ML20153F132
| ML20153F132 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Peach Bottom, South Texas, Maine Yankee, 05000000 |
| Issue date: | 09/15/1987 |
| From: | Kammerer C NRC OFFICE OF GOVERNMENTAL & PUBLIC AFFAIRS (GPA) |
| To: | Harold Denton NRC OFFICE OF GOVERNMENTAL & PUBLIC AFFAIRS (GPA) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20153F125 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8805100249 | |
| Download: ML20153F132 (14) | |
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p***"'% UNITED STATES
. y- t NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION h WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555
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SEP 151G87 MEMORANDUM FOR: Harold R. Denton, Dire to / k Office of eroment(1 d Pu blic Af,f g t 6 j Q
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pttv FROM: Carlto Kamerer, Dt State, Local and, k Tribe Programs
SUBJECT:
MONTHL SL AND REGIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 1987 The August 1987 Significant Intergovernmental Activities and Issues Report is enclosed for your infomation. This Report is the result of the combined efforts of HRC's Regional State Liaison Officers, Regional State Agreement Representatives, and the SLITP staff.
Enclosure:
Significant Intergovernmental Activities and Issues - August 1987 cc: See Distribution List Attached 880510o249Og'i7 C RE E CE PDR
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SIGNIFICANT INTERGOVERNMENTAL ACTIVITIES AND ISSUES AUGUST 1987 l
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t CONTENTS Page National State Liaison Officers' Meeting 1 SLITP/RSLO Counterpart Meeting 1 Meetings with Affected Indian Tribes 1 REGION I 2 MAINE 2 Low-level Radioactive Waste Authority (LLRWA) Activities 2 State Participation at Maine, Yankee 2 MARYLAND 2 New State Liaison Officer 2 Maryland Involvement in Peach Bottom 2 l Maryland Cobait Irradiator 3 MASSACHUSETTS 3 Pilgrim Emergency Preparedness Issues 3 PENNSYLVANIA 3 I
Pennsylvania Involvement in Peach Bottom 3 Pennsylynia Subagreement and Implementing Procedures 3 l VERMONT 4 Emercen,cy e Planning and Containment Venting 4 NEW YORK 4 NRC-NEW York MOV re Cintichem 4 j Medical Misadministration in New York 4
CONTENTS (continued)
Page NEW HAMPSHIRE 4 Meeting with New Hampshire 4 REGION II 5 NORTH CAROLINA 5 North Carolina General Assembly Siting Legislation (HB35) 5 North Carolina to Adopt New Regulations 6 Emergency Preparedness Exercise 6 REGION III 7 ILLIN0IS 7 Kerr-McGee 7 MICHIGAN 7 Low-level Waste 7 FERMI SALP Meeting 7 REGION IV 8 COLORADO 8 Emergency Preparedness 8 LOUISIANA 8 Reed Rep 3rt, 8 TEXAS 8
South Texas Project (STP) 8 Radiation Control Prog-am m 9
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CONTENTS (continued)
Page REGION V 9 CALIFORNIA 9 California State Seiste Special Comittee 9 -
OREGON 9 Hanford Waste Board 9 t
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s SIGNIFICANT INTERGOVERNMENTAL ACTIVITIES AND ISSUES National State liaison Officers' Meeting SLITP hosted a national meeting for the Governor-appointed State Liaison Officers on September Bethesda, Maryland. 9-10, 1987 at the Bethesda Hyatt Regency Hotel in i
featured presentations by invited State speakers, Chairman Zech O Directors, and NRC staff.
Discussions focused on issues such as: emergency preparedness and the background and purpose of NRC's proposed rule, State views on coordination of federal, State, and local emergency planning procedures, State and NRC activities regarding regulation of nuclear 1 facilities, national low-level waste trends, individual States' experiences in )
i the low-level waste compacting process, and NRC's high-level waste program.
Also discussed at the meeting were issues such as power plant aging / life )
extension, economic incentives for utilities, the Chernobyl implications i 1
report, and personal perspectives from Harold Denton's visit to the Soviet Union. The meetings offered an excellent opportunit J
exchange information on a broad spectrum of issues- y for State officials to .
not only with NRC staff, but amongst themselves.
