ML20116B317

FOIA Request for Documents Re Point Beach Npp,Involving Gaseous Ignition Incident During Welding of Spent Fuel Cask

ML20116B317
Person / Time
Site:	Point Beach
Issue date:	06/04/1996
From:	Dums D CITIZENS' UTILITY BOARD
To:	Racquel Powell NRC OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION (ADM)
References
FOIA-96-244 NUDOCS 9607290209
Download: ML20116B317 (3)

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1 CITIZENS' UTILITY BOARD ,

l 16 N. Carroll St., Suite 300 + Madison, WI 53703 - (608) 251-3322 + FAX (608) 251-7609 -

l EllEEDOM 0F INFORMATION June 4, 1996 , ' MT REQUEST Of//-% 0Y Mr. Russell Powell Branch Chief FOIA/LPDF kcp [-* 7d Nuclear Regulatory Commission l Washington, D.C.

20555 l RE: Freedom of Information Act Request

Dear Mr. Powell:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 522, as amended and 10 C.F.R. Part 9.41, the Wisconsin Citizens' Utility Board (CUB) reqcasts the following documents:

1. Please provide any and all documents that make a specific reference to the event at the Point Beach nuclear power plant, Dockets 50-266 and 50-301, involving a gaseous ignition i incident during the welding of a spent fuel cask. This event was identified by the NRC in Preliminary Notification of Event or Unusual Occurrence PNO-III-96-033 on May 28, 1996;

2. Please provide any and all documents that address the generation of explosive gases during any phase of operation of the VSC-24 system;

3. Please provide any and all documents that address the ignition of explosive gases during any phase of operation of the VSC-24 system.

For purposes of this request, please consider " documents" to l include reports, studies, test results, correspondence, memoranda, l l meeting notes, meeting minutes, working papers, graphs, charts, diagrams, notes and summaries of conversations and interviews, computer records, and any other form of written communications including internal NRC memoranda.

Pursuant to and in compliance with 10 C.F.R.

agency's regulations and 5 U.S.C. 552 governing requests for waiver 9.41 of the gf'kl I of fees, CUB puts forth the following information. (

l CUB was incorporated pursuant to Chapter 181, 1979, of the D 9607290209 960604 t PDR FOIA l DUMS96-244 PDR gat g w wmr e l

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t Wisconsin Statutes. CUB is exempt from Federal income tax under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. CUB is also exempt from Wisconsin franchise tax.

The restricted fund (public interest fund) is exempt from ,

Federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The fund is also exempt from Wisconsin income taxes. The restricted fund (public-interest fund) was established on February 1, 1981, and reorganized on April 28, 1986 to correspond to the new structure of the CUB. The fund engages in charitable, scientific,  !

literary and educational activities on behalf of CUB.

CUB has 20,000 members wr e are residential ratepayers in '

Wisconsin. CUB represents the more than two million residential

ratepaye'rs in the state. CUB's purpose continues to be the .

! statutory purpose set forth under sec. 199.02, Wis. Stats.:

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.to promote the health, welfare and prosperity of all the citizens of this state by ensuring effective and democratic representation of individual farmers and other individual residential utility consumers before regulatory agencies, the legislature and other public bodies and by providing for consumer education on utility service costs and on benefits

and methods of energy conservation. J l

CUB seeks the requested information to become informed of the causes, consequences, and-remedies of and for an incident which l took place on May 28, 1996 involving the use of the VSC-24 storage system for spent nuclear fuel.

! CUB intends to use the information to assist in its t

participation in any proceedings before the NRC, before state regulatory agencies, and as part of CUB's ongoing ef fort to educate the public on nuclear waste storage issues in Wisconsin.

The information sought, is not, to the best of our knowledge, in the public domain. The general public in Wisconsin has displayed great interest in nuclear waste issues and have a direct interest in NRC actions regarding the VSC-24 dry cask storage system.

CUB has demonstrated its ability and commitment to inform the public on all important nuclear waste storage issues in Wisconsin.

CUB provides this information free of charge through newsletters, educational pamphlets, and correspondence to its members, other residential ratepayers, legislators, and policy makers, and has neither a commercial nor a private interest in the agency records sought.

Under the amended fee waiver standard, CUB is clearly entitled to a full waiver of all search, review and duplication fees. This standard calls for such a waiver, "if disclosure of the information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to the public understanding of the operation or 4

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activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial ]

interest of the requester." 5 U.S.C. 552 (1)(4)(A)(iii).

In light of the foregoing, CUB meets this standard on its face. CUB has no commercial interest in this matter, but rather seeks this information to help the general public better understand l the role of government in regulating the nuclear industry's radioactive waste storage activities.

For the reasons cited above, CUB's request falls squarely within the Congressional intent in enacting the Freedom of l Information Act and the fee waiver provision. CUB, therefore, asks l that the NRC grant a full fee waiver for this FOIA request. j Thank you for your anticipated cooperation. If you have any questions in regards to this request, please feel free to contact me at your earliest convenience. Please contact me before acquiring and sending the requested information if the fee waiver l 1s not applied. i Sincerely, b

Dennis Dums e

Research Director l

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