual Chapter 0305, and can be found in our public 15 website.
16 Following Pilgrim's placement in column 4, 17 the NRC implemented enhanced oversight and baseline 18 inspections at Pilgrim. We also performed a series of 19 comprehensive diagnostic team inspections in 20 accordance with our inspection procedure 95003.
21 That's the number of our procedure that we use.
22 That's a supplemental inspection procedure.
23 These inspections provided an indepth 24 independent review of what led to the decline of plant 25 performance. In addition to the NRC's review, the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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16 1 licensee, Entergy, was required to identify the causes 2 that led to Pilgrim performance being placed in column 3 4. They were required to implement corrective actions 4 needed to address the identified performance concerns.
5 Their plan to do so was detailed in 6 Pilgrim's recovery plan. As we will cover later in 7 this presentation, the NRC reviewed Pilgrim's recovery 8 plan to determine based on our findings from the 95003 9 inspections whether the proposed causes and corrective 10 actions are sufficient to fix the underlying problems.
11 In August 2017, August 2nd specifically, 12 we issued the confirmatory action letter that I just 13 mentioned, the CAL, that outlined the focus areas in 14 the action plan for each focus area that we are going 15 to independently examine the licensee's actions and 16 assess the results through direct inspections.
17 Next slide, please. Enhanced oversight 18 activities. To support continuous assessment of 19 Pilgrim performance, the NRC utilized additional 20 resources to support onsite baseline inspection 21 efforts and we engaged Entergy with more frequent site 22 visits while they remained in column 4.
23 We added an additional inspector for about 24 a year while we were going through a period of 25 assessment and diagnostic inspections to get an NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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17 1 understanding of the underlying issues. We later 2 developed the CAL inspection teams, as will be covered 3 in the next few slides.
4 We have increased oversight at Pilgrim and 5 NRC senior management will also continue to conduct 6 quarterly assessment reviews of plant performance with 7 a particular focus on monitoring any potential 8 performance decline.
9 Next slide, please. We expended a 10 significant amount of inspection resources in 2017.
11 We expanded about 15,000 hours0 days <br />0 hours <br />0 weeks <br />0 months <br /> of inspection focus.
12 To put it in perspective, a typical plant receives 13 about 3,000 to 5,000 hours0 days <br />0 hours <br />0 weeks <br />0 months <br /> of inspection on a given 14 year. As you can see, that's significant effort.
15 NRC performance indicators and inspection 16 result for Pilgrim indicated improved performance over 17 the course of 2017. However, significant amount of 18 work and performance recovery remains for Entergy at 19 Pilgrim.
20 Significant inspections and oversight in 21 2017 included supplemental inspection. Like I said, 22 the 95003, a refueling outage inspection. Licensee 23 revised their recovery plan and the NRC reviewed the 24 recovery plan and ultimately culminated into the 25 development of the CAL that was issued in August.
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18 1 In addition, the first CAL inspection was also 2 conducted in December of last year, 2017.
3 Next slide. The confirmatory action 4 letter, CAL, as I mentioned earlier, as I mentioned, 5 the CAL was issued in August and then the CAL 6 inspections basically are designed and necessary to 7 address the key performance issues identified by our 8 assessment activities to determine if the corrective 9 actions have been addressed and evaluated, whether the 10 safety performance of Pilgrim has demonstrated 11 sustained improvement warranting transition of 12 Pilgrim.
13 We performed a comprehensive review of 14 licensees' recovery plan with significant effort.
15 During these inspections the NRC inspectors will 16 examine the CAL items and focus areas to determine if 17 the associated corrective actions are complete and if 18 they're effective in accords with the CAL commitments.
19 Like I said, the first CAl follow-up 20 inspection was completed on December 8th and the 21 report was issued on February 1st of this year.
22 For this inspection the items reviewed the majority 23 were closed. However, there were aspects that the 24 staff continues to inspect.
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19 1 taking place now and focuses on operability 2 determination functionality assessments. The NRC's 3 final evaluations and documentation are currently in 4 progress. That report will be issued sometime in May.
5 Next slide, please. The five team 6 inspections that I mentioned that were scheduled, like 7 I said, the first two were already done. The first 8 inspection was completed in 2017 and the report is 9 public. The second inspection is ongoing and the 10 onsite inspection part occurred last week, although 11 the team has continued to review some documents.
12 The three additional inspections are 13 currently scheduled for 2018. Let me just point out 14 that should the NRC find it necessary to do so, 15 additional quarterly inspections will be scheduled 16 until all CAL commitments are satisfied.
17 Next slide. So in summary, Pilgrim 18 operated safely in 2017. We have seen some 19 performance improvement but the plan needs to 20 demonstrate sustained improved performance to be 21 considered to be removed in column 4. Pilgrim will 22 continue to receive heightened NRC inspection and 23 oversight in 2018.
24 MR. LEW: That concludes Tony's 25 presentation. I'm going to turn it over to you, Mr.
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20 1 Sullivan.
2 MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you. Tonight in our 3 presentation we'll cover plant operations, equipment 4 reliability, and deferments that we've made in nuclear 5 safety culture. Following start-up from the refueling 6 outage in May of 2017 the station operated for the 7 next 242 days prior to removing the station from 8 service due to adverse weather conditions in order to 9 maintain design and operating margins.
10 During that same time period during 11 tropical storm Jose the station reduced power to 12 maintain design and operating margins and always keep 13 the plant in a conservative place for safe plant 14 operation.
15 This demonstrates that the station has 16 listened and has taken the feedback from the NRC, 17 developed a comprehensive recovery plan, and put 18 actions in place to demonstrate conservative plant 19 operation. The employees at Pilgrim Station are 20 hardworking, well trained, well qualified individuals 21 that hold as their highest value protection of public 22 health and safety.
23 With that I'm going to turn it over to 24 Drake Pitts to cover plant operations.
25 MR. PITTS: All right. Identifying and NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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21 1 understanding risk is key to making good decisions.
2 We are an always-learning organization. We learn from 3 ourselves and we learn from others. The basic risk 4 model is probability times consequence minus the 5 mitigating strategies.
6 At Pilgrim we seek to understand the 7 consequence and maintain a conservative bias. There 8 are allowable decisions and actions and there's 9 prudent actions. We choose the prudent actions.
10 Mr. Dimitriadis spoke, and you heard him 11 speak, that we need to show sustained improved 12 performance. At Pilgrim we are not just focused on 13 compliance. We have a passion for excellence in what 14 we do.
15 In our decision making we have an 16 intolerance for undesirable instates and that's what 17 we measure ourselves against when we make decisions 18 for operating of the station.
19 With that I'll turn you over to Bruce 20 Chenard, Operation Director at Pilgrim Station.
21 PARTICIPANT: I just have a quick 22 question. We talked a little bit about operations 23 leadership. I think in our annual assessment letter 24 we had acknowledged improvement and license operators, 25 but we did not observe a commensurate progress in some NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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22 1 of the other staff. Would you talk to that in terms 2 of what you see as the challenges and what you are 3 doing to try to address that issue?
4 PARTICIPANT: Yes. Operations leads the 5 station and the place where we needed to put our focus 6 and put our energy was improving the performance of 7 the operators in the control room. The actions that 8 we put in place were multi-faceted and included 9 training, included case studies on our past 10 performance in order to ensure that we learned from 11 the mistakes of the past and we took those learnings 12 going forward.
13 We conducted five weeks of high-intensity 14 training with the crews in order to demonstrate that 15 at our simulator. That training was led by our system 16 operations manager in Operations. We needed to make 17 those changes first in the operations department and 18 the rest of the station will follow opts leads and the 19 rest of the station will now be our focus.
20 PARTICIPANT: Is there anything specific 21 that you are doing relative to the rest of the staff 22 in terms of your focus area efforts?
23 PARTICIPANT: We are focused on right now 24 and have put together a maintenance fundamental 25 program which is going back to the basics for our NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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23 1 maintenance workers to make sure that we identify and 2 close any gaps in that area and that they are master 3 craftsmen going forward. That's one of our big 4 initiatives at the station as far as closing the gap 5 for the rest of the station.
6 PARTICIPANT: Thank you.
7 PARTICIPANT: Dave, along with that we've 8 established three site-focus areas of the station; 9 safe plant operations, and that encompasses ensuring 10 that we're maintaining equipment, ensuring that we're 11 fixing equipment as it breaks, and that's measured by 12 our corrective -- by our maintenance backlogs which 13 right now are amongst the best in the industry.
14 We continue to strive for that and we will 15 maintain that through the life of the plant as well as 16 continuing our preventive maintenance programs on our 17 equipment in order to ensure safe plant operation.
18 Our second focus here is people because 19 going through a plant shutdown that will occur in May 20 of 2019 it's very important we keep people engaged and 21 we're doing that by being open, honest, and 22 transparent with folks about what's going on to remove 23 anxiety.
24 The company, Entergy Corporation, has made 25 a commitment to all employees at Pilgrim Station that NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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24 1 there will be a job for them following cessation of 2 operations at Pilgrim Station. That helps reduce the 3 angst.
4 We are also working with the State 5 Department of Labor to identify training opportunities 6 and other opportunities that the state may have in 7 programs in order to prepare people for life after 8 Pilgrim.
9 The last focus area is process and that's 10 how we work as a fleet and continue to improve. Not 11 just the performance at Pilgrim station but the 12 improved performance across the nuclear fleet and 13 Entergy Corporation.
14 MR. LEW: Thank you. In May what you're 15 talking about will be the subject for our follow-up 16 review in our quarterly team inspection so we'll have 17 an opportunity to see the effectiveness of those 18 actions.
19 MR. CHENARD: Next slide, please. In the 20 area of our equipment liability, our focus has been 21 and always will be in fixing the plant in preventing 22 future failures to ensure safe operation of Pilgrim 23 Nuclear Power Plant.
24 During the RFO we had a significant amount 25 of people, system engineers, operations and outage NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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25 1 management, work together and show that we have the 2 right scope for the refueling outage so that we could 3 get a breaker-to-breaker run for the next cycle. We 4 weren't able to achieve that through their adverse 5 weather conditions.
6 However, we were able to fix a significant 7 amount of equipment during that outage. The company 8 had invested resources and money to make improvements 9 in the condenser, our main steam isolation valves, 10 lodge motors, our feedwater level control system to 11 ensure that we would be capable of running for the 12 remainder of plant life.
13 We have also made significant improvements 14 in our work management system. The key to managing 15 risks and the key to fixing equipment is making sure 16 that you're predictable in work management.
17 We spent a significant amount of time with 18 workshops educating the people, the staff, on the 19 proper way of managing our work management system and 20 with oversight from the management team ensuring that 21 people were being personally accountable for their 22 roles in the work management system to ensure that we 23 were proficient in getting work done as scheduled and 24 adhering to that schedule in managing risk to the 25 station as we implemented our work management NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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26 1 processes.
2 Thirdly, in engineering programs we 3 improved our engineering programs to allow us to get 4 intervention. Pilgrim Station of the past would react 5 to equipment failures, fix that equipment, and then 6 continue to run.
7 Today we have system engineers and 8 operators in the field looking at data, reviewing 9 procedures, identifying issues before they become 10 problems. We take those issues and we resolve them 11 and correct them prior to failures. In this way, 12 we're allowed to run safely and reliably.
13 Questions?
14 PARTICIPANT: No question, just an 15 observation. We did acknowledge -- as Tony 16 acknowledged, the refueling outage 21 performance was 17 good but certainly there's still some issues in terms 18 of work management and engineering programs that we 19 will still continue to need to observe and see what 20 the effectiveness of those actions are.
21 PARTICIPANT: Absolutely. We welcome you 22 coming. We're not saying that we have solved every 23 problem and set a level that we want to be at. We're 24 still striving to excellence and we will continue to 25 improve.
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27 1 MR. PITTS: Stations making significant 2 progress and improving the culture through improved 3 leadership with no indication of challenges to a 4 safety conscious work environment where leveraging in 5 engaged workforce with the line behaviors necessary to 6 finish strong in the last 14 months of plant 7 operation.
8 I would like to focus on three key 9 elements of nuclear safety culture. The first is the 10 station's corrective action program. Station 11 personnel are more consistently identifying our own 12 issues with less reliance on independent oversight and 13 regulatory intervention.
14 We're also seeing improved performance in 15 our causal evaluation. Backlogs of our higher 16 priority actions are continuing to be reduced and are 17 now consistent with the industry norm.
18 In the area of training we are leveraging 19 out training programs to provide important bench 20 strain (phonetic) in key areas for continued operation 21 to account for any potential attrition and provide our 22 employees with the skills necessary for future 23 employment opportunities.
24 In fact, with 14 months left in plant operation we are 25 still qualifying non-licensed operators.
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28 1 In the area of shaping leader behaviors, 2 we'll building on the experience and fresh perspective 3 of our new senior leadership team to set and 4 continuously reinforce high standards. We are seeing 5 improved field presence and engagement by our 6 leadership team in enforcing those high standards.
7 We have by no means arrived in the area of 8 nuclear safety culture, but by all our measures our 9 safety culture has improved and we continue to work on 10 consistency and sustainability.
11 PARTICIPANT: Let me touch on the 12 confirmatory action letter follow-up inspection, the 13 one that was conducted back in December. I think we 14 issued the report on February 1st.
15 I think there was improvement indicated by 16 17 of the actions closed, but we could not fully close 17 that issue. There were still three issues that 18 remained and there was some gaps in terms of the 19 effectiveness review. What did you take from that and 20 what adjustments have you made to prepare for future 21 inspections that we will be conducting?
22 MR. PITTS: We've learned a lot through 23 that first inspection process. Specifically the 24 identification of issues that were identified by the 25 95003 inspection team and ensuring those items are NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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29 1 addressed along with the fundamental problem and 2 problem areas specific to the action.
3 Also ensuring that our effectiveness 4 reviews are thorough and provide clear documentation 5 that the actions that we took achieved sustainable 6 results. Those have all been put into our blueprint 7 for future inspections and those activities will 8 continue going forward for each of the supplemental 9 inspections.
10 PARTICIPANT: I would agree with you that 11 the importance here is being able to do the 12 effectiveness review in a manner that ensures 13 sustainability. Again, what we're looking at is 14 sustainability of progress and improvement, not just 15 progress and improvement we may have seen in the past 16 year.
17 MR. SULLIVAN: That concludes our 18 presentation pending any questions.
19 PARTICIPANT: Any questions from the 20 table?
21 PARTICIPANT: Yeah. I think at the risk 22 of sounding like a broken record -- well, first let me 23 thank you, Mr. Sullivan, for your team's presentation 24 and discussion. We have acknowledged progress and 25 improvement, but I do want to emphasize again that the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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30 1 NRC is not just looking for progress and improvement.
2 We are looking for sustainability of that 3 progress and improvement. We do that by ensuring that 4 you address the underlying issues that were identified 5 in the diagnostic inspections that were identified in 6 your recovery plan and has identified in the 7 confirmatory action letter.
8 I think only through those do we have some 9 assurance that sustainability can be provided. I 10 think as part of our -- I think its part of your 11 obligation to make sure that you carry through that in 12 a timely manner and we will evaluate the effectiveness 13 of your efforts going forward.
14 Any other comments from the NRC? With 15 that, that concludes my remarks. Do you have any 16 remarks, Mr. Sullivan?
17 MR. SULLIVAN: Nothing further.
18 PARTICIPANT: That concludes the first 19 portion of the meeting. We'll transition very quickly 20 and start taking questions and answers. Obviously 21 we'll have an opportunity for elected officials and 22 representatives to make statements first.
23 MR. KLUKAN: So based on my clock it is 24 6:34 right now. I would like to reconvene at 6:40.
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31 1 reconvening at 6:40. All right.
2 Again, if you would like to speak this 3 evening and have not already done so, please step 4 outside during the intermission to add your name to 5 the speaker sign-up list and to receive a ticket.
6 Again, we will begin the second half of 7 our meeting at 6:40. Thank you very much.
8 (Whereupon, the above-entitled matter went 9 off the record at 6:34 p.m. and resumed at 6:40 p.m.)
10 MR. KLUKAN: Okay. Welcome back everyone.
11 Just a few comments before we begin with the second 12 half of the meeting.
13 And I apologize for going so quickly 14 through my remarks. I imagine that my introductory 15 remarks are probably not your highest priority of 16 things you came here to hear about tonight. Like 17 where are the bathrooms.
18 So, I will get through this quickly as 19 well. One thing I forgot to mention during the 20 initial part of my introduction, mea culpa for that, 21 is that if you haven't noticed already, we are doing 22 a closed captioning system up here.
23 So this is essentially a printout of 24 everything that's being said in real time with a 25 slight delay. So, if you would like to take use of NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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32 1 that, we've reserved some seats in the front.
2 So, just to make you aware of that's what 3 this is. And that will continue through the second 4 half of the meeting.
5 All right. As I noted during my 6 introductory remarks, the speaking orders will be 7 determined by the numbers pulled from the container 8 sitting right there.
9 The intent of which is that the speaker 10 order be at random. When your number is called, 11 please queue up to the aisle microphone.
12 If you need to have a microphone brought 13 to you, please raise your hand and I will bring my 14 microphone over. Again, there's no prohibition 15 against donating tickets, along as both parties are 16 present when the donation occurs.
17 In an effort to give as many people an 18 opportunity to speak this evening, please limit 19 yourself to three minutes at the microphone. Note 20 that I will strictly enforce this.
21 Positioned at the edge of the podium, or 22 table right there, you will see a digital clock. That 23 will count down when you start speaking.
24 And at the conclusion of three minutes, I 25 will ask you to politely conclude. Or I will politely NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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33 1 ask you to conclude. I hope you conclude politely as 2 well. Overall polite.
3 We have 69 people signed up to speak this 4 evening. So, as such, it is unlikely we will be able 5 to get through all of them by 8:45, the announced end 6 time for the meeting.
7 And hence, not everyone who intended to 8 speak tonight may get an opportunity to do so during 9 the meeting time. Know that the NRC staff will remain 10 after the meeting outside of the meeting room, in the 11 hallway, to hold discussions with you if you would 12 like to have such discussions after the meeting.
13 Now, before we begin, I would like to, as 14 I mentioned at the outset in the meeting, Erin Carfang 15 does have some prepared remarks regarding current 16 plant status. And then after that we will go into 17 elected official written remarks.
18 So with that I'll turn it over to Erin.
19 MS. CARFANG: Okay. Good evening. The 20 plant is currently safely shut down. And is being 21 continuously monitored by NRC licensed operators.
22 The plant is currently cooled by a cooling 23 system that is for decay heat removal. And three 24 offsite power lines are powering the station.
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34 1 in a standby status for the station. And site 2 inspectors have walked down all of these systems since 3 the most recent storms.
4 The plant is shut down currently to 5 complete repairs in the switch yard. And those are 6 ongoing items that we are continuing to inspect.
7 And inspectors are continuing to verify 8 that the plant remains in a safe condition throughout 9 these repairs. And will monitor any start up 10 activities that occur.
11 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you. Okay. Now I'm 12 going to turn it over to elected officials. Again, 13 all five elected officials or their representatives 14 have indicated that they would like to give written 15 comments at this time.
16 So, please feel free to come to the 17 microphone to do so in whatever order you please.
18 MS. VIARENGO: Hello. My name is Adrienne 19 Viarengo. And I'm Senator Elizabeth Warren's 20 southeastern Mass Regional Director. And I have a 21 statement on her behalf.
22 I am greatly concerned at Entergy's poor 23 public safety record at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power 24 Station. Entergy has shrugged off federal safety 25 requirements, citing the May 2019 shutdown date as a NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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35 1 reason to forego critical investments in safety 2 upgrades that protect our communities.
3 The latest cyber security concerns at 4 Entergy Headquarters are evidence that these upgrades 5 are necessary. Furthermore, Pilgrim's stagnation in 6 Column Four of the NRC's safety rating system, 7 demonstrates that improving safety is not a priority, 8 and signals a greater concern for the bottom line then 9 the people of southeastern Massachusetts.
10 The NRC must insist Entergy fully and 11 swiftly comply with federal safety regulations. And 12 if Entergy continues to operate Pilgrim without regard 13 for critical safety standards, I insist that the NRC 14 take the necessary steps to shut down the plant.
15 Thank you.
16 (Applause) 17 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
18 MS. CLARK: Hi there. Rory Clark on 19 behalf of Senator Markey.
20 Since last year's annual public meeting of 21 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Pilgrim Nuclear 22 Power Station, there has been continued cause for 23 concern on the part of the people of Massachusetts.
24 We are at what we can only hope will be 25 the end of a historic run of storms this month that NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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36 1 saw blizzard after blizzard batter the coast of our 2 state. Amidst these storms, Pilgrim suffered multiple 3 incidents of loss of off site power that have 4 necessitated emergency shutdowns of plant operations.
5 Yet according to their own winter shut 6 down requirements, these storms did not meet the 7 severity requirements for a preemptive safety 8 shutdown. Despite the increasing power and potential 9 of storms in recent years, it seems that neither 10 Entergy nor the NRC has seen fit to escalate storm 11 safety precautions at Pilgrim in accordance with the 12 increasing severity of winter storms.
13 It is of the utmost importance that 14 Entergy provide its staff with the resources that they 15 need to operate the plant safely up to and through its 16 prompt shutdown.
17 Together with my colleagues and Senator 18 Warren and Congressman Keating, I and my staff have 19 sent letters to the NRC and met with their staff to 20 relay our serious concerns on these continued issues.
21 I am deeply troubled by the repeated emergency 22 shutdowns at Pilgrim, all while the NRC has allowed 23 the number of resident inspectors at the plant to wane 24 from three to two.
25 Pilgrim cannot persist in Column Four.
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37 1 The safety of our residents is at stake every day.
2 And it depends on the NRC's commitment to holding 3 Entergy accountable and ensuring a swift and safe path 4 to a responsible closure.
5 Thank you.
6 (Applause) 7 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
8 MR. JACKMAN: Thank you. Mike Jackman 9 from Congressman Keating's office. In the interest of 10 time I'm going to offer an abbreviated version of the 11 Congressman's remarks.
12 I do have a full text. Which has been 13 submitted to the NRC.
14 Thank you for the opportunity to address 15 you at tonight's meeting. I share my constituents' 16 deep concern about the persistent, low safety rating 17 at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant, the safety situation 18 that is faced by the workers and the community and 19 troubling reports surfacing about the parent company's 20 operations in other states.
21 I continue to encourage the NRC to place 22 PNPS under the most rigorous scrutiny. The safety 23 culture at the plant needs to improve, and this must 24 come from the top.
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38 1 necessary attention and resources to the plant to 2 ensure its safe operation. In addition, Entergy must 3 be required to operationalize adequate corrective 4 action programs to maximize the safety of residents of 5 Plymouth and surrounding communities.
6 At the government meeting today, the 7 Congressman was able to emphasize the concerns about 8 cyber security, which I'll address next.
9 I also remain engaged on cyber defense 10 policy to ensure that our country, our critical 11 infrastructure, and our nuclear plants are safe from 12 cyber attacks. Entergy must remain vigilant to ensure 13 that the Pilgrim Station is protected from cyber 14 intrusion of any kind.
15 I serve on the House Homeland Security 16 Committee, where I work with Republicans and Democrats 17 to improve our country's cyber security capabilities.
18 Last week's omnibus funding bill signed into law by 19 the President, provides funding for important energy 20 security and safety programs, including one hundred 21 million dollars for cyber security to protect our 22 electric grid and energy infrastructure.
23 Many of us in Washington are reacting to 24 enhance our nations' cyber security. But, given the 25 NRC's decision last December to waive the requirement NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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39 1 that Entergy complete all eight cyber security 2 milestones at Pilgrim prior to the announced closure 3 date of the plant, and given that the fact that the 4 cyber security standards for nuclear plants were set 5 nine years ago, nine years during which the nature and 6 frequency of cyber attacks on American Infrastructure 7 have only worsened, is incumbent upon the NRC to work 8 with federal intelligence agencies to, to share 9 information, and develop more rigorous proto -- cyber 10 security protocols that reflect the latest 11 technological advances in cyber protection.
12 Even when Pilgrim enters the 13 decommissioning phase the site will still be home to 14 vital security systems, spent fuel, and dry casts.
15 That is why Entergy and the NRC must work in 16 collaboration with other expert partners at the 17 Department of Energy, the Department of Homeland 18 Security, and all relevant agencies to ensure 19 Pilgrim's cyber security systems operate at the 20 highest possible standards.
21 Earlier this year I reintroduced the 22 Nuclear Plant Decommissioning Act along with Senator 23 Sanders and Congressman Welch of Vermont. This bill 24 would ensure that states and local communities have 25 meaningful roles in the development and approval of NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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40 1 reactor shutdown plans and post-shutdown license 2 transfers.
3 It is the people who live or work in the 4 community hosting a nuclear power plant who truly 5 understand the effects of decommissioning. This 6 legislation will give them a voice.
7 Hundreds of thousands of residents and 8 thousands of local Pilgrim staff appreciate that full 9 decommissioning of the station and complete 10 restoration of the site will take many years. We must 11 ensure that these complex tasks are done safely, 12 skillfully, and completely so that the Plymouth 13 community is economically and environmentally 14 protected today and tomorrow.
15 Thank you.
16 (Applause) 17 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
18 MS. REBELLO-PRADAS: Good evening. My 19 name is Alicia Rebello-Pradas. And I am Deputy Chief 20 of the Policy and Government Division at the Attorney 21 General's Office.
22 On behalf of Attorney General Maura 23 Healey, I would like to thank the NRC and Entergy for 24 hosting this public meeting this evening, to allow the 25 public to learn more about NRC's continued inspection NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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41 1 of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant.
2 The people of Massachusetts continue to 3 have legitimate concerns of their safety in light of 4 Entergy's track record. And we expect that the NRC 5 will put safety above all else.
6 Attorney General Maura Healey remains 7 concerned that Pilgrim continue to operate during the 8 March 2 storm despite the fact that due to flooding 9 and downed trees, it would have been impossible for 10 Massachusetts and its local first responders to 11 implement the offsite emergency evacuation plan in the 12 event of an emergency at the facility, as the 13 Commonwealth officials relayed to FEMA, and FEMA 14 subsequently relayed to the NRC.
15 It is vitally important that this event be 16 investigated fully by the NRC. And steps be taken by 17 the NRC with the assistance of FEMA to ensure that 18 this does not happen again. And so that the plant 19 operates safely at all times.
20 Attorney General Maura Healey also remains 21 concerned about the NRC's decision to eliminate the 22 third resident inspector at the plant. Last fall the 23 Attorney General, along with other Massachusetts 24 elected officials, many of whom are here this evening, 25 specifically asked that the NRC include an additional NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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42 1 onsite resident inspector at Pilgrim given the 2 documented safety issues at the plant, and NRC 3 committed to doing so.
4 The Attorney General was surprised to 5 learn, not from the NRC, but from a reporter, that the 6 NRC had decided to relocate that third resident 7 inspector to another plant. That decision was made 8 without notice to our office or to the public.
9 Pilgrim, with one of the worst safety 10 records among the nation's nuclear fleet, requires 11 more oversight, not less. The safety and the people 12 -- the safety of the people of the Commonwealth and 13 the protection of our environment must be assured 14 until the plant closes in 2019.
15 Again, thank you very much for allowing us 16 to provide comments this evening.
17 (Applause) 18 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
19 REPRESENTATIVE PEAKE: Hi. Good evening.
20 My name is Representative Sarah Peake. And I am 21 joined here at the microphone by Representative Matt 22 Muratore and Representative Will Crocker as well.
23 I want to begin by thanking you for two 24 things. One is extending the courtesy, taking us out 25 of turn when you have 69 people waiting to speak their NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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43 1 minds tonight.
2 And the second thing I would like to thank 3 you for is the government to government meeting, which 4 was held just in a ballroom next door, I think, 5 earlier today. Most of the legislative delegation was 6 there.
7 Congressman Keating was present. Both of 8 our United States Senators' Offices were represented.
9 And local officials from the town of Plymouth, who are 10 at a Board of Selectmen's meeting, as we speak this 11 evening, two members of the Board were there as well.
12 I would say, and I would characterize, and 13 speaking with my colleagues and local officials 14 following the meeting that quite the opposite of our 15 level of concern being somewhat allayed, that our 16 level of concern about the safety and ongoing 17 operation of the plant is increasing.
18 And what we are concerned about is the 19 ongoing operations of what is a clearly aged plant, 20 limping along beyond what is its natural life span.
21 You mentioned this evening, and in our 22 meeting this afternoon, the word sustainability on 23 more then one occasion. And that word has come up 24 repeatedly. And we echo that sentiment and that 25 concern and more.
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44 1 In addition, the delegation, your state 2 delegation is also concerned about the decommissioning 3 process. And to that end, we also as a delegation 4 united, will be presenting a joint statement and 5 recommendations to the Nuclear Decommissioning --
6 what's the C stand for again?
7 Citizens Advisory Panel. Thank you. At 8 their rescheduled from the blizzard hearing. It's now 9 rescheduled for April 11. And will take place on the 10 Cape.
11 And I'm going to turn the mic over to 12 Representative Muratore who has a little more to say 13 about that. And whatever else you want to say.
14 REPRESENTATIVE MURATORE: Thank you very 15 much.
16 (Applause) 17 REPRESENTATIVE MURATORE: Thank you very 18 much. First of all I want to thank the NRC again for 19 coming to Plymouth. On behalf of the town of 20 Plymouth, welcome again.
21 I think I'm the longest elected official 22 that's been going through this process for many years.
23 So I really appreciate what you go through. And I 24 appreciate the comments that Representative Peake said 25 as well, the government to government interaction, and NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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45 1 the meetings we have ahead of time to really know 2 what's going on.
3 And on behalf of the delegation and 4 Senator deMacedo, just to reiterate a little bit more 5 of what she was talking about on April 11. We 6 actually have come up with five recommendations that 7 will then be made into the Decommissioning Panel and 8 to the Baker/Polito Administration as well as we get 9 into the decommissioning, which we know is only about 10 a year away.
11 So, you will be hearing more about those 12 at the April 11 -- or after the April 11 meeting. So, 13 thank you again for coming out.
14 (Applause) 15 REPRESENTATIVE CROCKER: Thank you very 16 much. I do not have many prepared statements to make.
17 But I will relate to you what my constituents are 18 relating to me.
19 And that is the passage of time. Now we 20 are moving ever so quickly to 2019 when this plant 21 will be decommissioned. And we are not hearing enough 22 answers.
23 We're not hearing enough facts. We're not 24 hearing enough plans. And those people who I speak 25 with on a regular basis are saying, time is beginning NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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46 1 to run out. We don't have enough information. And we 2 are looking forward to hearing more.
3 You have to say, and those plans, when 4 they finally are made public, and when they are able 5 to be digested by the people who live on Cape Cod, we 6 have a lot of concerns. And they express those to me 7 on a daily basis.
8 And we look forward to hearing what you 9 have to say and getting that plan moving forward. So 10 thank you.
11 (Applause) 12 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you. Thank you very 13 much. Any other elected officials before we begin the 14 public speaking portion?
15 (No response) 16 MR. KLUKAN: Going once, twice. It's 17 giving Justin some time to pull this up.
18 Okay. So as we promised, there's a way of 19 expediting this process. The numbers are now up on 20 the board.
21 So the first speaker will be number 62.
22 Followed by number 34, number 7. And then 42, 63, and 23 on and on and on.
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47 1 pull a ticket that's -- so we've tried to be more 2 efficient.
3 So again, first up is number 62.
4 UNKNOWN: Who is 54?
5 MR. KLUKAN: Number 54 is --
6 (Off mic comments) 7 MR. KLUKAN: One second. One second. How 8 about this. Why -- while they're figuring that out, 9 in our full proof system, why don't we get started 10 with number 62 for the sake of time?
11 So would number 62 -- and with that I'm 12 also going to turn it over to my co-facilitator, 13 Donna, who will now be doing the more difficult 14 portion of the meeting. Now that I've gotten the easy 15 part out of the way with.
16 So, number 62?
17 (Off mic comments) 18 MR. KLUKAN: Okay. Could you use the 19 aisle microphone? Oh, oh, oh. You traded your 20 ticket. I am sorry. Okay.
21 And again, I will be operating the timer 22 you see there. So thank you.
23 MS. EZAROWITZ: Sorry. I was slow to the 24 come to the microphone. My name is Janet Ezarowitz 25 (phonetic).
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48 1 MS. JANDA: Hi Janet. What is your 2 number, Janet?
3 MS. EZAROWITZ: It is number -- well, it 4 was 49.
5 MS. JANDA: Okay.
6 MS. EZAROWITZ: I am now 62.
7 MS. JANDA: Okay. Thank you.
8 MS. EZAROWITZ: And number one. I was 9 happy to hear, I was going to ask if the plant were in 10 operation today. So, now I know it still is.
11 I mean, it's still -- it's not in 12 operation. And that doesn't surprise me after reading 13 this morning's newspaper report of another problem.
14 One more problem at Pilgrim. These 15 recurring problems are said to be of no threat to the 16 public safety.
17 And how many times have we heard that from 18 Entergy? It's really ridiculous. It's probably the 19 most oft used phrase that comes from that plant.
20 It's also been categorized by the NRC as 21 of low significance. And that comes after three 22 mechanical problems in the last three weeks.
23 Where does the cause of this latest 24 mechanical problem come from? Is it possibly -- is it 25 really a mechanical problem?
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49 1 Is it possibly worker negligence? Lack of 2 training, lack of staffing there? Is it still, and 3 I'm referring to last year's email from the inspection 4 leader, team leader, that those operating the plant 5 are overwhelmed due to a poor safety culture.
6 And I know the Entergy people are working 7 on their safety culture. But I still think there's a 8 lot lacking in it.
9 Or, lastly is it because of the NRC's 10 constant changing the rules? Which prolongs the money 11 making ability operation of this plant.
12 It's really difficult. I mean, there is 13 such a history of events that we're all concerned 14 with, to keep track of them.
15 This latest failure involves the procedure 16 that would halt nuclear fission to occur in case there 17 were an earthquake. That was one specific thing that 18 was mentioned.
19 Should we worry when we know that the NRC 20 waived requirements in April 2017 for Pilgrim to 21 comply with seismic and flooding regulations issued 22 after the radiation leak at Fukushima?
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50 1 the reactor starts up again.
2 So it does have some significance I would 3 say. It was also said that the plant engineers are 4 calculating whether the pipes would have held up in an 5 earthquake, these clamps on the pipes.
6 So in other words, they don't know what 7 exactly it would take for this rod insertion process 8 to be affected. But we do know that Plymouth has had 9 earthquakes in the past. Not major earthquakes. But 10 how much will it take to create this mechanical 11 failure?
12 I'm out of time. I want to thank you.
13 But I really hope that you take the words of our 14 legislators and we're working across a spectrum of 15 Republican and Democrat leaders.
16 They're all asking for the same thing.
17 Because they're hearing it from all of their 18 constituents. Please make the mandate of the NRC to 19 make the plant safer.
20 And I'm out of time.
21 MR. LEW: Thank you. And I wasn't sure 22 whether you wanted a response or not. Because there 23 was a question there regarding the internal drive 24 system and the seismic support.
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51 1 a statement?
2 MS. EZAROWITZ: Yes. I would.
3 MR. LEW: Okay. So, there was embedded in 4 that question, and I'm going to ask Erin to address 5 the recent issue that was reported.
6 But, there was a question that was 7 embedded in terms of whether this was a safety culture 8 issue that was identified in the past. I would say 9 that this is an issue in which the licensee had 10 identified, and from our point of view is positive 11 that they're identifying these issues through the 12 initiative of a fleet initiative that they were 13 looking at.
14 But, with respect to the specifics, maybe 15 I can ask Erin to talk to.
16 MS. CARFANG: Sure. And I would agree 17 with what Dave said. This is an indication of 18 improving safety culture at the plant.
19 The site recognized that they needed to go 20 look at an industry known issue. And they were doing 21 systematic walk downs of the systems.
22 And their engineer identified this. So he 23 brought that to the attention of the control room, who 24 then did the right actions of evaluating, will the 25 system operate correctly?
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52 1 Because they were not sure, and they did 2 not have a sufficient amount of time by the time they 3 needed to report to the NRC, they did the right thing, 4 because there was reasonable doubt that system would 5 work correctly, and they are currently going through 6 their calculations to see if it would withstand the 7 seismic interactions.
8 And for everyone's awareness, what is a 9 seismic interaction? It's really when you shake the 10 pipes, will they withstand the momentum? The forces 11 that they're -- that they experience in that sort of 12 situation.
13 And so it is not necessarily a difficult 14 item for the site to fix. They will fix it before 15 they start up.
16 And they did take the actions that were 17 required by the regulatory requirements that we impose 18 upon that station.
