ML20148J376
| ML20148J376 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 03/22/1988 |
| From: | NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | |
| References | |
| REF-10CFR9.7 NUDOCS 8803300256 | |
| Download: ML20148J376 (17) | |
Text
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4 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Title:
Affirmation / Discussion and vote (Public Meeting)
Location:
Washington, D.
C.
Cate:
March 22, 1988 Pages:
1 - 13 l
l l
Ann Riley & Associates l
Court Reporters l
1625 I Street, N.W., Suite 921 l
Washington, D.C. 20006 (202) 293-3950 l
8803300206 880324 PDR 10CFR PT9.7 PDR
O
.A 1
D I SC LA 1 MER 2
3 4
5 6
This is an unofficial transcript of a meeting of the 7
United States Nuclear Regulatory Cecmission held on a
3/22/8.8 In the Commission's office at 1717 H Street, 9
'ti. W., Washington, D.C.
The meeting was open to public 10 attendance and observation.
This transcript has not been 11 reviewed, corrected, or edited, and it may contain 12 inaccuracies.
13 The transcript is intended solely for general I
14 informational purposes.
As provided by 10 CFR 9.108, it is I
15 not part of the formal or informal record of decision of the l
l l
16 matters discussed.
Expressions of opinion in this t r a n s c r.l p t 17 do not necessarily reflect final determination or beliefs.
No l
18 pleading or other paper may be filed with the Commission in 19 any proceeding as the result of or addressed to any statement 1
20 or argument contained herein, except as the Commission may 21 authorize.
22 23 24 25
1-a 1
UllITED STATES OF AMERICA 2
ITUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSIOli 3
4 AFFIRMATION / DISCUSSIOll'AllD VOTE 5
6 7
PUBLIC MEETIllG 8
9 Iluclear Regulatory Commission 10 Room 1130 11 1717 H Street, li. U.
12 Washington, D.C.
13 March 22, 1988 14 15 The Commission met in open session, pursuant to 16 notice, at 4:11 p.m.,
the HonorableELAllDO W.
- ZECH, JR.,
17 Chairman of the Commission, presiding.
l 18 19 Commissioners Present:
l 20 21 LAllDO W.
ZECH, Chairman 22 THOMAS M.
ROBERTS, Commissioner L
l 23 FREDERICK M.
B E Ril T H A L, Commissioner 24 KEllllETH ROGERS, Commissioner 25 KEllllETH M.
CARR, Commissioner l
, _.- _ -- - _.--- --...- _ -, -,~, _ _ _---,. ~ _.... _., _ _ _ -. _ _. _
2 1
2 Staff and presenters seated at table:
3 4
S.
CHILK - SECY 5
W.
PARLER - OGC 6
J.
TAYLOR 7
8 By speaker phone 9
10 S.
E Bil E T E R 11 12 13 14 l
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
3 1
P RO C E E D I NG S.
2 CHAIRl4AN ZECH: -Good afternoon, ladies and 3
gentlemen.
We're here today to consider a Staff request 4
provided to the Commission in two recent Staff papers 5
concerning the Tennessee Valley Authority SequoyahLUnit-2 6
facility.
7 Copies of the Staff papers are available in the 8
URC's public document room.
9 The Staff has requested that we authorize them to 10 permit TVA to restart Sequoyah Unit-2.
11 We have over the past several months received 12 briefings from the NRC Staff and TVA concerning Sequoyah 13 Unit-2's readiness for restart.
14 In addition, the Staff has recently informed the 15 Commission that all significant issues required to be 16 addressed prior to restart, including those two issues 17 identified in the two papers mentioned earlier, have been 18 satisfactorily resolved except one involving resistance 19 temperature detectors, RTDs, in the pressurizer system.
