ML20049H336
| ML20049H336 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Indian Point  |
| Issue date: | 02/18/2020 |
| From: | Annette Vietti-Cook NRC/SECY |
| To: | Engel E, Gillibrand K, Lowey N, Maloney S, Schumer C US HR (House of Representatives), US SEN (Senate) |
| SECY RAS | |
| References | |
| 50-003-LT-3, 50-247-LT-3, 50-286-LT-3, 72-51-LT-2, License Transfer, NRC-2020-0021, RAS 55571 | |
| Download: ML20049H336 (9) | |
Text
{{#Wiki_filter:UNITED ST ATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 The Honorable Charles E. Schumer United States Senate Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Schumer:
. February 18, 2020 On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am responding to your letter of January 31, 2020, to Chairman Svinicki regarding the Indian Point Energy Center license transfer request from Entergy and Holtec (Docket Nos. 50-003, 50-247, 50-286 and 72-051 ). Your letter expresses support for the NRC to hold a hearing on the license transfer application should the State of New York or other interested persons request a hearing. Because the NRC received multiple requests for hearing on the matter, your letter bears on what is now a contested adjudication before the Commission and it would be inappropriate for the Chairman to discuss the matter at this time. This is because the Commission must remain impartial during the pendency of the adjudication. The hearing requests and arguments made concerning the timing of a hearing will be considered in accordance with the agency's procedures. A copy of your letter and this response will be served on the participants in the Indian Point license transfer proceeding. Sincerely, Annette L. Vietti-Cook
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 The Honorable Kirsten Gillibrand United States Senate Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Gillibrand:
February 18, 2020 On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am responding to your letter of January 31, 2020, to Chairman Svinicki regarding the Indian Point Energy Center license transfer request from Entergy and Holtec (Docket Nos. 50-003, 50-247, 50-286 and 72-051 ). Your letter expresses support for the NRC to hold a hearing on the license transfer application should the State of New York or other interested persons request a hearing. Because the NRC received multiple requests for hearing on the matter, your letter bears on what is now a contested adjudication before the Commission and it would be inappropriate for the Chairman to discuss the matter at this time. This is because the Commission must remain impartial during the pendency of the adjudication. The hearing requests and arguments made concerning the timing of a hearing will be considered in accordance with the agency's procedures. A copy of your letter and this response will be served on the participants in the Indian Point license transfer proceeding. Sincerely, ~V,.;W-~ Annette L. Vietti-Cook
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 February 18, 2020 The Honorable Sean Patrick Maloney United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Maloney:
On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am responding to your letter of January 31, 2020, to Chairman Svinicki regarding the Indian Point Energy Center license transfer request from Entergy and Holtec (Docket Nos. 50-003, 50-247, 50-286 and 72-051 ). Your letter expresses support for the NRC to hold a hearing on the license transfer application should the State of New York or other interested persons request a hearing. Because the NRC received multiple requests for hearing on the matter, your letter bears on what is now a contested adjudication before the Commission and it would be inappropriate for the Chairman to discuss the matter at this time. This is because the Commission must remain impartial during the pendency of the adjudication. The hearing requests and arguments made concerning the timing of a hearing will be considered in accordance with the agency's procedures. A copy of your letter and this response will be served on the participants in the Indian Point license transfer proceeding. Sincerely, ~~~ Annette L. Vietti-Cook
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 February 18, 2020 The Honorable Nita M. Lewey United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Lewey:
On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am responding to your letter of January 31, 2020, to Chairman Svinicki regarding the Indian Point Energy Center license transfer request from Entergy and Holtec (Docket Nos. 50-003, 50-247, 50-286 and 72-051 ). Your letter expresses support for the NRC to hold a hearing on the license transfer application should the State of New York or other interested persons request a hearing. Because the NRC received multiple requests for hearing on the matter, your letter bears on what is now a contested adjudication before the Commission and it would be inappropriate for the Chairman to discuss the matter at this time. This is because the Commission must remain impartial during the pendency of the adjudication. The hearing requests and arguments made concerning the timing of a hearing will be considered in accordance with the agency's procedures. A copy of your letter and this response will be served on the participants in the Indian Point license transfer proceeding. Sincerely, ~ Ui. .ctJ;J~~ Annette L. Vietti-Cook
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 February 18, 2020 The Honorable Eliot L. Engel United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Engel:
On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am responding to your letter of January 31, 2020, to Chairman Svinicki regarding the Indian Point Energy Center license transfer request from Entergy and Holtec (Docket Nos. 50-003, 50-247, 50-286 and 72-051 ). Your letter expresses support for the NRC to hold a hearing on the license transfer application should the State of New York or other interested persons request a hearing. Because the NRC received multiple requests for hearing on the matter, your letter bears on what is now a contested adjudication before the Commission and it would be inappropriate for the Chairman to discuss the matter at this time. This is because the Commission must remain impartial during the pendency of the adjudication. The hearing requests and arguments made concerning the timing of a hearing will be considered in accordance with the agency's procedures. A copy of your letter and this response will be served on the participants in the Indian Point license transfer proceeding. Sincerely, ~~-{d---' Annette L. Vietti-Cook
iinittd ~tatrs ~rnatr WASHINGTON, DC 20510 Hon. Kristine L. Svinicki Chairman U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Mail Stop 0*16 B33 Washington, DC 20555*0001 January 31, 2020 / Re: Docket Nos. 50-003, 50-247, 50-286, and 70-051; NRC-2020-0021
Dear Chairman Svinicki,
We are writing in strong support of a hearing on the Indian Point Energy Center (Indian Point) license transfer application. We anticipate that the State of New York will request a hearing pursuant to Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations set forth in 10 C.F.R. § 2.105. Should a request be made by the State of New York or any other person whose interest may be affected by the proceeding, it is imperative that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) hold the requested hearing prior to taking any action to approve the proposed license transfer from Entergy Corporation (Entergy) to subsidiaries of Holtec International (Holtec). Entergy Corporation has requested to transfer the ownership and NRC licenses for Indian Point Units 1, 2, and 3, as well as the general license for the Indian Point Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (collectively, the licenses), to subsidiaries of Holtec for the purpose of decommissioning the plant once all operating units have been permanently shut down. The proposed license transfer and decommissioning activities will have a significant impact on the State of New York and the communities near to Indian Point. This includes, but is not limited to, potential impacts to the environment, local public services, safety and emergency planning, the local workforce, and the local economy. Additionally, we believe that there must be robust and transparent scrutiny of the proposed use of the Decommissioning Trust Fund money for activities unrelated to radiological d~ommissioning as well as Holtec's ability to safely and successfully carry out the site's decommissioning through to completion. The state and other relevant interveners must be given an opportunity to present their views on the license transfer to the NRC before the Commission decides whether to approve the application. We are very concerned that recently, despite filing a request for a hearing, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was not granted a hearing by the NRC before the Commission approved the license transfer from Entergy to Holtec for the decommissioning of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, Massachusetts. We find that to be wholly unacceptable and not consistent with the procedure for handling requests for a hearing or a petition for leave to intervene pursuant to NRC's regulations as set forth in 10 C.F.R. § 2.105(e). Therefore, it is essential that you not follow the same pattern and instead ensure that, if requested, a hearing is held before any further action is taken by the NRC to approve the license application.