19 MS. EZAROWITZ: How long was it before 20 this was identified as a problem?
21 MS. CARFANG: That's part -- we're look --
22 the site is looking into that and we are following up.
23 MR. LEW: So, we'll follow up in terms of 24 inspection. They will provide their analysis. And 25 Erin will receive it and look at it and get the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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53 1 support that she needs from our regional office to 2 confirm that it is as they indicate.
3 MS. EZAROWITZ: Well, I hope it stays shut 4 down for a very long time. I would feel much better.
5 MS. JANDA: Okay. Thank you. The next 6 speaker is number 34, Larry Loomis.
7 MR. LOOMIS: Good evening. I was going to 8 make some remarks and then ask you a question if 9 that's okay.
10 My name is Larry Loomis. I live in 11 Sandwich, Mass on Cape Cod with my wife, two growing 12 children, and four year old granddaughter. And yes, 13 we're all in the same house.
14 I've worked at Pilgrim Station for 38 15 years. Mostly in the chemistry department, where 16 maintaining water quality for the reactor and 17 supporting systems is my main job.
18 Prior to Pilgrim I was in the U.S. Navy on 19 a nuclear submarine for six years. I have a lot of 20 experience in bench marking other nuclear power plants 21 and interfacing with well-trained nuclear personnel on 22 industry and plant committees.
23 Over the years, and especially recently, 24 I have seen many improvements and a very conservative 25 approach at Pilgrim in the areas of nuclear safety and NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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54 1 plant maintenance.
2 Even though the plant is closing in 2019, 3 continued and reliable operation is the top priority 4 throughout the station. I see this every day in how 5 my fellow workers processionally do their jobs, 6 committed to working as a team with this goal in mind.
7 Besides normally schedule maintenance, any 8 equipment issues that come up are addressed as they 9 are found. I have seen a more conservative approach 10 to maintenance in that if the plant is offline, as we 11 are now, we take advantage of the opportunity to do 12 repairs, rather then waiting for a scheduled outage.
13 Because the plant is safety operated in my 14 opinion, I have and continue to have the confidence to 15 reside in my home locally on Cape Cod. I wouldn't put 16 my family, and especially my precious granddaughter, 17 who lives with me, in harms way if I thought for a 18 moment the plant was not operating in a safe manner.
19 Local residents, which include my 20 neighbors, should have the same confidence as I do.
21 Now I have a question for you. Our last 22 quarterly inspection had no findings or violations.
23 Some of the areas that you inspected included adverse 24 weather protection and flood protection measures.
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55 1 to us exactly what you looked at? And how -- what 2 Pilgrim does, ensures protection against floods and 3 bad weather?
4 MR. LEW: Yeah. And the quarterly 5 inspection that's being referenced is the one that was 6 issued by Tony Dimitriadis and the key inspector there 7 was Erin.
8 And so Erin would be best to address that.
9 MS. CARFANG: Sure. And in particular 10 whenever there's a storm that is approaching Pilgrim, 11 the resident staff, we go out and we walk down all the 12 diesels.
13 We walk down and make sure that there's 14 any equipment that's not secured onsite. We look and 15 see if there is any item -- any openings in the 16 station where we believe that water could intrude into 17 and reach safety systems.
18 And then if we do identify concerns, we 19 bring those to the operators, the licensed operators.
20 And appropriate action is taken.
21 In the past few walk downs that we have 22 had, we have found very, very few things. And nothing 23 of any significant concern during these walk downs.
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56 1 in preparation for these storms.
2 MR. LOOMIS: Thank you.
3 MR. LEW: No. Thank you.
4 (Applause) 5 MR. KLUKAN: So, just so we can speed it 6 up a little bit. And I'm not trying to act like a 7 bitter deli manager.
8 But, if you could queue up as soon as that 9 person before you is done speaking. Just so we can 10 continue to move it along. We'd really appreciate it.
11 Because again, we want to try to get as 12 many people an opportunity to speak here tonight as we 13 can. So thank you for helping with that.
14 MS. JANDA: And the next speaker is number 15 7. And that's Bonnie Bridges.
16 MS. TURKO: And Bonnie gave me her ticket.
17 Diane Turko (phonetic). You have some slides that I 18 sent in.
19 MS. JANDA: Yes. Diane --
20 MS. TURKO: If you could set those up.
21 MS. JANDA: And Diane -- Diane, what was 22 your number. Do you remember? If not I'll look.
23 MS. TURKO: I think it was five. Five or 24 six.
25 MS. JANDA: Oh, 20?
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57 1 MS. TURKO: Huh? The one -- oh, let's 2 see, the NRC 214 report. The -- I'm sorry, the 3 Jackson email, the 214 report, and then the last one, 4 the NEMA.
5 (Off mic comment) 6 MS. TURKO: The Jackson email. And then 7 the NRC report. And then the NEMA memo. You know, I 8 thought Trump had the market on alternative facts.
9 But I think Entergy takes that hands down.
10 Okay? Okay. This first -- oh, well, 11 that's the -- okay. All right. So this is a -- I 12 wanted to ask the NRC some questions. And I'm just 13 looking for a yes or a no to speed this along.
14 Could a severe accident happen here?
15 MR. LEW: Yes. And I would --
16 MS. TURKO: Okay. And it took like --
17 MR. LEW: And I would actually -- I would 18 actually say that you know, as safety regulators, you 19 know, we need to have a mind set that an accident can 20 happen.
21 Because for us if these plants operate, 22 they need to operate safely.
23 MS. TURKO: Right. But an accident like 24 Fukushima could happen here. You said yes. Okay.
25 This is the email that was sent to me by NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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58 1 the NRC on December 2016. And it was Donald Jackson, 2 who is an inspector. His unvarnished truth about what 3 was happening at Pilgrim.
4 Can you agree that in that -- oh, I'm 5 sorry -- okay, in that email were the statements that 6 said, well-established programs have not been 7 followed.
8 MR. LEW: Yes. And I think that goes here 9 --
10 MR. TURKO: Okay. And I just want to go 11 through this quick. Yeah.
12 MR. LEW: Okay.
13 MS. TURKO: That corrective actions may 14 not have been properly addressed. Was that in that 15 email?
16 MR. LEW: That was in the email. Yes.
17 MS. TURKO: Yes. Okay. The plant seems 18 overrun just -- overwhelmed just trying to run the 19 station. Was that in the email?
20 MR. LEW: Yes. It was.
21 MR. TURKO: Okay. We're observing current 22 indications of a safety culture problem that a bunch 23 of talking probably won't fix. Was that in the email?
24 MR. LEW: Yes.
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59 1 what to do with their good energy to improve their 2 performance leading to procedural non-compliances, 3 poor maintenance, poor engineering practices, and 4 equipment reliability problems.
5 Was that in that email?
6 MR. LEW: Yes. It was.
7 MS. TURKO: And we're still seeing that 8 today. Putting lipstick on a pig still makes it a 9 pig. And Pilgrim is still the worst nuclear reactor 10 in the United States.
11 Okay. Next slide.
12 UNKNOWN: The status report or the other 13 email?
14 MS. TURKO: The other email. Okay. And 15 I think you've got these. Okay. This is the 16 inspection report.
17 Okay. NEMA sent a report to FEMA that 18 they could not implement the radiological emergency 19 plans during the March 2 storm. Did the Nuclear 20 Regulatory Commission order a shutdown or a power down 21 during that time? Yes or no?
22 MR. LEW: No.
23 MS. TURKO: Okay. Thank you. Thank you.
24 And then one last one, slide. Because I want to talk 25 on one more thing. Okay.
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60 1 And the last one, this is a -- people 2 can't even see this. So I have to dig it out.
3 The NRC said, that Entergy did not 4 adequately implement the process of planning, 5 controlling, and executing work activities such that 6 nuclear safety is the overriding priority. Is that 7 true?
8 MR. LEW: Well, that before is true.
9 MS. TURKO: It is true. Okay. All right.
10 Well, that draws the conclusion that the NRC has 11 failed its regulatory responsibility to protect the 12 public.
13 Our families and communities have a right 14 to safety. So we are going to turn around. I am not 15 going to talk to the NRC anymore. Because you are not 16 doing anything to protect our communities.
17 What I want to talk is to our elected 18 officials. And I want to thank Michael Jackman and 19 Althea, Adrienne and Rory.
20 And where is Governor Baker's 21 representative?
22 (Off mic comment) 23 MS. TURKO: I know. Where is Governor 24 Baker's rep?
25 (Off mic comment)
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61 1 MS. TURKO: Okay. Well they were doing 2 the slide. So I'm going to just read this. There are 3 three sacred words that are most important to our 4 challenged democracy, we the people.
5 We cannot survive as a government by 6 consent if we the people lose our ability to affect 7 change for the common good. Well, they were doing the 8 slides.
9 This is our role as citizens. The 10 Massachusetts Constitution, the oldest functioning 11 constitution -- they were --
12 (Off mic comments) 13 MS. TURKO: Excuse me. But they were 14 using -- they were messing up the slides. The 15 Massachusetts Constitution, the oldest functioning 16 constitution in the U.S., clearly states in Article 17 One that seeking and obtaining the safety is a 18 fundamental right.
19 And your role as elected officials, you 20 have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution. I 21 would like just to finish this statement to our 22 elected officials, please.
23 MR. KLUKAN: I'll give you five seconds.
24 MS. TURKO: Okay. Okay. All right. All 25 right. The citizens of the Commonwealth can no longer NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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62 1 tolerate this blatant threat to our community.
2 So we the people are calling in on your 3 promise to uphold our right to safety. We ask that 4 you demand the Nuclear Regulator Commission revoke the 5 operating license for Pilgrim.
6 If the NRC refuses to do so, we ask you to 7 take action to enforce our fundamental constitutional 8 right to safety. Who will be the first to take this 9 responsibility?
10 I'm asking our elected officials.
11 (Applause) 12 MR. LEW: You know, typically -- typically 13 we would not respond on this thing, a statement. But 14 given the fact that I was asked to respond to 15 questions in yes or no, I do want to take a couple of 16 minutes to respond to those issues.
17 And there were three slides. I know one 18 slide was an inspection report that perhaps Erin could 19 touch on.
20 But, let me start with the email relative 21 to -- relative to what was shown up there. With 22 respect to that email that was shown, you know, it can 23 be found in the NRC's document control system, and it 24 is publically available.
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63 1 attached to that email that laid out NEMA and FEMA's 2 response. The actions that they took overnight to 3 collect the information, assess the situation, and 4 come to a determination that emergency plans could be 5 implemented.
6 And the response was very prompt. It was 7 overnight. And as you know, that is the role of NEMA 8 and FEMA to make this determination.
9 And it is their role to implement the 10 emergency plans, whether to direct evacuation, or 11 revise travel restrictions, or implement contingencies 12 that can involve rerouting or sheltering.
13 From the NRC's perspective, okay, we 14 establish a requirement to employ a defense in-depth 15 strategy. Emergency preparedness is but one of 16 several layers of defense in-depth strategies.
17 As such, you know, the time that FEMA and 18 NEMA took to assess the situation was more then 19 reasonable. And to order the plant to shut down was 20 neither warranted nor appropriate.
21 And I would further add that Entergy 22 operated the plant safely during the storm. And our 23 residents were onsite, verifying that they operated 24 safely.
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64 1 touch on that Erin.
2 MS. CARFANG: Yes. That particular 3 inspection report finding was really getting to the 4 fact that Entergy was not addressing items in a timely 5 fashion commensurate with their safety significance.
6 And so that is what that is -- that's 7 words that we use to convey the importance of in a 8 timely manner, addressing items. And that is in fact 9 one of the items that the CAL inspection team that was 10 here last week was looking at.
11 And so that report will come out in May as 12 Tony mentioned. But we have seen improvement in this 13 area.
14 And that's one of the ways that we 15 communicated these concerns to the site, is through 16 the issuance of inspection findings when we believe 17 there are challenges to the operability of equipment.
18 And we believe that the station heard that 19 message. And has taken actions to address this with 20 their operations staff as they discussed in their 21 presentation about the significant training that was 22 performed onsite.
23 MR. LEW: Okay. We'll turn it back over 24 to you Donna.
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65 1 number 42, JoAnn Corrigan (phonetic).
2 MS. CORRIGAN: Hi. JoAnn Corrigan. I'm 3 on Priscilla Beach, right around the corner from the 4 power plant.
5 And we've had one storm after the other.
6 Quinn, Riley, Skyler, we're just kind of now just call 7 it March.
8 The storm that they're all talking about, 9 March 2 into the 3 when the Governor for two days, 10 three days ahead of the storm was on TV saying, take 11 the storm very seriously on the south shore.
12 This isn't a big snow event. But this is 13 a huge event with six astrological high tides 14 consecutively for that storm. And high winds.
15 So, did he ask for the power plant to be 16 shut down? No. People called. I called. They still 17 didn't shut it down.
18 Well, guess what? We had a huge storm 19 surge. The seaport district in Boston flooded. South 20 Boston flooded. Docks buried underwater for like a 21 week.
22 They claim they didn't lose offsite power 23 over there. Well, I went off looking for coffee at 24 about 6:30 Saturday, March 3.
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66 1 the traffic lights not working, because they had no 2 power. And here's their power laying on the side of 3 the road on Rocky Hill Road, down from the entrance.
4 All the transformers, big trees from 5 across the street on the plant side, came down on 6 Rocky Hill Road, took down all the wires. And took 7 down all of this electrical stuff that had been 8 providing power.
9 So, I don't know how they didn't have a 10 loop, the loss of outside power. Unless they have 11 some kind of invisible line over there.
12 So, when they don't tell us the truth 13 constantly, you know, you can't expect us to have any 14 faith in the NRC or in Entergy. And the decision 15 should be made ahead of time. We should not have to 16 be calling.
17 Someone over there should be watching out 18 for the citizens of Massachusetts. And they're not.
19 And I don't know who made the asinine decision to 20 leave the plant running until you have a scram. And 21 then you bring it down.
22 Why you don't do it ahead of time, 23 especially that storm, and the one after that. We had 24 70 mile an hour winds down there for four days.
25 Sustained wind for four days.
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67 1 My neighbors on the beach, their little --
2 they've got a little electronic thing, read 92 miles 3 an hour gusts. Why do you wait for the plant to bring 4 itself down?
5 I don't understand it. And also, the pass 6 you're giving them on cyber security, where we have 7 number Trump, number 45 Trump going, you know, 8 worldwide alienating our allies and everything.
9 They hate us. A lot of these companies --
10 countries already hate us. Why would you wait for 11 some cyber troll to take over the grid over there and 12 hold us hostage?
13 (Off mic comments) 14 MR. LEW: Would you like a response? Or 15 was that a statement?
16 (Applause) 17 MR. LEW: Well, thank you.
18 MS. JANDA: The next speaker will be 19 number 63.
20 MR. BURGER: Yes. I was number 64. But 21 the person with 63 gave me hers.
22 MS. JANDA: Where is num -- is number 63 23 here? Ms. Consantium (phonetic).
24 (Off mic comment) 25 MR. BURGER: I was 64. The person with 63 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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68 1 gave me their ticket. I'm holding that right here.
2 MR. JANDA: He has the ticket.
3 (Off mic comment) 4 MR. BURGER: Okay.
5 (Off mic comment) 6 MR. BURGER: Yeah.
7 (Off mic comment) 8 MS. JANDA: Yeah.
9 MR. BURGER: Thank you. Thank you.
10 MS. JANDA: Okay. Thank you.
11 MR. BURGER: My name is Todd Burger. I'm 12 the Director of Policy for Bob Massey's Campaign for 13 Governor 2018.
14 I'm here as a surrogate for Bob Massey who 15 had a previous speaking commitment in Boston tonight.
16 But I want to thank NRC and Entergy for giving me the 17 opportunity to speak and express Bob Massey's views.
18 Bob Massey supports an accelerated phase 19 out of nuclear generating capacity in New England.
20 And --
21 (Applause) 22 MR. BURGER: Immediate, permanent shutdown 23 of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.
24 (Applause) 25 MR. BURGER: But I want to explain why.
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69 1 And there's more to it that he supports for the 2 community.
3 Most everybody knows that the bulk of 4 downhill skiing accidents, particularly for older 5 adults happen at the end of the day, or the end of the 6 week when they're tired. And honestly, they're 7 starting to ache all over.
8 Well, the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station is 9 tired. And it's starting to ache all over. And 10 that's in large part why we've see three consecutive 11 weeks of shutdowns for three, now four different 12 problems.
13 There is decreasing value and increasing 14 risk in keeping this plant open. We don't have to 15 read between the lines of the emails or memos from the 16 NRC to see that.
17 Even if the NRC fails to see that, we hope 18 that Entergy begins to see the writing on the wall 19 about this plant. The plant created unreasonable 20 risks the day it was opened with a meaningless 21 evacuation plan that turned all of Cape Cod into a 22 sacrifice zone.
23 With climate change effects since that 24 opening, with neglected or avoided maintenance since 25 that opening, and the decision not to address all NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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70 1 Fukushima related risks since that opening. The 2 unyielding effects of an aging plant, that risk has 3 only worsened.
4 It's time to put this plant, and more 5 particularly its downwind neighbors out of any further 6 misery and worry, and shut the plant down.
7 (Applause) 8 MR. BURGER: Not just for those 9 individuals, but for the betterment of the entire 10 community and the region. And even its employees.
11 But when this is done, we should see the 12 state -- we would like to see the state and Entergy 13 step up and implement a transition plan for Plymouth 14 that is similar to the plan that was signed for the 15 shut down of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Facility in 16 California.
17 And that plan provided benefits for 18 workers, retraining. Provided for accelerated 19 renewable clean energy to be introduced in California.
20 That's the kind of plan Bob Massey wants 21 to see. We support a transition plan that will help 22 the community, help union workers, promote fast 23 replacement with renewable energy.
24 And the fact is, we can do that today.
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71 1 renewable energy, building out battery storage at ten 2 times the rate.
3 We need to ensure the community thrives 4 and the Pilgrim employees have access to good paying, 5 equivalent jobs in the clean, renewable power sector.
6 Thank you very much for listening this 7 evening.
8 (Applause) 9 MR. LEW: Thank you.
10 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 60.
11 Jim McKita (phonetic) 12 MR. DOVE: I have Jim's ticket. He's 13 right there. I'm Daniel Dove.
14 MS. JANDA: And your number was?
15 MR. DOVE: I'm number, let's see, 30.
16 MS. JANDA: Okay. Thank you.
17 MR. DOVE: Hi, ladies and gentlemen, I'd 18 like to thank the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the 19 members of the community, senior management, and 20 fellow Entergy employees.
21 My name is Daniel Dove. I have 22 approximately 30 plus years in nuclear power. I live 23 four miles from the power plant here.
24 I've been at the station approximately 25 five years. And I believe in nuclear power. I find NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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72 1 it unfortunate that we're going to close this plant 2 down before the end of its usefulness.
3 We currently utilize what we call the PDC 4 model. It's prevention, detection, and correction.
5 Prevention being, that's our primary mode. We want to 6 be in that prevention mode all the time.
7 So we prevent failures from happening on 8 the site. And we want to correct it as it happens if 9 that goes that far.
10 I'm a second generation nuclear power 11 worker. My father spent approximately 45 years in 12 radiation protection. I've spent 30 years in 13 radiation protection.
14 I currently ship the waste from the power 15 plant to its final destinations. I can tell you 16 factually I live within four miles of the power plant.
17 I own a business in another state that's 18 within three miles of a nuclear power plant. I've 19 owned property near power plants. I believe in them.
20 They're safe. You have people sitting in 21 this audience that watch out for your behalf every 22 day.
23 If you think we got to work with nothing 24 but safety on our mind, you're right. If you think we 25 go there and we're just there hanging out, collecting NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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73 1 a check, you're sadly mistaken.
2 As you go home and you plug in your cell 3 phones and your Toyota Prius and whatever else you 4 plug in, think about conservation. If you're up here 5 and you're against nuclear power, tell me what you are 6 doing about conservation.
7 If you're not conserving, then you're not 8 doing anything other then sitting up here going like 9 this.
10 (Applause) 11 MR. DOVE: Let's see here, I'm doing 12 pretty good on time. So factually, I've worked at 13 over 15 nuclear power plants.
14 I've been part of five decommissionings 15 from NASA to Brookhaven National Labs and three 16 commercial nuclear power plants. So, even though 17 we're going to close, I don't plan on leaving here any 18 time soon.
19 It saddens me that we're going to close.
20 I'm hoping for the hail Mary pass. Someone's going to 21 come in and buy it.
22 Because tell me, we're not over until we 23 flip the breaker and we hand the license back. In the 24 meantime, just buckle up because we're here. I'm 25 here, and I don't plan on going anywhere any time NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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74 1 soon.
2 And with that, I'm going to respect the 3 committee and the time. And I'm going to cede the 4 rest of my time. Thank you.
5 (Applause) 6 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 58, 7 Brian Delvy (phonetic).
8 (No response) 9 MS. JANDA: Okay. We'll move on. Oh, 10 there you are.
11 MR. LOPIERE: This is number 59. And I 12 was number 25.
13 MS. JANDA: Oh, number -- hold on one 14 second. The speaker was supposed to be number 58.
15 Brian, I think Delvy. I'm sorry if that's wrong.
16 MR. LOPIERE: I think it says 59. I think 17 it says 59.
18 MR. KLUKAN: All right. So we're looking 19 for number 58.
20 MS. JANDA: That's what I --
21 MR. LOPIERE: I see that. But the name is 22 not matching up with the number.
23 UNKNOWN: Number 58, we have that as Brian 24 Delvy over here. So there must be a misreading over 25 there. But we do have 58 identified as Brian Delvey.
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75 1 MR. DEVY: Brian Devy.
2 MS. JANDA: Devy. Sorry.
3 UNKNOWN: Brian Devy, I apologize.
4 MS. JANDA: Yes.
5 MR. LOPIERE: What would you like me to 6 do?
7 MS. JANDA: Okay. Sir, your number?
8 MR. LOPIERE: My number is 25.
9 MS. JANDA: Okay. Thank you.
10 MR. LOPIERE: Thank you for the 11 opportunity to speak. And my compliments to the NRC 12 and Entergy.
13 My name is Rich Lopiere (phonetic). And 14 I'm a local community resident, citizen of Plymouth 15 County. I live in Home, Massachusetts.
16 I'm a career nuclear power professional 17 and retired executive, senior executive in the 18 commercial nuclear power industry.
19 My 38 years of nuclear experience includes 20 managing single sites as well as managing a fleet of 21 operating nuclear units as a senior executive, and 22 very similar to the Pilgrim Station.
23 I mention this because my career in 24 nuclear has allowed me the opportunity to see what 25 challenges are industry faces. And what works NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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76 1 successfully to address those challenges.
2 Here at Pilgrim my role is to support 3 corrective action program enhancements building on 4 Pilgrim's processes that comply with all government 5 regulations.
6 Through my interface with Pilgrim 7 employees, I can say the Pilgrim staff is made of 8 highly skilled, nuclear professionals that take their 9 job of safely operating and maintaining the Pilgrim 10 Nuclear Station very seriously.
11 The Pilgrim corrective action program that 12 self identifies and corrects issues when they arise is 13 increasingly effective. And is being embraced by all 14 Pilgrim employees.
15 The site leadership team from the top, 16 establishes high standards for continuous improvement 17 in nuclear as well as industrial safety.
18 My plan is to continue working with the 19 Pilgrim staff and participate in the safe, successful, 20 and prestigious retirement of the Pilgrim Plant on 21 June 1, 2019.
22 Thank you very much.
23 (Applause) 24 MR. LEW: Thank you.
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77 1 is number 54, Tom Turko, or Turlo(phonetic), I'm 2 sorry.
3 (No response) 4 MS. JANDA: Okay. We'll move --
5 (Off mic comment) 6 MS. JANDA: No. We need his ticket and 7 for him to turn it over to you. I'm sorry.
8 MR. KLUKAN: It's someone else. It's 9 someone else. Only one -- everyone gets three minutes 10 at the microphone. So feel free to pass it along to 11 anyone who -- who has not yet spoken.
12 It's okay. We don't need to physically 13 say we recognize that.
14 MS. JANDA: We just need --
15 MR. KLUKAN: I'm not trying to push you.
16 I just want to -- we're getting into -- is she going 17 to speak for you?
18 Okay. So it's number -- she's number 23.
19 MS. JANDA: Okay.
20 MS. CARPENTER: My name is Susan 21 Carpenter. I live in South Dennis on the Cape.
22 And I have been watching the paper today.
23 And I was appalled. I've followed Pilgrim for several 24 years now, and it seems to me that we're reaching a 25 point when the paper has something saying it's a NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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78 1 critical system that is malfunctioning that we have 2 big problems.
3 This last series of problems proves that 4 Pilgrim poses a clear and present danger to the 5 citizens, not only of Massachusetts, but the entire 6 East Coast.
7 If I owned a car that had that many 8 problems simultaneously, I'd take it off the road 9 because I wouldn't want to gamble with my life.
10 Which brings me to this. I see the 11 continually emerging problems. Until now they weren't 12 visible. And their existence remained unknown.
13 Just how many more problems are there at 14 this time that remain unknown? I suspect there are 15 many.
16 Every day the plant is allowed to operate, 17 you the NRC is gambling with our lives. And you, 18 Entergy Corporation, are gambling with our lives as 19 well as the economy of the entire East Coast.
20 Clearly you have a gambling problem. I 21 have taken the time to locate the phone number of the 22 National Council on Problem Gambling, where you can 23 seek help.
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79 1 where you will see it every morning. And remember 2 that you are taking a big gamble on our lives.
3 Pilgrim should be -- remain shut now.
4 (Applause) 5 MR. LEW: Thank you.
6 MS. JANDA: Thank you. The next speaker 7 is number 12, Keith Maxwell.
8 MR. MAXWELL: Good evening. Thanks for 9 the opportunity to be here tonight. Keith Maxwell, 10 concerned citizen.
11 I'm addressing here the bureaucratic 12 establishment, the NRC. You folks oversee not only 13 commercial nuclear power, but hospital radiation, 14 smoke detector radiation, anything to do with 15 radiation, radioactive materials.
16 So you'll have jobs and budgets long after 17 Pilgrim is closed. Let's cut to the chase. In 18 commercial nuclear power, in the United States the 19 industry is a disaster.
20 We have four closed construction sites in 21 the southern Atlanta district. We have numerous 22 closed plants in the North East. Entergy in Arkansas 23 had the 2013 crane disaster. Different region.
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80 1 assurance, and oversight, which you are responsible 2 for. Not only in our region, but the other regions.
3 The NRC has failed the industry. It has 4 failed the people. It is failing us. Our industry is 5 dying. Our Los Alamos scientists are going and 6 working in China.
7 Soon China and Russia will surpass the 8 United States. And you will become irrelevant. The 9 American nuclear industry and commission and your 10 regulations will become irrelevant and will be 11 surpassed by the Chinese and Russians due to lack of 12 separation of quality control and assurance and 13 resources.
14 Entergy in 2013 implemented the human 15 performance -- the human capital management program.
16 Which amongst other things reduced resources and 17 separated -- or actually combined quality assurance 18 and quality control under production management.
19 One of Pilgrim's quality control 20 inspectors identified Entergy fleet-wide issue with 21 lack of independence of separation in which quality 22 control inspectors were being managed and supervised 23 by the managers whose work they were inspecting.
24 In normal quality control industries, this 25 is a rule that you don't do. Yet the industry has NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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81 1 proposed self regulation and self quality control, 2 which the NRC is considering endorsing.
3 Which is another disaster. You are 4 putting nails in the industry's coffin every time you 5 make stupid, irrational decisions, which is killing 6 our industry.
7 You are incompetent to the tenth degree.
8 And we in the people of the United States are fed up 9 with the establishment Washington bureaucracy living 10 in your own bureaucratic class. We are sick of it.
11 It is time that you started doing your 12 job. Our industries are successful and we become 13 world leaders again. And that's not going to happen 14 under your leadership.
15 You have sorely misplaced the trust of the 16 people and you have failed us.
17 (Applause) 18 MR. LEW: Thank you.
19 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 4, 20 Mary Conifan (phonetic).
21 MR. KLUKAN: Okay, let's go with this, who 22 has that ticket?
23 PARTICIPANT: I do.
24 MR. KLUKAN: Okay. Who would you like to 25 give it to?
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82 1 PARTICIPANT: Myra (phonetic).
2 MR. KLUKAN: Fine. All right. And Myra, 3 what is your number?
4 MS. MYRA: One seven.
5 MR. KLUKAN: Okay. One seven.
6 MS. MYRA: This is a statement to the 7 Massachusetts elected officials, NRC, to Governor 8 Baker, AG Healey, Senator Markey, Senator Warren, 9 Representative Keating. There are three sacred words 10 that are most important to our challenged democracy, 11 we the people.
12 We cannot survive as a government by 13 consent if we the people lose our ability to affect 14 change for the common good.
15 That is our role as citizens. The 16 Massachusetts Constitution, the oldest functioning 17 constitution in the U.S. clearly states in Article One 18 that seeking and obtaining their safety is a 19 fundamental right.
20 In your role as elected official, you have 21 taken an oath to uphold that constitution. Years ago 22 Senator Barbara Boxer spoke to the NRC Commissioners 23 concerning the threat that San Onofre Nuclear Reactor 24 posed to the people in California.
25 She said this isn't hyperbole. This is NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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83 1 life or death for my people. We have the same life or 2 death situation here with Pilgrim once again rated as 3 one of the most dangerous nuclear reactors in the U.S.
4 Energy's announcement of the 2019 closure.
5 It does nothing to absolve the dangers of 6 today. The degrading Pilgrim nuclear reactor is an 7 existential threat to the entire New England region.
8 Its continued operation is an unacceptable 9 risk and an immoral action. We are asking you to 10 rescue our democratic principal that we the people 11 have human rights that must not be overridden by the 12 influence of corporate collusion with a captured 13 federal regulator.
14 Entergy is protecting their pocketbook, 15 not the public. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has 16 abdicated its responsibility to protect the public and 17 the environment.
18 We charge them with failure to regulate, 19 reckless endangerment, and criminal negligence. The 20 citizens of Commonwealth -- of the Commonwealth can no 21 longer tolerate this blatant threat to our 22 communities.
23 So we the people are calling in on your 24 promise to uphold our right to safety. We ask that 25 you demand the NRC immediately revoke the operating NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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84 1 license for Pilgrim.
2 It is the nuc -- NRC refu -- if the 3 nuclear -- sorry. If the NRC refuses to do so, we ask 4 you take action to enforce our fundamental 5 constitutional right to safety.
6 Who will be the first to take on this 7 responsibility? We are waiting for your answer.
8 (Applause) 9 MR. LEW: Thank you.
10 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 2, 11 James Lambert.
12 MR. LAMBERT: I actually have my own 13 ticket. My name is Jim Lambert. And I'm a member of 14 the Duxbury Nuclear Advisory Committee.
15 The first thing I would like to do is to 16 echo something we just heard. Which is, there's a 17 widespread belief that the NRC has for years, put 18 Pilgrim's interest in saving money ahead of the public 19 interest in their health and safety.
20 The second thing I'd ask you to do is 21 don't change the decommissioning rules as you said in 22 January you expect to do that would go even further 23 and make it impossible for the public to even raise 24 most of their legitimate concerns.
25 The update you published in January said NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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85 1 how you intended to "improve" the decommissioning 2 process by eliminating emergency planning. By 3 forgetting about cyber security.
4 By giving Entergy advanced permission to 5 dip into an already too small decommissioning fund to 6 pay for things that frankly are not decommissioning.
7 What reason did you give for these supposed 8 improvements?
9 Your January update was pretty clear.
10 First, you wanted to give yourselves and companies 11 like Entergy millions of dollars in what you called 12 cost savings, by making it unnecessary for Entergy to 13 have to go through the terrible procedure of 14 requesting, or for you to have to spend any time 15 reviewing exemptions from current regulations.
16 And in doing so, you're proposing a rule 17 that effectively will eliminate any public voice that 18 might give you some sense as too why improvements, 19 these improvements don't make sense at Pilgrim.
20 You said it. If you read your January 18, 21 your justification was "reduce the regulatory burden 22 on nuclear power plant licensees." "Eliminate 23 Entergy's need to submit requests for exemptions and 24 license amendments."
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86 1 these. To provide cost savings to industry and the 2 NRC.
3 Okay. You want to save yourselves time 4 and money. And you want to save Entergy time and 5 money. But where does that leave us?
6 Well, we won't have to spend any more 7 money preparing papers to file with you. Because 8 there will no longer be an opportunity to do so, and 9 you won't read them.
10 But even more important, the basic 11 technical assumptions you put forward in 12 justification, are to put it mildly, highly debatable.
13 Fundamentally, your update tells us that 14 these rule changes won't possibly result in any 15 potential harm to the public, because one, oh, there's 16 no risk of a spent fuel fire, pool fire after the 17 fuel's been moved.
18 Two, any fire would be of little 19 consequence. And three, long term dry-cast storage 20 won't cause a risk.
21 None of these is correct.
22 (Off mic comment) 23 MR. LAMBERT: You know for example about 24 dry casts. But you apparently --
25 (Off mic comment)
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87 1 MR. LAMBERT: Excuse me.
2 (Off mic comment) 3 MR. LAMBERT: Yeah, I heard you the first 4 time. He runs the meter.
5 (Off mic comment) 6 MR. LAMBERT: Yep. Nobody else.
7 (Off mic comment) 8 MR. LAMBERT: You know with respect to dry 9 cast there's no technology to replace them.
10 (Off mic comment) 11 MR. LAMBERT: So far we've been lucky.
12 (Off mic comment) 13 MR. LAMBERT: But the NRC needs to pay 14 serous attention not only to the risks that it and 15 Entergy have permitted up too now, but also to the 16 fact that also Entergy will be out of here in 15 17 months.
18 (Off mic comment) 19 MR. LAMBERT: The rest of us are going to 20 be left with spent fuel and dry cast for years.
21 MR. LEW: Thank you for your statement Mr.
22 Lambert.
23 (Applause) 24 MS. JANDA: The next speak is Number 26, 25 Mark Moore.
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88 1 MR. ZEALY: I have ticket number 26. I 2 originally had number 80.
3 MS. JANDA: And, you are?
4 MR. ZEALY: Alan Zealy.
5 MS. JANDA: Oh.
6 (OFF MICROPHONE COMMENTS) 7 MS. JANDA: Okay, thank you.
8 MR. ZEALY: Good evening. My name is Alan 9 Zealy and I moved here with my family to Plymouth in 10 2014. My family and I currently live about five miles 11 from the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station which is about 12 the same distance that we've lived from my six 13 previous work locations, all of which were nuclear 14 reactors.
15 Inevitably, when I meet my neighbors and 16 meet new friends, the subject of what I do for a 17 living becomes a topic of conversation. Most often, 18 I find that my neighbors have no negative impressions 19 of the power station, rather, most see it as no issue 20 to them mostly due to the many decades of safe, 21 reliable operation they see firsthand.
22 When asked specifically about my job at 23 the station, I reply, as do most of my coworkers when 24 they are asked, to protect the health and welfare of 25 the public.
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89 1 Most of my career of which was 42 years as 2 of this year has been spent in radiation safety and 3 health physics.
4 I'm proud of those 42 years. I work in a 5 highly regulated industry that has stringent oversight 6 by a highly educated, trained staff with exceptionally 7 high standards known as the Nuclear Regulatory 8 Commission.
9 I work with coworkers trained to a high 10 standard and they are highly motivated to complete 11 Pilgrim Station's operational period with a legacy of 12 excellence.
13 I work for a company that supports 14 whatever we need to maintain that station as safe as 15 possible. And, I'm very proud to say that the work 16 that I do provides safe, reliable, carbon-free energy 17 and significantly contributes to the country's energy 18 independence.
19 Pilgrim Station, like other nuclear 20 facilities that I have worked at provides a 21 significant, positive influence on the local 22 community.
23 Our workers and our families are highly 24 educated, good neighbors and good citizens. We 25 provide a significant tax base to the surrounding NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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90 1 area. We support our local businesses.
2 We, and our families are coaches, teachers 3 and we collectively raise the youth of the surrounding 4 towns. As they say, it takes a village to raise a 5 child and we are part of your village.
6 The report we've heard today from the NRC 7 is encouraging and motivating to be both as an entity 8 employee and a citizen of the Town of Plymouth.
9 It is a tribute to my coworkers' 10 professionalism and motivation that we're seeing 11 progress and continue to drive towards the highest 12 levels of excellence in our performance. And, I 13 salute my teammates.
14 The experts in this room with the most 15 complete and factually correct status of Pilgrim 16 Station and its operational safety are the federal 17 agency that is reporting on that status today, the 18 NRC.