20 Several other minor surveillance and work items 21 are also being completed.
22 A copy of this Staff paper discussing the RTD 23 issue will also be available in the public document room.
24 Mr. Taylor is here on behalf of the C oi..n.i s s i o n --
25 on behalf of the NRC Staff to appear before the Commissie.n
[
~,
4 1
to answer any remaining questions the Commissioners may 2
have.
3 I have a few brief comments to make before I call 4
on my fellow Commissioners to see if they care to make 5
comments, and then if my Commissioners are in agreement 6
and if they're prepared, we'll have a vote.
7 We've been closely monitoring the TVA's work to 8
prepare Sequoyah Unit 2 for restart.
The NRC Staff has 9
recommended the Commission permit the plant to resume 10 operation.
That recommendation was made after an 11 extensive review of TVA's readiness program including the 12 many improvements which have been made in the plant.
13 I know that TVA takes its safety responsibility 14 seriously.
Protection of the public must come first.
15 The Comn.i s sion has been briefed by the URC's 16 Staff on the Staff's review of issues affecting restart.
17 In addition, the Commission has had closed 18 briefings by our Staff on significant investigative 19 matters which could have implications for an NRC restart 20 decision.
21 We also have been briefed in open session by 22 representatives of Tennessee Valley Authority concerning 23 Sequoyah's readiness for restart.
24 I could not vote to support a decision to 25 authorize restart of the sequoyah Unit 2 unless based on
5 1
all the available information, I'm satisfied that there're 2
no outstanding regulatory issues which raise a question as 3
to the ability of the facility to operate safely.
4 I must emphasize that a Commission decision on 5
restart-would not indicate how the ongoing investigations 6
may be resolved.
There's nothing unusual about the 7
Commission's consideration of a restart while 8
investigations are ongoing.
9 For several years, the NRC has had a policy 10 whereby the Staff and the office of Investigations review 11 and brief the Commission on any opan allegations and 12 investigations which they believe could be considered by 13 the Commission prior to an NRC decision to permit reactor 14 operations.
15 A Commission decision to authorize restart of the 16 Sequoya Unit indicates that we have concluded based on a 17 review of the available information that there is no 18 presently k r, o w n regulatory reason to preclude 19 authorization to restart the facility.
20 I've been impressed that both the Staff and TVA 21 have approached the issues which had to be resolved prior 22 to restart in a professional and competent m a n n c-c.
23 TVA has put into place a group of permanent 24 managers responsible for operation of Sequoyah, an l
25 organization which I'm satisfied has the confidence to
6 r
/
1 safely operate the facility.
2 Therefore, I will vote today to authorize the 3
Staff to permit the restart of the Sequoyah facility upon 4
resolution of the one remaining-significant technical 5
issue involving resistance temperature detectors in the 6
pressurizer system and any remaining prerequisites for 7
start-up.
8 Now, I'd like to call on my fellow Commissioners 9
to see if they have any comments to make.
Commissioner 10 Roberts?
11 COMMISSIONER ROBERTS:
Let's ask Mr. Taylor.
Is 12 it the opinion of the Staff that the restart of Sequoyah 13 Unit 2 under the requirements that you've laid out, does 14 not pose any undue risk to public health and safety?
15 MR. TAYLOR:
That is the Staff's position, yes, 16 sir.
17 COMMISSIONER ROBERTS:
All right.
That's all I 18 have.
19 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Commissioner Bernthal?
20 COMMISSIONER BERNTHAL:
I do have some comments I 21 want to make.
Let me also just get for the record here 22 the Staff's final disposition of one of the issues that we 23 had discussed, that was the diesel generator question.
I 24 understand that Staff has yet again consulted with our 25 expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and l
7 1
has an opinion from him on the latest set of concerns that
'2 the Commission received.
Could you comment on that, Jim?
3 MR. TAYLOR:
Yes, sir.
I have the -- Stu Ebneter 4
and other Staff on the box and I'd like them -- they 5
pursued that today.
If I may, I'll turn to the special 6
project Staff.
7 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Mr. Ebneter, are you there?
