ML18207A696

NRC Response to J.Ziolkowski, Chairman, Hampton Falls Board of Selectman, Ltr Request for NRC to Convene a Public Hearing with the Intent of Educating and Clarifying Any Issues Surrounding the Emergency Response Plan Currently in Effect at

ML18207A696
Person / Time
Site:	Seabrook
Issue date:	07/26/2018
From:	Ray Lorson NRC Region 1
To:	Ziolkowski J Town of Hampton Falls, NH
Tifft D
Shared Package
ML18177A405	List: ML18177A404 ML18207A696
References
LTR-18-0257-1, SST-18-1499
Download: ML18207A696 (3)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION I 2100 RENAISSANCE BOULEVARD, SUITE 100 KING OF PRUSSIA, PA 19406-2713 July 26, 2018 Mr. James E. Ziolkowski, Chairman, Hampton Falls Board of Selectmen Town of Hampton Falls Town Offices 1 Drinkwater Road Hampton Falls, NH 03844

Dear Mr. Ziolkowski:

On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am responding to your June 1, 2018, letter (ML18177A4051) regarding emergency preparedness near Seabrook Station. You also asked that the NRC convene a hearing to educate the public on the emergency plans for the area.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the NRC continue to find that State and local preparedness remains adequate to protect the health and safety of the public living in the vicinity of the Seabrook Station, and provides reasonable assurance that appropriate measures can be taken off-site in the event of a radiological emergency.

Federal oversight of emergency preparedness for licensed nuclear power plants is shared by the NRC and FEMA. FEMA has the lead for overseeing offsite planning and response, while the NRC assists FEMA in carrying out its role. We believe that your concerns regarding offsite emergency preparedness should be directed to FEMA. The State of New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have the overall authority for making protective action decisions (sheltering, evacuation, etc.) for ensuring the safety of their public during a radiological event. The states radiological emergency plans for implementing those decisions were developed by the state emergency management agencies and subsequently approved by FEMA. Additional information on these cooperative relationships between the States, FEMA and NRC are described in a fact sheet on the NRCs website at: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/emerg-plan-prep-nuc-power.html The NRC relies on FEMA to provide a reasonable assurance finding on the adequacy of offsite emergency response programs, including the means for the timely evacuation of the public, for protecting the public health and safety. FEMA performs an evaluation of the offsite performance every other year. During the most recent exercise on April 4, 2018, FEMA did not identify any findings or planning issues for the State of New Hampshire or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. FEMAs June 6, 2018, after action report documenting the results of their 1

Designation refers to an Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) accession number. Documents referenced in this letter are publicly-available using the accession number in ADAMS at https://adams.nrc.gov/wba/ For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRCs Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov.

J. E. Ziolkowski 2 evaluation can be found on the NRCs website at: https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/emerg-preparedness/related-information/fema-after-action-reports.html.

Regarding a hearing, the NRC conducted a public Annual Assessment Meeting on May 2, 2018, in Hampton, N.H. The NRC conducts meetings annually in the spring or summer to discuss our assessment of plant performance and other topics of interest to the public. We believe this meets the intent of your request because we encourage any member of the public to ask questions related to Seabrook Station. Although FEMA is the agency responsible for assessing offsite emergency preparedness, the NRC provided responses to offsite emergency preparedness questions from the public, including a representative from We The People, during the meeting. A summary of this meeting can be found at ML18142A293.

Thank you for your interest in this issue. We will continue to provide regular opportunities to address any public concerns regarding Seabrook Station, including offsite emergency preparedness. If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to contact Doug Tifft, Regional State Liaison Officer, at 610-337-6918.

Sincerely,

/RA/ Original signed by Raymond K. Lorson, Director Division of Reactor Projects cc: SColman, FEMI RI PPlummer, NH SLO

ML18207A696 PACKAGE ACCESSION NUMBER: ML18177A405 Non-Sensitive Publicly Available SUNSI Review Sensitive Non-Publicly Available OFFICE RI/RSLO RI/DRP RI/DRP NAME DTifft/dbt

• FBower/flb

• RLorson/rkl DATE 07/24/18 07/24/18 07/26/18

• see prior concurrence