19 And, your fellow citizens, friends and 20 neighbors who are the workforce of Pilgrim Station.
21 Pilgrim Station, the machine itself is not 22 capable of operating without its workers. Entergy is 23 not a faceless entity. It is me and my coworkers and 24 we stand united and proud to provide these benefits to 25 our community, totally committed to the safety and NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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91 1 welfare of our friends and fellow citizens.
2 Thank you so much.
3 (APPLAUSE) 4 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
5 Just real quickly, just so it doesn't 6 escalate, I recognize that there have been people 7 who've gone over three minutes and there are people 8 have responded to that by yelling out time.
9 In an effort to make sure that this does 10 not escalate, because it does seem like there's some 11 back and forth in the audience, I am going to cut 12 people off, Donna or I will cut people off at three 13 minutes and say thank you and that is it, like mid-14 sentence.
15 (APPLAUSE) 16 MR. KLUKAN: So, I will, in an effort to 17 -- don't feel the need to yell at anyone. I recognize 18 that there is on both sides of this, people feel like 19 they're being interrupted, the other side feels that 20 their time is being stolen from them.
21 I will take on this responsibility.
22 Generally, I don't like to cut people off like that, 23 but it seems like that's where we're going tonight.
24 So, with three minutes, I say thank you 25 and I will have your microphone muted. So, that's how NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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92 1 we're going to play it for now.
2 All right, thank you.
3 (APPLAUSE) 4 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 69, 5 Kristen Enos.
6 MS. ENOS: Hello, my name is Kristen Enos 7 and I'm from the Literacy Program at the Plymouth 8 Public Library.
9 I'm here tonight speaking on behalf of 10 Library Director, Jennifer Harris. We just wanted to 11 take this opportunity to thank Entergy for their 12 continue support of our programs throughout the years.
13 We offer free classes to adults in the 14 community who are looking to receive a high school 15 diploma and further their education.
16 We also offer free tutoring to people who 17 are looking to learn English.
18 Entergy has provided us with grants over 19 the years to help us update our technology so our 20 students and the community can have the most updated 21 tools and resources available to them so that they can 22 get their educations and they can further their 23 careers.
24 In addition, Entergy has also been a 25 sponsor at the Library Corporation's Annual Taste of NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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93 1 the Town event.
2 And, we just wanted to take the 3 opportunity to thank you for the support of our 4 program throughout the years.
5 (APPLAUSE) 6 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
7 MS. JANDA: Thank you.
8 The next speaker is number 19, Sheila 9 Palace.
10 Okay, we'll move on to number 48 and that 11 Jamile Graham.
12 MS. GRAHAM: Well, hello. What a show we 13 have tonight. There is a tremendous organization 14 here. We have all the ya-ya, rah-rah, oh Pilgrim 15 people. We have the usual dog and pony show of the 16 NRC saying nothing about Entergy and then Entergy 17 saying nothing right back. And then, Entergy being 18 dismissed because they don't have time to be concerned 19 with the public.
20 And, we know that which is why we're here.
21 And it's really clear you don't have time to be 22 concerned with the public either.
23 So, I'm really curious who you all really 24 work for? You know? Like, we're not on anybody's 25 dime here. We're here concerned for our children.
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94 1 And, you all are getting paid, right?
2 Y'all showed up with your perfect three 3 minute speeches. Did you notice how perfect those 4 three minute speeches are?
5 Well, I want it to be clear, I care about 6 Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant employees very much. And, 7 I thank you so much, every one of you, every one of 8 you for showing up and for doing your job. Because, 9 if it wasn't for you people who care, we would have 10 sunk a long time ago.
11 And, I know that. I know that with my 12 whole heart. If there wasn't decent, caring, honest 13 people at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant, we would be 14 screwed because we would have to deal with you.
15 And, you are not even close. You are a 16 disgrace, flat. I wish I could be nicer to you. And, 17 I hope you're not taking this personal.
18 I understand you have a job to do, but 19 it's really clear you're all liars. You are liars.
20 You are so good at reading your scripts and nodding 21 your heads and yes, yes, yes. And, we're all so safe.
22 And, ya-ya-ya.
23 I mean, come on, do you really think 24 you're fooling us? If you're fooling yourselves, 25 congratulations.
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95 1 (APPLAUSE) 2 MR. KLUKAN: Well, thank you for your 3 statement.
4 MR. JANDA: The next speaker is number 5 nine Santiago Valez.
6 Moving on, the next speaker is number one, 7 Mary Lambert.
8 MS. LAMBERT: Good evening. We've heard 9 a lot about safety culture. The definition is on a 10 slide. It says the commitment by leaders and 11 individuals who emphasize safety over competing goals 12 such as profit or public relations, which I added, to 13 ensure protection of the people and the environment.
14 The question is, is the NRC and Entergy 15 leadership chose profit over safety? I'll give a 16 couple of examples which will answer the question.
17 The first is cybersecurity. We know that 18 you appreciate the fact that hackers are targeting 19 nuclear reactors, Wolf Creek, an example and critical 20 U.S. infrastructure such as power grids.
21 The NRC's response to the threat was to 22 issue an order to reactors to identify problems in 23 their cybersecurity protection and identify the 24 appropriate fixes.
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96 1 implement those fixes. On that exact date, wonder if 2 there was a coincidence, on December 15th, 2017, NRC 3 issued a license amendment relieving Pilgrim of the 4 responsibility to implement the fixes.
5 So, NRC and Entergy leadership clearly 6 chose profit over safety.
7 Another example is the post-Fukushima 8 lessons learned which was to address preventing 9 containment failure in reactors designed like Pilgrim 10 and to require hardening of the vent from the torrez 11 (phonetic) so that a pressure buildup in the 12 containment, it would then -- there would not be an 13 explosion like we saw at Unit 1, 2 and 3 in Fukushima.
14 Pilgrim was supposed to implement that 15 order by April 17th, 2017. Entergy asked to be 16 relieved and NRC agreed to postpone implementation of 17 that order until Pilgrim was closed. And, then they'd 18 ask for a license amendment.
19 Again, what did we see? NRC and Entergy 20 leadership choosing profit over safety.
21 Climate increased -- has increased the 22 number of storms and the severity of storms and 23 flooding. These storms have emergency planning 24 consequences. MEMA told NRC on March 2nd at 11:05 25 p.m. that the communities here could not evacuate.
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97 1 So, it does not matter that there was a 2 change of heart the next day at 10:00-something in the 3 morning. We had that whole period in which had there 4 been a problem, we would have been up the creek.
5 I have other examples, the location of the 6 spent fuel pad, but I'm running.
7 (APPLAUSE) 8 MR. KLUKAN: Okay, thank you, Mary, for 9 you statement. Did you want a response or is that 10 just a statement, Mary? That was just a -- thank you 11 for your statement.
12 MS. JANDA: The next speaker in number 28, 13 Jim Burke.
14 MR. KLUKAN: Okay, thank you.
15 MS. JANDA: Oh, I'm sorry.
16 MR. KLUKAN: Well, there was no question, 17 that was just a statement.
18 MR. BURKE: Good evening, my name is Jim 19 Burke, I'm the Regional Manager for the Associated 20 Initiatives of Massachusetts. AIM is the oldest and 21 largest business organization in the state.
22 We represent a community of employers of 23 over 4,000 in Massachusetts.
24 CEO and business owners come to us for 25 three reasons, regulations, risk and resources. And, NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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98 1 one of their risks is the cost of energy.
2 While Pilgrim was offline for the -- part 3 of the 15-day cold snap this past Christmas and 4 January 9th, power generators in Massachusetts burned 5 about two million barrels of oil, more than twice the 6 amount of oil burned during all of 2016.
7 During the same cold snap, wholesale power 8 prices also dramatically increased from an average of 9 $18 million a day to $68 million a day.
10 AIM works with Massachusetts employers to 11 create public policy that supports economic 12 opportunity and job growth.
13 Key to business growth, business growth 14 and development is the knowledge that our grid is 15 reliable and there is enough affordable power to meet 16 businesses needs.
17 Unfortunately, Pilgrim's scheduled to 18 shutdown in 2019 after fulfilling its current capacity 19 commitment to the New England ISO.
20 We support Pilgrim's continued operation 21 through its planned shutdown date in June of 2019.
22 AIM also supports Pilgrim because it's 23 safe with over 600 good paying jobs and approximately 24 $65 million in annual payroll. And, for over 40 25 years, Pilgrim has been the backbone of reliable NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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99 1 electric system.
2 Thank you.
3 (APPLAUSE) 4 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
5 MS. JANDA: The next speaker, number 37, 6 Dan Baker.
7 MR. BARRIE: Dan Baker gave me his, he's 8 over there.
9 MS. JANDA: And, your number?
10 MR. BARRIE: My number is 18. I'm Karim 11 Barrie.
12 MS. JANDA: Thank you.
13 MR. BARRIE: Hello everyone, my name is 14 Karim Barrie, everybody knows me at the plant as AK 15 Barrie.
16 I've been with the plant for pretty much 17 grown with the plant pretty much. I was hired 18 straight from college about 13 years ago.
19 Two years prior, I grew up in Florida so 20 Pilgrim has pretty much been my family.
21 And, I'm a design engineer, eight years as 22 a design engineer, currently, I work for the front 23 team which currently deals with the day to day 24 activities of the plant.
25 So, I'm here to tell you, members of the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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100 1 -- members here, that and just our community here that 2 the plant is running safe. And, as an engineer, one 3 of our paramount codes of ethics is to make sure that 4 the public safety is paramount.
5 Six cornerstones of our code of ethics as 6 engineers is to make sure that whatever information we 7 give you guys will be pertinent information.
8 So, in that vein, I've been involved in 9 projects from machines that deals with the refueling 10 bridge all the way to all the instrumentation that 11 measures different parameters in the plant.
12 So, I'm here today to talk to you to give 13 you assurance that what we do at the plant as an 14 engineers is to make sure the plant runs as it's 15 supposed to.
16 And, Pilgrim has been good to me. They've 17 supported me in whatever training I wanted to do.
18 And, for the last 15 years I've been involved with the 19 North American Young Generation of Nuclear to make 20 sure what we have it right now is the way the industry 21 was introduced to us was not something that is 22 favorable as we can see with the misconceptions we 23 have.
24 So, as we move forward and our generation 25 moving forward, it's to make sure that we have the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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101 1 stakeholder conversations.
2 And, recently, in that vein, my peers 3 recognized that I could bring something to the plate.
4 I was invited by the Women in Nuclear and the 5 International Youth Nuclear Congress in Bariloche a 6 conference to give a panel talk on Has Nuclear 7 Communication Bottlenecked?
8 And, what we see right now is that 9 conversation. So, moving forward, the hope is, when 10 we put these plans together, we can train each other, 11 we can talk to each other and understand what the 12 industry is all about. Because, at the end of the 13 day, we have to produce electricity that benefits each 14 and every one of us.
15 So, I say to you, that we, on behalf of my 16 comrades at the power plant, we're going to do 17 whatever it takes to make sure this plant runs until 18 next year safely.
19 And, you guys should have, you know, have 20 that in your mind that, listen, we are here for you 21 guys. And, because of that, to end my talk, some of 22 the benefits that Entergy has given me, I'm taking 23 that passion with me to Africa to advocate nuclear 24 power moving forward.
25 Thank you.
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102 1 (APPLAUSE) 2 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
3 MS. JANDA: The next speaker, number 31, 4 Dot Anderson?
5 PARTICIPANT: No, I have number 31, I was 6 number 55, which is also up there, coincidentally.
7 But, apparently 31 was.
8 (OFF MICROPHONE COMMENTS) 9 MS. JANDA: Next up is number 38, John 10 Taylor.
11 MS. SAMPSON: I'm Alani Sampson. My 12 original ticket number was 27 and I'm holding 38.
13 MS. JANDA: Okay.
14 MS. SAMPSON: Go ahead?
15 MS. JANDA: Yes, I'm sorry. Go ahead, 16 yes.
17 MS. SAMPSON: Hello, my name's Alani 18 Sampson. I'm an employee at the plant and at first 19 when I was coming up here, I was thinking I would tell 20 you about how I'm your neighbor. I live on the Cape 21 in Bourne. My husband does, too, with me, we work at 22 the plant.
23 And, we are the people who go to the same 24 restaurants as you. We go to the same churches with 25 you. We live in the same community as you. This is NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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103 1 our home.
2 And, your safety is the same as our 3 safety. This is where we wanted to raise our family 4 and where we wanted to live.
5 But, I think you already know that, 6 judging from some of your comments. So, instead, I 7 want to point out something that someone else on the 8 other side of the room mentioned, we have been 9 sticking to something that might seem so 10 inconsequential as a three-minute rule.
11 Have you noticed how the plant employees 12 respond when someone goes over a three minute rule?
13 We take every rule, no matter how small or 14 inconsequential it seems and we take it so seriously, 15 we hold each other accountable for those rules and 16 everyone else around us.
17 So, when you think of the plant and you 18 have your fears, and I understand that your fears come 19 from not knowing what's going on behind our doors or 20 not understanding how we operate.
21 But, what you've seen here tonight from 22 us, taking this little rule and taking it so 23 seriously, that's what our culture is. And, with 24 that, I'm done.
25 Thank you.
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104 1 (APPLAUSE) 2 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
3 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 36, 4 Katie Wood.
5 MS. WOOD: Good evening and thank you for 6 the opportunity to speak. My name is Katie Woods, I'm 7 a System and Components Engineering Supervisor at 8 Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.
9 I have worked at Pilgrim since receiving 10 my civil and environmental engineering degree from the 11 University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2009.
12 I started as a design engineer learning 13 the fundamentals of engineering and working in the 14 nuclear industry.
15 Coming to Pilgrim, I was impressed with 16 the amount of oversight and safety focus at the plant.
17 I was very disappointed to hear that Pilgrim Station 18 will be retiring no later than June 2019.
19 I love working at the plant and living in 20 Plymouth. This is where I started my career and I 21 have become close friends with the people I work with.
22 I always thought that I would be putting down my roots 23 here in Plymouth. That will not be the case.
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105 1 and likely move out of Massachusetts all together.
2 We are members of the community who spend 3 their money on small businesses and restaurants within 4 the area.
5 There are more than 600 permanent 6 employees, most of which will be leaving once the 7 plant closes.
8 The energy market does not value nuclear 9 energy as a carbon-free energy source. This is why we 10 are shutting down, the economics no longer support 11 operation of the station.
12 Pilgrim generates enough power for more 13 than 600,000 homes and prevents the production of 14 millions of tons of greenhouse gases annually.
15 When Pilgrim retires next year, where will 16 Massachusetts go to replace this carbon-free energy?
17 I have an identical twin sister who is a 18 fire protection engineer at Seabrook Nuclear Station 19 in Southern New Hampshire. She tells me that she gets 20 asked weekly by her coworkers why I have not left 21 Pilgrim Station to join the Seabrook team prior to 22 shutdown when the market is flooded with nuclear 23 workers who are looking for a job.
24 My response is that I want to finish 25 Pilgrim strong and leave a positive legacy. I have NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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106 1 grown up professionally here and want to be part of 2 the leadership team that is committed to finishing the 3 final cycle strong.
4 What does mean? Supporting safe and 5 reliable operation of the plant until June 2019.
6 Everyone's number one priority is to protect the 7 health and safety of the public and the plant workers.
8 We take precautions in everything we do to 9 ensure we are doing it the safest way possible. If I 10 didn't think it was safe, I wouldn't work here. If I 11 didn't think it was safe, I wouldn't have bought a 12 house seven miles away in North Plymouth.
13 If I didn't think it was safe, I wouldn't 14 take my nieces and nephews to the beach a few miles 15 from the plant.
16 I am part of a talented workforce that I 17 am fortunate enough to work along side and learn from 18 everyday. I am proud of what I do.
19 I want to be part of the leadership team 20 that leads a positive legacy over the next 15 months 21 of commercial operation. I strive to hold myself, my 22 team and my peers accountable for everything we do.
23 Thank you.
24 (APPLAUSE) 25 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
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107 1 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 55, 2 Bill Sambrello.
3 MR. SAMBRELLO: What did Yogi Berra say, 4 deja vu all over again?
5 All right, my name is Bill Sambrello. I 6 am a father, husband. I live on Cape Cod in 7 Osterville. I'm an environmental chemist, business 8 owner and I'm running for the 9th Congressional 9 District as your Congressman.
10 I want to talk a little bit about to these 11 folks here that have their jobs on the line here and 12 I do feel for you, because having worked for some of 13 the Fortune 100 companies in the chemical field, I 14 know that you have specialized training.
15 And, one of the things I heard earlier is 16 that Pilgrim or Entergy is trying to find you folks 17 new placement and I think that's key. And I hope that 18 you, as part of the regulatory agency, are making sure 19 that that is indeed happening.
20 Because one of my deep concerns here is 21 that, as this can gets kicked down the road here, that 22 people are going to get thinned in the ranks in the 23 nuclear facility and we're really not going to have 24 anything resembling the oversight that we think or you 25 think is present.
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108 1 And, I would like to see that in paper, in 2 writing if that's happening.
3 You know, we all want to think that it 4 can't go wrong, nothing can happen wrong here. The 5 Titanic was unsinkable, if you recall. Chernobyl, 6 nobody thought anything was going to happen there.
7 Three Mile Island had all kinds of safety features 8 installed.
9 And, here we are with a Fukushima-style 10 reactor seven years-plus after what just happened and 11 all we keep doing is hearing we're kicking that can 12 down the road with an ancient facility that needs to 13 be shut down.
14 And, I implore this Regulatory Commission 15 to do the right thing, not just for the energy and 16 find these people quality jobs. These are highly 17 trained people.
18 But, do the right thing for this 19 community, all of the community, and that includes 20 making sure that we do the right thing and shut it 21 down.
22 We've been talking here on and on about 23 the sort of the gray area, the black and white, the 24 semantics of what all this means.
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109 1 pretty sight. Okay? If you look at the Mayo Clinic, 2 what they say, a person who absorbs large doses of 3 radiation has little chance of recovery. Depending on 4 the severity of the illness, death can occur within 5 two days or two weeks.
6 People with lethal radiation dose will 7 receive medication to control pain, nausea, vomiting 8 and diarrhea. They may also benefit from 9 psychological and pastoral care.
10 It's a death wish. None of us want that 11 here. And, maybe that's over dramatic, but maybe 12 that's what you need to hear and that's what everyone 13 in the Commonwealth needs to understand. We have got 14 to put people before profits.
15 Thank you.
16 (APPLAUSE) 17 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you for your statement.
18 MS. JANDA: Next speaker is number 65, 19 Mary Jo Gatswic.
20 MS. GATSWIC: Yes, it's Gatswic, and I see 21 I'm speaking to Mr. Bastoni who's one of my favorite 22 teachers in North Plymouth.
23 MR. BASTONI: Thank you so much.
24 MS. JANDA: And, your number, sir, was?
25 MR. BASTONI: Twenty-one.
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110 1 MS. JANDA: Thank you.
2 MR. BASTONI: First of all, I'd like to 3 tell you how absolutely impressive and engaging it is 4 to hear the young engineers and the scientists step 5 forward and speak their mind. These are the people to 6 whom we will ensure our future. We don't have a 7 choice. We live in a technological era.
8 And, we all have something very much in 9 common in this room, every person in this room, every 10 person on that Board and every person in a seat here, 11 the offices lining the walls and the camera people all 12 want a safe environment in which to live.
13 So, rather than being adversarial, I think 14 we need to spend a lot more time finding commonalities 15 and a way forward.
16 It's very clear that the Pilgrim Nuclear 17 Plant will, in fact, be closed, but that is not the 18 end of the story.
19 We need our scientists and our informed 20 citizens and our technologists more than we've ever 21 needed them before.
22 My name is Mike Bastoni, okay, I run a 23 high school engineering program and it may sound 24 somewhat inconsequential. But, I'm on a mission to 25 prepare young folks to accept the technical challenges NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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111 1 of an uncertain -- very uncertain future.
2 The folks who run our country now, who run 3 our businesses, who run our law offices, who run our 4 industrial plants, who run Entergy, who work for the 5 NRC, our technologists and scientists and they're the 6 best trained people we have.
7 We don't have another choice. We have to 8 learn to work together with these people.
9 And, I want to say, the reason that I'm 10 here, is that Entergy, for the last 23 years, Pilgrim 11 Nuclear, in particular, has invested heavily, hundreds 12 of thousands of dollars in the futures of the young 13 technologists, the young scientists, whose ambitions 14 are to take the lead in a very, very uncertain world.
15 My home is 90 percent powered by sunlight 16 and I drove here in zero-emission electric car. I 17 want to thank the folks at Pilgrim and all the folks 18 in the nuclear industry for being part of making that 19 possible and practical.
20 Without low carbon baseload electrical 21 production, these things would not be possible, 22 certainly not on the scale we need them to be.
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112 1 will be able to ensure the significant sources of low 2 carbon emission energy needed for a sustainable 3 future.
4 Not for my generation, but for the 5 billions of folks on this planet who are presently 6 under the age of 21.
7 I find it ironic that the increasing 8 levels of the oceans and the severity of the storms 9 are causing a problem. And, I think many of us 10 suspect that we probably know why. Because we've been 11 burning fossil fuel far too greedily for far too long.
12 There is risk in every single thing we do.
13 Anybody here who took a hot shower this morning 14 contributed to the problem, not the cure.
15 Our planet is suffering from burning 16 fossil fuels and we are sitting here scared about a 17 plant that's about to close. We can't be scared, we 18 have to be active and we have to be proactive and we 19 have to trust in the future in which we can understand 20 the technology and the science and mitigate the 21 disasters.
22 Thank you so much.
23 (APPLAUSE) 24 MR. KLUKAN: Okay, thank you.
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113 1 Scott Gustafson.
2 MR. GUSTAFSON: Good evening. My name's 3 Scott Gustafson, I'm a Plymouth resident. I'm here 4 tonight in support of Entergy and Pilgrim Nuclear 5 Power Plant.
6 I want to thank the NRC for being here and 7 everything that you've done and all the due diligence 8 you've done down there at Pilgrim.
9 And, I want to thank Vice President 10 Sullivan and his team for addressing those issues and 11 taking those issues seriously and making sure 12 Pilgrim's running safely.
13 My experience down at Pilgrim as a 14 contract laborer was always great. I never felt 15 unsafe. My dad finished his construction career 16 there, my brother is working there now, my sister's 17 working there now. They never say anything about 18 safety.
19 They say, if anything, it's safer than 20 ever. The protocols have changed, it's better than 21 ever. I want to thank Entergy and NRC for what you're 22 doing as a resident. Because, the economic impact 23 that this plant has on this town, what it does for 24 Plymouth in this region is it can't be -- you can't 25 overstate it. We're worried about what's going to NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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114 1 happen when it does close. I wish it wasn't closing.
2 I want to thank Entergy and the NRC for 3 protecting the thousands of jobs that either direct or 4 indirect jobs that are created, the working -- the 5 supporting family jobs that are created.
6 I know a lot of the people in this room 7 that I have worked with for a lot of years because now 8 I send people down there as a representative of the 9 Labor's Union.
10 I saw Jimmy Taormina somewhere in the room 11 tonight. Jimmy and I did a lot of community work 12 together, coached a championship hockey team together 13 in town.
14 That's what the people that work at 15 Entergy and the community are all about. And, I thank 16 you for keeping it open.
17 The other thing I heard that Jim Burke 18 from AIM talk about the issues we had during the cold 19 snap. If you don't know what's going on with the 20 energy grid here in New England and what Pilgrim means 21 to energy reliability and the New England power grid 22 and what we need every single day, wait until it shuts 23 down because we're about to find out.
24 Gas prices in New England, because there's 25 constraints on that system, we're the highest in the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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115 1 world here. The highest in the world during that 2 point.
3 Thank God we have Pilgrim, thank God we 4 have nuclear power. Thank God we have that clean 5 energy to provide us energy reliability. Wait until 6 it closes and you see what happens. I don't know how 7 you're going to power up things. We're going to have 8 rolling brownouts.
9 Right here, I have the Fuel Index Map for 10 -- of ISO New England. You can see 26 percent of the 11 power coming from the grid during that cold snap was 12 from nuclear energy.
13 It's more important than ever that we try 14 to keep it open for as long as possible.
15 I think the one issue I probably have or 16 the one point I'd like to make is, during 17 decommissioning, we'd like to see an expedited 18 process. I'd like to see that so it continues to 19 create an economic impact for people who may be losing 20 their jobs.
21 The Labor Union who does a lot of 22 decommissioning of nuclear plants around the country 23 will open their doors and give opportunities to the 24 workers who may be displaced there. I think that's 25 really important.
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116 1 We have a U.S. Department of Energy 2 approved training program.
3 I think you need to build more nukes.
4 (APPLAUSE) 5 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you for your statement.
6 MS. JANDA: The next speaker will be 7 number 40, Pat Parker.
8 MS. CONSTANTINO: I have number 40 and I 9 -- is -- am I taking your place? Okay, Pat.
10 I'm Henrietta Constantino and I live in 11 Plymouth, I also live in Boston. My primary residence 12 is here in Plymouth within five miles of the plant.
13 And, I'm not here to beat up on Entergy 14 workers, that's not why I came here tonight.
15 I'm glad that you are proud of the job 16 that you're doing because I'd be a lot more worried if 17 you weren't. And, I know that the fact that you're 18 proud of what you're doing is something in its favor.
19 But, we're there tonight to hear -- to 20 talk to NRC, so I want to address my comments to the 21 NRC.
22 And, a lot of it -- what I have to say is 23 very much like what Jamile said, I just put it in a 24 little bit of a different idiom.
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117 1 the industry that pays you. And, actually, that 2 industry is the nuclear industry. Because, if I'm not 3 mistaken about 90 percent of your money comes from the 4 nuclear industry.
5 So, it's natural that you want to be 6 defensive and protective.
7 And, we're acting, too. We're acting out 8 a script, only there is a difference because our 9 script is not paid, it comes from our heart.
10 Because, though our faith in democracy is 11 definitely challenged, and although it's very easy to 12 lose faith, we come here today to appeal to you 13 because, in the end, we still want to believe in 14 democracy.
15 And, we also know that you are trying to 16 do your job. And, that you, too, are circumscribed by 17 what you conceive of your job.
18 But, what I want to say is to you, you 19 five sitting there, one lady and four gentlemen. I 20 wish you would break out of your mask, the mask you're 21 expected to wear. I wish you would be the authentic 22 people that you are, speak your truth.
23 Because, whatever you say, no matter what 24 you say, if it's true, it will -- if it's honest, it 25 will be better than one more second of this charade.
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118 1 I had a friend, we lived in Las Angeles 2 until three years ago. And, I had a friend who used 3 to say at times like this, time for a new script.
4 This one sucks.
5 (APPLAUSE) 6 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you for your comment.
7 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 52, 8 Ed Dewitt.
9 MR. DEWITT: Good evening and thank you 10 once again. My name is Ed Dewitt, I live in Falmouth.
11 And, the first thing I'd like to say is, 12 we're here tonight about getting out of column four.
13 When -- what I've heard for the last 14 several years on this stage is the NRC gets up and 15 describes Pilgrim as the Cleveland Browns and Entergy 16 describes itself and the New England Patriots.
17 And, we get to see statements like 18 sustained, improved performance from the NRC is 19 missing to move Pilgrim out of column four. And, 20 Entergy kind of says, okay, we're doing all that, but 21 it hasn't happened.
22 And, when Pilgrim was put into column 23 four, someone from the NRC said, with increased 24 inspections, increased oversight and that, we're going 25 to move Pilgrim out of column four and we're going to NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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119 1 do it in a swift and efficient way.
2 Am I correct that Pilgrim will be the 3 longest nuclear power plant in column four by not 4 coming out of column four this year? Is that correct?
5 MR. KLUKAN: That's not correct.
6 MR. DEWITT: Well, which one was in 7 longer?
8 MR. KLUKAN: Currently A&O is still in 9 column four and they were placed in column four before 10 Pilgrim.
11 MR. DEWITT: Well, according to the NRC 12 records, I think Pilgrim, this will put Pilgrim over 13 the top, that's what's on your website says in terms 14 of that.
15 Now, our -- if it's going to close in 16 2019, are we going to see it come out of column four 17 ever? No, we're not going to see it come out of 18 column four, are we?
19 MR. KLUKAN: If you're finished with your 20 statement, I'm certainly happy to answer your 21 questions.
22 MR. DEWITT: I asked a question.
23 MR. KLUKAN: Okay, so, I think the first 24 thing, just for clarity is, I'll go and our job is not 25 to move Pilgrim out of column four. Our job is to NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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120 1 make sure they operate safely. And that they take the 2 actions to move themselves out of column four.
3 And we have a well-defined process by 4 which we do that. So, it's --
5 MR. DEWITT: And that process has not 6 worked up to this point, is that correct?
7 MR. KLUKAN: And, I will say that that 8 process is working because it's not unusual for a 9 plant to take two or three years.
10 And, here's the --
11 MR. DEWITT: Well, the average is a year 12 and a half.
13 MR. KLUKAN: No, no, that's not true, it's 14 at least two years.
15 MR. DEWITT: According to the NRC, I'm 16 going on what you have published.
17 MR. KLUKAN: I'll go back and verify, but 18 I think the important thing here is, now, we talked 19 about sustained improvement, but the idea here is that 20 we would not -- we do not want plants to jump in and 21 out of column four.
22 They get into column four, we have seen 23 improvement, but, as I said -- stated before, what 24 we're looking for is sustained improvement so that we 25 have confidence that they've addressed the underlying NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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121 1 issues and that they have been able to move.
2 And, if they appropriately move out of 3 column four, we still need to do a lot more 4 inspections to verify that they stay out of column 5 four.
6 MR. DEWITT: Okay, so, I can only think of 7 two reasons why they haven't come out of column four 8 as of yet, and you can add more. I'm going to ask you 9 if you can add more.
10 The two that I can think of are 11 incompetence and corruption. I can't think of 12 anything else that would not have taken them out of 13 column four.
14 But, I throw that open to you. What other 15 issues would not take them out of column four?
16 MR. KLUKAN: And, I think, again, I 17 disagree with both of those issues in terms of what 18 you've stated.
19 The plant is in the well-defined process.
20 It's in our Management Chapter 0305. And, in that 21 process, I think we make it very clear that, one, the 22 plant does remain safe. Okay?
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122 1 criteria that we would consider. It's well-defined.
2 Also, the steps in terms of us to sustain, 3 the underlying causes for the decline has to be 4 corrected. Those things are occurring.
5 MR. DEWITT: So, you're disagreeing with 6 the official who announced when it went into column 7 four that the goal was to get it out of column four?>
8 MR. KLUKAN: You know, I don't which 9 official was that, I'm not sure what the context of 10 that discussion is, but I think everybody's interest 11 is to ensure that the plant's operating safely.
12 In that, we have different roles, you 13 know, Entergy has the responsibility to move 14 themselves out of column four. We have the 15 responsibility to ensure that they're doing the 16 actions and doing it effectively to move themselves 17 out of column four.
18 (APPLAUSE) 19 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 13, 20 Patricia O'Brian.
21 MR. O'BRIAN: Patrick, but you're close.
22 It's okay.
23 MS. JANDA: Oh, it has an "A" it looked 24 like.
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123 1 little bit, all right.
2 MS. JANDA: My apologies.
3 MR. O'BRIAN: That's all right.
4 Thank you for allowing me the opportunity 5 to speak tonight. I'm sure many in the audience, my 6 name is familiar. I am the company spokesperson for 7 Entergy Pilgrim Station. But, I'm here representing 8 myself as an employee and a lifelong resident of 9 Plymouth.
10 I grew up and attended Plymouth public 11 schools, graduating from Plymouth South High School 12 before going to UMASS Amherst and graduating in 2003.
13 Short of my time at Amherst, I've always 14 lived in Plymouth and I still do so with my wife is 15 expecting our first child in July.
16 I began my career in government working 17 for the local state representative, Vinny deMacedo who 18 is now a State Senator. Spent five years there and 19 then moved on to eight years with the Town of 20 Plymouth.
21 During my time in government, I spent a 22 lot of time interacting with the wonderful people who 23 worked at Entergy, not knowing that my career would 24 lead me down that path.
25 You know, one of those people that I did NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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124 1 interact with was one of my predecessors, Dave 2 Tarentino. His interaction and knowledge with the 3 community going back and forth relating to the plant 4 was something that I really wanted to emulate when I 5 did get the role.
6 Growing up in Plymouth, we were educated 7 at an early age to know that there's a nuclear plant 8 in our community and what it does. It's nothing I've 9 ever been scared of. I've grown up before September 10 11th going down and fishing on jetty.
11 You know, the people that I've gotten to 12 know working there the last three years, my 13 colleagues, they're nuclear professionals. They put 14 safety first every day.
15 You know, I feel comfortable bringing my 16 child into this world living four miles from the 17 plant. It doesn't scare me. I know the technology 18 and I know the professionals.
19 You know, outside of my job, I'm very 20 active in the community. I'm a Board Member of the 21 Plymouth Chamber of Commerce. I'm the Vice-Chair of 22 the Advisory and Finance Committee for the Town. I'm 23 also President of the Cold Spring Athletic Club.
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125 1 people that are running to better our community.
2 And, I enjoy serving our community and I 3 think Scott mentioned it before, you know, a lot of 4 our colleagues support the community as coaches, you 5 know, working in soup kitchens, helping the needy 6 residents.
7 And, when the plant closes, we're going to 8 lose some of that base. You can look to Vernon, 9 Vermont and see that that happened.
10 You know, the other hat that I wear at the 11 Plymouth at the plant is I am a contributions person 12 for the site.
13 Every year, we donate over $250,000 to the 14 community various organizations. You know, one of my 15 personal favorites is Social Community Action 16 Council's Food Resource Program. This is a program 17 that helps the needy in our community.
18 As an employee, I'm glad that the NRC 19 acknowledged Pilgrim's improvement in 2017. I've seen 20 it firsthand, the hard work that everyone puts in 21 every day and the pride that they have in their jobs.
22 You know, I look forward to next year's 23 meeting and as I understand, you know, to the 24 gentleman's point before me, you know, we need to go 25 through all five confirmatory action letter NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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126 1 inspections before we can get out of column four. So, 2 if I'm correct, and you can correct me if this is 3 wrong, we would need to get through that inspection in 4 December before we could ever come out of column four.
5 So, it's not something that, if people 6 showed us expecting us to be out of it tonight, they 7 don't understand the process.
8 Thank you.
9 (APPLAUSE) 10 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
11 MS. JANDA: Okay, so before we move on to 12 the next speaker, since there's more -- still more of 13 you signed up to speak, we are willing to extend the 14 meting time beyond the announced end time of 8:45 p.m.
15 until 9:15 p.m.
16 So, with that, our next speaker is number 17 32, Christina Renauld.
18 (OFF MICROPHONE COMMENTS) 19 MS. JANDA: She left? Okay.
20 So, we'll move on to speaker number 67 21 which is Bernard Graham.
22 MR. GRAHAM: Good evening. My name's 23 Bernard Graham and I never had any intention of 24 speaking to night, I'm not a big public speaker, but 25 it's been an interesting experience coming to this NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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127 1 meeting and listening to most the people that work at 2 the plant and I'm very impressed with their knowledge 3 and their expertise and their feelings of the 4 community.
5 And, it's actually quite reaffirming to me 6 to hear them speak in this way.
7 But, I'm not here to say that, I'm here 8 because I live, I don't know, maybe five miles as the 9 crow flies from the plant north of hear in a town 10 called Duck's Beak.
11 And, we just went through a couple of 12 storms and these storms were of a nature that we were 13 told by town officials and our state officials to 14 shelter in place.
15 Well, that's all well and good and but, 16 there were roads that were impassable in our town, we 17 couldn't get through.
18 And so, I look to you as an agency of our 19 government. And, I say to myself, well, what is your 20 role here? And, I don't know.
21 I mean, what I'd like your role to be is 22 to protect us. We need protection. We need you guys 23 and ladies to be looking out for us. And, you know 24 better than anyone else does, but we're asking you to 25 keep us safe and do your job.
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128 1 That's all.
2 (APPLAUSE) 3 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
4 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 44, 5 mark Ripple.
6 (OFF MICROPHONE COMMENTS) 7 MS. JANDA: And, your number was?
8 PARTICIPANT: I did not have a number and 9 I did not plan to speak initially.
10 MS. JANDA: All right.
11 PARTICIPANT: I just wanted to say a 12 couple quick points. One thing, there's been a lot of 13 talk about how Entergy doesn't seem to be committed to 14 seeing this process through to the end.
15 I transferred down to Pilgrim Station the 16 end of November from Vermont Yankee so I know exactly 17 what seeing it through to the end looks like. We 18 finished the longest run in Vermont Yankee history on 19 December 29th, 2014 at 1313 hours0.0152 days <br />0.365 hours <br />0.00217 weeks <br />4.995965e-4 months <br /> when I watched the 20 breakers open from our switch yard.