EITP/RSLOCounterpartMeeting NRC's five Regional State Liaison Officers (RSLO's) participated in a one-day counterpart meeting with SLITP staff on September 11 and 12 following the National State Liaison Officers' (SLO) Meeting in Bethesda, Maryland. j Region II was unable to participate due to a previousl Counterpart meetings are typically held twice a year, yonce planned exercise.
in alternating Regions and once at headquarters, to discuss Regional interactions with, and topics of mutual interest and concern to, State and local governments and Indian Tribes. The agenda featured the following topics: l State legislatures, by Barbsra Foster, National Conference interactions of State with Legislatures; low-level waste update, by Paul Lohaus, HMSS; and interactions with State PUC's and economic incentives, by Darrel Nash and James Petersen, NRR, and Bob Dennig and Neill Thomasson, AE00. The RSLO's also had an opportunity to meet with Comissioner Rogers to explain the RSLO role and their interactions with a wide variety of IfRC's constituency.
Meetings with Affected Indian Tribes i On September 9, 10 and 11, 1987, Sheldon A. Schwartz, Deputy Director, SLITP,
- visited the Umatilla, Yakima, and Nez Perce Indian Tribes on their reservations in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, respectively. Robert Browning, Director, Division of High-Level Waste Management, NMSS, and Rob MacDougall Systems Engineering and Evaluation Branch, NMSS, along with Robert Cook, BWIP Resident, participated in these site visits.
At theeach site visited, the NRC team was briefed on the history and culture of Tribe. Particular emphasis was placed on gaining information from the Tribal representatives for NRC to understand their concerns with respect to the proposed BWIP at Hanford, Washington. Basically, the Tribal concerns centered on three major issuos:
and airborne contamination. Each groundwater contaminationi transportation; Tribe is receiving grant funding from the High-level Radioactive Waste 7und to investigate their concerns, and they have l
retained technical consultants to carry out the investigations. ,
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l The NRC team described the NRC regulatory program with emphasis on our public health and safety and environmental mandate. Mr. Browning indicated that the NRC technical staff was available for discussions with the Tribal counterparts to discuss particular technical issues. A list of NRC technical contacts will be provided for their use.
REGION I MAINE Low-Level Radioactive Waste Authority (LLRWA) Activities The Advisory Comission on Radioactive Waste conducted a meeting on August 6.
The agenda included presentations on the Agreement State status, an update on the LLRWA, and an update on high-level waste, which was presented by Senator l Judy Kany. With regard to the LLRWA, on July 31, Governor McKernan announced
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the nominations of four members to the seven-member LLRWA. The members are i Meredith Murray, who is a conservationist; Dr. Thomas Eastler, who has been a Professor of Environmental Geology since 1974; Edward Boulos, a retired {
corporate officer of his electrical contractor corporation; and Peter DeAnglia, who was a member of the Hanrdous Waste Task Force established by fonner Governor Brennan.
State Participation at Maine Yankee A draft of a Memorandum of Understanding (M0V) and subagreement for an onsite nuclear safety inspector and for exchange of proprietary infonnation was i submitted by the State to Marie !! iller, the Regional State Liaison Officer, on August 13. The documents are modeled after the Oregon MOV and subagreements and are not as prescriptive as the State legislation that was signea by Governor McKernan on June 27, 1987. )
Preliminary comments will be provided to '
Maine during September 1987.
MARYLAND New State Liaison Officer As noted in the July report, Maryland established a new Department of tne Environment, which has incorporated all radiation and nuclear-related issues.
Based on this reorganization, Governor Schaefer designated Max Eisenberg, Ph.D., Assistant Secretary for Toxics, Environmental Science and Health, as Maryland's State Liaison Officer (SLO). Dr. Eisenberg is very familiar with the SLO program, having been designated by the previous SLO as the routine contact for NRC.