Shutting the representatives of the state and local communities and other stakeholders out of the process would not be in the public interest. Without a hearing, we do not believe that the NRC can make a fully informed decision on whether to grant the license transfer, as a hearing is the only way for the state and other interveners to present their views and concerns as part of the decisional record for this proposed action. Thank you for your attention to this matter. We hope you will ensure a fair process for our constituents in all proceedings and actions by the NRC pertaining to the decommissioning of Indian Point. Charles E. Schumer United States Senator NitaM. owey Member of Congress Se~ Member of Congress Sincerely, cc: Commissioners Baran, Caputo, and Wright Annette Vietti-Cook, Secretary to the Commission Eugene Daucus, Director, Office of Congressional Affairs ~ ...,l/,'1&'1,.11u(. Kirsten Gillibrand United States Senator f~ L. E"r-Eliot L. Engel Member of Congress
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of ) ) ENTERGY NUCLEAR OPERATIONS, INC. ) Docket Nos. 50-003-LT-3 ) 50-247-LT-3 ) 50-286-LT-3 (Indian Point Nuclear Generating Station, ) 72-51-LT-2 Units 1, 2 and 3 and ISFSI) ) CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing Letters from Secretary Annette Vietti-Cook to Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and Representatives Lowey, Engel and Maloney have been served upon the following persons by Electronic Information Exchange. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Commission Appellate Adjudication Mail Stop: O-16B33 Washington, DC 20555-0001 ocaamail@nrc.gov U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of the General Counsel Mail Stop O-14A44 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Tison Campbell, Esq. Anita Ghosh Naber, Esq. David Roth, Esq. Jeremy Wachutka, Esq. Mary Woods, Esq. Brian Newell, Paralegal tison.campbell@nrc.gov anita.ghoshnaber@nrc.gov david.roth@nrc.gov jeremy.wachutka@nrc.gov mary.woods@nrc.gov brian.newell@nrc.gov U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of the Secretary of the Commission Mail Stop: O-16B33 Washington, DC 20555-0001 hearingdocket@nrc.gov Susan Raimo, Esq. Entergy Services, LLC 101 Constitution Ave., NW Suite 200 East Washington, DC 20001 sraimo@entergy.com Counsel for Entergy Services, LLC Paul M. Bessette, Esq. Scott D. Clausen, Esq. Ryan K. Lighty, Esq. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20004 paul.bessette@morganlewis.com scott.clausen@morganlewis.com ryan.lighty@morganlewis.com
Indian Point Nuclear Generating Station Docket Nos. 50-003-LT-3, 50-247-LT-3, 50-286-LT-3 and 72-51-LT-2 Letters from Secretary Annette Vietti-Cook to Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and Representatives Lowey, Engel and Maloney 2 Counsel for Holtec International Alan D. Lovett, Esq. Nick Theodore, Esq. Balch & Bingham LLP 1710 Sixth Avenue North Birmingham, AL 35203-2015 alovett@balch.com ntheodore@balch.com New York State Office of the Attorney General The Capitol Albany, New York 12224-0341 Joshua Tallent, Esq. Lisa M. Burianek, Esq. Andrea Catalfamo, Administrative Specialist joshua.tallent@ag.ny.gov lisa.burianek@ag.ny.gov andrea.catalfamo@ag.ny.gov Counsel for Town of Cortlandt, Village of Buchanan and Hendrick Hudson School District Dane Warren, Esq. Sive, Paget, Riesel 560 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10022 dwarren@sprlaw.com Counsel for Riverkeeper, Inc. Todd Ommen, Esq. Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic, Inc. 78 North Broadway White Plains, NY 10603 tommen@law.pace.edu New York State Sen. Pete Harckham 1 Park Street Peekskill, NY 10566 Tito A Davila, Community Liaison titosd40@gmail.com Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 18th day of February, 2020. Safe Energy Rights Group, Inc. 9 McGuire Ave Pekskill, NY 10566 Curtney M. Williams, PhD mazafratz@yahoo.com Safe Energy Rights Group, Inc. 201 Union Avenue Peekkill, NY 10566 Nancy S. Vann nancy_vann@hotmail.com Private Citizen 6 Mancuso Drive Ossining, NY 10562 Henry S. Kelly hankk9468d@yahoo.com [Original signed by Krupskaya T. Castellon] Office of the Secretary of the Commission}}