21 And, we went for 600 plus days on that run 22 because we were committed to finishing strong. And, 23 I see the same commitment at the station here today.
24 And, as far as not being interested in 25 training and things of that nature, since I've been NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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129 1 down to Pilgrim in less than six month, I've been to 2 a week of training in New Jersey. I've been to a peer 3 group meeting in Louisiana.
4 I have a peer group meeting scheduled in 5 July that I'll have to travel to. And, I have an 6 industry workshop in June.
7 That, to me, sounds like commitment to 8 training and making sure the people have all the tools 9 they need to do their jobs.
10 The other thing that stuck me as I sat 11 listening tonight is, a lot of people in this room are 12 wishing evil upon their neighbors.
13 These people are in your churches, are 14 leaders of you Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, are 15 patronizing local businesses and a lot of them are 16 going away.
17 And, it's not the money that you'll miss 18 so much, I would hope, as the involvement of those 19 committed individuals in your communities.
20 I am not able to play in the Winchester 21 Community Band because I'm working down here. And, as 22 a founding member of that band, that annoys me.
23 I'm not able to sing in the Keen Corral 24 because I am down here and I'm not able to go to 25 rehearsals anymore.
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130 1 This is the kind of disruption that you 2 are cheering for and it is sickening.
3 (APPLAUSE) 4 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
5 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 51, 6 Mike Hetwer.
7 MR. HETWER: Very good, a lot of people 8 can't say that right.
9 Thank you guys for being here. I had no 10 intention of speaking but it went long enough and I've 11 heard a lot.
12 You asked a question earlier this evening 13 and I'd like to clarify. You asked how the other 14 groups are responding. You said --
15 MR. KLUKAN: Yes, I did.
16 MR. HETWER: -- the operations.
17 I'm a farm boy raised in Jersey. I got my 18 training in nuclear Navy, started here in 1981.
19 I've worked in Health Physics, Radiation 20 Protection, Chemistry, RAD Waste, Maintenance 21 Planning, I spent 19 years swearing I wasn't going to 22 go into Operations. I've been there since 2000.
23 I see the people that come into the room 24 to do their work. They are more prepared, they are 25 more professional and their briefings are much better.
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131 1 So, I'm seeing the changes in those other 2 groups, to give you a little more clarification.
3 You were challenged on, did you shut us 4 down on the last storm? We were already shut down.
5 Did we decide that we weren't going to start the plant 6 back up in the wake of that storm?
7 MR. KLUKAN: Yes, you did.
8 MR. HETWER: Yes, it was Entergy that said 9 we're not going to start the place back up in the wake 10 of that storm.
11 So those -- that's some clarifying things.
12 I took notes as I went through, again, I wasn't going 13 to speak.
14 I'm more troubled by the vision of our 15 elected officials. They didn't speak for themselves, 16 they sent their other personnel. And, I would 17 challenge the people that are challenging Pilgrim 18 Station Operations to encourage their elected 19 officials to have a little vision, try and think 20 forward. Where is the power coming from? Good, clean 21 reliable energy and an infrastructure?
22 We need to spend more time and energy in 23 that arena, Mr. Bastoni, you taught my son and you 24 raised a lot of good kids and given them good 25 insights.
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132 1 (OFF MICROPHONE COMMENTS) 2 MR. HETWER: So, that's where our focus 3 needs to be. I thank you for your time. We, a couple 4 years ago, put you in a rough spot and you had to put 5 a little heat on us. I apologize for that.
6 I was there all of these years so I have 7 to consider myself part of that. I'd like to consider 8 myself part of the correction going down the right 9 path along with all of these other good people.
10 Thank you for your time.
11 (APPLAUSE) 12 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you for your statement.
13 MS. JANDA: Okay, I believe Brett just 14 left out with the timer.
15 (OFF MICROPHONE COMMENTS) 16 MS. JANDA: Sorry, technical difficulty 17 here.
18 Okay, so the next speaker will be number 19 57, William Dougan. Is Mr. Dougan still here? No?
20 Okay, we'll move on to number 18, which I 21 believe he's already spoken, Abdul-Karim Barrie, so, 22 yes.
23 So, number 15, David Noyez.
24 MR. NOYEZ: Hi, my name's Dave Noyez.
25 I've been employed at Pilgrim for 28 years in various NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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133 1 positions including 16 years as an NRC Licensed Senior 2 Reactor Operator.
3 I'm a 27-year resident of Plymouth. My 4 14-month-old granddaughter, McKenzie, along with her 5 parents moved to Plymouth seven miles from Pilgrim 6 early last year.
7 Before their move, my daughter asked if 8 she should be concerned about moving her family within 9 the plant's emergency planning zone. Frankly, I am 10 more concerned about the economic electric grid 11 stability and environmental impacts that Pilgrim's 12 closure will have on our community's way of life than 13 any concern for family's safety.
14 I have the unique opportunity to 15 experience firsthand the inherent safety of the 16 technology, the actions of a tough regulator and, most 17 importantly, the dedication and professionalism of my 18 coworkers on a daily basis.
19 It is my experience that the plant has 20 always been operated with the health and safety of our 21 workers and the individuals in our community as the 22 top priority.
23 The NRC, through thousands of hours of 24 intrusive inspections, as independently reported that 25 the station has and is operated safely.
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134 1 In the past, nonconservative decisions in 2 some cases lessened substantial margins that exist to 3 ensure plant safe operation.
4 More recently, consistent conservative 5 decisions like the ones made to shut the plant in 6 advance of severe weather have restored that margin 7 and have now become part of our collective culture.
8 As just one member of the Pilgrim team, I 9 am extremely proud of the collective contribution of 10 our 560 workers who live with their families in 11 Plymouth on the shore of Cape Cod.
12 I heard the federal elected officials 13 representatives, their demands of you and the NRC. I 14 have a question of those individuals if any are still 15 in the room after their cameo appearance.
16 Will you hear the demands of the citizens 17 of Plymouth, and I dare say most everyone in this room 18 to fulfill your obligation to provide a repository for 19 spent fuel?
20 Thank you.
21 (APPLAUSE) 22 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
23 MS. JANDA: The next speaker would be 24 number 25, Richard Lopriori, but he spoke already for 25 number 58. So, unless he has someone to speak for his NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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135 1 number, we'll just move on.
2 Okay, number 80, who also spoke already 3 for number 26, so --
4 (OFF MICROPHONE COMMENTS) 5 MS. JANDA: No. And so, number 29, that 6 is Chris Constanza.
7 MR. ROMEO: Hi, my name's Mike Romeo and 8 I am taking Chris Costanza's spot. My ticket number 9 is number 33.
10 MS. JANDA: Thank you.
11 MR. ROMEO: I'm here and I'm listening to 12 all the talk and everything that everyone is worried 13 about. And, I always go back to, what is it that 14 tells someone or someone comes to the impression that 15 they come to about anything whether it's nuclear power 16 or any other technology or any other thing in our 17 lives?
18 And, I always come back to, I try to base 19 my decisions based on things that I know, things that 20 I've either been taught, things that I've read from 21 reliable sources, things that I personally have 22 touched and felt.
23 I've worked in nuclear power for a long 24 time. I entered the nuclear Navy and I started 25 working at nuclear power plants.
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136 1 I've established a residence here in 2 Massachusetts and I work at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power 3 Station.
4 The people that I've encountered in my 5 life in nuclear power have always based their 6 discussion on things that they would bet or value that 7 it was fact. It is reality, it is what happens. It's 8 how we have to be to be able to operate a technology 9 that has the ability to affect so many.
10 We have to know for sure that what we're 11 doing is the right thing.
12 And my SRO license, my Senior Reactor 13 Operator license was not given to me, it was earned.
14 And, I sat through and learned a lot of things and the 15 regulator comes in and evaluates what I know to be 16 able to operate that facility.
17 And, I appreciate that. That's something 18 that I know have solace in, that everyone that gets 19 one of those licenses has proven themselves based on 20 technology and information that is vetted to be 21 accurate and correct.
22 And, based on everything I've learned in 23 all of the years I've operated nuclear power plants or 24 been a member of a team that operates nuclear power 25 plants, I have never come across someone that NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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137 1 generated an opinion based on rhetoric, based on 2 misguided information, based on emotion, pure emotion.
3 You have to take emotion out of what you know and why 4 you know it and you've really got to understand the 5 technology and understand why it works.
6 And, I believe nuclear power is one of 7 those things we're going to miss if this country 8 continues to shut down very valuable, very premium 9 operating nuclear plants.
10 And, I think that we do need to come up 11 with a solution to the country's energy problems and 12 provide baseload power that does not rely on fossil 13 fuels.
14 Thank you.
15 (APPLAUSE) 16 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
17 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 66, 18 Heather Lightener. Heather's not here? Okay.
19 We'll move on to number 11, Edward 20 Sanchez.
21 Hi, did you have a ticket number?
22 MS. NAPLES: Hi, I did, number five, Amy 23 Naples.
24 MS. JANDA: Okay, thank you.
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138 1 Naples. I am a life-long resident of Plymouth, a 2 supporter of Entergy, and I am also the Executive 3 Director for the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce.
4 I wanted to speak -- ooh, excuse me. I 5 wanted to speak on the tremendous economic benefits 6 Pilgrim Station provides to our region.
7 Approximately, $150 Million annual income and revenue, 8 provided by plant operation, to the region, which 9 sustains 560 jobs, with high wages payroll of about 10 $55 Million, with nearly 85 percent of its employees 11 living in Plymouth, or Barnesville Counties, 12 stimulating our economy, workforce clustered near 13 their plant, and positive effect on town and region 14 with lower income totals and higher seasonal jobs.
15 A Hundred and Five Million, from plant 16 employees and vendors, created second wave economic 17 impact, supporting an additional 600 jobs to the 18 region, significant spending in non-nuclear 19 industries, high levels of home ownership, and tax 20 revenues, significant spending at local hoteliers, 21 restaurants and et cetera, during refueling and local 22 residents.
23 Plant operation produces approximately 24 1,200 jobs, $14 Million in municipal taxes, $107 25 Million in wages and benefits, and $148 Million in NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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139 1 non-payroll spending.
2 In addition to providing jobs, local 3 business purchases, and tax revenue, the plant has 4 been very, very generous to local non-profits. A 5 recent study found that regional non-profit civic 6 organization and charities receive, approximately, 7 over $250,000 per year, from Pilgrim Station, much of 8 it directed toward environmental, educational, and 9 elder services in Plymouth and neighboring towns.
10 This total does not include in-kind gifts, employee 11 giving, and volunteering in our community.
12 In my opinion, Entergy has given millions 13 to our community. The impact it has had on our 14 organization, personally, the Plymouth Area Chamber of 15 Commerce, we wouldn't be able to provide over 90-plus 16 events for our business community, as well as our 17 local community.
18 It supports over 5,000 businesses, with 19 small business education programs, networking 20 opportunities, and facilitating over 151 to one small 21 business counseling sessions.
22 Pilgrim Station gives us the opportunity 23 to provide these important resources and opportunities 24 to local businesses, entrepreneurs, veterans of our 25 community.
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140 1 I hope my comments give you a strong 2 understanding of the Plymouth Area Chamber of 3 Commerce's support to Entergy and its dedicated 4 employees.
5 We feel strongly that the Pilgrim Station 6 has had and continues to have a tremendous economic 7 impact on our region, while contributing to the 8 community, as a whole. Thank you for all of your 9 contributions.
10 (Applause.)
11 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
12 (Off the record comments.)
13 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is Number 61, 14 Paul Jean.
15 MR. JEAN: Good evening. My name is Paul 16 Jean, I'm the Chairman of the Board of the Plymouth 17 Philharmonic Orchestra, and I just want to speak to 18 Entergy's role, as a community partner.
19 From the Orchestra's perspective, Entergy 20 has been a tremendous supporter of our programing, 21 over the many, over many years. They have been some 22 of our leading concert sponsors, helping us to provide 23 live music to hundreds of thousands of people in 24 Plymouth and the South Shore.
25 More, more recently, they have been NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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141 1 supporting some of our educational programing in the 2 Plymouth Public Schools and in school districts 3 throughout the South Shore.
4 So I would support what the prior speaker 5 said, is that the impact of Entergy on the community 6 has been extremely positive and I, and the 7 Philharmonic, for one, is concerned about the loss of 8 their support, when the plant closes in 2019. Thank 9 you.
10 (Applause.)
11 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
12 MS. JANDA: Next speaker will be Number 13 16, Mary Connolly.
14 (Off the record comments.)
15 MR. PERRY: Yes, my name's Doug Perry. I 16 work at this station. I've worked here, well, off and 17 on since 1988, when I got out of the Navy. And it's 18 been interesting over the last three years, or about 19 two-and-a-half years, I guess, I've been back, in my 20 latest trip to Pilgrim, the, just the, the attitudes 21 and the changes that I've seen, over the course of the 22 years, since, you know, 1988.
23 I think it's a tribute to the dedication 24 of the workforce of the, all the folks that, that I 25 worked with, over the last, however long it's been, I NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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142 1 guess, 30 years, that we've taken the lessons that 2 have, you know, we've learned, over the course of that 3 time, and turned that into a positive performance.
4 You know, it's not always perfect, we 5 still have, we're on a journey and, you know, we're 6 going to continue to strive to achieve the, the best 7 that we can be, over the course of the next 14 months 8 that we have.
9 But, I can see that it's gone, you know, 10 it keeps getting better as, as time goes on. And I, 11 again, I attribute that to the, to the good folks that 12 I work with everyday.
13 I thought it was interesting, some of the, 14 the venom, kind of, poured out on the, on the NRC 15 folks, probably not, it's probably difficult to sit up 16 at the table and take that, for the, over the course 17 of the night.
18 But, I think that it's a team, you know, 19 and by, I don't mean that we're all, you know, 20 huddling up trying to, you know, figure out the, how 21 to make Pilgrim go forth and, and, when we shouldn't 22 be, necessarily, but it takes a good regulator and a, 23 a good utility to make a good nuclear power plant, and 24 I think that we, we have that.
25 One thing that's, a few people have NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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143 1 brought out is the, you know, the importance of 2 nuclear power toward, in a, a carbon-neutral 3 environment going forward and the importance of that 4 on the, you know, the weather and the environment that 5 we've, that we've seen, over the course of, you know, 6 last month, particularly.
7 We need to think about how we're going to 8 replace the benefits of nuclear power, should we 9 choose to go forward down the road of, you know, 10 closing plants that we're seeing over the last few 11 years. And I, I think it's important that we consider 12 that in the, for the future, and to keep the storms, 13 again, down to a minimum. Thank you.
14 (Applause.)
15 MR. KLUKAN: Yes, thank you.
16 (Applause.)
17 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is Number 10, 18 Raja Paranjoppi (phonetic).
19 (Off the record comments.)
20 MS. JANDA: Okay, we'll move on to Number 21 39, who is Joanne Geary (phonetic).
22 MS. GEARY: Hi. I just have a question 23 that's, kind of, obvious to me, maybe nobody else, the 24 elephant in the room. My concern, I think Entergy has 25 done a great job. I've been here since it was built.
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144 1 I know how it was built. I know who built it.
2 The elephant in the room is, what about 3 the spent fuel? What happened? Yes, nuclear power is 4 great, except, what's left over, and it's not leaving.
5 Who's going to take care of that? Who's going to 6 watch it?
7 Who's going to make sure that we are safe 8 from that? Yes, nuclear power, if we didn't have 9 spent fuel, would be fabulous, but that's my concern.
10 I have grandchildren. That's all I have to say.
11 (Applause.)
12 (Off the record comments.)
13 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
14 (Off the record comments.)
15 MS. JANDA: The next speaker will be --
16 (Off the record comments.)
17 MS. JANDA: Oh.
18 (Off the record comments.)
19 MR. KLUKAN: Oh, was there a question 20 there? Did you want to --
21 (Off the record comments.)
22 MS. DICKINSON: She has two minutes and 13 23 seconds, she wanted to cede it to me, is that okay?
24 (Off the record comments.)
25 MS. DICKINSON: No, no, I don't want to --
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145 1 (Off the record comments.)
2 MS. DICKINSON: Okay.
3 MS. JANDA: And your number was?
4 MS. DICKINSON: I think it was six.
5 MS. JANDA: You are Elizabeth Hogan?
6 (Off the record comments.)
7 MS. DICKINSON: Yes, well --
8 (Off the record comments.)
9 MS. DICKINSON: It's getting late.
10 (Off the record comments.)
11 MS. DICKINSON: I have not spoken.
12 (Off the record comments.)
13 MS. DICKINSON: My name is Elaine 14 Dickinson and I live on Cape Cod.
15 (Off the record comments.)
16 MS. DICKINSON: And I thank the forum for 17 happening. And, those of us, who came from down the 18 Cape, we have no gripe with the Entergy workers, as 19 previous speaker said, you know, we're glad that you 20 are doing a good job, otherwise, we wouldn't be here 21 at all.
22 However, most of our gripe is with the 23 NRC, because on your Website, you have a logo that 24 says protecting people and the environment. And you 25 also have another pretty little logo, the same thing.
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146 1 Okay, it's your public mandate to protect 2 us. Your protection has downgraded the Pilgrim 3 reactor to the lowest in the country, one step above 4 a shutdown. This hasn't made us safer. After so many 5 years of more oversight, how have you helped make 6 Pilgrim safer? It's still in Column 4.
7 Now we have the whole issue of the 8 degrading boraflex panels, which keeps people awake at 9 night worrying, with that overstuffed spent fuel pool 10 and the boraflex panel, supposedly, keeping them from 11 spontaneous combustion.
12 The fact that it hasn't had an accident is 13 pure luck and you people know it. The storms come and 14 Pilgrim stays running, even when the streets are 15 flooded and trees are down and no way to safely 16 evacuate the residents, or the workers.
17 The workers, okay, how are you going to 18 get out of there? The emails between MEMA and Entergy 19 shows that Entergy is ignoring the known dangers. How 20 irresponsible. And you, the regulatory agency, allow 21 it.
22 You get paid a portion of your salaries 23 from our tax dollars, but 90 percent of what you get 24 paid comes from what you bill Entergy. Almost like a 25 lawyer, working workable hours, payable hours, thus NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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147 1 making it cheaper for more oversight than for the 2 owner to fix the problems. Given that, 90 percent of 3 your salary is from the fees you charge Entergy, this 4 is a blatant conflict of interest. We call BS.
5 (Applause.)
6 MR. KLUKAN: Okay. Thank you for your 7 statement, do you have a question in there? Or --
8 (Off the record comments.)
9 MR. KLUKAN: Okay. Stop.
10 (Off the record comments.)
11 MR. KLUKAN: We can certainly give you a 12 --
13 (Off the record comments.)
14 MR. KLUKAN: We can give you an update on 15 the boraflex panels, in fact, Erin has looked at that, 16 recently. I would want to clarify and I think it's 17 been mentioned a few times, we get our budget from 18 Congress. Any fees that we collect does not go back 19 to the NRC, it goes back to the Treasury. So I just 20 want to clarify that.
21 MS. CARFANG: And on, regarding the 22 boraflex, Pilgrim has redone their analysis and they 23 no longer take credit for the boraflex in those panels 24 and the pool is still safe. And we have had several 25 people that --
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148 1 (Off the record comments.)
2 MS. CARFANG: That means we assume that 3 boraflex, it's something that absorbs neutrons, and so 4 what we assume is that, there is no material there to 5 absorb those neutrons, and that the pool is still 6 okay.
7 In fact, we documented this in our 8 Inspection Report in 2017, when we took a look at 9 some, we had somebody go through this and re-amp, to 10 review the analysis of the site performed and we 11 agreed that that was adequate for the current 12 configuration of the pool.
13 And I'd be happy to discuss, after this 14 meeting. I don't want to take all of your time for 15 speaking, but we can have a discussion with that, 16 about that, after this meeting.
17 MR. KLUKAN: Okay, thank you.
18 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is Number 50, 19 Lilia Franton (phonetic). Is Lilia still here?
20 (Off the record comments.)
21 MS. JANDA: Okay. Then, the next speaker 22 will be Number 30, which was Daniel Dove, is he still 23 here? He's already spoken, but if he has somebody he 24 wants to speak in his place?
25 (Off the record comments.)
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149 1 MS. JANDA: Not here, either. Okay, 2 Number 5, and Number 5 was Amy Naples and she, also, 3 spoke already. Is Amy still here?
4 (Off the record comments.)
5 PARTICIPANT: Is Amy still here? No, she 6 left.
7 MS. JANDA: Okay.
8 (Off the record comments.)
9 PARTICIPANT: Number 35, Richard Sherman.
10 Number 40 --
11 (Off the record comments.)
12 MS. JANDA: Oh.
13 PARTICIPANT: Richard is actually here.
14 PARTICIPANT: Oh, Richard is here.
15 (Off the record comments.)
16 PARTICIPANT: Okay, and after Richard will 17 be Number 43, Jim (indiscernible).
18 MR. SHERMAN: My name is Rick Sherman. I, 19 I went to Plymouth schools, I enjoyed the tax revenue 20 that Pilgrim Station gave to town, with the PCA 21 access, the Plymouth (indiscernible) at the meeting 22 school, our planetarium, and so we are, so, so I 23 appreciate the tax revenue and the economic -- but --
24 as you can tell, I'm not a public speaker.
25 I'm also employed by Entergy and I was NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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150 1 there during the storms. And I'll tell you, there was 2 no flooding at Pilgrim. The Anamet Duxbury was 3 getting flooded out, but Pilgrim Station was not 4 getting flooded, it was not getting flooding out.
5 There was no issue, as far as flooding goes. I, I 6 don't know what else to say. Thank you.
7 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
8 (Applause.)
9 MS. JANDA: And Number 43, Jim Teramena 10 (phonetic).
11 PARTICIPANT: I think Jim left.
12 MS. JANDA: Okay, thanks.
13 PARTICIPANT: We've got Number 59, a Dana 14 Swimskowski (phonetic).
15 (Off the record comments.)
16 PARTICIPANT: Okay, Number 17, Donna 17 Calvaries (phonetic).
18 (Off the record comments.)
19 PARTICIPANT: Number 56, Chris Dutch 20 (phonetic).
21 (Off the record comments.)
22 PARTICIPANT: Forty-five, (indiscernible).
23 (Off the record comments.)
24 PARTICIPANT: Twenty-seven, Demonte 25 Simpson (phonetic).
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151 1 (Off the record comments.)
2 PARTICIPANT: Twenty-four, Lee Rosco 3 (phonetic).
4 (Off the record comments.)
5 PARTICIPANT: Fifty-three, John Garrity.
6 (Off the record comments.)
7 PARTICIPANT: Oh, I'm sorry.
8 (Off the record comments.)
9 PARTICIPANT: Is Lee here?
10 PARTICIPANT: He was just in the room.
11 (Off the record comments.)
12 PARTICIPANT: Okay, well, let her go right 13 after John.
14 (Off the record comments.)
15 MR. GARRITY: Are we good?
16 PARTICIPANT: Yes, you're good, John.
17 MR. GARRITY: All right, thank you very 18 much. My name is John Garrity and I am the Recovery 19 Manager at Pilgrim Station. And I have listed to some 20 of the questions here and I, I understand your 21 frustration.
22 There's a very intense process we're 23 following to get out of Column 4. The process has 24 been laid out, it's broken into some very intense 25 inspections that we will go through, and we're working NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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152 1 with the NRC, who has put some very stringent 2 requirements on us.
3 Those inspections will go between now and 4 the end of December. They are spread out 5 strategically, such that, we have to complete specific 6 actions, and those actions are very intense. But not 7 only do we have to complete the actions, we also have 8 to show that the actions have been effective and that, 9 that we are sustaining the performance of those 10 actions.
11 This is a, this is a planned controlled 12 evolution. You've heard my workers talk about how 13 important it is for us to do things correctly, to 14 ensure that, when we do tasks, the tasks are, not only 15 to fix what the problem is now, but to make sure that 16 the underlying issue that caused the problem has been 17 identified and corrected. We take pride in that.
18 Now, I'm a father. I'm an Engineer. I'm 19 a resident of Marshfield. My biggest pride is my 20 three daughters. And, whenever we get into 21 discussions about issues that they have fear of, we 22 usually come to the conclusion that, that they're 23 uncomfortable with the information they have, about 24 whatever it is they're afraid of.
25 I, I, I've heard people, in this room, who NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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153 1 are very frustrated, and I challenge you that, the 2 frustration comes from lack of knowledge. I, I can 3 also tell you that, the individuals at that table up 4 there, are very trustworthy. They, they have very 5 high integrity.
6 They have pointed out issues to us that we 7 have taken ownership of, at Pilgrim Station. They're 8 our problems. We are solving those problems. This 9 plant will operate safely, until June of 2019. We 10 will ensure that and we are working with the people at 11 the head table, to make sure that we follow the rules 12 that they set for us.
13 We take pride in what we do. We do not 14 take shortcuts. We look at risk every single day, 15 because, the people we love are effected by the risk 16 that we have. Thank you very much.
17 (Applause.)
18 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
19 (Applause.)
20 PARTICIPANT: All right, Lee Rosco's left.
21 We've got Number 41, Irene Caldwell.
22 (Off the record comments.)
23 PARTICIPANT: Okay. Number 14, John 24 Gauldy, Gauldy (phonetic).
25 (Off the record comments.)
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154 1 PARTICIPANT: Okay, he's not here. Number 2 20, Diane Jerko (phonetic), do you want to cede your 3 time to anyone?
4 (Off the record comments.)
5 MS. ALTAIR: I'm Sarah Altair (phonetic).
6 I live in Kingston, eight miles from the plant. And 7 I've been coming to these meetings for years and 8 hearing all sides of the issue.
9 And I want to make it clear, to people who 10 work at the plant, who believe that nuclear energy is 11 safe, that I believe you. I, I understand that you're 12 good people and you're doing your job and I'm really, 13 really glad.
14 But I, personally, who am a citizen of 15 Kingston, am scared, not just of nothing. I'm afraid 16 that, all the NRC is looking at is this list of things 17 that are expected. There's no, they're not looking at 18 the unexpected. Like, Fukushima wasn't expected.
19 So it seems to me that, we're here tonight 20 because it's the NRC's job to protect the people and 21 the environment of, of all of us, of all us people and 22 you guys, who work there.
23 Yes, you're looking at this list of 24 regulations that are covered by federal law that 25 they're checking up on you, to see if you're just NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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155 1 living up to what's the best, and they say you are, 2 and I believe that.
3 What, what I don't see that the NRC is 4 taking into consideration, is, is the unexpected, and 5 how could they? But, look at Chernobyl and look at 6 Fukushima.
7 And, I, I don't think the NRC's job is to 8 worry about the economy. I don't think it's to worry 9 about people's jobs. I think it's to worry about the 10 health and safety of all of us and, and the 11 environment.
12 And I, for one, is incredibly, incredibly 13 concerned about all of that nuclear waste that's 14 sitting there, has no place to go. And, even after 15 the plant is closed, I'm very concerned, you know, 16 that we're going to need good, good regulation and 17 some people down there to keep it safe.
18 But, I just, I want you, I, main, mainly, 19 the people, who are here, who believe that they're, 20 in, in nuclear energy -- and I'm not saying I don't, 21 I just think, this particular plant is old, it's had 22 lots of problems, and it's, everybody's just running 23 after fixing everything up.
24 I can see my time is getting low, but I 25 just had to say, I don't think it's the NRC's job to NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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156 1 be worrying about the economy, or about people's jobs, 2 it's your job to protect people, all people, all 3 people and the environment.
4 (Off the record comments.)
5 (Applause.)
6 PARTICIPANT: Well thank you. And I, I 7 agree that our job is only to protect people and 8 safety.
9 PARTICIPANT: Yes. Hey, Dave, can I just 10 mention, briefly, that, you know, twice tonight we've 11 heard comments about the, the ISFIC (phonetic) that 12 remains over at Pilgrim.
13 I just want to let you know that, that 14 Entergy remains responsible for the oversight of that 15 fuel, even after the plant is closed down. They, they 16 are, they hold the licenses for those, for that 17 facility, they remain responsible.
18 And we, the NRC, do have specific 19 inspection activities that continue to be applied. So 20 the fuel is not left unattended, or, or uninspected, 21 both of those things continue to occur, by law, and, 22 and for public health and safety. So I just wanted to 23 let you know.
24 (Off the record comments.)
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157 1 speaker, the last speaker that are here will be 2 Elizabeth Hogan (phonetic).
3 (Off the record comments.)
4 PARTICIPANT: Okay. Susan Carpenter.
5 (Off the record comments.)
6 PARTICIPANT: Michael Romeo.
7 (Off the record comments.)
8 PARTICIPANT: Okay. Do you want to cede 9 your time to anyone?
10 (Off the record comments.)
11 PARTICIPANT: No, okay. Next will be Jen 12 Farmentor (phonetic).
13 (Off the record comments.)
14 PARTICIPANT: Is Jen here?
15 (Off the record comments.)
16 PARTICIPANT: Okay.
17 PARTICIPANT: As the last speaker, I say, 18 thank you, and let's go home.
19 (Laughter.)
20 (Applause.)
21 MR. KLUKAN: Okay, well thank you. And, 22 and I want to thank everyone for participating and 23 staying as long as we have. So with that, we'll 24 adjourn the meeting.
25 (Off the record comments.)
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158 1 MS. JANDA: And just a reminder, at the 2 registration table, there's some feedback forms. So 3 I'm looking forward to our next meeting. We'll 4 welcome your comments and ideas on what we can do to 5 improve the conduct of the meeting. And thank you, 6 everyone, for coming tonight.
7 (Whereupon, the meeting in the above-8 entitled matter was adjourned.)
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Memo to File: May 7, 2018 Attached is the transcript of the Annual Assessment Meeting for Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station on March 27, 2018.
Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Title:
Annual Assessment Meeting for Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station Docket Number: 50-293 Location: Plymouth, Massachusetts Date: March 27, 2018 Work Order No.: NRC-3660 Pages 1-158 NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC.
Court Reporters and Transcribers 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 234-4433 ML18127A033
1 1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 2 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 3 + + + + +
4 ANNUAL ASSESSMENT MEETING FOR 5 PILGRIM NUCLEAR POWER STATION 6 DOCKET NO. 50-293 7 + + + + +
8 PUBLIC MEETING 9 + + + + +
10 TUESDAY, 11 MARCH 27, 2018 12 + + + + +
13 The Public Meeting met in the Regency 14 Ballroom, Hotel 1620 Plymouth Harbor, 180 Water 15 Street, Plymouth, Massachusetts 02360 at 6:00 p.m.,
16 Donna M. Janda and Brett Klukan, Facilitators, 17 presiding.
18 PRESENT:
19 DONNA M. JANDA, Regional State Agreements Officer, 20 Division of Nuclear Materials Safety and 21 Safeguards, Facilitator 22 BRETT KLUKAN, Regional Counsel, Region I, 23 Facilitator 24 ERIN CARFANG, Senior Resident Inspector, Pilgrim 25 Nuclear Power Station NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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2 1 ANTHONY DIMITRIADIS, Chief, Projects Branch 5, 2 Division of Nuclear Projects, Region I 3 DAVID LEW, Acting Regional Administrator, Region I 4 DAVID PELTON, Acting Director, Division of Reactor 5 Projects, Region I 6 BRUCE WATSON, Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Office 7 of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards 8 JUSTIN VAZQUEZ, Project Engineer, Division of 9 Reactor Projects, Region I 10 11 ALSO PRESENT:
12 BRUCE CHENARD, Senior Manager of Operations, Pilgrim 13 Nuclear Power Station 14 RORY CLARK, Office of Senator Edward J. Markey 15 MICHAEL JACKMAN, Office of Congressman Bill Keating 16 DAVID NOYES, Director of Recovery Efforts, Pilgrim 17 Nuclear Power Station 18 REPRESENTATIVE SARAH PEAKE, Massachusetts 19 Legislature, 4th Barnstable District 20 DRAKE PITTS, General Manager of Plant Operations, 21 Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station 22 ALICIA REBELLO-PRADAS, Massachusetts Attorney 23 General's Office 24 MIKE ROMEO, Director of Regulatory and Performance 25 Improvement, Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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3 1 BRIAN SULLIVAN, Site Vice President, Pilgrim Nuclear 2 Power Station 3 ADRIENNE VIARENGO, Office of Senator Elizabeth 4 Warren 5
6 7
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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4 1 T-A-B-L-E O-F C-O-N-T-E-N-T-S 2 Introduction and Opening Remarks . . . . . . . . 5 3 Confirmatory Action Letter Inspection 4 Status Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 5 Plant Operations, Equipment Reliability, and 6 Deferments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 7 Current Plant Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 8 Elected Official Written Remarks . . . . . . . . 34 9 Public Q&A Session with the NRC . . . . . . . . . 46 10 NRC Closing Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 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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5 1 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 2 6:00 p.m.
3 MR. KLUKAN: Welcome everyone to this 4 evening's annual assessment meeting for the Pilgrim 5 Nuclear Power Station. My name is Brett Klukan.
6 Normally by day I'm the Regional Counsel for Region I, 7 but tonight I'll be serving as the facilitator for 8 this meeting.
9 Donna Janda -- raise your hand -- will be 10 facilitating as well during the second half of the 11 meeting.
12 The structure of the meeting tonight is 13 discussed in the meeting notice is bifurcated. The 14 first half will consist of discussion between the U.S.
15 Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Entergy to discuss 16 the NRC's assessment of safety performance at Pilgrim 17 for 2017.
18 The portion of the meeting will 19 principally include discussion of the oversight 20 results over the past year, an opportunity for Entergy 21 to respond to provide its own remarks on its 22 performance, and finally NRC closing remarks.
23 After a short intermission, which I'm 24 going to try to keep to 10 minutes or less, the second 25 half will be an opportunity for members of the public NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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6 1 to ask the assembled NRC staff questions concerning 2 performance issues at Pilgrim or to present comments 3 regarding the same.
4 We will begin the second half with a short 5 discussion by Erin Carfang, the Senior Resident 6 Inspector at Pilgrim, of current plant status.
7 With respect to the second half of the meeting, on the 8 registration table just outside these doors, there's 9 a sign-up list for public speakers.
10 When you register to speak, you should 11 have received a ticket, or at least one half of a 12 ticket, the other half of which we put into a 13 collection container. The speaking order tonight will 14 be determined from numbers pulled from this container, 15 the intent of which is that the speaking order be 16 determined at random.
17 Just so you have some advanced warning 18 when it's your turn to speak, we will be posting on 19 the screen at the center on the stage the numbers 20 pulled from that list. I would like to thank Justin 21 and Peter for assisting with this task. If you would 22 like to speak this evening and have already done so, 23 please step outside and add your name to the list 24 prior to the end of intermission.
25 Once intermission is finished and we NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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7 1 reconvene for the second half of the meeting, you will 2 not be able to add your name to the speaking list 3 unless we exhaust the speaking list, or the people who 4 have added their names to the list already. Based on 5 my experience in past years, that is unlikely to 6 occur.
7 I just want to emphasize a few additional 8 remarks regarding tickets. There is no prohibition 9 from donating tickets meaning when your ticket is 10 called, you can give it to someone else to speak.
11 However, when that happens, or if you would like to 12 donate your ticket, you have to announce that at the 13 time your ticket number is called and both parties 14 have to be present at that time, both the person 15 donating the ticket and the person receiving the 16 ticket.
17 This is different from last year. One 18 additional rule. If a person has already spoken 19 during the meeting whether it's because their ticket 20 has been called or someone has donated their ticket to 21 them, they may not get up to speak again if their 22 number is subsequently called or someone tries to 23 donate their ticket to that individual meaning you 24 only get three minutes at the microphone.
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8 1 has donated their ticket to you, you can, however, 2 donate your ticket to someone else but you can't use 3 that to speak again. In short, everyone, if your 4 number is called, you get three minutes at the 5 microphone. You can't subsequently then use donated 6 tickets to speak again.
7 I would ask that we keep the area beyond 8 the front row clear. If you would like to give 9 something to the NRC staff, please hand it to me, 10 Donna, or Justin.
11 Now, for some very basic ground rules.
12 First off, I recognize that many of you may have 13 strongly held beliefs concerning the matters to be 14 discussed here tonight regarding the performance of 15 Pilgrim. I ask you, nonetheless, adhere to simple 16 decorum. You've done that in past years and I am 17 greatly appreciative of that.
18 In essence, please respect each other.
19 Just as you wouldn't want to be interrupted during 20 your time at the microphone, I ask that you please 21 respect the speaking time of others.
22 Threatening gestures, however, will under 23 no circumstances be tolerated and will be cause for 24 immediate ejection from the meeting room. If you feel 25 that you've been threatened, please let me know or NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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9 1 tell one of the NRC security personnel standing around 2 the room, or the local law enforcement officials who 3 are also positioned around the room.