Maryland Involvement in Peach Bottom The Department of the Environment and the Department of Natural Resources have observed all NRC and licensee meetings regarding Peach Bottom reactor assessment. These agencies, as well as a representative from the Governor's office, plan on comenting to the NRC staff on the Peach Bottom Comitment to Excellence Action Plan. Harford County officials have also attended many of the Peach Bottom status meetings and plan to submit their coments on the
corrective action plan. A public meeting to receive public coments on this plan will be sponsored by the Harford County elected officials in conjunction with the NRC staff on September 24, 1987, from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the North Harford High School in Pylesville, Maryland.
Maryland Cobalt Irradiator The State of Maryland has received correspondence from Terumo, Inc. expressing the company's interest in siting a 4 million curie medical products irradiator in Elkton, Maryland. The State has met with company management and has l p,ovided documentation on the type of information the company would have to l submit to apply for a radioactive materials license. Region I has provided infomal technical assirtsace on certain aspects of irradiator licensing, and it is expected that the State will fonnally request technical assistance both in licensing and inspection activities before any license is issued.
Pilgrim Emergency Preparedness Issues '
On August 6, FEMA Headquarters submitted to NRC their final copy of "FEMA's Self-Initiated Review and Interim Finding," FEMA's comentary on the Barry report and "Analysis of Emergency Preparedness Issues at Pilgrim Nuclear Power j Station Raised in a Petition to the NRC Dated July 15, 1986." FEMA's inte*im l findings, which identified six offsite emergency planning issues, was i forwarded to the licensee by Themas Murley, Director, Office of Nuclear l Reactor Regulation, on August 18, indicating that the issues may affect l restart. On August 21, Dr. Murley signed an Interim Director's Decision in l response to the July 15, 1986, petition regarding Pilgrim filed by State Senater Golden. The Massachusetts Department of Public Safety and the local corm 1 unities are working to address the FEMA findings. Some resolution of the six issues is expected by December 1987.
PENN3YLVANIA l
Pennsylvania Involvement in Peach Botto_m l The Bureau of Radiation Protection representing the Governor's Internal Task Force on Peach Bottom have attended all NRC/ licensee meetings regarding Peach ;
Bottom restart assessment. Pennsylvania plans on corrienting to the NRC staff 1 on the "Peach Bottom Comitment to Excellence Action Plan." A public meeting to receive public corrents on the plan has been scheduled for Septeraber 24,,
1987, from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the Southeast Middle School in Fawn Grove, Pennsylvania. The York County Emergency Management Agency has agreed l to sponsor and chair this meeting.
PennsylvaniaSubagreementandimplementingProcedures Willian Russell, Region I Administrator, and Tim Martin, Director of the Division of Radiation Safety and Safeguards, Region I, signed a Subagreement and implementing procedures, respectively, on August 17, 1987, which will enable the Corrrnonwealth of Pennsylvania to inspect NRC licensees for, and on behalf of, NPC in the area of low-level radioactive waste packages and
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, transportation activities. Marie Miller, Region I State Liaison Officer,
, delivered the documents to the Pennsylvania Bureau of Radiation Protection for signature by the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Resources (DER)
- and Director of the dureau of Radiation Protection. The documents are being reviewed by Pennsylvania's General Counsel and Assistant Secretary of DER !
prior to Pennsylvania acceptance.
VERMONT l
- Emergency Planning and Containment Venting On August 27, HRC addressed the Vennont State Nuclear Advisory Panel (V-SNAP) or, the topic of fs.ntainment venting at the Selectmen's meeting room in Brattleboro, Yemont. Steven Yarga, NRR, was the NRC's primary spokesperson on the current NRC policy regarding containment venting and NRC's general plans to re-examine this policy. Supporting his discussion. Wiiefam Lazarus and Thomas Elsasser from Region I responded to questions on emergency planning, i as it relates to containment venting and NRC's view of the capability of the licensee to vent. The meeting was conducted at the request of the V-SNAP Chainnan and SLO, Gentr:1 Tarrant. The panel requested a timely resolution by the NRC in their evaiuation of the adequacy of containnieht venting in this '
country. \ernon Rooney, NRR, and Donald Haverkamp and Marie Miller from l Tsegion I also att ,ded this meeting.