8 MR. EBUETER:
Yes, sir.
9 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Go ahead.
10 MR. EBUETER:
We have transmitted the letter from 11 Mr. Hicks to our consultant, and the consultant is on 12 another task in Florida, b u *, I understand we have 13 contacted him; he's in agreement that the issues have been 14 resolved; however, I have instructed the Staff to cet a 15 written doctment from our consultant addressing the issues 16 in that memorandum, sir.
17 We should have those probably within the next day 18 or two.
As I committed to Commissioner Bernthal in the 19 past, we will definitely have that memorandum in hand and 20 reviewed before we authorize any entry into Mode 2,
sir.
21 COMMISSIONER BERNTHAL:
Thank you very :n u c h.
I 22 do want to make a comment or two because it has been a 23 long and rocky road in a part of the country theit holds 24 some special interest for me.
25 My vote on this matter --
g 1
COMMISSIONER ROBERTS:
Well, don't omit me.
I 2
belong to Tennessee, too.
3 COMMISSIONER BERNTHAL:
I know it does hold 4
special interest for you too, Tom.
5 COMMISSIONER ROBERTS:
I still vote and pay taxes 6
in Tennessee.
7 COMMISSIONER BERNTHAL:
My vote today 8
acknowledges that TVA Sequoyah Plant has indeed come a a
9 long way in the past two years.
10 Due in large measure to the efforts of our Staff, 11 Sequoyah has now become one of the most inspected plants 12 in the country.
13 The NRC Staff concerns have been satisfied to the 14 extent that Staff now recommends restart and I want to 15 commend you, Mr. Taylor, and all of the Staff, Mr.
16 Keppler, Mr. Ebneter, and the fine people that I more than 17 once visited with on trips to the Sequoyah plant for the 18 work that they have done and performed with diligence and 19 fairness.
20 I'm satisfied that the technical and management l
21 problems that forced the shutdown of Sequoyah have now
- l 22 been substantially resolved; however, I'm not unmindful of L
23 the still unresolved allegations surrounding Adn.iral 24 White.
I have seen the report of the NRC's Office of l
25 Investigation and I am aware the Department of Justice
9 1
investigation is still engoing.
2 I express no opinion at this time as to what the
-3 final disposition of this issue will be, nor do I 4
foreclose the possibilits of future Commission action in 5
thic area.
6 But Admiral White has brought a strong leadership 7
to a nuclear program badly in need of that quality.
As a 8
strong leader with distinguished record of service to 9
his country, I am sure that he fully understands that he 10 is accountable for all aspects of his leadership.
11 And given the physical and managerial readiness 12 of the Sequoyah plant, the Commission now has to weigh the 13 totality of the evidence available to it and decide 14 whether the plant is ready for restart.
15 The technical problems which forced the shutdown 16 have been sufficiently resolved to allow restart.
17 Jew plant management has been brought i and has 18 demonstrated its effectiveness.
19 The NRC Staff is satisfied that the olant is l
20 ready for restart.
l i
21 I have visited the Sequoyah plant on two l
22 occasions in the last six weeks, and I am confident that 23 Sequoyah can now operate without undue risk to the publie l
l 24 health and safety.
i l
25 Considering all these factors along with the f
~.. -.
10 1
public interest which will benefit from the electricity 2
that Sequoyah will generate, I find that the totality 3
weighs in favor of restart.
4 In receiving this long-awaited action today, 5
however, I caution TVA never again to become complacent.
6 The full magnitude of the problems in the TVA Nuclear 7
Program took years to develop, and those problems will not 8
be fully dissipated in much less time.
9 Now some have suggested that the Tennessee Valley 10 Authority has been held to~a very high standard by the 11 NRC, perhaps even too high.
Well, I believe that TVA, a 12 large federal agency with one of the largest nuclear 13 programs in the country and a utility that frequently 14 represents the United States of America around the world, 15 should meet the very highest standards.