4 A few minor housekeeping issues. The 5 bathrooms are just outside these doors. The exits are 6 to the back and front, again through these doors.
7 While cameras are permitted, please try not to 8 obstruct the view of audience members. Would you be 9 so kind at this time to please silent your cell 10 phones.
11 At this point I would like to introduce 12 the following representatives -- following elected 13 officials or representatives thereof. First we have 14 Representative Sarah Peake from the 4th Barnstable 15 District.
16 (Applause.)
17 MR. KLUKAN: We have Michael Jackman 18 representing the Office of Congressman Keating.
19 (Applause.)
20 MR. KLUKAN: We have Alicia Rebello-Pradas 21 representing the Massachusetts Attorney General's 22 Office.
23 (Applause.)
24 MR. KLUKAN: Then we have Adrienne 25 Viarengo -- I apologize -- representing Senator NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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10 1 Elizabeth Warren's Office.
2 (Applause.)
3 MR. KLUKAN: Finally, we have Rory Clark 4 representing Senator Ed Markey's Office.
5 (Applause.)_
6 MR. KLUKAN: Are there any other elected 7 officials who would like to be recognized at this 8 time? You will have an opportunity to give prepared 9 remarks at the second half of the meeting. Anyone 10 else who would like to stand and be recognized at this 11 time? Okay. Thank you.
12 All right. Now on to some staff 13 introductions. Dave Lew is currently the Acting 14 Regional Administrator for Region I. Normally he 15 serves as the Deputy Regional Administrator and has 16 since served in that position since January of 2011.
17 Prior to his appointment in the NRC Senior 18 Executive Service in February 2004 he was a Resident 19 Inspector at Oyster Creek at Indian Point Unit 2 and 20 a Senior Resident Inspector at Indian Point Unit 3.
21 Dave Pelton is the current Acting Director 22 of the Division of Reactor Projects. He normally 23 serves as the Deputy Director in that division. His 24 previous assignments include three branch chief 25 positions in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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11 1 including the Division of License Renewal, the 2 Division of Policy Rulemaking, and the Division of 3 Operating Reactor Renewal.
4 Next we have Mr. Anthony Dimitriadis. I 5 say your name every day but I get up here and now I 6 can't. Mr. Dimitriadis, I apologize. He is the 7 Branch Chief for Branch 5 in Region I Division of 8 Reactor Projects. Branch 5 includes oversight of 9 Pilgrim and Fitzpatrick Nuclear Generating Station.
10 Mr. Dimitriadis joined the NRC in 1991 as 11 a health physicist and has had roles and increasing 12 responsibility over the past 27 years including Branch 13 Chief of Project Branch 1 with responsibility for 14 oversight of Canine, Nine Mile Point, and Calvert 15 Cliffs, and Branch Chief of the Plant Support Branch 16 in the Division of Reactor Safety responsible for 17 security and emergency planning.
18 Next we have Erin Carfang, who I already 19 introduced. She is the Senior Resident Inspector at 20 Pilgrim. She's been in that position since 2014.
21 Prior to that she was a resident inspector at Beaver 22 Valley. Prior to joining the NRC she served as a 23 United States officer aboard the USS The Sullivans and 24 the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.
25 Finally, not seated on the stage but who NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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12 1 will be joining us during the second half of the 2 meeting, we have Bruce Watson. Bruce Watson is the 3 Chief of the Reactor Decommissioning Branch in the 4 Division of Decommissioning Uranium Recovery and Waste 5 Programs in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 6 Safeguards.
7 He has been with the NRC since March 2004.
8 He has extensive experience in decommissioning of 9 reactors and material sites and was the technical lead 10 for the license terminations at Trojan, Main Yankee, 11 Rancho Seco, and Big Rock Point. He will be joining 12 the panel for the second half of the meeting to answer 13 any questions you may have regarding the 14 decommissioning process.
15 With that, I will now turn it over to Dave 16 Lew, Region I Acting Regional Administrator for the 17 NRC presentation. Thank you.
18 MR. LEW: Thank you, Brett.
19 First, let me welcome everyone to the 20 NRC's Annual Assessment Meeting. I recognize that the 21 majority of you here are most interested in the 22 questions and answers portion of the meeting.
23 To be respectful of your time and your 24 interests, we will strive to keep our discussion with 25 Entergy during the first portion of the meeting on NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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13 1 schedule. That discussion will include an NRC 2 presentation on our assessment of Pilgrim's 3 performance followed by a presentation by Entergy.
4 I think Brett covered the sequence after 5 the first portion of the meeting so really, with that, 6 I just want to get down to business. I will ask 7 Entergy now to introduce themselves and make any 8 opening remarks that they may have. At that point I 9 would ask Tony Dimitriadis, the Branch Chief of 10 Oversight of Pilgrim, to start the presentation.
11 Mr. Sullivan, let me turn it over to you 12 to introduce your staff.
13 MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Dave. My name 14 is Brian Sullivan. I'm the Site Vice President at 15 Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. I assumed that role in 16 May of 2017.
17 Prior to joining Pilgrim Station I was at 18 James A. Fitzpatrick Nuclear Power Station for seven 19 prior years. Prior to that I worked at Pilgrim 20 Nuclear Power Station for 21 years in various roles.
21 With me here tonight is Drake Pitts, my 22 Plant Manager of General Operations; Bruce Chenard, my 23 Senior Manager of Operations; Dave Noyes to my left, 24 my Director of Recovery Efforts; and Mike Romeo, 25 Director of Regulatory Affairs and Performance NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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14 1 Improvement.
2 Tony.
3 MR. DIMITRIADIS: Thank you. Good 4 afternoon. I have about seven slides to go over with 5 you. I just want to start with slide 3.
6 For 2017 Entergy operated Pilgrim safely 7 and securely in 2017. Overall performance for 2017 8 warrants continued placement in column 4. While we've 9 seen progress and improvement in the past year, we 10 have not yet determined its sustainability and much 11 more inspection in areas identified in our 12 confirmatory action letter, the CAL as I'll refer to 13 it in the future in a couple slides, remains.
14 With respect to progress and improvement, 15 we saw increased margins in Pilgrim's performance 16 indicators including no scrams in 2017. A scram is an 17 automatic shutdown of the reactor. Solid performance 18 by licensed operators during the 2017 refueling 19 outage. While there was a scram, like I said, an 20 automatic shutdown, in early 2018, plant equipment and 21 licensed operator response were good.
22 All that said, once a plant is placed is 23 column 4, we're not simply looking for progress or 24 improvement. We are looking for sustainability of 25 that progress and improvement. We do that by ensuring NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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15 1 that the licensee identifies and addresses the 2 underlying issues that led to the performance decline 3 back in 2015.
4 These underlying issues are captured in 5 the confirmatory action letter, that I just mentioned, 6 for which the NRC still has much more inspection 7 remaining to ensure they are addressed by Entergy.
8 Next slide, please. To give some 9 background, in 2015 the NRC placed Pilgrim in column 10 4 due to two white PIs and a white finding. Column 4 11 of the NRC's action matrix means that the plant, while 12 safe to operate, had reduced safety margins. More 13 information about column 4 is found in our inspection 14 manual Chapter 0305, and can be found in our public 15 website.
16 Following Pilgrim's placement in column 4, 17 the NRC implemented enhanced oversight and baseline 18 inspections at Pilgrim. We also performed a series of 19 comprehensive diagnostic team inspections in 20 accordance with our inspection procedure 95003.
21 That's the number of our procedure that we use.
22 That's a supplemental inspection procedure.
23 These inspections provided an indepth 24 independent review of what led to the decline of plant 25 performance. In addition to the NRC's review, the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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16 1 licensee, Entergy, was required to identify the causes 2 that led to Pilgrim performance being placed in column 3 4. They were required to implement corrective actions 4 needed to address the identified performance concerns.
5 Their plan to do so was detailed in 6 Pilgrim's recovery plan. As we will cover later in 7 this presentation, the NRC reviewed Pilgrim's recovery 8 plan to determine based on our findings from the 95003 9 inspections whether the proposed causes and corrective 10 actions are sufficient to fix the underlying problems.
11 In August 2017, August 2nd specifically, 12 we issued the confirmatory action letter that I just 13 mentioned, the CAL, that outlined the focus areas in 14 the action plan for each focus area that we are going 15 to independently examine the licensee's actions and 16 assess the results through direct inspections.
17 Next slide, please. Enhanced oversight 18 activities. To support continuous assessment of 19 Pilgrim performance, the NRC utilized additional 20 resources to support onsite baseline inspection 21 efforts and we engaged Entergy with more frequent site 22 visits while they remained in column 4.
23 We added an additional inspector for about 24 a year while we were going through a period of 25 assessment and diagnostic inspections to get an NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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17 1 understanding of the underlying issues. We later 2 developed the CAL inspection teams, as will be covered 3 in the next few slides.
4 We have increased oversight at Pilgrim and 5 NRC senior management will also continue to conduct 6 quarterly assessment reviews of plant performance with 7 a particular focus on monitoring any potential 8 performance decline.
9 Next slide, please. We expended a 10 significant amount of inspection resources in 2017.
11 We expanded about 15,000 hours0 days <br />0 hours <br />0 weeks <br />0 months <br /> of inspection focus.
12 To put it in perspective, a typical plant receives 13 about 3,000 to 5,000 hours0 days <br />0 hours <br />0 weeks <br />0 months <br /> of inspection on a given 14 year. As you can see, that's significant effort.
15 NRC performance indicators and inspection 16 result for Pilgrim indicated improved performance over 17 the course of 2017. However, significant amount of 18 work and performance recovery remains for Entergy at 19 Pilgrim.
20 Significant inspections and oversight in 21 2017 included supplemental inspection. Like I said, 22 the 95003, a refueling outage inspection. Licensee 23 revised their recovery plan and the NRC reviewed the 24 recovery plan and ultimately culminated into the 25 development of the CAL that was issued in August.
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18 1 In addition, the first CAL inspection was also 2 conducted in December of last year, 2017.
3 Next slide. The confirmatory action 4 letter, CAL, as I mentioned earlier, as I mentioned, 5 the CAL was issued in August and then the CAL 6 inspections basically are designed and necessary to 7 address the key performance issues identified by our 8 assessment activities to determine if the corrective 9 actions have been addressed and evaluated, whether the 10 safety performance of Pilgrim has demonstrated 11 sustained improvement warranting transition of 12 Pilgrim.
13 We performed a comprehensive review of 14 licensees' recovery plan with significant effort.
15 During these inspections the NRC inspectors will 16 examine the CAL items and focus areas to determine if 17 the associated corrective actions are complete and if 18 they're effective in accords with the CAL commitments.
19 Like I said, the first CAl follow-up 20 inspection was completed on December 8th and the 21 report was issued on February 1st of this year.
22 For this inspection the items reviewed the majority 23 were closed. However, there were aspects that the 24 staff continues to inspect.
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19 1 taking place now and focuses on operability 2 determination functionality assessments. The NRC's 3 final evaluations and documentation are currently in 4 progress. That report will be issued sometime in May.
5 Next slide, please. The five team 6 inspections that I mentioned that were scheduled, like 7 I said, the first two were already done. The first 8 inspection was completed in 2017 and the report is 9 public. The second inspection is ongoing and the 10 onsite inspection part occurred last week, although 11 the team has continued to review some documents.
12 The three additional inspections are 13 currently scheduled for 2018. Let me just point out 14 that should the NRC find it necessary to do so, 15 additional quarterly inspections will be scheduled 16 until all CAL commitments are satisfied.
17 Next slide. So in summary, Pilgrim 18 operated safely in 2017. We have seen some 19 performance improvement but the plan needs to 20 demonstrate sustained improved performance to be 21 considered to be removed in column 4. Pilgrim will 22 continue to receive heightened NRC inspection and 23 oversight in 2018.
24 MR. LEW: That concludes Tony's 25 presentation. I'm going to turn it over to you, Mr.
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20 1 Sullivan.
2 MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you. Tonight in our 3 presentation we'll cover plant operations, equipment 4 reliability, and deferments that we've made in nuclear 5 safety culture. Following start-up from the refueling 6 outage in May of 2017 the station operated for the 7 next 242 days prior to removing the station from 8 service due to adverse weather conditions in order to 9 maintain design and operating margins.
10 During that same time period during 11 tropical storm Jose the station reduced power to 12 maintain design and operating margins and always keep 13 the plant in a conservative place for safe plant 14 operation.
15 This demonstrates that the station has 16 listened and has taken the feedback from the NRC, 17 developed a comprehensive recovery plan, and put 18 actions in place to demonstrate conservative plant 19 operation. The employees at Pilgrim Station are 20 hardworking, well trained, well qualified individuals 21 that hold as their highest value protection of public 22 health and safety.
23 With that I'm going to turn it over to 24 Drake Pitts to cover plant operations.
25 MR. PITTS: All right. Identifying and NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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21 1 understanding risk is key to making good decisions.
2 We are an always-learning organization. We learn from 3 ourselves and we learn from others. The basic risk 4 model is probability times consequence minus the 5 mitigating strategies.
6 At Pilgrim we seek to understand the 7 consequence and maintain a conservative bias. There 8 are allowable decisions and actions and there's 9 prudent actions. We choose the prudent actions.
10 Mr. Dimitriadis spoke, and you heard him 11 speak, that we need to show sustained improved 12 performance. At Pilgrim we are not just focused on 13 compliance. We have a passion for excellence in what 14 we do.
15 In our decision making we have an 16 intolerance for undesirable instates and that's what 17 we measure ourselves against when we make decisions 18 for operating of the station.
19 With that I'll turn you over to Bruce 20 Chenard, Operation Director at Pilgrim Station.
21 PARTICIPANT: I just have a quick 22 question. We talked a little bit about operations 23 leadership. I think in our annual assessment letter 24 we had acknowledged improvement and license operators, 25 but we did not observe a commensurate progress in some NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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22 1 of the other staff. Would you talk to that in terms 2 of what you see as the challenges and what you are 3 doing to try to address that issue?
4 PARTICIPANT: Yes. Operations leads the 5 station and the place where we needed to put our focus 6 and put our energy was improving the performance of 7 the operators in the control room. The actions that 8 we put in place were multi-faceted and included 9 training, included case studies on our past 10 performance in order to ensure that we learned from 11 the mistakes of the past and we took those learnings 12 going forward.
13 We conducted five weeks of high-intensity 14 training with the crews in order to demonstrate that 15 at our simulator. That training was led by our system 16 operations manager in Operations. We needed to make 17 those changes first in the operations department and 18 the rest of the station will follow opts leads and the 19 rest of the station will now be our focus.
20 PARTICIPANT: Is there anything specific 21 that you are doing relative to the rest of the staff 22 in terms of your focus area efforts?
23 PARTICIPANT: We are focused on right now 24 and have put together a maintenance fundamental 25 program which is going back to the basics for our NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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23 1 maintenance workers to make sure that we identify and 2 close any gaps in that area and that they are master 3 craftsmen going forward. That's one of our big 4 initiatives at the station as far as closing the gap 5 for the rest of the station.
6 PARTICIPANT: Thank you.
7 PARTICIPANT: Dave, along with that we've 8 established three site-focus areas of the station; 9 safe plant operations, and that encompasses ensuring 10 that we're maintaining equipment, ensuring that we're 11 fixing equipment as it breaks, and that's measured by 12 our corrective -- by our maintenance backlogs which 13 right now are amongst the best in the industry.
14 We continue to strive for that and we will 15 maintain that through the life of the plant as well as 16 continuing our preventive maintenance programs on our 17 equipment in order to ensure safe plant operation.
18 Our second focus here is people because 19 going through a plant shutdown that will occur in May 20 of 2019 it's very important we keep people engaged and 21 we're doing that by being open, honest, and 22 transparent with folks about what's going on to remove 23 anxiety.
24 The company, Entergy Corporation, has made 25 a commitment to all employees at Pilgrim Station that NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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24 1 there will be a job for them following cessation of 2 operations at Pilgrim Station. That helps reduce the 3 angst.
4 We are also working with the State 5 Department of Labor to identify training opportunities 6 and other opportunities that the state may have in 7 programs in order to prepare people for life after 8 Pilgrim.
9 The last focus area is process and that's 10 how we work as a fleet and continue to improve. Not 11 just the performance at Pilgrim station but the 12 improved performance across the nuclear fleet and 13 Entergy Corporation.
14 MR. LEW: Thank you. In May what you're 15 talking about will be the subject for our follow-up 16 review in our quarterly team inspection so we'll have 17 an opportunity to see the effectiveness of those 18 actions.
19 MR. CHENARD: Next slide, please. In the 20 area of our equipment liability, our focus has been 21 and always will be in fixing the plant in preventing 22 future failures to ensure safe operation of Pilgrim 23 Nuclear Power Plant.
24 During the RFO we had a significant amount 25 of people, system engineers, operations and outage NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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25 1 management, work together and show that we have the 2 right scope for the refueling outage so that we could 3 get a breaker-to-breaker run for the next cycle. We 4 weren't able to achieve that through their adverse 5 weather conditions.
6 However, we were able to fix a significant 7 amount of equipment during that outage. The company 8 had invested resources and money to make improvements 9 in the condenser, our main steam isolation valves, 10 lodge motors, our feedwater level control system to 11 ensure that we would be capable of running for the 12 remainder of plant life.
13 We have also made significant improvements 14 in our work management system. The key to managing 15 risks and the key to fixing equipment is making sure 16 that you're predictable in work management.
17 We spent a significant amount of time with 18 workshops educating the people, the staff, on the 19 proper way of managing our work management system and 20 with oversight from the management team ensuring that 21 people were being personally accountable for their 22 roles in the work management system to ensure that we 23 were proficient in getting work done as scheduled and 24 adhering to that schedule in managing risk to the 25 station as we implemented our work management NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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26 1 processes.
2 Thirdly, in engineering programs we 3 improved our engineering programs to allow us to get 4 intervention. Pilgrim Station of the past would react 5 to equipment failures, fix that equipment, and then 6 continue to run.
7 Today we have system engineers and 8 operators in the field looking at data, reviewing 9 procedures, identifying issues before they become 10 problems. We take those issues and we resolve them 11 and correct them prior to failures. In this way, 12 we're allowed to run safely and reliably.
13 Questions?
14 PARTICIPANT: No question, just an 15 observation. We did acknowledge -- as Tony 16 acknowledged, the refueling outage 21 performance was 17 good but certainly there's still some issues in terms 18 of work management and engineering programs that we 19 will still continue to need to observe and see what 20 the effectiveness of those actions are.
21 PARTICIPANT: Absolutely. We welcome you 22 coming. We're not saying that we have solved every 23 problem and set a level that we want to be at. We're 24 still striving to excellence and we will continue to 25 improve.
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27 1 MR. PITTS: Stations making significant 2 progress and improving the culture through improved 3 leadership with no indication of challenges to a 4 safety conscious work environment where leveraging in 5 engaged workforce with the line behaviors necessary to 6 finish strong in the last 14 months of plant 7 operation.
8 I would like to focus on three key 9 elements of nuclear safety culture. The first is the 10 station's corrective action program. Station 11 personnel are more consistently identifying our own 12 issues with less reliance on independent oversight and 13 regulatory intervention.
14 We're also seeing improved performance in 15 our causal evaluation. Backlogs of our higher 16 priority actions are continuing to be reduced and are 17 now consistent with the industry norm.
18 In the area of training we are leveraging 19 out training programs to provide important bench 20 strain (phonetic) in key areas for continued operation 21 to account for any potential attrition and provide our 22 employees with the skills necessary for future 23 employment opportunities.
24 In fact, with 14 months left in plant operation we are 25 still qualifying non-licensed operators.
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28 1 In the area of shaping leader behaviors, 2 we'll building on the experience and fresh perspective 3 of our new senior leadership team to set and 4 continuously reinforce high standards. We are seeing 5 improved field presence and engagement by our 6 leadership team in enforcing those high standards.
7 We have by no means arrived in the area of 8 nuclear safety culture, but by all our measures our 9 safety culture has improved and we continue to work on 10 consistency and sustainability.
11 PARTICIPANT: Let me touch on the 12 confirmatory action letter follow-up inspection, the 13 one that was conducted back in December. I think we 14 issued the report on February 1st.
15 I think there was improvement indicated by 16 17 of the actions closed, but we could not fully close 17 that issue. There were still three issues that 18 remained and there was some gaps in terms of the 19 effectiveness review. What did you take from that and 20 what adjustments have you made to prepare for future 21 inspections that we will be conducting?
22 MR. PITTS: We've learned a lot through 23 that first inspection process. Specifically the 24 identification of issues that were identified by the 25 95003 inspection team and ensuring those items are NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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29 1 addressed along with the fundamental problem and 2 problem areas specific to the action.
3 Also ensuring that our effectiveness 4 reviews are thorough and provide clear documentation 5 that the actions that we took achieved sustainable 6 results. Those have all been put into our blueprint 7 for future inspections and those activities will 8 continue going forward for each of the supplemental 9 inspections.
10 PARTICIPANT: I would agree with you that 11 the importance here is being able to do the 12 effectiveness review in a manner that ensures 13 sustainability. Again, what we're looking at is 14 sustainability of progress and improvement, not just 15 progress and improvement we may have seen in the past 16 year.
17 MR. SULLIVAN: That concludes our 18 presentation pending any questions.
19 PARTICIPANT: Any questions from the 20 table?
21 PARTICIPANT: Yeah. I think at the risk 22 of sounding like a broken record -- well, first let me 23 thank you, Mr. Sullivan, for your team's presentation 24 and discussion. We have acknowledged progress and 25 improvement, but I do want to emphasize again that the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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30 1 NRC is not just looking for progress and improvement.
2 We are looking for sustainability of that 3 progress and improvement. We do that by ensuring that 4 you address the underlying issues that were identified 5 in the diagnostic inspections that were identified in 6 your recovery plan and has identified in the 7 confirmatory action letter.
8 I think only through those do we have some 9 assurance that sustainability can be provided. I 10 think as part of our -- I think its part of your 11 obligation to make sure that you carry through that in 12 a timely manner and we will evaluate the effectiveness 13 of your efforts going forward.
14 Any other comments from the NRC? With 15 that, that concludes my remarks. Do you have any 16 remarks, Mr. Sullivan?
17 MR. SULLIVAN: Nothing further.
18 PARTICIPANT: That concludes the first 19 portion of the meeting. We'll transition very quickly 20 and start taking questions and answers. Obviously 21 we'll have an opportunity for elected officials and 22 representatives to make statements first.
23 MR. KLUKAN: So based on my clock it is 24 6:34 right now. I would like to reconvene at 6:40.
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31 1 reconvening at 6:40. All right.
2 Again, if you would like to speak this 3 evening and have not already done so, please step 4 outside during the intermission to add your name to 5 the speaker sign-up list and to receive a ticket.
6 Again, we will begin the second half of 7 our meeting at 6:40. Thank you very much.
8 (Whereupon, the above-entitled matter went 9 off the record at 6:34 p.m. and resumed at 6:40 p.m.)
10 MR. KLUKAN: Okay. Welcome back everyone.
11 Just a few comments before we begin with the second 12 half of the meeting.
13 And I apologize for going so quickly 14 through my remarks. I imagine that my introductory 15 remarks are probably not your highest priority of 16 things you came here to hear about tonight. Like 17 where are the bathrooms.
18 So, I will get through this quickly as 19 well. One thing I forgot to mention during the 20 initial part of my introduction, mea culpa for that, 21 is that if you haven't noticed already, we are doing 22 a closed captioning system up here.
23 So this is essentially a printout of 24 everything that's being said in real time with a 25 slight delay. So, if you would like to take use of NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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32 1 that, we've reserved some seats in the front.
2 So, just to make you aware of that's what 3 this is. And that will continue through the second 4 half of the meeting.
5 All right. As I noted during my 6 introductory remarks, the speaking orders will be 7 determined by the numbers pulled from the container 8 sitting right there.
9 The intent of which is that the speaker 10 order be at random. When your number is called, 11 please queue up to the aisle microphone.
12 If you need to have a microphone brought 13 to you, please raise your hand and I will bring my 14 microphone over. Again, there's no prohibition 15 against donating tickets, along as both parties are 16 present when the donation occurs.
17 In an effort to give as many people an 18 opportunity to speak this evening, please limit 19 yourself to three minutes at the microphone. Note 20 that I will strictly enforce this.
21 Positioned at the edge of the podium, or 22 table right there, you will see a digital clock. That 23 will count down when you start speaking.
24 And at the conclusion of three minutes, I 25 will ask you to politely conclude. Or I will politely NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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33 1 ask you to conclude. I hope you conclude politely as 2 well. Overall polite.
3 We have 69 people signed up to speak this 4 evening. So, as such, it is unlikely we will be able 5 to get through all of them by 8:45, the announced end 6 time for the meeting.
7 And hence, not everyone who intended to 8 speak tonight may get an opportunity to do so during 9 the meeting time. Know that the NRC staff will remain 10 after the meeting outside of the meeting room, in the 11 hallway, to hold discussions with you if you would 12 like to have such discussions after the meeting.
13 Now, before we begin, I would like to, as 14 I mentioned at the outset in the meeting, Erin Carfang 15 does have some prepared remarks regarding current 16 plant status. And then after that we will go into 17 elected official written remarks.
18 So with that I'll turn it over to Erin.
19 MS. CARFANG: Okay. Good evening. The 20 plant is currently safely shut down. And is being 21 continuously monitored by NRC licensed operators.
22 The plant is currently cooled by a cooling 23 system that is for decay heat removal. And three 24 offsite power lines are powering the station.
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34 1 in a standby status for the station. And site 2 inspectors have walked down all of these systems since 3 the most recent storms.
4 The plant is shut down currently to 5 complete repairs in the switch yard. And those are 6 ongoing items that we are continuing to inspect.
7 And inspectors are continuing to verify 8 that the plant remains in a safe condition throughout 9 these repairs. And will monitor any start up 10 activities that occur.
11 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you. Okay. Now I'm 12 going to turn it over to elected officials. Again, 13 all five elected officials or their representatives 14 have indicated that they would like to give written 15 comments at this time.
16 So, please feel free to come to the 17 microphone to do so in whatever order you please.
18 MS. VIARENGO: Hello. My name is Adrienne 19 Viarengo. And I'm Senator Elizabeth Warren's 20 southeastern Mass Regional Director. And I have a 21 statement on her behalf.
22 I am greatly concerned at Entergy's poor 23 public safety record at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power 24 Station. Entergy has shrugged off federal safety 25 requirements, citing the May 2019 shutdown date as a NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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35 1 reason to forego critical investments in safety 2 upgrades that protect our communities.
3 The latest cyber security concerns at 4 Entergy Headquarters are evidence that these upgrades 5 are necessary. Furthermore, Pilgrim's stagnation in 6 Column Four of the NRC's safety rating system, 7 demonstrates that improving safety is not a priority, 8 and signals a greater concern for the bottom line then 9 the people of southeastern Massachusetts.
10 The NRC must insist Entergy fully and 11 swiftly comply with federal safety regulations. And 12 if Entergy continues to operate Pilgrim without regard 13 for critical safety standards, I insist that the NRC 14 take the necessary steps to shut down the plant.
15 Thank you.
16 (Applause) 17 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
18 MS. CLARK: Hi there. Rory Clark on 19 behalf of Senator Markey.
20 Since last year's annual public meeting of 21 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Pilgrim Nuclear 22 Power Station, there has been continued cause for 23 concern on the part of the people of Massachusetts.
24 We are at what we can only hope will be 25 the end of a historic run of storms this month that NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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36 1 saw blizzard after blizzard batter the coast of our 2 state. Amidst these storms, Pilgrim suffered multiple 3 incidents of loss of off site power that have 4 necessitated emergency shutdowns of plant operations.
5 Yet according to their own winter shut 6 down requirements, these storms did not meet the 7 severity requirements for a preemptive safety 8 shutdown. Despite the increasing power and potential 9 of storms in recent years, it seems that neither 10 Entergy nor the NRC has seen fit to escalate storm 11 safety precautions at Pilgrim in accordance with the 12 increasing severity of winter storms.
13 It is of the utmost importance that 14 Entergy provide its staff with the resources that they 15 need to operate the plant safely up to and through its 16 prompt shutdown.
17 Together with my colleagues and Senator 18 Warren and Congressman Keating, I and my staff have 19 sent letters to the NRC and met with their staff to 20 relay our serious concerns on these continued issues.
21 I am deeply troubled by the repeated emergency 22 shutdowns at Pilgrim, all while the NRC has allowed 23 the number of resident inspectors at the plant to wane 24 from three to two.
25 Pilgrim cannot persist in Column Four.
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37 1 The safety of our residents is at stake every day.
2 And it depends on the NRC's commitment to holding 3 Entergy accountable and ensuring a swift and safe path 4 to a responsible closure.
5 Thank you.
6 (Applause) 7 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
8 MR. JACKMAN: Thank you. Mike Jackman 9 from Congressman Keating's office. In the interest of 10 time I'm going to offer an abbreviated version of the 11 Congressman's remarks.
12 I do have a full text. Which has been 13 submitted to the NRC.
14 Thank you for the opportunity to address 15 you at tonight's meeting. I share my constituents' 16 deep concern about the persistent, low safety rating 17 at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant, the safety situation 18 that is faced by the workers and the community and 19 troubling reports surfacing about the parent company's 20 operations in other states.
21 I continue to encourage the NRC to place 22 PNPS under the most rigorous scrutiny. The safety 23 culture at the plant needs to improve, and this must 24 come from the top.
25 Leadership at Entergy must devote the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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38 1 necessary attention and resources to the plant to 2 ensure its safe operation. In addition, Entergy must 3 be required to operationalize adequate corrective 4 action programs to maximize the safety of residents of 5 Plymouth and surrounding communities.
6 At the government meeting today, the 7 Congressman was able to emphasize the concerns about 8 cyber security, which I'll address next.
9 I also remain engaged on cyber defense 10 policy to ensure that our country, our critical 11 infrastructure, and our nuclear plants are safe from 12 cyber attacks. Entergy must remain vigilant to ensure 13 that the Pilgrim Station is protected from cyber 14 intrusion of any kind.
15 I serve on the House Homeland Security 16 Committee, where I work with Republicans and Democrats 17 to improve our country's cyber security capabilities.
18 Last week's omnibus funding bill signed into law by 19 the President, provides funding for important energy 20 security and safety programs, including one hundred 21 million dollars for cyber security to protect our 22 electric grid and energy infrastructure.
23 Many of us in Washington are reacting to 24 enhance our nations' cyber security. But, given the 25 NRC's decision last December to waive the requirement NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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39 1 that Entergy complete all eight cyber security 2 milestones at Pilgrim prior to the announced closure 3 date of the plant, and given that the fact that the 4 cyber security standards for nuclear plants were set 5 nine years ago, nine years during which the nature and 6 frequency of cyber attacks on American Infrastructure 7 have only worsened, is incumbent upon the NRC to work 8 with federal intelligence agencies to, to share 9 information, and develop more rigorous proto -- cyber 10 security protocols that reflect the latest 11 technological advances in cyber protection.
12 Even when Pilgrim enters the 13 decommissioning phase the site will still be home to 14 vital security systems, spent fuel, and dry casts.
15 That is why Entergy and the NRC must work in 16 collaboration with other expert partners at the 17 Department of Energy, the Department of Homeland 18 Security, and all relevant agencies to ensure 19 Pilgrim's cyber security systems operate at the 20 highest possible standards.
21 Earlier this year I reintroduced the 22 Nuclear Plant Decommissioning Act along with Senator 23 Sanders and Congressman Welch of Vermont. This bill 24 would ensure that states and local communities have 25 meaningful roles in the development and approval of NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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40 1 reactor shutdown plans and post-shutdown license 2 transfers.
3 It is the people who live or work in the 4 community hosting a nuclear power plant who truly 5 understand the effects of decommissioning. This 6 legislation will give them a voice.
7 Hundreds of thousands of residents and 8 thousands of local Pilgrim staff appreciate that full 9 decommissioning of the station and complete 10 restoration of the site will take many years. We must 11 ensure that these complex tasks are done safely, 12 skillfully, and completely so that the Plymouth 13 community is economically and environmentally 14 protected today and tomorrow.
15 Thank you.
16 (Applause) 17 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
18 MS. REBELLO-PRADAS: Good evening. My 19 name is Alicia Rebello-Pradas. And I am Deputy Chief 20 of the Policy and Government Division at the Attorney 21 General's Office.
22 On behalf of Attorney General Maura 23 Healey, I would like to thank the NRC and Entergy for 24 hosting this public meeting this evening, to allow the 25 public to learn more about NRC's continued inspection NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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41 1 of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant.
2 The people of Massachusetts continue to 3 have legitimate concerns of their safety in light of 4 Entergy's track record. And we expect that the NRC 5 will put safety above all else.
6 Attorney General Maura Healey remains 7 concerned that Pilgrim continue to operate during the 8 March 2 storm despite the fact that due to flooding 9 and downed trees, it would have been impossible for 10 Massachusetts and its local first responders to 11 implement the offsite emergency evacuation plan in the 12 event of an emergency at the facility, as the 13 Commonwealth officials relayed to FEMA, and FEMA 14 subsequently relayed to the NRC.
15 It is vitally important that this event be 16 investigated fully by the NRC. And steps be taken by 17 the NRC with the assistance of FEMA to ensure that 18 this does not happen again. And so that the plant 19 operates safely at all times.
20 Attorney General Maura Healey also remains 21 concerned about the NRC's decision to eliminate the 22 third resident inspector at the plant. Last fall the 23 Attorney General, along with other Massachusetts 24 elected officials, many of whom are here this evening, 25 specifically asked that the NRC include an additional NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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42 1 onsite resident inspector at Pilgrim given the 2 documented safety issues at the plant, and NRC 3 committed to doing so.
4 The Attorney General was surprised to 5 learn, not from the NRC, but from a reporter, that the 6 NRC had decided to relocate that third resident 7 inspector to another plant. That decision was made 8 without notice to our office or to the public.
9 Pilgrim, with one of the worst safety 10 records among the nation's nuclear fleet, requires 11 more oversight, not less. The safety and the people 12 -- the safety of the people of the Commonwealth and 13 the protection of our environment must be assured 14 until the plant closes in 2019.
15 Again, thank you very much for allowing us 16 to provide comments this evening.
17 (Applause) 18 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
19 REPRESENTATIVE PEAKE: Hi. Good evening.
20 My name is Representative Sarah Peake. And I am 21 joined here at the microphone by Representative Matt 22 Muratore and Representative Will Crocker as well.
23 I want to begin by thanking you for two 24 things. One is extending the courtesy, taking us out 25 of turn when you have 69 people waiting to speak their NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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43 1 minds tonight.
2 And the second thing I would like to thank 3 you for is the government to government meeting, which 4 was held just in a ballroom next door, I think, 5 earlier today. Most of the legislative delegation was 6 there.
7 Congressman Keating was present. Both of 8 our United States Senators' Offices were represented.
9 And local officials from the town of Plymouth, who are 10 at a Board of Selectmen's meeting, as we speak this 11 evening, two members of the Board were there as well.
12 I would say, and I would characterize, and 13 speaking with my colleagues and local officials 14 following the meeting that quite the opposite of our 15 level of concern being somewhat allayed, that our 16 level of concern about the safety and ongoing 17 operation of the plant is increasing.
18 And what we are concerned about is the 19 ongoing operations of what is a clearly aged plant, 20 limping along beyond what is its natural life span.
21 You mentioned this evening, and in our 22 meeting this afternoon, the word sustainability on 23 more then one occasion. And that word has come up 24 repeatedly. And we echo that sentiment and that 25 concern and more.
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44 1 In addition, the delegation, your state 2 delegation is also concerned about the decommissioning 3 process. And to that end, we also as a delegation 4 united, will be presenting a joint statement and 5 recommendations to the Nuclear Decommissioning --
6 what's the C stand for again?
7 Citizens Advisory Panel. Thank you. At 8 their rescheduled from the blizzard hearing. It's now 9 rescheduled for April 11. And will take place on the 10 Cape.
11 And I'm going to turn the mic over to 12 Representative Muratore who has a little more to say 13 about that. And whatever else you want to say.
14 REPRESENTATIVE MURATORE: Thank you very 15 much.
16 (Applause) 17 REPRESENTATIVE MURATORE: Thank you very 18 much. First of all I want to thank the NRC again for 19 coming to Plymouth. On behalf of the town of 20 Plymouth, welcome again.
21 I think I'm the longest elected official 22 that's been going through this process for many years.
23 So I really appreciate what you go through. And I 24 appreciate the comments that Representative Peake said 25 as well, the government to government interaction, and NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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45 1 the meetings we have ahead of time to really know 2 what's going on.