NEW YORK NRC-New York MOV re Cintichem 1
Reg *on I has received information from Cintichem (formerly Union Carbide.
Tuxedo, New Ynrk) regarding the areas of their facility where byproduct, SNM, Ii or mired fission products are used and Cintichem's recocenendations regarding ;
NRC 00 3 tate jurisdiction in the areas where radioactive materials are used.
, Copies were provided to the State regulatory agencies. A meeting will be 1
scieduled in 3eptember between f;RC and the State to discuss the infcnnation from Cintichem and a draft Memorandum of Understanding concerning inspection and enforcement activities.
Medical Misadministration in New York i
1 On August 6. Region I was notified by hw York State o' reported teletherapy misadministrations at Northern Westchestcr Medical Center. The misadministra-i tions were the r>tsult of errors made by a consulting physicist. The State hes j
taken activi to suspend teletherap.y at the hospital and has requested the i licensee to provide copies of all patient records. Region I is continuing to !
follow this case, and %fonnation will be provided to the interested offices
- (i.e.,GPA,NMSS,sn'. '3)asitdevelops. Staff from Region I and GPA j briefe' the Ccanissi n s' assu n ts on August 26.
i NEW oHIPT Meeting with Ne y o O' j i
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- e %. e radiation control program revealed l 51 *1fictrt acogram Ceftu e . . earticularly regarding broad icope licenses ;
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schedule for correcting the deficiencies in the referenced licenses. On August 27 Region I and GPA staff met with the New Nampshire program director to discuss NRC reservations concerning the State's proposed action plan. An open and frank discussion of the issues led to an agreement concerning a revised schedule for addressing the licensing deficiencies. The State will fonnally submit its revised schedule, and it is anticipated that the NRC staff will then be in a position to offer a finding of adequacy and compatibility.
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REGION II
- NORTH CAROLINA Lorth Carolina General Assembly Siting Legislatior. (HB-35)
The North Carolina General Asse%1y enacted legislation on August 13, 1987, which created a low-level Radioactive Waste Management Authority and amended the Southeast Compact statute.
The Authority was given broad powers to site, design, construct, operate, finance, maintain, close, and permanently care for a disposal facility. The Authority must comence operations by November 1,1987, and have a completed disposal facility by December 31, 1992. The North Carolina legislation also created an Inter-Agency Comittee and re-establishes a Joint Select
' Legislative Comittee. Each of these Committees is required to report to the 1988 session of ihe General Assembly. The Comittees are charged to study numerous issues including compensation to the host comunity within the State, i
The new legislation also includes a provision that access to the disposal facility be denicd unless the North Carolina Radiation Protection Comission certifies that the generator is reducing waste volume to the extent economically and technologically feasible.
Additionally, enacted in 1983, the new legislation amends North Carolina's compact statute, as follows: ,
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To 1%it the required operation time of a regional facility to 32 million cub'.c feet or 20 years, whichever occurs first; '
- 2. I To limit the right of party states to withdraw to 30 days after the ;
secondhostfacilitybeginsoperation(countingtheBarnwell, South Carolina facility as the first host facility); anj i i
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4 To withdrew North Caroline from the Southeast Compact unless all
'egislatures in the Southeast enact similar legislation by December 31, 1988, and unless Congress consents by December 31, 1992.
These amendments differ in two significant ways from those recomended by the Southeast Compact Comission on March 26, 1987. First, the Comission i suggested that party States be given five years (rather than 30 days) after the second facility opened to exercise their right to withdraw. Secondly, the Comission's recomended amendments said nothing about any State withdrev 'ng automatically if other States and/or Congress failed to enact the amendments.
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j The following tentative timetaole has been established for siting a low-level
. rLdiaoctive waste disposal facility within the State of North Carolina.
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November 1, 1987 Authority begins operation.