16 And I think the people of Tennessee and the 17 Tennessee Valley expect and deserve no less than that.
I 18 TVA has long taken justifiable pride in being a 19 leader and an innovator.
It is time that it once again 20 becomes a leader and an innovator in safe nuclear power.
21 Mr. Chairman, that completes my comments, and I ' r.i 22 pleased to be abic to support the Staff recommendation 23 today.
24 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
All right.
Thank you.
25 Commissioner Carr?
11 3
1 COMMISSIONER CARR:
No.
2 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Commissioner Rogers?
3 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
I'd just like to have Mr.
4 Ebneter comment once again, since he could not be with us J
5 here, personally, on his conviction that.--
6 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
He's at the site, I think, in 7
Sequoyah; is that not right?
8 MR. TAYLOR:
Yes.
9 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Is that where you are, Mr.
10 Ebneter?
11 MR. EBNETER:
Yes, sir.
12 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
All right.
Go ahead.
13 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
-- as of this very moment 14 that the only issue that's outstanding is this one on the 15 heaters that we heard about today, and that all other 16 raa t t e r s in your opinion are completely saticfactory and 17 that there are no conditions in your mind that -- further 18 conditions that need to be imposed on TVA Sequoyah prior l
19 to restart?
l l
20 MR. EBNETER:
That's correct, sir.
We have no t
l 21 other technical issues at this point.
22 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
Thank you very much.
I had i
'3 followed, of course, as we have a '.1, with great interest l-i l
24 the development of this particular site.
We are concernod 25 with TVA Sequoyah.
No other site at this momeat is befcre l
I
12 1
us today, and I'm convinced on the basis of the materials 2
that have been presented to us both in presentations by 3
the TVA management, including the Chairman of the Board, 4
and the Staff of the Commission, that a very careful and 5
assiduous following of issues, all matters of' significance 6
have been addressed, and that on the basis of the 7
materials presented to me, to the whole Commission, and on 8
the basis of a visit that I took to the plant last week 9
and spent a day on a tour of inspection, and in meeting 10 one on one with a number of individuals, that I feel 11 convinced that the leadership exists for this plant to 12 operate satisfactorily, and that the technical matters are 13 well in hand and that I am prepared therefore to 14 participate in a vote today, Mr. Chairman.
15 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
All right.
Thank you very much.
16 If there's no other comments from my fellow commissioners, 17 are you prepared to vote at this time?
18 (A chorus of ayes.]
19 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
All right.
Will those 20 Commissioners in favor of authorizing the Staff to permit 21 TVA to restart Sequoyah Unit 2 upon resolution of the RTD l
22 issue and other prerequisites for start up, signify by 1
23 saying aye.
l l
24 COMMISSIONER CARR:
Aye.
x 25 COMMISSIONER ROBERTS:
Aye.
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1 CHAIRMAli ZECH:
Aye.
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2 COMMISSIONER BERNTHAL:
Aye.
3 COMMISSIONER ROGERS: Aye.
i 4
CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Those opposed?
5 (No rest;onre.)
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6 CHAIRMA!I ZECH:
Fivf to zero in favor.
The 7
meeting is adjourned.
8 (Whereupon, at 4:26 p.m.,
the meeting was 9
adjourned.)
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2 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE 3
4 This is to certify that the attached events of a meeting of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission entitled:
5 6
5
'O,
/ TITLE OF MEETING: Affirmation /Diccussion and Vote 8
PLACE OF MEETING:
Washington, D.C.
,7 9
CATE OF MEETING: March 22, 1988 10 11 were held as herein appears, and that this is the original 12 transcript thereof for the file of the Commission taken
(
13 stenographically by me, thereafter reduced to typewriting by 14 me or under the direction of the court reporting company, and i
15 that the transcript is a true and accurate record of the l
16 foregoing events.
4 f
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18 Mario A. Rodrig'uez 19 20 21 i
22 Ann Riley & Associates, Ltd.
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