3 And on behalf of the delegation and 4 Senator deMacedo, just to reiterate a little bit more 5 of what she was talking about on April 11. We 6 actually have come up with five recommendations that 7 will then be made into the Decommissioning Panel and 8 to the Baker/Polito Administration as well as we get 9 into the decommissioning, which we know is only about 10 a year away.
11 So, you will be hearing more about those 12 at the April 11 -- or after the April 11 meeting. So, 13 thank you again for coming out.
14 (Applause) 15 REPRESENTATIVE CROCKER: Thank you very 16 much. I do not have many prepared statements to make.
17 But I will relate to you what my constituents are 18 relating to me.
19 And that is the passage of time. Now we 20 are moving ever so quickly to 2019 when this plant 21 will be decommissioned. And we are not hearing enough 22 answers.
23 We're not hearing enough facts. We're not 24 hearing enough plans. And those people who I speak 25 with on a regular basis are saying, time is beginning NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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46 1 to run out. We don't have enough information. And we 2 are looking forward to hearing more.
3 You have to say, and those plans, when 4 they finally are made public, and when they are able 5 to be digested by the people who live on Cape Cod, we 6 have a lot of concerns. And they express those to me 7 on a daily basis.
8 And we look forward to hearing what you 9 have to say and getting that plan moving forward. So 10 thank you.
11 (Applause) 12 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you. Thank you very 13 much. Any other elected officials before we begin the 14 public speaking portion?
15 (No response) 16 MR. KLUKAN: Going once, twice. It's 17 giving Justin some time to pull this up.
18 Okay. So as we promised, there's a way of 19 expediting this process. The numbers are now up on 20 the board.
21 So the first speaker will be number 62.
22 Followed by number 34, number 7. And then 42, 63, and 23 on and on and on.
24 And we will continue to update this as 25 people speak. So you don't have to wait for me to NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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47 1 pull a ticket that's -- so we've tried to be more 2 efficient.
3 So again, first up is number 62.
4 UNKNOWN: Who is 54?
5 MR. KLUKAN: Number 54 is --
6 (Off mic comments) 7 MR. KLUKAN: One second. One second. How 8 about this. Why -- while they're figuring that out, 9 in our full proof system, why don't we get started 10 with number 62 for the sake of time?
11 So would number 62 -- and with that I'm 12 also going to turn it over to my co-facilitator, 13 Donna, who will now be doing the more difficult 14 portion of the meeting. Now that I've gotten the easy 15 part out of the way with.
16 So, number 62?
17 (Off mic comments) 18 MR. KLUKAN: Okay. Could you use the 19 aisle microphone? Oh, oh, oh. You traded your 20 ticket. I am sorry. Okay.
21 And again, I will be operating the timer 22 you see there. So thank you.
23 MS. EZAROWITZ: Sorry. I was slow to the 24 come to the microphone. My name is Janet Ezarowitz 25 (phonetic).
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48 1 MS. JANDA: Hi Janet. What is your 2 number, Janet?
3 MS. EZAROWITZ: It is number -- well, it 4 was 49.
5 MS. JANDA: Okay.
6 MS. EZAROWITZ: I am now 62.
7 MS. JANDA: Okay. Thank you.
8 MS. EZAROWITZ: And number one. I was 9 happy to hear, I was going to ask if the plant were in 10 operation today. So, now I know it still is.
11 I mean, it's still -- it's not in 12 operation. And that doesn't surprise me after reading 13 this morning's newspaper report of another problem.
14 One more problem at Pilgrim. These 15 recurring problems are said to be of no threat to the 16 public safety.
17 And how many times have we heard that from 18 Entergy? It's really ridiculous. It's probably the 19 most oft used phrase that comes from that plant.
20 It's also been categorized by the NRC as 21 of low significance. And that comes after three 22 mechanical problems in the last three weeks.
23 Where does the cause of this latest 24 mechanical problem come from? Is it possibly -- is it 25 really a mechanical problem?
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49 1 Is it possibly worker negligence? Lack of 2 training, lack of staffing there? Is it still, and 3 I'm referring to last year's email from the inspection 4 leader, team leader, that those operating the plant 5 are overwhelmed due to a poor safety culture.
6 And I know the Entergy people are working 7 on their safety culture. But I still think there's a 8 lot lacking in it.
9 Or, lastly is it because of the NRC's 10 constant changing the rules? Which prolongs the money 11 making ability operation of this plant.
12 It's really difficult. I mean, there is 13 such a history of events that we're all concerned 14 with, to keep track of them.
15 This latest failure involves the procedure 16 that would halt nuclear fission to occur in case there 17 were an earthquake. That was one specific thing that 18 was mentioned.
19 Should we worry when we know that the NRC 20 waived requirements in April 2017 for Pilgrim to 21 comply with seismic and flooding regulations issued 22 after the radiation leak at Fukushima?
23 Of course Neal Shand called an earthquake 24 a low probability event. But said that Entergy will 25 have to fix these incorrectly installed clamps before NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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50 1 the reactor starts up again.
2 So it does have some significance I would 3 say. It was also said that the plant engineers are 4 calculating whether the pipes would have held up in an 5 earthquake, these clamps on the pipes.
6 So in other words, they don't know what 7 exactly it would take for this rod insertion process 8 to be affected. But we do know that Plymouth has had 9 earthquakes in the past. Not major earthquakes. But 10 how much will it take to create this mechanical 11 failure?
12 I'm out of time. I want to thank you.
13 But I really hope that you take the words of our 14 legislators and we're working across a spectrum of 15 Republican and Democrat leaders.
16 They're all asking for the same thing.
17 Because they're hearing it from all of their 18 constituents. Please make the mandate of the NRC to 19 make the plant safer.
20 And I'm out of time.
21 MR. LEW: Thank you. And I wasn't sure 22 whether you wanted a response or not. Because there 23 was a question there regarding the internal drive 24 system and the seismic support.
25 Did you want a response? Or was that just NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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51 1 a statement?
2 MS. EZAROWITZ: Yes. I would.
3 MR. LEW: Okay. So, there was embedded in 4 that question, and I'm going to ask Erin to address 5 the recent issue that was reported.
6 But, there was a question that was 7 embedded in terms of whether this was a safety culture 8 issue that was identified in the past. I would say 9 that this is an issue in which the licensee had 10 identified, and from our point of view is positive 11 that they're identifying these issues through the 12 initiative of a fleet initiative that they were 13 looking at.
14 But, with respect to the specifics, maybe 15 I can ask Erin to talk to.
16 MS. CARFANG: Sure. And I would agree 17 with what Dave said. This is an indication of 18 improving safety culture at the plant.
19 The site recognized that they needed to go 20 look at an industry known issue. And they were doing 21 systematic walk downs of the systems.
22 And their engineer identified this. So he 23 brought that to the attention of the control room, who 24 then did the right actions of evaluating, will the 25 system operate correctly?
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52 1 Because they were not sure, and they did 2 not have a sufficient amount of time by the time they 3 needed to report to the NRC, they did the right thing, 4 because there was reasonable doubt that system would 5 work correctly, and they are currently going through 6 their calculations to see if it would withstand the 7 seismic interactions.
8 And for everyone's awareness, what is a 9 seismic interaction? It's really when you shake the 10 pipes, will they withstand the momentum? The forces 11 that they're -- that they experience in that sort of 12 situation.
13 And so it is not necessarily a difficult 14 item for the site to fix. They will fix it before 15 they start up.
16 And they did take the actions that were 17 required by the regulatory requirements that we impose 18 upon that station.
19 MS. EZAROWITZ: How long was it before 20 this was identified as a problem?
21 MS. CARFANG: That's part -- we're look --
22 the site is looking into that and we are following up.
23 MR. LEW: So, we'll follow up in terms of 24 inspection. They will provide their analysis. And 25 Erin will receive it and look at it and get the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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53 1 support that she needs from our regional office to 2 confirm that it is as they indicate.
3 MS. EZAROWITZ: Well, I hope it stays shut 4 down for a very long time. I would feel much better.
5 MS. JANDA: Okay. Thank you. The next 6 speaker is number 34, Larry Loomis.
7 MR. LOOMIS: Good evening. I was going to 8 make some remarks and then ask you a question if 9 that's okay.
10 My name is Larry Loomis. I live in 11 Sandwich, Mass on Cape Cod with my wife, two growing 12 children, and four year old granddaughter. And yes, 13 we're all in the same house.
14 I've worked at Pilgrim Station for 38 15 years. Mostly in the chemistry department, where 16 maintaining water quality for the reactor and 17 supporting systems is my main job.
18 Prior to Pilgrim I was in the U.S. Navy on 19 a nuclear submarine for six years. I have a lot of 20 experience in bench marking other nuclear power plants 21 and interfacing with well-trained nuclear personnel on 22 industry and plant committees.
23 Over the years, and especially recently, 24 I have seen many improvements and a very conservative 25 approach at Pilgrim in the areas of nuclear safety and NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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54 1 plant maintenance.
2 Even though the plant is closing in 2019, 3 continued and reliable operation is the top priority 4 throughout the station. I see this every day in how 5 my fellow workers processionally do their jobs, 6 committed to working as a team with this goal in mind.
7 Besides normally schedule maintenance, any 8 equipment issues that come up are addressed as they 9 are found. I have seen a more conservative approach 10 to maintenance in that if the plant is offline, as we 11 are now, we take advantage of the opportunity to do 12 repairs, rather then waiting for a scheduled outage.
13 Because the plant is safety operated in my 14 opinion, I have and continue to have the confidence to 15 reside in my home locally on Cape Cod. I wouldn't put 16 my family, and especially my precious granddaughter, 17 who lives with me, in harms way if I thought for a 18 moment the plant was not operating in a safe manner.
19 Local residents, which include my 20 neighbors, should have the same confidence as I do.
21 Now I have a question for you. Our last 22 quarterly inspection had no findings or violations.
23 Some of the areas that you inspected included adverse 24 weather protection and flood protection measures.
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55 1 to us exactly what you looked at? And how -- what 2 Pilgrim does, ensures protection against floods and 3 bad weather?
4 MR. LEW: Yeah. And the quarterly 5 inspection that's being referenced is the one that was 6 issued by Tony Dimitriadis and the key inspector there 7 was Erin.
8 And so Erin would be best to address that.
9 MS. CARFANG: Sure. And in particular 10 whenever there's a storm that is approaching Pilgrim, 11 the resident staff, we go out and we walk down all the 12 diesels.
13 We walk down and make sure that there's 14 any equipment that's not secured onsite. We look and 15 see if there is any item -- any openings in the 16 station where we believe that water could intrude into 17 and reach safety systems.
18 And then if we do identify concerns, we 19 bring those to the operators, the licensed operators.
20 And appropriate action is taken.
21 In the past few walk downs that we have 22 had, we have found very, very few things. And nothing 23 of any significant concern during these walk downs.
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56 1 in preparation for these storms.
2 MR. LOOMIS: Thank you.
3 MR. LEW: No. Thank you.
4 (Applause) 5 MR. KLUKAN: So, just so we can speed it 6 up a little bit. And I'm not trying to act like a 7 bitter deli manager.
8 But, if you could queue up as soon as that 9 person before you is done speaking. Just so we can 10 continue to move it along. We'd really appreciate it.
11 Because again, we want to try to get as 12 many people an opportunity to speak here tonight as we 13 can. So thank you for helping with that.
14 MS. JANDA: And the next speaker is number 15 7. And that's Bonnie Bridges.
16 MS. TURKO: And Bonnie gave me her ticket.
17 Diane Turko (phonetic). You have some slides that I 18 sent in.
19 MS. JANDA: Yes. Diane --
20 MS. TURKO: If you could set those up.
21 MS. JANDA: And Diane -- Diane, what was 22 your number. Do you remember? If not I'll look.
23 MS. TURKO: I think it was five. Five or 24 six.
25 MS. JANDA: Oh, 20?
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57 1 MS. TURKO: Huh? The one -- oh, let's 2 see, the NRC 214 report. The -- I'm sorry, the 3 Jackson email, the 214 report, and then the last one, 4 the NEMA.
5 (Off mic comment) 6 MS. TURKO: The Jackson email. And then 7 the NRC report. And then the NEMA memo. You know, I 8 thought Trump had the market on alternative facts.
9 But I think Entergy takes that hands down.
10 Okay? Okay. This first -- oh, well, 11 that's the -- okay. All right. So this is a -- I 12 wanted to ask the NRC some questions. And I'm just 13 looking for a yes or a no to speed this along.
14 Could a severe accident happen here?
15 MR. LEW: Yes. And I would --
16 MS. TURKO: Okay. And it took like --
17 MR. LEW: And I would actually -- I would 18 actually say that you know, as safety regulators, you 19 know, we need to have a mind set that an accident can 20 happen.
21 Because for us if these plants operate, 22 they need to operate safely.
23 MS. TURKO: Right. But an accident like 24 Fukushima could happen here. You said yes. Okay.
25 This is the email that was sent to me by NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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58 1 the NRC on December 2016. And it was Donald Jackson, 2 who is an inspector. His unvarnished truth about what 3 was happening at Pilgrim.
4 Can you agree that in that -- oh, I'm 5 sorry -- okay, in that email were the statements that 6 said, well-established programs have not been 7 followed.
8 MR. LEW: Yes. And I think that goes here 9 --
10 MR. TURKO: Okay. And I just want to go 11 through this quick. Yeah.
12 MR. LEW: Okay.
13 MS. TURKO: That corrective actions may 14 not have been properly addressed. Was that in that 15 email?
16 MR. LEW: That was in the email. Yes.
17 MS. TURKO: Yes. Okay. The plant seems 18 overrun just -- overwhelmed just trying to run the 19 station. Was that in the email?
20 MR. LEW: Yes. It was.
21 MR. TURKO: Okay. We're observing current 22 indications of a safety culture problem that a bunch 23 of talking probably won't fix. Was that in the email?
24 MR. LEW: Yes.
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59 1 what to do with their good energy to improve their 2 performance leading to procedural non-compliances, 3 poor maintenance, poor engineering practices, and 4 equipment reliability problems.
5 Was that in that email?
6 MR. LEW: Yes. It was.
7 MS. TURKO: And we're still seeing that 8 today. Putting lipstick on a pig still makes it a 9 pig. And Pilgrim is still the worst nuclear reactor 10 in the United States.
11 Okay. Next slide.
12 UNKNOWN: The status report or the other 13 email?
14 MS. TURKO: The other email. Okay. And 15 I think you've got these. Okay. This is the 16 inspection report.
17 Okay. NEMA sent a report to FEMA that 18 they could not implement the radiological emergency 19 plans during the March 2 storm. Did the Nuclear 20 Regulatory Commission order a shutdown or a power down 21 during that time? Yes or no?
22 MR. LEW: No.
23 MS. TURKO: Okay. Thank you. Thank you.
24 And then one last one, slide. Because I want to talk 25 on one more thing. Okay.
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60 1 And the last one, this is a -- people 2 can't even see this. So I have to dig it out.
3 The NRC said, that Entergy did not 4 adequately implement the process of planning, 5 controlling, and executing work activities such that 6 nuclear safety is the overriding priority. Is that 7 true?
8 MR. LEW: Well, that before is true.
9 MS. TURKO: It is true. Okay. All right.
10 Well, that draws the conclusion that the NRC has 11 failed its regulatory responsibility to protect the 12 public.
13 Our families and communities have a right 14 to safety. So we are going to turn around. I am not 15 going to talk to the NRC anymore. Because you are not 16 doing anything to protect our communities.
17 What I want to talk is to our elected 18 officials. And I want to thank Michael Jackman and 19 Althea, Adrienne and Rory.
20 And where is Governor Baker's 21 representative?
22 (Off mic comment) 23 MS. TURKO: I know. Where is Governor 24 Baker's rep?
25 (Off mic comment)
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61 1 MS. TURKO: Okay. Well they were doing 2 the slide. So I'm going to just read this. There are 3 three sacred words that are most important to our 4 challenged democracy, we the people.
5 We cannot survive as a government by 6 consent if we the people lose our ability to affect 7 change for the common good. Well, they were doing the 8 slides.
9 This is our role as citizens. The 10 Massachusetts Constitution, the oldest functioning 11 constitution -- they were --
12 (Off mic comments) 13 MS. TURKO: Excuse me. But they were 14 using -- they were messing up the slides. The 15 Massachusetts Constitution, the oldest functioning 16 constitution in the U.S., clearly states in Article 17 One that seeking and obtaining the safety is a 18 fundamental right.
19 And your role as elected officials, you 20 have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution. I 21 would like just to finish this statement to our 22 elected officials, please.
23 MR. KLUKAN: I'll give you five seconds.
24 MS. TURKO: Okay. Okay. All right. All 25 right. The citizens of the Commonwealth can no longer NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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62 1 tolerate this blatant threat to our community.
2 So we the people are calling in on your 3 promise to uphold our right to safety. We ask that 4 you demand the Nuclear Regulator Commission revoke the 5 operating license for Pilgrim.
6 If the NRC refuses to do so, we ask you to 7 take action to enforce our fundamental constitutional 8 right to safety. Who will be the first to take this 9 responsibility?
10 I'm asking our elected officials.
11 (Applause) 12 MR. LEW: You know, typically -- typically 13 we would not respond on this thing, a statement. But 14 given the fact that I was asked to respond to 15 questions in yes or no, I do want to take a couple of 16 minutes to respond to those issues.
17 And there were three slides. I know one 18 slide was an inspection report that perhaps Erin could 19 touch on.
20 But, let me start with the email relative 21 to -- relative to what was shown up there. With 22 respect to that email that was shown, you know, it can 23 be found in the NRC's document control system, and it 24 is publically available.
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63 1 attached to that email that laid out NEMA and FEMA's 2 response. The actions that they took overnight to 3 collect the information, assess the situation, and 4 come to a determination that emergency plans could be 5 implemented.
6 And the response was very prompt. It was 7 overnight. And as you know, that is the role of NEMA 8 and FEMA to make this determination.
9 And it is their role to implement the 10 emergency plans, whether to direct evacuation, or 11 revise travel restrictions, or implement contingencies 12 that can involve rerouting or sheltering.
13 From the NRC's perspective, okay, we 14 establish a requirement to employ a defense in-depth 15 strategy. Emergency preparedness is but one of 16 several layers of defense in-depth strategies.
17 As such, you know, the time that FEMA and 18 NEMA took to assess the situation was more then 19 reasonable. And to order the plant to shut down was 20 neither warranted nor appropriate.
21 And I would further add that Entergy 22 operated the plant safely during the storm. And our 23 residents were onsite, verifying that they operated 24 safely.
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64 1 touch on that Erin.
2 MS. CARFANG: Yes. That particular 3 inspection report finding was really getting to the 4 fact that Entergy was not addressing items in a timely 5 fashion commensurate with their safety significance.
6 And so that is what that is -- that's 7 words that we use to convey the importance of in a 8 timely manner, addressing items. And that is in fact 9 one of the items that the CAL inspection team that was 10 here last week was looking at.
11 And so that report will come out in May as 12 Tony mentioned. But we have seen improvement in this 13 area.
14 And that's one of the ways that we 15 communicated these concerns to the site, is through 16 the issuance of inspection findings when we believe 17 there are challenges to the operability of equipment.
18 And we believe that the station heard that 19 message. And has taken actions to address this with 20 their operations staff as they discussed in their 21 presentation about the significant training that was 22 performed onsite.
23 MR. LEW: Okay. We'll turn it back over 24 to you Donna.
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65 1 number 42, JoAnn Corrigan (phonetic).
2 MS. CORRIGAN: Hi. JoAnn Corrigan. I'm 3 on Priscilla Beach, right around the corner from the 4 power plant.
5 And we've had one storm after the other.
6 Quinn, Riley, Skyler, we're just kind of now just call 7 it March.
8 The storm that they're all talking about, 9 March 2 into the 3 when the Governor for two days, 10 three days ahead of the storm was on TV saying, take 11 the storm very seriously on the south shore.
12 This isn't a big snow event. But this is 13 a huge event with six astrological high tides 14 consecutively for that storm. And high winds.
15 So, did he ask for the power plant to be 16 shut down? No. People called. I called. They still 17 didn't shut it down.
18 Well, guess what? We had a huge storm 19 surge. The seaport district in Boston flooded. South 20 Boston flooded. Docks buried underwater for like a 21 week.
22 They claim they didn't lose offsite power 23 over there. Well, I went off looking for coffee at 24 about 6:30 Saturday, March 3.
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66 1 the traffic lights not working, because they had no 2 power. And here's their power laying on the side of 3 the road on Rocky Hill Road, down from the entrance.
4 All the transformers, big trees from 5 across the street on the plant side, came down on 6 Rocky Hill Road, took down all the wires. And took 7 down all of this electrical stuff that had been 8 providing power.
9 So, I don't know how they didn't have a 10 loop, the loss of outside power. Unless they have 11 some kind of invisible line over there.
12 So, when they don't tell us the truth 13 constantly, you know, you can't expect us to have any 14 faith in the NRC or in Entergy. And the decision 15 should be made ahead of time. We should not have to 16 be calling.
17 Someone over there should be watching out 18 for the citizens of Massachusetts. And they're not.
19 And I don't know who made the asinine decision to 20 leave the plant running until you have a scram. And 21 then you bring it down.
22 Why you don't do it ahead of time, 23 especially that storm, and the one after that. We had 24 70 mile an hour winds down there for four days.
25 Sustained wind for four days.
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67 1 My neighbors on the beach, their little --
2 they've got a little electronic thing, read 92 miles 3 an hour gusts. Why do you wait for the plant to bring 4 itself down?
5 I don't understand it. And also, the pass 6 you're giving them on cyber security, where we have 7 number Trump, number 45 Trump going, you know, 8 worldwide alienating our allies and everything.
9 They hate us. A lot of these companies --
10 countries already hate us. Why would you wait for 11 some cyber troll to take over the grid over there and 12 hold us hostage?
13 (Off mic comments) 14 MR. LEW: Would you like a response? Or 15 was that a statement?
16 (Applause) 17 MR. LEW: Well, thank you.
18 MS. JANDA: The next speaker will be 19 number 63.
20 MR. BURGER: Yes. I was number 64. But 21 the person with 63 gave me hers.
22 MS. JANDA: Where is num -- is number 63 23 here? Ms. Consantium (phonetic).
24 (Off mic comment) 25 MR. BURGER: I was 64. The person with 63 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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68 1 gave me their ticket. I'm holding that right here.
2 MR. JANDA: He has the ticket.
3 (Off mic comment) 4 MR. BURGER: Okay.
5 (Off mic comment) 6 MR. BURGER: Yeah.
7 (Off mic comment) 8 MS. JANDA: Yeah.
9 MR. BURGER: Thank you. Thank you.
10 MS. JANDA: Okay. Thank you.
11 MR. BURGER: My name is Todd Burger. I'm 12 the Director of Policy for Bob Massey's Campaign for 13 Governor 2018.
14 I'm here as a surrogate for Bob Massey who 15 had a previous speaking commitment in Boston tonight.
16 But I want to thank NRC and Entergy for giving me the 17 opportunity to speak and express Bob Massey's views.
18 Bob Massey supports an accelerated phase 19 out of nuclear generating capacity in New England.
20 And --
21 (Applause) 22 MR. BURGER: Immediate, permanent shutdown 23 of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.
24 (Applause) 25 MR. BURGER: But I want to explain why.
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69 1 And there's more to it that he supports for the 2 community.
3 Most everybody knows that the bulk of 4 downhill skiing accidents, particularly for older 5 adults happen at the end of the day, or the end of the 6 week when they're tired. And honestly, they're 7 starting to ache all over.
8 Well, the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station is 9 tired. And it's starting to ache all over. And 10 that's in large part why we've see three consecutive 11 weeks of shutdowns for three, now four different 12 problems.
13 There is decreasing value and increasing 14 risk in keeping this plant open. We don't have to 15 read between the lines of the emails or memos from the 16 NRC to see that.
17 Even if the NRC fails to see that, we hope 18 that Entergy begins to see the writing on the wall 19 about this plant. The plant created unreasonable 20 risks the day it was opened with a meaningless 21 evacuation plan that turned all of Cape Cod into a 22 sacrifice zone.
23 With climate change effects since that 24 opening, with neglected or avoided maintenance since 25 that opening, and the decision not to address all NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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70 1 Fukushima related risks since that opening. The 2 unyielding effects of an aging plant, that risk has 3 only worsened.
4 It's time to put this plant, and more 5 particularly its downwind neighbors out of any further 6 misery and worry, and shut the plant down.
7 (Applause) 8 MR. BURGER: Not just for those 9 individuals, but for the betterment of the entire 10 community and the region. And even its employees.
11 But when this is done, we should see the 12 state -- we would like to see the state and Entergy 13 step up and implement a transition plan for Plymouth 14 that is similar to the plan that was signed for the 15 shut down of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Facility in 16 California.
17 And that plan provided benefits for 18 workers, retraining. Provided for accelerated 19 renewable clean energy to be introduced in California.
20 That's the kind of plan Bob Massey wants 21 to see. We support a transition plan that will help 22 the community, help union workers, promote fast 23 replacement with renewable energy.
24 And the fact is, we can do that today.
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71 1 renewable energy, building out battery storage at ten 2 times the rate.
3 We need to ensure the community thrives 4 and the Pilgrim employees have access to good paying, 5 equivalent jobs in the clean, renewable power sector.
6 Thank you very much for listening this 7 evening.
8 (Applause) 9 MR. LEW: Thank you.
10 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 60.
11 Jim McKita (phonetic) 12 MR. DOVE: I have Jim's ticket. He's 13 right there. I'm Daniel Dove.
14 MS. JANDA: And your number was?
15 MR. DOVE: I'm number, let's see, 30.
16 MS. JANDA: Okay. Thank you.
17 MR. DOVE: Hi, ladies and gentlemen, I'd 18 like to thank the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the 19 members of the community, senior management, and 20 fellow Entergy employees.
21 My name is Daniel Dove. I have 22 approximately 30 plus years in nuclear power. I live 23 four miles from the power plant here.
24 I've been at the station approximately 25 five years. And I believe in nuclear power. I find NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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72 1 it unfortunate that we're going to close this plant 2 down before the end of its usefulness.
3 We currently utilize what we call the PDC 4 model. It's prevention, detection, and correction.
5 Prevention being, that's our primary mode. We want to 6 be in that prevention mode all the time.
7 So we prevent failures from happening on 8 the site. And we want to correct it as it happens if 9 that goes that far.
10 I'm a second generation nuclear power 11 worker. My father spent approximately 45 years in 12 radiation protection. I've spent 30 years in 13 radiation protection.
14 I currently ship the waste from the power 15 plant to its final destinations. I can tell you 16 factually I live within four miles of the power plant.
17 I own a business in another state that's 18 within three miles of a nuclear power plant. I've 19 owned property near power plants. I believe in them.
20 They're safe. You have people sitting in 21 this audience that watch out for your behalf every 22 day.
23 If you think we got to work with nothing 24 but safety on our mind, you're right. If you think we 25 go there and we're just there hanging out, collecting NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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73 1 a check, you're sadly mistaken.
2 As you go home and you plug in your cell 3 phones and your Toyota Prius and whatever else you 4 plug in, think about conservation. If you're up here 5 and you're against nuclear power, tell me what you are 6 doing about conservation.
7 If you're not conserving, then you're not 8 doing anything other then sitting up here going like 9 this.
10 (Applause) 11 MR. DOVE: Let's see here, I'm doing 12 pretty good on time. So factually, I've worked at 13 over 15 nuclear power plants.
14 I've been part of five decommissionings 15 from NASA to Brookhaven National Labs and three 16 commercial nuclear power plants. So, even though 17 we're going to close, I don't plan on leaving here any 18 time soon.
19 It saddens me that we're going to close.
20 I'm hoping for the hail Mary pass. Someone's going to 21 come in and buy it.
22 Because tell me, we're not over until we 23 flip the breaker and we hand the license back. In the 24 meantime, just buckle up because we're here. I'm 25 here, and I don't plan on going anywhere any time NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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74 1 soon.
2 And with that, I'm going to respect the 3 committee and the time. And I'm going to cede the 4 rest of my time. Thank you.
5 (Applause) 6 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 58, 7 Brian Delvy (phonetic).
8 (No response) 9 MS. JANDA: Okay. We'll move on. Oh, 10 there you are.
11 MR. LOPIERE: This is number 59. And I 12 was number 25.
13 MS. JANDA: Oh, number -- hold on one 14 second. The speaker was supposed to be number 58.
15 Brian, I think Delvy. I'm sorry if that's wrong.
16 MR. LOPIERE: I think it says 59. I think 17 it says 59.
18 MR. KLUKAN: All right. So we're looking 19 for number 58.
20 MS. JANDA: That's what I --
21 MR. LOPIERE: I see that. But the name is 22 not matching up with the number.
23 UNKNOWN: Number 58, we have that as Brian 24 Delvy over here. So there must be a misreading over 25 there. But we do have 58 identified as Brian Delvey.
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75 1 MR. DEVY: Brian Devy.
2 MS. JANDA: Devy. Sorry.
3 UNKNOWN: Brian Devy, I apologize.
4 MS. JANDA: Yes.
5 MR. LOPIERE: What would you like me to 6 do?
7 MS. JANDA: Okay. Sir, your number?
8 MR. LOPIERE: My number is 25.
9 MS. JANDA: Okay. Thank you.
10 MR. LOPIERE: Thank you for the 11 opportunity to speak. And my compliments to the NRC 12 and Entergy.
13 My name is Rich Lopiere (phonetic). And 14 I'm a local community resident, citizen of Plymouth 15 County. I live in Home, Massachusetts.
16 I'm a career nuclear power professional 17 and retired executive, senior executive in the 18 commercial nuclear power industry.
19 My 38 years of nuclear experience includes 20 managing single sites as well as managing a fleet of 21 operating nuclear units as a senior executive, and 22 very similar to the Pilgrim Station.
23 I mention this because my career in 24 nuclear has allowed me the opportunity to see what 25 challenges are industry faces. And what works NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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76 1 successfully to address those challenges.
2 Here at Pilgrim my role is to support 3 corrective action program enhancements building on 4 Pilgrim's processes that comply with all government 5 regulations.
6 Through my interface with Pilgrim 7 employees, I can say the Pilgrim staff is made of 8 highly skilled, nuclear professionals that take their 9 job of safely operating and maintaining the Pilgrim 10 Nuclear Station very seriously.
11 The Pilgrim corrective action program that 12 self identifies and corrects issues when they arise is 13 increasingly effective. And is being embraced by all 14 Pilgrim employees.
15 The site leadership team from the top, 16 establishes high standards for continuous improvement 17 in nuclear as well as industrial safety.
18 My plan is to continue working with the 19 Pilgrim staff and participate in the safe, successful, 20 and prestigious retirement of the Pilgrim Plant on 21 June 1, 2019.
22 Thank you very much.
23 (Applause) 24 MR. LEW: Thank you.
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77 1 is number 54, Tom Turko, or Turlo(phonetic), I'm 2 sorry.
3 (No response) 4 MS. JANDA: Okay. We'll move --
5 (Off mic comment) 6 MS. JANDA: No. We need his ticket and 7 for him to turn it over to you. I'm sorry.
8 MR. KLUKAN: It's someone else. It's 9 someone else. Only one -- everyone gets three minutes 10 at the microphone. So feel free to pass it along to 11 anyone who -- who has not yet spoken.
12 It's okay. We don't need to physically 13 say we recognize that.
14 MS. JANDA: We just need --
15 MR. KLUKAN: I'm not trying to push you.
16 I just want to -- we're getting into -- is she going 17 to speak for you?
18 Okay. So it's number -- she's number 23.
19 MS. JANDA: Okay.
20 MS. CARPENTER: My name is Susan 21 Carpenter. I live in South Dennis on the Cape.
22 And I have been watching the paper today.
23 And I was appalled. I've followed Pilgrim for several 24 years now, and it seems to me that we're reaching a 25 point when the paper has something saying it's a NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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78 1 critical system that is malfunctioning that we have 2 big problems.
3 This last series of problems proves that 4 Pilgrim poses a clear and present danger to the 5 citizens, not only of Massachusetts, but the entire 6 East Coast.
7 If I owned a car that had that many 8 problems simultaneously, I'd take it off the road 9 because I wouldn't want to gamble with my life.
10 Which brings me to this. I see the 11 continually emerging problems. Until now they weren't 12 visible. And their existence remained unknown.
13 Just how many more problems are there at 14 this time that remain unknown? I suspect there are 15 many.
16 Every day the plant is allowed to operate, 17 you the NRC is gambling with our lives. And you, 18 Entergy Corporation, are gambling with our lives as 19 well as the economy of the entire East Coast.
20 Clearly you have a gambling problem. I 21 have taken the time to locate the phone number of the 22 National Council on Problem Gambling, where you can 23 seek help.
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79 1 where you will see it every morning. And remember 2 that you are taking a big gamble on our lives.
3 Pilgrim should be -- remain shut now.
4 (Applause) 5 MR. LEW: Thank you.
6 MS. JANDA: Thank you. The next speaker 7 is number 12, Keith Maxwell.
8 MR. MAXWELL: Good evening. Thanks for 9 the opportunity to be here tonight. Keith Maxwell, 10 concerned citizen.
11 I'm addressing here the bureaucratic 12 establishment, the NRC. You folks oversee not only 13 commercial nuclear power, but hospital radiation, 14 smoke detector radiation, anything to do with 15 radiation, radioactive materials.
16 So you'll have jobs and budgets long after 17 Pilgrim is closed. Let's cut to the chase. In 18 commercial nuclear power, in the United States the 19 industry is a disaster.
20 We have four closed construction sites in 21 the southern Atlanta district. We have numerous 22 closed plants in the North East. Entergy in Arkansas 23 had the 2013 crane disaster. Different region.
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80 1 assurance, and oversight, which you are responsible 2 for. Not only in our region, but the other regions.
3 The NRC has failed the industry. It has 4 failed the people. It is failing us. Our industry is 5 dying. Our Los Alamos scientists are going and 6 working in China.
7 Soon China and Russia will surpass the 8 United States. And you will become irrelevant. The 9 American nuclear industry and commission and your 10 regulations will become irrelevant and will be 11 surpassed by the Chinese and Russians due to lack of 12 separation of quality control and assurance and 13 resources.
14 Entergy in 2013 implemented the human 15 performance -- the human capital management program.
16 Which amongst other things reduced resources and 17 separated -- or actually combined quality assurance 18 and quality control under production management.
19 One of Pilgrim's quality control 20 inspectors identified Entergy fleet-wide issue with 21 lack of independence of separation in which quality 22 control inspectors were being managed and supervised 23 by the managers whose work they were inspecting.
24 In normal quality control industries, this 25 is a rule that you don't do. Yet the industry has NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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81 1 proposed self regulation and self quality control, 2 which the NRC is considering endorsing.
3 Which is another disaster. You are 4 putting nails in the industry's coffin every time you 5 make stupid, irrational decisions, which is killing 6 our industry.
7 You are incompetent to the tenth degree.
8 And we in the people of the United States are fed up 9 with the establishment Washington bureaucracy living 10 in your own bureaucratic class. We are sick of it.
11 It is time that you started doing your 12 job. Our industries are successful and we become 13 world leaders again. And that's not going to happen 14 under your leadership.
15 You have sorely misplaced the trust of the 16 people and you have failed us.
17 (Applause) 18 MR. LEW: Thank you.
19 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 4, 20 Mary Conifan (phonetic).
21 MR. KLUKAN: Okay, let's go with this, who 22 has that ticket?
23 PARTICIPANT: I do.
24 MR. KLUKAN: Okay. Who would you like to 25 give it to?
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82 1 PARTICIPANT: Myra (phonetic).
2 MR. KLUKAN: Fine. All right. And Myra, 3 what is your number?
4 MS. MYRA: One seven.
5 MR. KLUKAN: Okay. One seven.
6 MS. MYRA: This is a statement to the 7 Massachusetts elected officials, NRC, to Governor 8 Baker, AG Healey, Senator Markey, Senator Warren, 9 Representative Keating. There are three sacred words 10 that are most important to our challenged democracy, 11 we the people.
12 We cannot survive as a government by 13 consent if we the people lose our ability to affect 14 change for the common good.
15 That is our role as citizens. The 16 Massachusetts Constitution, the oldest functioning 17 constitution in the U.S. clearly states in Article One 18 that seeking and obtaining their safety is a 19 fundamental right.
20 In your role as elected official, you have 21 taken an oath to uphold that constitution. Years ago 22 Senator Barbara Boxer spoke to the NRC Commissioners 23 concerning the threat that San Onofre Nuclear Reactor 24 posed to the people in California.
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83 1 life or death for my people. We have the same life or 2 death situation here with Pilgrim once again rated as 3 one of the most dangerous nuclear reactors in the U.S.
4 Energy's announcement of the 2019 closure.
5 It does nothing to absolve the dangers of 6 today. The degrading Pilgrim nuclear reactor is an 7 existential threat to the entire New England region.