April 1, 1988 Inter-Agency Comittee reports to General Assembly.
May 1, 1988 G;idelines for site selection process developed.
August 1, 1988 Private operator selected and employed or Authority designated as operator.
December 1, 1988 Location suitable for site identified.
December 31, 1988 Compact amended by each state's legislature in Southeast.
August 1, 1989 Seler. tion of two to three potentially suitable sites.
Operator submits conceptual design proposal for two .
, to three sites.
March 1, 1990 Select technology.
August 1, 1990 Characterization of two or three sites completed.
November 15, 1990 Completion of any Site Designation Review.
Comittee reviews or studies. Selection of preferred si.e and begin land acquisitions.
December 31, 1990 All license and permit applications submitted by operator.
December 31, 1992 New facility completed. Congress consents to Compact amendment or North Carolina withdraws.
North Carolina to Adopt New Regulations The North Carolina Radiation Protection Commission drafted new regulations for licensing a commercial low-level waste disposal facility. With the exception of a few additions, the draft regulations are comparable to 10 CFR 61.
Public hearings were conducted during the period of August 19-21, 1987, throughout the State to obtain public coments and input. The Radiation Protection Comission is expected to adopt the new regulation on September 2S, 1987.
Emergency prepardness Exercise On August 26, 1987, the Region participated in the full scale emergency exercise involving the State of Florida and the Florida Power and Light Co.
St. Lucie facility. The Regional response team censisted of back-up personnel to the primary responders. The comunications and coordination anong the representatives of the State, licensee, and the Regional response team were exec 11ent.
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Robert Trojanowski, Director, State and Government Affairs Staff, participated i as a member of the Regional Assistance Comittee (RAC) during this exercise.
FEMA /RAC did not identify any major deficiencies during the exercise.
REGION III ILLINOIS Kerr-McGee ,
. On August 31, 1987, a public meeting was held in West Chicago, Illinois on the NRC's Draft Supplemental Environmental Statement (DSES). The DSES was prepared in response to the Atomic Sefety and Licensing Board's ruling that the NRC staff must supplement the Final Environmental Statement (FES) in order to evaluate .
the impacts of permanent disposal of the Kerr-McGee Rare Earths Facility wastes "
located at West Chicago, Illinois. The staff conclusion was, based upon a .
comparison of selected alternative disposal optient, no considered option was '
obviously superior to the proposed site and the preferred course of action was !
to renew the Kerr-McGee license to allow disposal of the wastes on-site.
There has been considerable State, local, and political opposition to this ,
proposed action. Congressman J. Dennis Hastert successfully attached an ;
amendment to the NRC's authorization bill which prohibits NRC from designating '
a permanent disposal site for the Kerr-McGee waste until NRC has studied alternative sites to detennine the safest site available.
HICHIGAN Low-Level Waste On July 14, 1987, Michigan Governor Blenchard signed an Executive Order creating the Office of Low'-Level Waste Management in the Department of Management and Budget and appointed the current Compact represertative, David Hales, as Comissioner. At a Midwest Compact Comissien meeting on
] August 18, 1987, the Comission continued to meet in private session with
- Michigan to negotiate a host state agreement. The Comission also voted to '
adopt an "export fee" that will be levied on all nuclear power plants in the '
.! Compact States. This fee will be used to fund preoperational costs for the first disposal facility.
l l FERMI SALP Meeting
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The Regional Administrator, members of the regional staff, and NRR met August 24, 1987, in Monroe, Michigan with renresantatives cf Detroit Edison Company to review the Systematic Assessment of Licensee Perfomance Report 1 of the Fermi 2 plant. Detroit Edison also presecited the status of its
- perfonnance improvement programs. Meirbers of the Nonroe County Comission attended the meeting which was open to the public.
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REGION IV l
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Emergency Preparedness On August 5, Colorado participated in an exercise of the State's radiological I
' emergency plans for the Fort St. Vrain nuclear power plant. Gary Sanborn, !
t.he Regional State Liaisor Officer, worked with FEMA Regions 8 and 6 in evaluating the State and Weld County. The State was found deficient in two and must conduct general areas--public remedial drills alertingtoand within four months radiological demonstrate to FEMA monitorinp s satisfaction that the deficiencies have been eliminated. The State will be seeking assistance from the utility to upgrade certain aspects of its emergency preparedness Cdpabilities.
