ML20059C810
| ML20059C810 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Yankee Rowe |
| Issue date: | 11/18/1993 |
| From: | Chilk S NRC OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY (SECY) |
| To: | Katz F CITIZENS AWARENESS NETWORK |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20059C773 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9401060102 | |
| Download: ML20059C810 (3) | |
Text
0
....r.
\\.
UNITED STATES v.
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 5
b-dj i
~
.usmucion o c.::sss
- DE.if f
....'.. f Rovemoer 18. H93 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY Mr. Fred Kat:
Citizens Awareness Network RR1 Box 83 Shelbourne Falls, Massachusetts 01370
Dear Mr. Kat :
This letter responds to your letter to me dated September 8, 1993.
In that letter, you ask for a " hearing on the early Oc=ponent Removal Project (CRP) at Yankee Rowe."
However, as you note in your letter, the NRC held a public meeting near the Yankee Rowe site on June 9, 1993, at which approximately 12 NRC staff and management personnel were present to explain the decc=missioning process and to answer questions by members of the public.
Your letter does not identify any way in which that meeting was deficient and the NRC believes that it has taken every reasonable effort to inform members of the public of the preposed actions for decommissioning the Yankee Rowe facility.
If you intended your letter to be a request for a formal adjudicator / hearing pursuant to Part 2 of the NRC's regulations, you have f ailed to idencify the proposed action that might be taken by the NRC Staff that requires the offer of an adjudicatory hearing.
In addition, there are currently no outstanding notices of proposed actions which contain the of fer of an adjudicatory hearing.
The Atomic Energy Act gives interested persons the right to request a hearing on license or amendment proceedings, but the NRC cannot grant a hearing unless a particular proceeding is identified.
During the past eight months, the NRC Staff has issued seven (7) amend =ents to the Yankee Rowe license.
Before each amendment was issued, the NRC published a notice of the requested amendment in the Federal Register, announcing the proposed action'and offering an adjudicatory hearing regarding the amendment.
- However, because no person or organization requested a hearing on any of the proposed amendments, no hearings have been held.
If the licensee requests additional amendments, the NRC Staff will again publish notice of each proposed amendment, together with an announcement of the opportunity for a hearing regarding that preposed amendment, in the Federal Register.
In addition, you allege that the Commission has violated the rulemaking process by granting the licensee permission to engage in the CRP program.
However, 10 C.F.R. 550.12 provides that the 9401060102 931229 PDR ADOCK 05000029 P
16 Mr. Fred Fatz
-2 v-NRC ray grant an exemption from an NRC regulation if special j
circumstances are present and the granting of the exemption does not present an undue risk to the public health and safety..- In this case. - the NRC has issued six exemptions to the.. licensee
{
within the last eight months, based upon the " possession only"
~
license and the defueled condition of_the plant.
Each of the exemptions was announced in the Federal Register and, moreover','
prier to issuing one of the exemptions the NRC Staff published 'an Environmental Assessment of the proposed exemption in the Federal.
1 Register.
In addition,. the NRC Staff is preparing to issues two other exemptions as-this letter is being. drafted..However, none of these exemptions is either directly or indirectly connected I
with the CRP proj ect.
In any event, the granting of an_ exemption
-j is a well-recogni=ed legal concept and does not constitute a violation of the_rulemaking process.
Finally, the Commission has issued guidance to the NRC Staff interpreting the NRC's decommissioning regulations found in 1
I am informed that you received a copy of this guidance as an attachment to a letter from the NRC Staff to the licensee dated March 29, 1993, which was provided to your organization.
An additional copy of this guidance is enclosed
)
with this letter.
Under this guidance, NRC licensees may initiate some j
decc::missioning activities prior to approval of asi overall decc=missioning plan if those activities do not violate either the language or the intent of the Commission's decommissioning rules.
More specifically, the licensee may undertake preliminary decer:missioning activities that do not (1) foreclose future release of the site for unrestricted use, (2) significantly-increase dece=missioning costs, (3) cause a significant d
environmental impact which has not been previously reviewed, or 1
(4) violate the terms of either the - existing license or 10 C.F.R..
'l 550.59.
In addition, the licensee may use its decomunissioning'-
funds.for these activities._ However, this guidance does not constitute a violation of the rulemaking process because 'it does not create logr.1 rights or obligations.
If you believe.that J
applicatien of this guidance to any particular. action at. Yankee
~
Rowe will create a safety or - environmental problem, please -
.previde us with specific information regarding that potential. j problem.
'l In accord with the provisions of this guidance,..the NRC Staff has allcwed Yankee Rowe to initiate some decommissioning activities
- l prier to approval of the decommissioning plan.
This approval was j
contained in a letter to the licensee dated July 15, 1993, and~
provided to your organization.
In accordance with that approval, the licensee has removed the steam generators, the pressurizer, and some reactor internals from the Yankee Rowe containment and is preparing to ship them to the Barnwell facility in South i'j
.a u
L.1 -
.e
(
Mr. Tred Kat:
3 Carclina for disposal as low-level waste.
This acticn will
. remove a significant source of radioactivity from the. Yankee Rowe ec== unity and significantly reduce the licensee's deccamissioning costs.
.71nally, the NRC has reviewed the proposed shipment of~the steam f
generators and has issued a certificate of Compliance and a j
Safety Evaluation Report approving the shipping package.
A copy.
j of the._ Certificate of Compliance and the Safety Evaluation Report is also enclosed with this letter.
In addition, the NRC will be i
issuing safety Inspection Report No. 50-29/93-07,. describing the i
removal of the ~ steam generators from the containment structure, in the very near future.
That document will be forwarded to_you.
as well as being placed'in1theLYankee Rowe Local Public Document i
Roo= as soon as it -is issued.
i S
scarely l
l
\\
u amuel J.
Chilk Secretary pf the Commission'
{
Enclosures:
1.
Memorandum from Samuel J. Chilk, Secretary, to James M.
Taylor, Executive Director for operations, and William C.
Parler, General Counsel (January 14, 1993).
t 2.
Letter from Cass R. Chappell, NRC, to Mr. Jay K. Thayer, t
Yankee Atomic Electric Company (October 28, 1993),
transmitting Certificate of Compliance No. 9256, Revision No.
O, and accompanying Safety Evaluation Report.
1 II cc:
Mr. Jay K.
Thayer, YAEC i
I l
I
..,._y o-