8 Its continued operation is an unacceptable 9 risk and an immoral action. We are asking you to 10 rescue our democratic principal that we the people 11 have human rights that must not be overridden by the 12 influence of corporate collusion with a captured 13 federal regulator.
14 Entergy is protecting their pocketbook, 15 not the public. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has 16 abdicated its responsibility to protect the public and 17 the environment.
18 We charge them with failure to regulate, 19 reckless endangerment, and criminal negligence. The 20 citizens of Commonwealth -- of the Commonwealth can no 21 longer tolerate this blatant threat to our 22 communities.
23 So we the people are calling in on your 24 promise to uphold our right to safety. We ask that 25 you demand the NRC immediately revoke the operating NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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84 1 license for Pilgrim.
2 It is the nuc -- NRC refu -- if the 3 nuclear -- sorry. If the NRC refuses to do so, we ask 4 you take action to enforce our fundamental 5 constitutional right to safety.
6 Who will be the first to take on this 7 responsibility? We are waiting for your answer.
8 (Applause) 9 MR. LEW: Thank you.
10 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 2, 11 James Lambert.
12 MR. LAMBERT: I actually have my own 13 ticket. My name is Jim Lambert. And I'm a member of 14 the Duxbury Nuclear Advisory Committee.
15 The first thing I would like to do is to 16 echo something we just heard. Which is, there's a 17 widespread belief that the NRC has for years, put 18 Pilgrim's interest in saving money ahead of the public 19 interest in their health and safety.
20 The second thing I'd ask you to do is 21 don't change the decommissioning rules as you said in 22 January you expect to do that would go even further 23 and make it impossible for the public to even raise 24 most of their legitimate concerns.
25 The update you published in January said NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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85 1 how you intended to "improve" the decommissioning 2 process by eliminating emergency planning. By 3 forgetting about cyber security.
4 By giving Entergy advanced permission to 5 dip into an already too small decommissioning fund to 6 pay for things that frankly are not decommissioning.
7 What reason did you give for these supposed 8 improvements?
9 Your January update was pretty clear.
10 First, you wanted to give yourselves and companies 11 like Entergy millions of dollars in what you called 12 cost savings, by making it unnecessary for Entergy to 13 have to go through the terrible procedure of 14 requesting, or for you to have to spend any time 15 reviewing exemptions from current regulations.
16 And in doing so, you're proposing a rule 17 that effectively will eliminate any public voice that 18 might give you some sense as too why improvements, 19 these improvements don't make sense at Pilgrim.
20 You said it. If you read your January 18, 21 your justification was "reduce the regulatory burden 22 on nuclear power plant licensees." "Eliminate 23 Entergy's need to submit requests for exemptions and 24 license amendments."
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86 1 these. To provide cost savings to industry and the 2 NRC.
3 Okay. You want to save yourselves time 4 and money. And you want to save Entergy time and 5 money. But where does that leave us?
6 Well, we won't have to spend any more 7 money preparing papers to file with you. Because 8 there will no longer be an opportunity to do so, and 9 you won't read them.
10 But even more important, the basic 11 technical assumptions you put forward in 12 justification, are to put it mildly, highly debatable.
13 Fundamentally, your update tells us that 14 these rule changes won't possibly result in any 15 potential harm to the public, because one, oh, there's 16 no risk of a spent fuel fire, pool fire after the 17 fuel's been moved.
18 Two, any fire would be of little 19 consequence. And three, long term dry-cast storage 20 won't cause a risk.
21 None of these is correct.
22 (Off mic comment) 23 MR. LAMBERT: You know for example about 24 dry casts. But you apparently --
25 (Off mic comment)
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87 1 MR. LAMBERT: Excuse me.
2 (Off mic comment) 3 MR. LAMBERT: Yeah, I heard you the first 4 time. He runs the meter.
5 (Off mic comment) 6 MR. LAMBERT: Yep. Nobody else.
7 (Off mic comment) 8 MR. LAMBERT: You know with respect to dry 9 cast there's no technology to replace them.
10 (Off mic comment) 11 MR. LAMBERT: So far we've been lucky.
12 (Off mic comment) 13 MR. LAMBERT: But the NRC needs to pay 14 serous attention not only to the risks that it and 15 Entergy have permitted up too now, but also to the 16 fact that also Entergy will be out of here in 15 17 months.
18 (Off mic comment) 19 MR. LAMBERT: The rest of us are going to 20 be left with spent fuel and dry cast for years.
21 MR. LEW: Thank you for your statement Mr.
22 Lambert.
23 (Applause) 24 MS. JANDA: The next speak is Number 26, 25 Mark Moore.
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88 1 MR. ZEALY: I have ticket number 26. I 2 originally had number 80.
3 MS. JANDA: And, you are?
4 MR. ZEALY: Alan Zealy.
5 MS. JANDA: Oh.
6 (OFF MICROPHONE COMMENTS) 7 MS. JANDA: Okay, thank you.
8 MR. ZEALY: Good evening. My name is Alan 9 Zealy and I moved here with my family to Plymouth in 10 2014. My family and I currently live about five miles 11 from the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station which is about 12 the same distance that we've lived from my six 13 previous work locations, all of which were nuclear 14 reactors.
15 Inevitably, when I meet my neighbors and 16 meet new friends, the subject of what I do for a 17 living becomes a topic of conversation. Most often, 18 I find that my neighbors have no negative impressions 19 of the power station, rather, most see it as no issue 20 to them mostly due to the many decades of safe, 21 reliable operation they see firsthand.
22 When asked specifically about my job at 23 the station, I reply, as do most of my coworkers when 24 they are asked, to protect the health and welfare of 25 the public.
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89 1 Most of my career of which was 42 years as 2 of this year has been spent in radiation safety and 3 health physics.
4 I'm proud of those 42 years. I work in a 5 highly regulated industry that has stringent oversight 6 by a highly educated, trained staff with exceptionally 7 high standards known as the Nuclear Regulatory 8 Commission.
9 I work with coworkers trained to a high 10 standard and they are highly motivated to complete 11 Pilgrim Station's operational period with a legacy of 12 excellence.
13 I work for a company that supports 14 whatever we need to maintain that station as safe as 15 possible. And, I'm very proud to say that the work 16 that I do provides safe, reliable, carbon-free energy 17 and significantly contributes to the country's energy 18 independence.
19 Pilgrim Station, like other nuclear 20 facilities that I have worked at provides a 21 significant, positive influence on the local 22 community.
23 Our workers and our families are highly 24 educated, good neighbors and good citizens. We 25 provide a significant tax base to the surrounding NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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90 1 area. We support our local businesses.
2 We, and our families are coaches, teachers 3 and we collectively raise the youth of the surrounding 4 towns. As they say, it takes a village to raise a 5 child and we are part of your village.
6 The report we've heard today from the NRC 7 is encouraging and motivating to be both as an entity 8 employee and a citizen of the Town of Plymouth.
9 It is a tribute to my coworkers' 10 professionalism and motivation that we're seeing 11 progress and continue to drive towards the highest 12 levels of excellence in our performance. And, I 13 salute my teammates.
14 The experts in this room with the most 15 complete and factually correct status of Pilgrim 16 Station and its operational safety are the federal 17 agency that is reporting on that status today, the 18 NRC.
19 And, your fellow citizens, friends and 20 neighbors who are the workforce of Pilgrim Station.
21 Pilgrim Station, the machine itself is not 22 capable of operating without its workers. Entergy is 23 not a faceless entity. It is me and my coworkers and 24 we stand united and proud to provide these benefits to 25 our community, totally committed to the safety and NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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91 1 welfare of our friends and fellow citizens.
2 Thank you so much.
3 (APPLAUSE) 4 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
5 Just real quickly, just so it doesn't 6 escalate, I recognize that there have been people 7 who've gone over three minutes and there are people 8 have responded to that by yelling out time.
9 In an effort to make sure that this does 10 not escalate, because it does seem like there's some 11 back and forth in the audience, I am going to cut 12 people off, Donna or I will cut people off at three 13 minutes and say thank you and that is it, like mid-14 sentence.
15 (APPLAUSE) 16 MR. KLUKAN: So, I will, in an effort to 17 -- don't feel the need to yell at anyone. I recognize 18 that there is on both sides of this, people feel like 19 they're being interrupted, the other side feels that 20 their time is being stolen from them.
21 I will take on this responsibility.
22 Generally, I don't like to cut people off like that, 23 but it seems like that's where we're going tonight.
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92 1 we're going to play it for now.
2 All right, thank you.
3 (APPLAUSE) 4 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 69, 5 Kristen Enos.
6 MS. ENOS: Hello, my name is Kristen Enos 7 and I'm from the Literacy Program at the Plymouth 8 Public Library.
9 I'm here tonight speaking on behalf of 10 Library Director, Jennifer Harris. We just wanted to 11 take this opportunity to thank Entergy for their 12 continue support of our programs throughout the years.
13 We offer free classes to adults in the 14 community who are looking to receive a high school 15 diploma and further their education.
16 We also offer free tutoring to people who 17 are looking to learn English.
18 Entergy has provided us with grants over 19 the years to help us update our technology so our 20 students and the community can have the most updated 21 tools and resources available to them so that they can 22 get their educations and they can further their 23 careers.
24 In addition, Entergy has also been a 25 sponsor at the Library Corporation's Annual Taste of NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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93 1 the Town event.
2 And, we just wanted to take the 3 opportunity to thank you for the support of our 4 program throughout the years.
5 (APPLAUSE) 6 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
7 MS. JANDA: Thank you.
8 The next speaker is number 19, Sheila 9 Palace.
10 Okay, we'll move on to number 48 and that 11 Jamile Graham.
12 MS. GRAHAM: Well, hello. What a show we 13 have tonight. There is a tremendous organization 14 here. We have all the ya-ya, rah-rah, oh Pilgrim 15 people. We have the usual dog and pony show of the 16 NRC saying nothing about Entergy and then Entergy 17 saying nothing right back. And then, Entergy being 18 dismissed because they don't have time to be concerned 19 with the public.
20 And, we know that which is why we're here.
21 And it's really clear you don't have time to be 22 concerned with the public either.
23 So, I'm really curious who you all really 24 work for? You know? Like, we're not on anybody's 25 dime here. We're here concerned for our children.
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94 1 And, you all are getting paid, right?
2 Y'all showed up with your perfect three 3 minute speeches. Did you notice how perfect those 4 three minute speeches are?
5 Well, I want it to be clear, I care about 6 Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant employees very much. And, 7 I thank you so much, every one of you, every one of 8 you for showing up and for doing your job. Because, 9 if it wasn't for you people who care, we would have 10 sunk a long time ago.
11 And, I know that. I know that with my 12 whole heart. If there wasn't decent, caring, honest 13 people at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant, we would be 14 screwed because we would have to deal with you.
15 And, you are not even close. You are a 16 disgrace, flat. I wish I could be nicer to you. And, 17 I hope you're not taking this personal.
18 I understand you have a job to do, but 19 it's really clear you're all liars. You are liars.
20 You are so good at reading your scripts and nodding 21 your heads and yes, yes, yes. And, we're all so safe.
22 And, ya-ya-ya.
23 I mean, come on, do you really think 24 you're fooling us? If you're fooling yourselves, 25 congratulations.
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95 1 (APPLAUSE) 2 MR. KLUKAN: Well, thank you for your 3 statement.
4 MR. JANDA: The next speaker is number 5 nine Santiago Valez.
6 Moving on, the next speaker is number one, 7 Mary Lambert.
8 MS. LAMBERT: Good evening. We've heard 9 a lot about safety culture. The definition is on a 10 slide. It says the commitment by leaders and 11 individuals who emphasize safety over competing goals 12 such as profit or public relations, which I added, to 13 ensure protection of the people and the environment.
14 The question is, is the NRC and Entergy 15 leadership chose profit over safety? I'll give a 16 couple of examples which will answer the question.
17 The first is cybersecurity. We know that 18 you appreciate the fact that hackers are targeting 19 nuclear reactors, Wolf Creek, an example and critical 20 U.S. infrastructure such as power grids.
21 The NRC's response to the threat was to 22 issue an order to reactors to identify problems in 23 their cybersecurity protection and identify the 24 appropriate fixes.
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96 1 implement those fixes. On that exact date, wonder if 2 there was a coincidence, on December 15th, 2017, NRC 3 issued a license amendment relieving Pilgrim of the 4 responsibility to implement the fixes.
5 So, NRC and Entergy leadership clearly 6 chose profit over safety.
7 Another example is the post-Fukushima 8 lessons learned which was to address preventing 9 containment failure in reactors designed like Pilgrim 10 and to require hardening of the vent from the torrez 11 (phonetic) so that a pressure buildup in the 12 containment, it would then -- there would not be an 13 explosion like we saw at Unit 1, 2 and 3 in Fukushima.
14 Pilgrim was supposed to implement that 15 order by April 17th, 2017. Entergy asked to be 16 relieved and NRC agreed to postpone implementation of 17 that order until Pilgrim was closed. And, then they'd 18 ask for a license amendment.
19 Again, what did we see? NRC and Entergy 20 leadership choosing profit over safety.
21 Climate increased -- has increased the 22 number of storms and the severity of storms and 23 flooding. These storms have emergency planning 24 consequences. MEMA told NRC on March 2nd at 11:05 25 p.m. that the communities here could not evacuate.
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97 1 So, it does not matter that there was a 2 change of heart the next day at 10:00-something in the 3 morning. We had that whole period in which had there 4 been a problem, we would have been up the creek.
5 I have other examples, the location of the 6 spent fuel pad, but I'm running.
7 (APPLAUSE) 8 MR. KLUKAN: Okay, thank you, Mary, for 9 you statement. Did you want a response or is that 10 just a statement, Mary? That was just a -- thank you 11 for your statement.
12 MS. JANDA: The next speaker in number 28, 13 Jim Burke.
14 MR. KLUKAN: Okay, thank you.
15 MS. JANDA: Oh, I'm sorry.
16 MR. KLUKAN: Well, there was no question, 17 that was just a statement.
18 MR. BURKE: Good evening, my name is Jim 19 Burke, I'm the Regional Manager for the Associated 20 Initiatives of Massachusetts. AIM is the oldest and 21 largest business organization in the state.
22 We represent a community of employers of 23 over 4,000 in Massachusetts.
24 CEO and business owners come to us for 25 three reasons, regulations, risk and resources. And, NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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98 1 one of their risks is the cost of energy.
2 While Pilgrim was offline for the -- part 3 of the 15-day cold snap this past Christmas and 4 January 9th, power generators in Massachusetts burned 5 about two million barrels of oil, more than twice the 6 amount of oil burned during all of 2016.
7 During the same cold snap, wholesale power 8 prices also dramatically increased from an average of 9 $18 million a day to $68 million a day.
10 AIM works with Massachusetts employers to 11 create public policy that supports economic 12 opportunity and job growth.
13 Key to business growth, business growth 14 and development is the knowledge that our grid is 15 reliable and there is enough affordable power to meet 16 businesses needs.
17 Unfortunately, Pilgrim's scheduled to 18 shutdown in 2019 after fulfilling its current capacity 19 commitment to the New England ISO.
20 We support Pilgrim's continued operation 21 through its planned shutdown date in June of 2019.
22 AIM also supports Pilgrim because it's 23 safe with over 600 good paying jobs and approximately 24 $65 million in annual payroll. And, for over 40 25 years, Pilgrim has been the backbone of reliable NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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99 1 electric system.
2 Thank you.
3 (APPLAUSE) 4 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
5 MS. JANDA: The next speaker, number 37, 6 Dan Baker.
7 MR. BARRIE: Dan Baker gave me his, he's 8 over there.
9 MS. JANDA: And, your number?
10 MR. BARRIE: My number is 18. I'm Karim 11 Barrie.
12 MS. JANDA: Thank you.
13 MR. BARRIE: Hello everyone, my name is 14 Karim Barrie, everybody knows me at the plant as AK 15 Barrie.
16 I've been with the plant for pretty much 17 grown with the plant pretty much. I was hired 18 straight from college about 13 years ago.
19 Two years prior, I grew up in Florida so 20 Pilgrim has pretty much been my family.
21 And, I'm a design engineer, eight years as 22 a design engineer, currently, I work for the front 23 team which currently deals with the day to day 24 activities of the plant.
25 So, I'm here to tell you, members of the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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100 1 -- members here, that and just our community here that 2 the plant is running safe. And, as an engineer, one 3 of our paramount codes of ethics is to make sure that 4 the public safety is paramount.
5 Six cornerstones of our code of ethics as 6 engineers is to make sure that whatever information we 7 give you guys will be pertinent information.
8 So, in that vein, I've been involved in 9 projects from machines that deals with the refueling 10 bridge all the way to all the instrumentation that 11 measures different parameters in the plant.
12 So, I'm here today to talk to you to give 13 you assurance that what we do at the plant as an 14 engineers is to make sure the plant runs as it's 15 supposed to.
16 And, Pilgrim has been good to me. They've 17 supported me in whatever training I wanted to do.
18 And, for the last 15 years I've been involved with the 19 North American Young Generation of Nuclear to make 20 sure what we have it right now is the way the industry 21 was introduced to us was not something that is 22 favorable as we can see with the misconceptions we 23 have.
24 So, as we move forward and our generation 25 moving forward, it's to make sure that we have the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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101 1 stakeholder conversations.
2 And, recently, in that vein, my peers 3 recognized that I could bring something to the plate.
4 I was invited by the Women in Nuclear and the 5 International Youth Nuclear Congress in Bariloche a 6 conference to give a panel talk on Has Nuclear 7 Communication Bottlenecked?
8 And, what we see right now is that 9 conversation. So, moving forward, the hope is, when 10 we put these plans together, we can train each other, 11 we can talk to each other and understand what the 12 industry is all about. Because, at the end of the 13 day, we have to produce electricity that benefits each 14 and every one of us.
15 So, I say to you, that we, on behalf of my 16 comrades at the power plant, we're going to do 17 whatever it takes to make sure this plant runs until 18 next year safely.
19 And, you guys should have, you know, have 20 that in your mind that, listen, we are here for you 21 guys. And, because of that, to end my talk, some of 22 the benefits that Entergy has given me, I'm taking 23 that passion with me to Africa to advocate nuclear 24 power moving forward.
25 Thank you.
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102 1 (APPLAUSE) 2 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
3 MS. JANDA: The next speaker, number 31, 4 Dot Anderson?
5 PARTICIPANT: No, I have number 31, I was 6 number 55, which is also up there, coincidentally.
7 But, apparently 31 was.
8 (OFF MICROPHONE COMMENTS) 9 MS. JANDA: Next up is number 38, John 10 Taylor.
11 MS. SAMPSON: I'm Alani Sampson. My 12 original ticket number was 27 and I'm holding 38.
13 MS. JANDA: Okay.
14 MS. SAMPSON: Go ahead?
15 MS. JANDA: Yes, I'm sorry. Go ahead, 16 yes.
17 MS. SAMPSON: Hello, my name's Alani 18 Sampson. I'm an employee at the plant and at first 19 when I was coming up here, I was thinking I would tell 20 you about how I'm your neighbor. I live on the Cape 21 in Bourne. My husband does, too, with me, we work at 22 the plant.
23 And, we are the people who go to the same 24 restaurants as you. We go to the same churches with 25 you. We live in the same community as you. This is NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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103 1 our home.
2 And, your safety is the same as our 3 safety. This is where we wanted to raise our family 4 and where we wanted to live.
5 But, I think you already know that, 6 judging from some of your comments. So, instead, I 7 want to point out something that someone else on the 8 other side of the room mentioned, we have been 9 sticking to something that might seem so 10 inconsequential as a three-minute rule.
11 Have you noticed how the plant employees 12 respond when someone goes over a three minute rule?
13 We take every rule, no matter how small or 14 inconsequential it seems and we take it so seriously, 15 we hold each other accountable for those rules and 16 everyone else around us.
17 So, when you think of the plant and you 18 have your fears, and I understand that your fears come 19 from not knowing what's going on behind our doors or 20 not understanding how we operate.
21 But, what you've seen here tonight from 22 us, taking this little rule and taking it so 23 seriously, that's what our culture is. And, with 24 that, I'm done.
25 Thank you.
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104 1 (APPLAUSE) 2 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
3 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 36, 4 Katie Wood.
5 MS. WOOD: Good evening and thank you for 6 the opportunity to speak. My name is Katie Woods, I'm 7 a System and Components Engineering Supervisor at 8 Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.
9 I have worked at Pilgrim since receiving 10 my civil and environmental engineering degree from the 11 University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2009.
12 I started as a design engineer learning 13 the fundamentals of engineering and working in the 14 nuclear industry.
15 Coming to Pilgrim, I was impressed with 16 the amount of oversight and safety focus at the plant.
17 I was very disappointed to hear that Pilgrim Station 18 will be retiring no later than June 2019.
19 I love working at the plant and living in 20 Plymouth. This is where I started my career and I 21 have become close friends with the people I work with.
22 I always thought that I would be putting down my roots 23 here in Plymouth. That will not be the case.
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105 1 and likely move out of Massachusetts all together.
2 We are members of the community who spend 3 their money on small businesses and restaurants within 4 the area.
5 There are more than 600 permanent 6 employees, most of which will be leaving once the 7 plant closes.
8 The energy market does not value nuclear 9 energy as a carbon-free energy source. This is why we 10 are shutting down, the economics no longer support 11 operation of the station.
12 Pilgrim generates enough power for more 13 than 600,000 homes and prevents the production of 14 millions of tons of greenhouse gases annually.
15 When Pilgrim retires next year, where will 16 Massachusetts go to replace this carbon-free energy?
17 I have an identical twin sister who is a 18 fire protection engineer at Seabrook Nuclear Station 19 in Southern New Hampshire. She tells me that she gets 20 asked weekly by her coworkers why I have not left 21 Pilgrim Station to join the Seabrook team prior to 22 shutdown when the market is flooded with nuclear 23 workers who are looking for a job.
24 My response is that I want to finish 25 Pilgrim strong and leave a positive legacy. I have NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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106 1 grown up professionally here and want to be part of 2 the leadership team that is committed to finishing the 3 final cycle strong.
4 What does mean? Supporting safe and 5 reliable operation of the plant until June 2019.
6 Everyone's number one priority is to protect the 7 health and safety of the public and the plant workers.
8 We take precautions in everything we do to 9 ensure we are doing it the safest way possible. If I 10 didn't think it was safe, I wouldn't work here. If I 11 didn't think it was safe, I wouldn't have bought a 12 house seven miles away in North Plymouth.
13 If I didn't think it was safe, I wouldn't 14 take my nieces and nephews to the beach a few miles 15 from the plant.
16 I am part of a talented workforce that I 17 am fortunate enough to work along side and learn from 18 everyday. I am proud of what I do.
19 I want to be part of the leadership team 20 that leads a positive legacy over the next 15 months 21 of commercial operation. I strive to hold myself, my 22 team and my peers accountable for everything we do.
23 Thank you.
24 (APPLAUSE) 25 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
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107 1 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 55, 2 Bill Sambrello.
3 MR. SAMBRELLO: What did Yogi Berra say, 4 deja vu all over again?
5 All right, my name is Bill Sambrello. I 6 am a father, husband. I live on Cape Cod in 7 Osterville. I'm an environmental chemist, business 8 owner and I'm running for the 9th Congressional 9 District as your Congressman.
10 I want to talk a little bit about to these 11 folks here that have their jobs on the line here and 12 I do feel for you, because having worked for some of 13 the Fortune 100 companies in the chemical field, I 14 know that you have specialized training.
15 And, one of the things I heard earlier is 16 that Pilgrim or Entergy is trying to find you folks 17 new placement and I think that's key. And I hope that 18 you, as part of the regulatory agency, are making sure 19 that that is indeed happening.
20 Because one of my deep concerns here is 21 that, as this can gets kicked down the road here, that 22 people are going to get thinned in the ranks in the 23 nuclear facility and we're really not going to have 24 anything resembling the oversight that we think or you 25 think is present.
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108 1 And, I would like to see that in paper, in 2 writing if that's happening.
3 You know, we all want to think that it 4 can't go wrong, nothing can happen wrong here. The 5 Titanic was unsinkable, if you recall. Chernobyl, 6 nobody thought anything was going to happen there.
7 Three Mile Island had all kinds of safety features 8 installed.
9 And, here we are with a Fukushima-style 10 reactor seven years-plus after what just happened and 11 all we keep doing is hearing we're kicking that can 12 down the road with an ancient facility that needs to 13 be shut down.
14 And, I implore this Regulatory Commission 15 to do the right thing, not just for the energy and 16 find these people quality jobs. These are highly 17 trained people.
18 But, do the right thing for this 19 community, all of the community, and that includes 20 making sure that we do the right thing and shut it 21 down.
22 We've been talking here on and on about 23 the sort of the gray area, the black and white, the 24 semantics of what all this means.
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109 1 pretty sight. Okay? If you look at the Mayo Clinic, 2 what they say, a person who absorbs large doses of 3 radiation has little chance of recovery. Depending on 4 the severity of the illness, death can occur within 5 two days or two weeks.
6 People with lethal radiation dose will 7 receive medication to control pain, nausea, vomiting 8 and diarrhea. They may also benefit from 9 psychological and pastoral care.
10 It's a death wish. None of us want that 11 here. And, maybe that's over dramatic, but maybe 12 that's what you need to hear and that's what everyone 13 in the Commonwealth needs to understand. We have got 14 to put people before profits.
15 Thank you.
16 (APPLAUSE) 17 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you for your statement.
18 MS. JANDA: Next speaker is number 65, 19 Mary Jo Gatswic.
20 MS. GATSWIC: Yes, it's Gatswic, and I see 21 I'm speaking to Mr. Bastoni who's one of my favorite 22 teachers in North Plymouth.
23 MR. BASTONI: Thank you so much.
24 MS. JANDA: And, your number, sir, was?
25 MR. BASTONI: Twenty-one.
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110 1 MS. JANDA: Thank you.
2 MR. BASTONI: First of all, I'd like to 3 tell you how absolutely impressive and engaging it is 4 to hear the young engineers and the scientists step 5 forward and speak their mind. These are the people to 6 whom we will ensure our future. We don't have a 7 choice. We live in a technological era.
8 And, we all have something very much in 9 common in this room, every person in this room, every 10 person on that Board and every person in a seat here, 11 the offices lining the walls and the camera people all 12 want a safe environment in which to live.
13 So, rather than being adversarial, I think 14 we need to spend a lot more time finding commonalities 15 and a way forward.
16 It's very clear that the Pilgrim Nuclear 17 Plant will, in fact, be closed, but that is not the 18 end of the story.
19 We need our scientists and our informed 20 citizens and our technologists more than we've ever 21 needed them before.
22 My name is Mike Bastoni, okay, I run a 23 high school engineering program and it may sound 24 somewhat inconsequential. But, I'm on a mission to 25 prepare young folks to accept the technical challenges NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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111 1 of an uncertain -- very uncertain future.
2 The folks who run our country now, who run 3 our businesses, who run our law offices, who run our 4 industrial plants, who run Entergy, who work for the 5 NRC, our technologists and scientists and they're the 6 best trained people we have.
7 We don't have another choice. We have to 8 learn to work together with these people.
9 And, I want to say, the reason that I'm 10 here, is that Entergy, for the last 23 years, Pilgrim 11 Nuclear, in particular, has invested heavily, hundreds 12 of thousands of dollars in the futures of the young 13 technologists, the young scientists, whose ambitions 14 are to take the lead in a very, very uncertain world.
15 My home is 90 percent powered by sunlight 16 and I drove here in zero-emission electric car. I 17 want to thank the folks at Pilgrim and all the folks 18 in the nuclear industry for being part of making that 19 possible and practical.
20 Without low carbon baseload electrical 21 production, these things would not be possible, 22 certainly not on the scale we need them to be.
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112 1 will be able to ensure the significant sources of low 2 carbon emission energy needed for a sustainable 3 future.
4 Not for my generation, but for the 5 billions of folks on this planet who are presently 6 under the age of 21.
7 I find it ironic that the increasing 8 levels of the oceans and the severity of the storms 9 are causing a problem. And, I think many of us 10 suspect that we probably know why. Because we've been 11 burning fossil fuel far too greedily for far too long.
12 There is risk in every single thing we do.
13 Anybody here who took a hot shower this morning 14 contributed to the problem, not the cure.
15 Our planet is suffering from burning 16 fossil fuels and we are sitting here scared about a 17 plant that's about to close. We can't be scared, we 18 have to be active and we have to be proactive and we 19 have to trust in the future in which we can understand 20 the technology and the science and mitigate the 21 disasters.
22 Thank you so much.
23 (APPLAUSE) 24 MR. KLUKAN: Okay, thank you.
25 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 3, NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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113 1 Scott Gustafson.
2 MR. GUSTAFSON: Good evening. My name's 3 Scott Gustafson, I'm a Plymouth resident. I'm here 4 tonight in support of Entergy and Pilgrim Nuclear 5 Power Plant.
6 I want to thank the NRC for being here and 7 everything that you've done and all the due diligence 8 you've done down there at Pilgrim.
9 And, I want to thank Vice President 10 Sullivan and his team for addressing those issues and 11 taking those issues seriously and making sure 12 Pilgrim's running safely.
13 My experience down at Pilgrim as a 14 contract laborer was always great. I never felt 15 unsafe. My dad finished his construction career 16 there, my brother is working there now, my sister's 17 working there now. They never say anything about 18 safety.
19 They say, if anything, it's safer than 20 ever. The protocols have changed, it's better than 21 ever. I want to thank Entergy and NRC for what you're 22 doing as a resident. Because, the economic impact 23 that this plant has on this town, what it does for 24 Plymouth in this region is it can't be -- you can't 25 overstate it. We're worried about what's going to NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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114 1 happen when it does close. I wish it wasn't closing.
2 I want to thank Entergy and the NRC for 3 protecting the thousands of jobs that either direct or 4 indirect jobs that are created, the working -- the 5 supporting family jobs that are created.
6 I know a lot of the people in this room 7 that I have worked with for a lot of years because now 8 I send people down there as a representative of the 9 Labor's Union.
10 I saw Jimmy Taormina somewhere in the room 11 tonight. Jimmy and I did a lot of community work 12 together, coached a championship hockey team together 13 in town.
14 That's what the people that work at 15 Entergy and the community are all about. And, I thank 16 you for keeping it open.
17 The other thing I heard that Jim Burke 18 from AIM talk about the issues we had during the cold 19 snap. If you don't know what's going on with the 20 energy grid here in New England and what Pilgrim means 21 to energy reliability and the New England power grid 22 and what we need every single day, wait until it shuts 23 down because we're about to find out.
24 Gas prices in New England, because there's 25 constraints on that system, we're the highest in the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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115 1 world here. The highest in the world during that 2 point.
3 Thank God we have Pilgrim, thank God we 4 have nuclear power. Thank God we have that clean 5 energy to provide us energy reliability. Wait until 6 it closes and you see what happens. I don't know how 7 you're going to power up things. We're going to have 8 rolling brownouts.
9 Right here, I have the Fuel Index Map for 10 -- of ISO New England. You can see 26 percent of the 11 power coming from the grid during that cold snap was 12 from nuclear energy.
13 It's more important than ever that we try 14 to keep it open for as long as possible.
15 I think the one issue I probably have or 16 the one point I'd like to make is, during 17 decommissioning, we'd like to see an expedited 18 process. I'd like to see that so it continues to 19 create an economic impact for people who may be losing 20 their jobs.
21 The Labor Union who does a lot of 22 decommissioning of nuclear plants around the country 23 will open their doors and give opportunities to the 24 workers who may be displaced there. I think that's 25 really important.
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116 1 We have a U.S. Department of Energy 2 approved training program.
3 I think you need to build more nukes.
4 (APPLAUSE) 5 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you for your statement.
6 MS. JANDA: The next speaker will be 7 number 40, Pat Parker.
8 MS. CONSTANTINO: I have number 40 and I 9 -- is -- am I taking your place? Okay, Pat.
10 I'm Henrietta Constantino and I live in 11 Plymouth, I also live in Boston. My primary residence 12 is here in Plymouth within five miles of the plant.
13 And, I'm not here to beat up on Entergy 14 workers, that's not why I came here tonight.
15 I'm glad that you are proud of the job 16 that you're doing because I'd be a lot more worried if 17 you weren't. And, I know that the fact that you're 18 proud of what you're doing is something in its favor.
19 But, we're there tonight to hear -- to 20 talk to NRC, so I want to address my comments to the 21 NRC.
22 And, a lot of it -- what I have to say is 23 very much like what Jamile said, I just put it in a 24 little bit of a different idiom.
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117 1 the industry that pays you. And, actually, that 2 industry is the nuclear industry. Because, if I'm not 3 mistaken about 90 percent of your money comes from the 4 nuclear industry.
5 So, it's natural that you want to be 6 defensive and protective.
7 And, we're acting, too. We're acting out 8 a script, only there is a difference because our 9 script is not paid, it comes from our heart.
10 Because, though our faith in democracy is 11 definitely challenged, and although it's very easy to 12 lose faith, we come here today to appeal to you 13 because, in the end, we still want to believe in 14 democracy.
15 And, we also know that you are trying to 16 do your job. And, that you, too, are circumscribed by 17 what you conceive of your job.
18 But, what I want to say is to you, you 19 five sitting there, one lady and four gentlemen. I 20 wish you would break out of your mask, the mask you're 21 expected to wear. I wish you would be the authentic 22 people that you are, speak your truth.
23 Because, whatever you say, no matter what 24 you say, if it's true, it will -- if it's honest, it 25 will be better than one more second of this charade.
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118 1 I had a friend, we lived in Las Angeles 2 until three years ago. And, I had a friend who used 3 to say at times like this, time for a new script.
4 This one sucks.
5 (APPLAUSE) 6 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you for your comment.
7 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 52, 8 Ed Dewitt.
9 MR. DEWITT: Good evening and thank you 10 once again. My name is Ed Dewitt, I live in Falmouth.
11 And, the first thing I'd like to say is, 12 we're here tonight about getting out of column four.
13 When -- what I've heard for the last 14 several years on this stage is the NRC gets up and 15 describes Pilgrim as the Cleveland Browns and Entergy 16 describes itself and the New England Patriots.
17 And, we get to see statements like 18 sustained, improved performance from the NRC is 19 missing to move Pilgrim out of column four. And, 20 Entergy kind of says, okay, we're doing all that, but 21 it hasn't happened.
22 And, when Pilgrim was put into column 23 four, someone from the NRC said, with increased 24 inspections, increased oversight and that, we're going 25 to move Pilgrim out of column four and we're going to NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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119 1 do it in a swift and efficient way.
2 Am I correct that Pilgrim will be the 3 longest nuclear power plant in column four by not 4 coming out of column four this year? Is that correct?
5 MR. KLUKAN: That's not correct.
6 MR. DEWITT: Well, which one was in 7 longer?
8 MR. KLUKAN: Currently A&O is still in 9 column four and they were placed in column four before 10 Pilgrim.
11 MR. DEWITT: Well, according to the NRC 12 records, I think Pilgrim, this will put Pilgrim over 13 the top, that's what's on your website says in terms 14 of that.
15 Now, our -- if it's going to close in 16 2019, are we going to see it come out of column four 17 ever? No, we're not going to see it come out of 18 column four, are we?
19 MR. KLUKAN: If you're finished with your 20 statement, I'm certainly happy to answer your 21 questions.
22 MR. DEWITT: I asked a question.
23 MR. KLUKAN: Okay, so, I think the first 24 thing, just for clarity is, I'll go and our job is not 25 to move Pilgrim out of column four. Our job is to NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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120 1 make sure they operate safely. And that they take the 2 actions to move themselves out of column four.
3 And we have a well-defined process by 4 which we do that. So, it's --
5 MR. DEWITT: And that process has not 6 worked up to this point, is that correct?
7 MR. KLUKAN: And, I will say that that 8 process is working because it's not unusual for a 9 plant to take two or three years.
10 And, here's the --
11 MR. DEWITT: Well, the average is a year 12 and a half.
13 MR. KLUKAN: No, no, that's not true, it's 14 at least two years.
15 MR. DEWITT: According to the NRC, I'm 16 going on what you have published.
17 MR. KLUKAN: I'll go back and verify, but 18 I think the important thing here is, now, we talked 19 about sustained improvement, but the idea here is that 20 we would not -- we do not want plants to jump in and 21 out of column four.
22 They get into column four, we have seen 23 improvement, but, as I said -- stated before, what 24 we're looking for is sustained improvement so that we 25 have confidence that they've addressed the underlying NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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121 1 issues and that they have been able to move.
2 And, if they appropriately move out of 3 column four, we still need to do a lot more 4 inspections to verify that they stay out of column 5 four.
6 MR. DEWITT: Okay, so, I can only think of 7 two reasons why they haven't come out of column four 8 as of yet, and you can add more. I'm going to ask you 9 if you can add more.