LOUISIANA Reed Report On August 20, NRR and Region IV representatives met with State officials to discuss the NRC's evaluation of the Reed Report and conducted a press briefing in Baton Rouge. NRC's participation in these activities had been requested by Martha Madden, Secretary of the Department of Environmental Ouality. Ac the press briefing, a representative of the State Public Service Comission (PSC) said that the PSC was fomally requesting an NRC witness for testimony regarding the Reed Report. The PSC is conducting prudency hearings on the River Bend plant.
TEXAS South Texas Project (STP) l On August 21, NRC issued a fuel load and low-power testing license for the i
Souta Texas Project. Because it is the first licensed power reactor in Texas, NRC has written Dr. William Fisher, the Governor-appointed State Liaison Officer, and offered to meet in Austin tc explain NRC's regulatory programs for operating reactors as well as NRC's programs for keeping States infomed.
The utility's inability to implement a fully satisfactory physical security program at STP led to delays in NRC's issuing a license. Because physical l
security problems were in large part the result of not meeting the State's requirements for certifying members of the guard force, Region IV developed a working relationship with the State agency having jurisdiction--the Texas Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies. On August 12 Richard Bangart, the Region's Director of the Division of Raoiation Safety and Safeguards, met in Austin with the board's executive director to coordinate NRC's activities with those of the board. In a related development, NRC learned in early August that Houston Lighting and Power Company's (HL&P) allegation handling system--SAFETEAM--was not legitimate under State law 4
because it had not been licensed. The company's short-tem solution was to utilize HL&P employees a= investigators because the law requiring
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investigators to be licensed does not apply to investigative programs internal to an organization. SAFETEAM is a contract operation. Region IV plans to draft an Information Notice that will discuss the potentially generic aspects of these issues.
Radiation Control Program As a result of the Texas Legislature's efforts to balance the State budget, the Bureau of Radiation Control's (BRC) budget has been cut approximately
$525,000, a 121 percent cut that will result in the elimination of about 17 positions. Because of a number of existing vacancies, the number of currently employed people cut will be minimal. The BRC has announced s rarganization, effective September 30, that will reduce from three to two the Nmber of operating divisions. The BRC plans to continue all of its programs, including the regulation of uranium mills. The Legislature specifically required the Bureau to maintain ti'e mill progrra following suggestions that it could be cut to save money. Texas carries out both a radioactive materials program and the raill program under the tenns of NRC's State Agreement Program.
REGION V l CALIFORNIA l
California State Senate Special Comittee On August 26, 1987, in Sacramento, California, the Region V State Liaison Officer, Dean Kunihiro, appeared before the California State Senate Special Committee on Solid and Haz6rdous Waste. In addition to the NRC, 13 other California State agencies and organizations were reouested to appear before the Comittee to answer questions concerning the report entitled "Report on Population, Air, Waste, Energy, Fuels, Agriculture." This report, which was prepared for the Special Comittee, included a limited discussion of radioactive waste.
OREGON l
Hanford Waste Board In June 1987, the Oregon legislature passed SB-13. This bill established the Hanford Waste Board, similar to Washington's Nuclear Waste Board. Like Washington's Board, the Oregon Wasta Board will focus on State nuclear waste policy and will ensure public participation in the assessment of Hanford as a location for the long-term disposal of high-level radiowaste. The bill also crt'ates a 15-member Public Advisory Committee to advise the new Board.
The Board members will include representatives from six State agencies, from the Governor, and from the Cor. federated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, as well as two merrhers of the Public Advisory Comittee chosen by the Comittee, and six legislators, who will serve as advisory members without a vote.
Board appointments have not been finalized as of this h te. However, Governor Goldschmidt has designated the Gregon Department of Energy as lead State agency.
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