10 The two that I can think of are 11 incompetence and corruption. I can't think of 12 anything else that would not have taken them out of 13 column four.
14 But, I throw that open to you. What other 15 issues would not take them out of column four?
16 MR. KLUKAN: And, I think, again, I 17 disagree with both of those issues in terms of what 18 you've stated.
19 The plant is in the well-defined process.
20 It's in our Management Chapter 0305. And, in that 21 process, I think we make it very clear that, one, the 22 plant does remain safe. Okay?
23 Number two is, the current, you know, the 24 current criteria that we have, we do monitor it to 25 make sure that it's not degrading and that they have NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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122 1 criteria that we would consider. It's well-defined.
2 Also, the steps in terms of us to sustain, 3 the underlying causes for the decline has to be 4 corrected. Those things are occurring.
5 MR. DEWITT: So, you're disagreeing with 6 the official who announced when it went into column 7 four that the goal was to get it out of column four?>
8 MR. KLUKAN: You know, I don't which 9 official was that, I'm not sure what the context of 10 that discussion is, but I think everybody's interest 11 is to ensure that the plant's operating safely.
12 In that, we have different roles, you 13 know, Entergy has the responsibility to move 14 themselves out of column four. We have the 15 responsibility to ensure that they're doing the 16 actions and doing it effectively to move themselves 17 out of column four.
18 (APPLAUSE) 19 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 13, 20 Patricia O'Brian.
21 MR. O'BRIAN: Patrick, but you're close.
22 It's okay.
23 MS. JANDA: Oh, it has an "A" it looked 24 like.
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123 1 little bit, all right.
2 MS. JANDA: My apologies.
3 MR. O'BRIAN: That's all right.
4 Thank you for allowing me the opportunity 5 to speak tonight. I'm sure many in the audience, my 6 name is familiar. I am the company spokesperson for 7 Entergy Pilgrim Station. But, I'm here representing 8 myself as an employee and a lifelong resident of 9 Plymouth.
10 I grew up and attended Plymouth public 11 schools, graduating from Plymouth South High School 12 before going to UMASS Amherst and graduating in 2003.
13 Short of my time at Amherst, I've always 14 lived in Plymouth and I still do so with my wife is 15 expecting our first child in July.
16 I began my career in government working 17 for the local state representative, Vinny deMacedo who 18 is now a State Senator. Spent five years there and 19 then moved on to eight years with the Town of 20 Plymouth.
21 During my time in government, I spent a 22 lot of time interacting with the wonderful people who 23 worked at Entergy, not knowing that my career would 24 lead me down that path.
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124 1 interact with was one of my predecessors, Dave 2 Tarentino. His interaction and knowledge with the 3 community going back and forth relating to the plant 4 was something that I really wanted to emulate when I 5 did get the role.
6 Growing up in Plymouth, we were educated 7 at an early age to know that there's a nuclear plant 8 in our community and what it does. It's nothing I've 9 ever been scared of. I've grown up before September 10 11th going down and fishing on jetty.
11 You know, the people that I've gotten to 12 know working there the last three years, my 13 colleagues, they're nuclear professionals. They put 14 safety first every day.
15 You know, I feel comfortable bringing my 16 child into this world living four miles from the 17 plant. It doesn't scare me. I know the technology 18 and I know the professionals.
19 You know, outside of my job, I'm very 20 active in the community. I'm a Board Member of the 21 Plymouth Chamber of Commerce. I'm the Vice-Chair of 22 the Advisory and Finance Committee for the Town. I'm 23 also President of the Cold Spring Athletic Club.
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125 1 people that are running to better our community.
2 And, I enjoy serving our community and I 3 think Scott mentioned it before, you know, a lot of 4 our colleagues support the community as coaches, you 5 know, working in soup kitchens, helping the needy 6 residents.
7 And, when the plant closes, we're going to 8 lose some of that base. You can look to Vernon, 9 Vermont and see that that happened.
10 You know, the other hat that I wear at the 11 Plymouth at the plant is I am a contributions person 12 for the site.
13 Every year, we donate over $250,000 to the 14 community various organizations. You know, one of my 15 personal favorites is Social Community Action 16 Council's Food Resource Program. This is a program 17 that helps the needy in our community.
18 As an employee, I'm glad that the NRC 19 acknowledged Pilgrim's improvement in 2017. I've seen 20 it firsthand, the hard work that everyone puts in 21 every day and the pride that they have in their jobs.
22 You know, I look forward to next year's 23 meeting and as I understand, you know, to the 24 gentleman's point before me, you know, we need to go 25 through all five confirmatory action letter NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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126 1 inspections before we can get out of column four. So, 2 if I'm correct, and you can correct me if this is 3 wrong, we would need to get through that inspection in 4 December before we could ever come out of column four.
5 So, it's not something that, if people 6 showed us expecting us to be out of it tonight, they 7 don't understand the process.
8 Thank you.
9 (APPLAUSE) 10 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
11 MS. JANDA: Okay, so before we move on to 12 the next speaker, since there's more -- still more of 13 you signed up to speak, we are willing to extend the 14 meting time beyond the announced end time of 8:45 p.m.
15 until 9:15 p.m.
16 So, with that, our next speaker is number 17 32, Christina Renauld.
18 (OFF MICROPHONE COMMENTS) 19 MS. JANDA: She left? Okay.
20 So, we'll move on to speaker number 67 21 which is Bernard Graham.
22 MR. GRAHAM: Good evening. My name's 23 Bernard Graham and I never had any intention of 24 speaking to night, I'm not a big public speaker, but 25 it's been an interesting experience coming to this NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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127 1 meeting and listening to most the people that work at 2 the plant and I'm very impressed with their knowledge 3 and their expertise and their feelings of the 4 community.
5 And, it's actually quite reaffirming to me 6 to hear them speak in this way.
7 But, I'm not here to say that, I'm here 8 because I live, I don't know, maybe five miles as the 9 crow flies from the plant north of hear in a town 10 called Duck's Beak.
11 And, we just went through a couple of 12 storms and these storms were of a nature that we were 13 told by town officials and our state officials to 14 shelter in place.
15 Well, that's all well and good and but, 16 there were roads that were impassable in our town, we 17 couldn't get through.
18 And so, I look to you as an agency of our 19 government. And, I say to myself, well, what is your 20 role here? And, I don't know.
21 I mean, what I'd like your role to be is 22 to protect us. We need protection. We need you guys 23 and ladies to be looking out for us. And, you know 24 better than anyone else does, but we're asking you to 25 keep us safe and do your job.
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128 1 That's all.
2 (APPLAUSE) 3 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
4 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 44, 5 mark Ripple.
6 (OFF MICROPHONE COMMENTS) 7 MS. JANDA: And, your number was?
8 PARTICIPANT: I did not have a number and 9 I did not plan to speak initially.
10 MS. JANDA: All right.
11 PARTICIPANT: I just wanted to say a 12 couple quick points. One thing, there's been a lot of 13 talk about how Entergy doesn't seem to be committed to 14 seeing this process through to the end.
15 I transferred down to Pilgrim Station the 16 end of November from Vermont Yankee so I know exactly 17 what seeing it through to the end looks like. We 18 finished the longest run in Vermont Yankee history on 19 December 29th, 2014 at 1313 hours0.0152 days <br />0.365 hours <br />0.00217 weeks <br />4.995965e-4 months <br /> when I watched the 20 breakers open from our switch yard.
21 And, we went for 600 plus days on that run 22 because we were committed to finishing strong. And, 23 I see the same commitment at the station here today.
24 And, as far as not being interested in 25 training and things of that nature, since I've been NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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129 1 down to Pilgrim in less than six month, I've been to 2 a week of training in New Jersey. I've been to a peer 3 group meeting in Louisiana.
4 I have a peer group meeting scheduled in 5 July that I'll have to travel to. And, I have an 6 industry workshop in June.
7 That, to me, sounds like commitment to 8 training and making sure the people have all the tools 9 they need to do their jobs.
10 The other thing that stuck me as I sat 11 listening tonight is, a lot of people in this room are 12 wishing evil upon their neighbors.
13 These people are in your churches, are 14 leaders of you Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, are 15 patronizing local businesses and a lot of them are 16 going away.
17 And, it's not the money that you'll miss 18 so much, I would hope, as the involvement of those 19 committed individuals in your communities.
20 I am not able to play in the Winchester 21 Community Band because I'm working down here. And, as 22 a founding member of that band, that annoys me.
23 I'm not able to sing in the Keen Corral 24 because I am down here and I'm not able to go to 25 rehearsals anymore.
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130 1 This is the kind of disruption that you 2 are cheering for and it is sickening.
3 (APPLAUSE) 4 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
5 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 51, 6 Mike Hetwer.
7 MR. HETWER: Very good, a lot of people 8 can't say that right.
9 Thank you guys for being here. I had no 10 intention of speaking but it went long enough and I've 11 heard a lot.
12 You asked a question earlier this evening 13 and I'd like to clarify. You asked how the other 14 groups are responding. You said --
15 MR. KLUKAN: Yes, I did.
16 MR. HETWER: -- the operations.
17 I'm a farm boy raised in Jersey. I got my 18 training in nuclear Navy, started here in 1981.
19 I've worked in Health Physics, Radiation 20 Protection, Chemistry, RAD Waste, Maintenance 21 Planning, I spent 19 years swearing I wasn't going to 22 go into Operations. I've been there since 2000.
23 I see the people that come into the room 24 to do their work. They are more prepared, they are 25 more professional and their briefings are much better.
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131 1 So, I'm seeing the changes in those other 2 groups, to give you a little more clarification.
3 You were challenged on, did you shut us 4 down on the last storm? We were already shut down.
5 Did we decide that we weren't going to start the plant 6 back up in the wake of that storm?
7 MR. KLUKAN: Yes, you did.
8 MR. HETWER: Yes, it was Entergy that said 9 we're not going to start the place back up in the wake 10 of that storm.
11 So those -- that's some clarifying things.
12 I took notes as I went through, again, I wasn't going 13 to speak.
14 I'm more troubled by the vision of our 15 elected officials. They didn't speak for themselves, 16 they sent their other personnel. And, I would 17 challenge the people that are challenging Pilgrim 18 Station Operations to encourage their elected 19 officials to have a little vision, try and think 20 forward. Where is the power coming from? Good, clean 21 reliable energy and an infrastructure?
22 We need to spend more time and energy in 23 that arena, Mr. Bastoni, you taught my son and you 24 raised a lot of good kids and given them good 25 insights.
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132 1 (OFF MICROPHONE COMMENTS) 2 MR. HETWER: So, that's where our focus 3 needs to be. I thank you for your time. We, a couple 4 years ago, put you in a rough spot and you had to put 5 a little heat on us. I apologize for that.
6 I was there all of these years so I have 7 to consider myself part of that. I'd like to consider 8 myself part of the correction going down the right 9 path along with all of these other good people.
10 Thank you for your time.
11 (APPLAUSE) 12 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you for your statement.
13 MS. JANDA: Okay, I believe Brett just 14 left out with the timer.
15 (OFF MICROPHONE COMMENTS) 16 MS. JANDA: Sorry, technical difficulty 17 here.
18 Okay, so the next speaker will be number 19 57, William Dougan. Is Mr. Dougan still here? No?
20 Okay, we'll move on to number 18, which I 21 believe he's already spoken, Abdul-Karim Barrie, so, 22 yes.
23 So, number 15, David Noyez.
24 MR. NOYEZ: Hi, my name's Dave Noyez.
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133 1 positions including 16 years as an NRC Licensed Senior 2 Reactor Operator.
3 I'm a 27-year resident of Plymouth. My 4 14-month-old granddaughter, McKenzie, along with her 5 parents moved to Plymouth seven miles from Pilgrim 6 early last year.
7 Before their move, my daughter asked if 8 she should be concerned about moving her family within 9 the plant's emergency planning zone. Frankly, I am 10 more concerned about the economic electric grid 11 stability and environmental impacts that Pilgrim's 12 closure will have on our community's way of life than 13 any concern for family's safety.
14 I have the unique opportunity to 15 experience firsthand the inherent safety of the 16 technology, the actions of a tough regulator and, most 17 importantly, the dedication and professionalism of my 18 coworkers on a daily basis.
19 It is my experience that the plant has 20 always been operated with the health and safety of our 21 workers and the individuals in our community as the 22 top priority.
23 The NRC, through thousands of hours of 24 intrusive inspections, as independently reported that 25 the station has and is operated safely.
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134 1 In the past, nonconservative decisions in 2 some cases lessened substantial margins that exist to 3 ensure plant safe operation.
4 More recently, consistent conservative 5 decisions like the ones made to shut the plant in 6 advance of severe weather have restored that margin 7 and have now become part of our collective culture.
8 As just one member of the Pilgrim team, I 9 am extremely proud of the collective contribution of 10 our 560 workers who live with their families in 11 Plymouth on the shore of Cape Cod.
12 I heard the federal elected officials 13 representatives, their demands of you and the NRC. I 14 have a question of those individuals if any are still 15 in the room after their cameo appearance.
16 Will you hear the demands of the citizens 17 of Plymouth, and I dare say most everyone in this room 18 to fulfill your obligation to provide a repository for 19 spent fuel?
20 Thank you.
21 (APPLAUSE) 22 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
23 MS. JANDA: The next speaker would be 24 number 25, Richard Lopriori, but he spoke already for 25 number 58. So, unless he has someone to speak for his NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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135 1 number, we'll just move on.
2 Okay, number 80, who also spoke already 3 for number 26, so --
4 (OFF MICROPHONE COMMENTS) 5 MS. JANDA: No. And so, number 29, that 6 is Chris Constanza.
7 MR. ROMEO: Hi, my name's Mike Romeo and 8 I am taking Chris Costanza's spot. My ticket number 9 is number 33.
10 MS. JANDA: Thank you.
11 MR. ROMEO: I'm here and I'm listening to 12 all the talk and everything that everyone is worried 13 about. And, I always go back to, what is it that 14 tells someone or someone comes to the impression that 15 they come to about anything whether it's nuclear power 16 or any other technology or any other thing in our 17 lives?
18 And, I always come back to, I try to base 19 my decisions based on things that I know, things that 20 I've either been taught, things that I've read from 21 reliable sources, things that I personally have 22 touched and felt.
23 I've worked in nuclear power for a long 24 time. I entered the nuclear Navy and I started 25 working at nuclear power plants.
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136 1 I've established a residence here in 2 Massachusetts and I work at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power 3 Station.
4 The people that I've encountered in my 5 life in nuclear power have always based their 6 discussion on things that they would bet or value that 7 it was fact. It is reality, it is what happens. It's 8 how we have to be to be able to operate a technology 9 that has the ability to affect so many.
10 We have to know for sure that what we're 11 doing is the right thing.
12 And my SRO license, my Senior Reactor 13 Operator license was not given to me, it was earned.
14 And, I sat through and learned a lot of things and the 15 regulator comes in and evaluates what I know to be 16 able to operate that facility.
17 And, I appreciate that. That's something 18 that I know have solace in, that everyone that gets 19 one of those licenses has proven themselves based on 20 technology and information that is vetted to be 21 accurate and correct.
22 And, based on everything I've learned in 23 all of the years I've operated nuclear power plants or 24 been a member of a team that operates nuclear power 25 plants, I have never come across someone that NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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137 1 generated an opinion based on rhetoric, based on 2 misguided information, based on emotion, pure emotion.
3 You have to take emotion out of what you know and why 4 you know it and you've really got to understand the 5 technology and understand why it works.
6 And, I believe nuclear power is one of 7 those things we're going to miss if this country 8 continues to shut down very valuable, very premium 9 operating nuclear plants.
10 And, I think that we do need to come up 11 with a solution to the country's energy problems and 12 provide baseload power that does not rely on fossil 13 fuels.
14 Thank you.
15 (APPLAUSE) 16 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
17 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is number 66, 18 Heather Lightener. Heather's not here? Okay.
19 We'll move on to number 11, Edward 20 Sanchez.
21 Hi, did you have a ticket number?
22 MS. NAPLES: Hi, I did, number five, Amy 23 Naples.
24 MS. JANDA: Okay, thank you.
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138 1 Naples. I am a life-long resident of Plymouth, a 2 supporter of Entergy, and I am also the Executive 3 Director for the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce.
4 I wanted to speak -- ooh, excuse me. I 5 wanted to speak on the tremendous economic benefits 6 Pilgrim Station provides to our region.
7 Approximately, $150 Million annual income and revenue, 8 provided by plant operation, to the region, which 9 sustains 560 jobs, with high wages payroll of about 10 $55 Million, with nearly 85 percent of its employees 11 living in Plymouth, or Barnesville Counties, 12 stimulating our economy, workforce clustered near 13 their plant, and positive effect on town and region 14 with lower income totals and higher seasonal jobs.
15 A Hundred and Five Million, from plant 16 employees and vendors, created second wave economic 17 impact, supporting an additional 600 jobs to the 18 region, significant spending in non-nuclear 19 industries, high levels of home ownership, and tax 20 revenues, significant spending at local hoteliers, 21 restaurants and et cetera, during refueling and local 22 residents.
23 Plant operation produces approximately 24 1,200 jobs, $14 Million in municipal taxes, $107 25 Million in wages and benefits, and $148 Million in NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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139 1 non-payroll spending.
2 In addition to providing jobs, local 3 business purchases, and tax revenue, the plant has 4 been very, very generous to local non-profits. A 5 recent study found that regional non-profit civic 6 organization and charities receive, approximately, 7 over $250,000 per year, from Pilgrim Station, much of 8 it directed toward environmental, educational, and 9 elder services in Plymouth and neighboring towns.
10 This total does not include in-kind gifts, employee 11 giving, and volunteering in our community.
12 In my opinion, Entergy has given millions 13 to our community. The impact it has had on our 14 organization, personally, the Plymouth Area Chamber of 15 Commerce, we wouldn't be able to provide over 90-plus 16 events for our business community, as well as our 17 local community.
18 It supports over 5,000 businesses, with 19 small business education programs, networking 20 opportunities, and facilitating over 151 to one small 21 business counseling sessions.
22 Pilgrim Station gives us the opportunity 23 to provide these important resources and opportunities 24 to local businesses, entrepreneurs, veterans of our 25 community.
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140 1 I hope my comments give you a strong 2 understanding of the Plymouth Area Chamber of 3 Commerce's support to Entergy and its dedicated 4 employees.
5 We feel strongly that the Pilgrim Station 6 has had and continues to have a tremendous economic 7 impact on our region, while contributing to the 8 community, as a whole. Thank you for all of your 9 contributions.
10 (Applause.)
11 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
12 (Off the record comments.)
13 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is Number 61, 14 Paul Jean.
15 MR. JEAN: Good evening. My name is Paul 16 Jean, I'm the Chairman of the Board of the Plymouth 17 Philharmonic Orchestra, and I just want to speak to 18 Entergy's role, as a community partner.
19 From the Orchestra's perspective, Entergy 20 has been a tremendous supporter of our programing, 21 over the many, over many years. They have been some 22 of our leading concert sponsors, helping us to provide 23 live music to hundreds of thousands of people in 24 Plymouth and the South Shore.
25 More, more recently, they have been NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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141 1 supporting some of our educational programing in the 2 Plymouth Public Schools and in school districts 3 throughout the South Shore.
4 So I would support what the prior speaker 5 said, is that the impact of Entergy on the community 6 has been extremely positive and I, and the 7 Philharmonic, for one, is concerned about the loss of 8 their support, when the plant closes in 2019. Thank 9 you.
10 (Applause.)
11 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
12 MS. JANDA: Next speaker will be Number 13 16, Mary Connolly.
14 (Off the record comments.)
15 MR. PERRY: Yes, my name's Doug Perry. I 16 work at this station. I've worked here, well, off and 17 on since 1988, when I got out of the Navy. And it's 18 been interesting over the last three years, or about 19 two-and-a-half years, I guess, I've been back, in my 20 latest trip to Pilgrim, the, just the, the attitudes 21 and the changes that I've seen, over the course of the 22 years, since, you know, 1988.
23 I think it's a tribute to the dedication 24 of the workforce of the, all the folks that, that I 25 worked with, over the last, however long it's been, I NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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142 1 guess, 30 years, that we've taken the lessons that 2 have, you know, we've learned, over the course of that 3 time, and turned that into a positive performance.
4 You know, it's not always perfect, we 5 still have, we're on a journey and, you know, we're 6 going to continue to strive to achieve the, the best 7 that we can be, over the course of the next 14 months 8 that we have.
9 But, I can see that it's gone, you know, 10 it keeps getting better as, as time goes on. And I, 11 again, I attribute that to the, to the good folks that 12 I work with everyday.
13 I thought it was interesting, some of the, 14 the venom, kind of, poured out on the, on the NRC 15 folks, probably not, it's probably difficult to sit up 16 at the table and take that, for the, over the course 17 of the night.
18 But, I think that it's a team, you know, 19 and by, I don't mean that we're all, you know, 20 huddling up trying to, you know, figure out the, how 21 to make Pilgrim go forth and, and, when we shouldn't 22 be, necessarily, but it takes a good regulator and a, 23 a good utility to make a good nuclear power plant, and 24 I think that we, we have that.
25 One thing that's, a few people have NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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143 1 brought out is the, you know, the importance of 2 nuclear power toward, in a, a carbon-neutral 3 environment going forward and the importance of that 4 on the, you know, the weather and the environment that 5 we've, that we've seen, over the course of, you know, 6 last month, particularly.
7 We need to think about how we're going to 8 replace the benefits of nuclear power, should we 9 choose to go forward down the road of, you know, 10 closing plants that we're seeing over the last few 11 years. And I, I think it's important that we consider 12 that in the, for the future, and to keep the storms, 13 again, down to a minimum. Thank you.
14 (Applause.)
15 MR. KLUKAN: Yes, thank you.
16 (Applause.)
17 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is Number 10, 18 Raja Paranjoppi (phonetic).
19 (Off the record comments.)
20 MS. JANDA: Okay, we'll move on to Number 21 39, who is Joanne Geary (phonetic).
22 MS. GEARY: Hi. I just have a question 23 that's, kind of, obvious to me, maybe nobody else, the 24 elephant in the room. My concern, I think Entergy has 25 done a great job. I've been here since it was built.
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144 1 I know how it was built. I know who built it.
2 The elephant in the room is, what about 3 the spent fuel? What happened? Yes, nuclear power is 4 great, except, what's left over, and it's not leaving.
5 Who's going to take care of that? Who's going to 6 watch it?
7 Who's going to make sure that we are safe 8 from that? Yes, nuclear power, if we didn't have 9 spent fuel, would be fabulous, but that's my concern.
10 I have grandchildren. That's all I have to say.
11 (Applause.)
12 (Off the record comments.)
13 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
14 (Off the record comments.)
15 MS. JANDA: The next speaker will be --
16 (Off the record comments.)
17 MS. JANDA: Oh.
18 (Off the record comments.)
19 MR. KLUKAN: Oh, was there a question 20 there? Did you want to --
21 (Off the record comments.)
22 MS. DICKINSON: She has two minutes and 13 23 seconds, she wanted to cede it to me, is that okay?
24 (Off the record comments.)
25 MS. DICKINSON: No, no, I don't want to --
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145 1 (Off the record comments.)
2 MS. DICKINSON: Okay.
3 MS. JANDA: And your number was?
4 MS. DICKINSON: I think it was six.
5 MS. JANDA: You are Elizabeth Hogan?
6 (Off the record comments.)
7 MS. DICKINSON: Yes, well --
8 (Off the record comments.)
9 MS. DICKINSON: It's getting late.
10 (Off the record comments.)
11 MS. DICKINSON: I have not spoken.
12 (Off the record comments.)
13 MS. DICKINSON: My name is Elaine 14 Dickinson and I live on Cape Cod.
15 (Off the record comments.)
16 MS. DICKINSON: And I thank the forum for 17 happening. And, those of us, who came from down the 18 Cape, we have no gripe with the Entergy workers, as 19 previous speaker said, you know, we're glad that you 20 are doing a good job, otherwise, we wouldn't be here 21 at all.
22 However, most of our gripe is with the 23 NRC, because on your Website, you have a logo that 24 says protecting people and the environment. And you 25 also have another pretty little logo, the same thing.
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146 1 Okay, it's your public mandate to protect 2 us. Your protection has downgraded the Pilgrim 3 reactor to the lowest in the country, one step above 4 a shutdown. This hasn't made us safer. After so many 5 years of more oversight, how have you helped make 6 Pilgrim safer? It's still in Column 4.
7 Now we have the whole issue of the 8 degrading boraflex panels, which keeps people awake at 9 night worrying, with that overstuffed spent fuel pool 10 and the boraflex panel, supposedly, keeping them from 11 spontaneous combustion.
12 The fact that it hasn't had an accident is 13 pure luck and you people know it. The storms come and 14 Pilgrim stays running, even when the streets are 15 flooded and trees are down and no way to safely 16 evacuate the residents, or the workers.
17 The workers, okay, how are you going to 18 get out of there? The emails between MEMA and Entergy 19 shows that Entergy is ignoring the known dangers. How 20 irresponsible. And you, the regulatory agency, allow 21 it.
22 You get paid a portion of your salaries 23 from our tax dollars, but 90 percent of what you get 24 paid comes from what you bill Entergy. Almost like a 25 lawyer, working workable hours, payable hours, thus NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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147 1 making it cheaper for more oversight than for the 2 owner to fix the problems. Given that, 90 percent of 3 your salary is from the fees you charge Entergy, this 4 is a blatant conflict of interest. We call BS.
5 (Applause.)
6 MR. KLUKAN: Okay. Thank you for your 7 statement, do you have a question in there? Or --
8 (Off the record comments.)
9 MR. KLUKAN: Okay. Stop.
10 (Off the record comments.)
11 MR. KLUKAN: We can certainly give you a 12 --
13 (Off the record comments.)
14 MR. KLUKAN: We can give you an update on 15 the boraflex panels, in fact, Erin has looked at that, 16 recently. I would want to clarify and I think it's 17 been mentioned a few times, we get our budget from 18 Congress. Any fees that we collect does not go back 19 to the NRC, it goes back to the Treasury. So I just 20 want to clarify that.
21 MS. CARFANG: And on, regarding the 22 boraflex, Pilgrim has redone their analysis and they 23 no longer take credit for the boraflex in those panels 24 and the pool is still safe. And we have had several 25 people that --
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148 1 (Off the record comments.)
2 MS. CARFANG: That means we assume that 3 boraflex, it's something that absorbs neutrons, and so 4 what we assume is that, there is no material there to 5 absorb those neutrons, and that the pool is still 6 okay.
7 In fact, we documented this in our 8 Inspection Report in 2017, when we took a look at 9 some, we had somebody go through this and re-amp, to 10 review the analysis of the site performed and we 11 agreed that that was adequate for the current 12 configuration of the pool.
13 And I'd be happy to discuss, after this 14 meeting. I don't want to take all of your time for 15 speaking, but we can have a discussion with that, 16 about that, after this meeting.
17 MR. KLUKAN: Okay, thank you.
18 MS. JANDA: The next speaker is Number 50, 19 Lilia Franton (phonetic). Is Lilia still here?
20 (Off the record comments.)
21 MS. JANDA: Okay. Then, the next speaker 22 will be Number 30, which was Daniel Dove, is he still 23 here? He's already spoken, but if he has somebody he 24 wants to speak in his place?
25 (Off the record comments.)
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149 1 MS. JANDA: Not here, either. Okay, 2 Number 5, and Number 5 was Amy Naples and she, also, 3 spoke already. Is Amy still here?
4 (Off the record comments.)
5 PARTICIPANT: Is Amy still here? No, she 6 left.
7 MS. JANDA: Okay.
8 (Off the record comments.)
9 PARTICIPANT: Number 35, Richard Sherman.
10 Number 40 --
11 (Off the record comments.)
12 MS. JANDA: Oh.
13 PARTICIPANT: Richard is actually here.
14 PARTICIPANT: Oh, Richard is here.
15 (Off the record comments.)
16 PARTICIPANT: Okay, and after Richard will 17 be Number 43, Jim (indiscernible).
18 MR. SHERMAN: My name is Rick Sherman. I, 19 I went to Plymouth schools, I enjoyed the tax revenue 20 that Pilgrim Station gave to town, with the PCA 21 access, the Plymouth (indiscernible) at the meeting 22 school, our planetarium, and so we are, so, so I 23 appreciate the tax revenue and the economic -- but --
24 as you can tell, I'm not a public speaker.
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150 1 there during the storms. And I'll tell you, there was 2 no flooding at Pilgrim. The Anamet Duxbury was 3 getting flooded out, but Pilgrim Station was not 4 getting flooded, it was not getting flooding out.
5 There was no issue, as far as flooding goes. I, I 6 don't know what else to say. Thank you.
7 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
8 (Applause.)
9 MS. JANDA: And Number 43, Jim Teramena 10 (phonetic).
11 PARTICIPANT: I think Jim left.
12 MS. JANDA: Okay, thanks.
13 PARTICIPANT: We've got Number 59, a Dana 14 Swimskowski (phonetic).
15 (Off the record comments.)
16 PARTICIPANT: Okay, Number 17, Donna 17 Calvaries (phonetic).
18 (Off the record comments.)
19 PARTICIPANT: Number 56, Chris Dutch 20 (phonetic).
21 (Off the record comments.)
22 PARTICIPANT: Forty-five, (indiscernible).
23 (Off the record comments.)
24 PARTICIPANT: Twenty-seven, Demonte 25 Simpson (phonetic).
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151 1 (Off the record comments.)
2 PARTICIPANT: Twenty-four, Lee Rosco 3 (phonetic).
4 (Off the record comments.)
5 PARTICIPANT: Fifty-three, John Garrity.
6 (Off the record comments.)
7 PARTICIPANT: Oh, I'm sorry.
8 (Off the record comments.)
9 PARTICIPANT: Is Lee here?
10 PARTICIPANT: He was just in the room.
11 (Off the record comments.)
12 PARTICIPANT: Okay, well, let her go right 13 after John.
14 (Off the record comments.)
15 MR. GARRITY: Are we good?
16 PARTICIPANT: Yes, you're good, John.
17 MR. GARRITY: All right, thank you very 18 much. My name is John Garrity and I am the Recovery 19 Manager at Pilgrim Station. And I have listed to some 20 of the questions here and I, I understand your 21 frustration.
22 There's a very intense process we're 23 following to get out of Column 4. The process has 24 been laid out, it's broken into some very intense 25 inspections that we will go through, and we're working NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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152 1 with the NRC, who has put some very stringent 2 requirements on us.
3 Those inspections will go between now and 4 the end of December. They are spread out 5 strategically, such that, we have to complete specific 6 actions, and those actions are very intense. But not 7 only do we have to complete the actions, we also have 8 to show that the actions have been effective and that, 9 that we are sustaining the performance of those 10 actions.
11 This is a, this is a planned controlled 12 evolution. You've heard my workers talk about how 13 important it is for us to do things correctly, to 14 ensure that, when we do tasks, the tasks are, not only 15 to fix what the problem is now, but to make sure that 16 the underlying issue that caused the problem has been 17 identified and corrected. We take pride in that.
18 Now, I'm a father. I'm an Engineer. I'm 19 a resident of Marshfield. My biggest pride is my 20 three daughters. And, whenever we get into 21 discussions about issues that they have fear of, we 22 usually come to the conclusion that, that they're 23 uncomfortable with the information they have, about 24 whatever it is they're afraid of.
25 I, I, I've heard people, in this room, who NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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153 1 are very frustrated, and I challenge you that, the 2 frustration comes from lack of knowledge. I, I can 3 also tell you that, the individuals at that table up 4 there, are very trustworthy. They, they have very 5 high integrity.
6 They have pointed out issues to us that we 7 have taken ownership of, at Pilgrim Station. They're 8 our problems. We are solving those problems. This 9 plant will operate safely, until June of 2019. We 10 will ensure that and we are working with the people at 11 the head table, to make sure that we follow the rules 12 that they set for us.
13 We take pride in what we do. We do not 14 take shortcuts. We look at risk every single day, 15 because, the people we love are effected by the risk 16 that we have. Thank you very much.
17 (Applause.)
18 MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
19 (Applause.)
20 PARTICIPANT: All right, Lee Rosco's left.
21 We've got Number 41, Irene Caldwell.
22 (Off the record comments.)
23 PARTICIPANT: Okay. Number 14, John 24 Gauldy, Gauldy (phonetic).
25 (Off the record comments.)
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154 1 PARTICIPANT: Okay, he's not here. Number 2 20, Diane Jerko (phonetic), do you want to cede your 3 time to anyone?
4 (Off the record comments.)
5 MS. ALTAIR: I'm Sarah Altair (phonetic).
6 I live in Kingston, eight miles from the plant. And 7 I've been coming to these meetings for years and 8 hearing all sides of the issue.
9 And I want to make it clear, to people who 10 work at the plant, who believe that nuclear energy is 11 safe, that I believe you. I, I understand that you're 12 good people and you're doing your job and I'm really, 13 really glad.
14 But I, personally, who am a citizen of 15 Kingston, am scared, not just of nothing. I'm afraid 16 that, all the NRC is looking at is this list of things 17 that are expected. There's no, they're not looking at 18 the unexpected. Like, Fukushima wasn't expected.
19 So it seems to me that, we're here tonight 20 because it's the NRC's job to protect the people and 21 the environment of, of all of us, of all us people and 22 you guys, who work there.
23 Yes, you're looking at this list of 24 regulations that are covered by federal law that 25 they're checking up on you, to see if you're just NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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155 1 living up to what's the best, and they say you are, 2 and I believe that.
3 What, what I don't see that the NRC is 4 taking into consideration, is, is the unexpected, and 5 how could they? But, look at Chernobyl and look at 6 Fukushima.
7 And, I, I don't think the NRC's job is to 8 worry about the economy. I don't think it's to worry 9 about people's jobs. I think it's to worry about the 10 health and safety of all of us and, and the 11 environment.
12 And I, for one, is incredibly, incredibly 13 concerned about all of that nuclear waste that's 14 sitting there, has no place to go. And, even after 15 the plant is closed, I'm very concerned, you know, 16 that we're going to need good, good regulation and 17 some people down there to keep it safe.
18 But, I just, I want you, I, main, mainly, 19 the people, who are here, who believe that they're, 20 in, in nuclear energy -- and I'm not saying I don't, 21 I just think, this particular plant is old, it's had 22 lots of problems, and it's, everybody's just running 23 after fixing everything up.
24 I can see my time is getting low, but I 25 just had to say, I don't think it's the NRC's job to NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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156 1 be worrying about the economy, or about people's jobs, 2 it's your job to protect people, all people, all 3 people and the environment.
4 (Off the record comments.)
5 (Applause.)
6 PARTICIPANT: Well thank you. And I, I 7 agree that our job is only to protect people and 8 safety.
9 PARTICIPANT: Yes. Hey, Dave, can I just 10 mention, briefly, that, you know, twice tonight we've 11 heard comments about the, the ISFIC (phonetic) that 12 remains over at Pilgrim.
13 I just want to let you know that, that 14 Entergy remains responsible for the oversight of that 15 fuel, even after the plant is closed down. They, they 16 are, they hold the licenses for those, for that 17 facility, they remain responsible.
18 And we, the NRC, do have specific 19 inspection activities that continue to be applied. So 20 the fuel is not left unattended, or, or uninspected, 21 both of those things continue to occur, by law, and, 22 and for public health and safety. So I just wanted to 23 let you know.
24 (Off the record comments.)
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157 1 speaker, the last speaker that are here will be 2 Elizabeth Hogan (phonetic).
3 (Off the record comments.)
4 PARTICIPANT: Okay. Susan Carpenter.
5 (Off the record comments.)
6 PARTICIPANT: Michael Romeo.
7 (Off the record comments.)
8 PARTICIPANT: Okay. Do you want to cede 9 your time to anyone?
10 (Off the record comments.)
11 PARTICIPANT: No, okay. Next will be Jen 12 Farmentor (phonetic).
13 (Off the record comments.)
14 PARTICIPANT: Is Jen here?
15 (Off the record comments.)
16 PARTICIPANT: Okay.
17 PARTICIPANT: As the last speaker, I say, 18 thank you, and let's go home.
19 (Laughter.)
20 (Applause.)
21 MR. KLUKAN: Okay, well thank you. And, 22 and I want to thank everyone for participating and 23 staying as long as we have. So with that, we'll 24 adjourn the meeting.
25 (Off the record comments.)
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158 1 MS. JANDA: And just a reminder, at the 2 registration table, there's some feedback forms. So 3 I'm looking forward to our next meeting. We'll 4 welcome your comments and ideas on what we can do to 5 improve the conduct of the meeting. And thank you, 6 everyone, for coming tonight.
7 (Whereupon, the meeting in the above-8 entitled matter was adjourned.)
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