ML20205B774
| ML20205B774 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 02/10/1999 |
| From: | Shirley Ann Jackson, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Hoyle J NRC OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY (SECY) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20205B764 | List: |
| References | |
| SECY-98-296-C, NUDOCS 9903310359 | |
| Download: ML20205B774 (2) | |
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NOTATION VOTE RESPONSE SHEET TO:
John C. Hoyle, Secretary FROM:
CHAIRMAN JACKSON
SUBJECT:
SECY-98-296 - AGENCY POLICY REGARDING LICENSEE RECAPTUR'E OF LOW-POWER TESTING OR SHUTDOWN TIME FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS Approved X
Disapproved Abstain Not Participating COMMENTS:
4 SEE ATTACHED COMMENTS l
4 l
i b
SIGNATl#RE February 10, 1999 DATE Entered on "AS" Yes x
No ER a8Na 388 CORRESPONDENCE PDR
Chairman Jackson's Comments SECY-98-296 l
I approve of the staff's plans to allow the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station to recapture the time spent in low l
power testing within its Full Power Operating License. I also approve of allowing similarly licensed facilities to recapture the time ~ spent between the h==e of a low Power Operating License and a Full Power Operating License when the term of operation is based on the date of issuance of the low Power Operating License.
Ijoin Commissioner Merrifield in requesting a legal analysis that may provide a basis for parity within the power reactor industry with respect to the date considered to begin the term of operation (i.e. a review to determine whether, under the Atomic Energy Act [AEA), the term of operation for a given l
reactor plant licensee can be considered to begin with the authorization for full power operation, as opposed to the issuance of a license for low power operation). Such an analysis may provide a basis which would allow facilities licensed under Section 103 of the AEA, and whose license terms begin with the issuance of a law Power Operation License, to recover the time spent in low power operation without viointing A3A requirements (that such licenses limit the operating term to 40 years). This would be accomplished by moving the start date of the operating term to the point at which NRC I
authorized full power operation, thus eliminating the inequity between these facilities and AEA Section 104b licensees (which do not have fixed operating terms under the Act and, thus, can recapture such operating time without violating an AEA lianit on the period of operating terms). Should the staff find no remedy for this situation within the AEA, the staff should provide, in its communication to the Commission, recommendations for legislative approaches to solve this problem (including, as appropriate, a proposed approach to correct the apparent " loophole" which exists in AEA Section 104b with respect to the unspecified term oflicenses issued under this section). I approve of the conthmed practice of allowing licensees to recapture time spent in the construction phase into their operating licenses.
I approve of the staff's recommendation at to allow the recapture of time spent in extended shutdowns by facilities licensed under Section 104b of the AEA. Such an action would result in an inequity between AEA Section 104b facilities, for which the AEA provides no specified operating term, and those licensed under Section 103 of the AEA, which are limited to a 40-year operating term; an inequity which is not supported by the technologies employed by the respective facilities. Even if this fundamental issue of legal inequity (an ir. equity which is different from that described above in that it involves the recapture of time spent during an operathg term rather than the start date of that term) could be overcome, expending NRC resources in support of such recapture requests could have the net effect of redirecting agency resources away from activities of greater safety benefit, as the staff could, potentially, be called upon to evaluate a variety of different shutdown durations and types.
l Additional:y, inasmuch as many of the extended shutdowns for which recapture might be sought were l
the result of poor performance on the parts of licensees, I do not find a compelling basis for pursuing such an initiative (with its attendant resource implications). In general, I believe that thepossibility of an extended shutdown due to failures to meet regulatory requirements or the discovery of a limiting safety issue differs little from the certainty of refueling outages in terms of what may be expected in the course of operating a nuclear power plant (i.e. both types of outages represent losses of geraration which were, or should have been, foreseen and accepted by prospective licensees when considering whether to proceed with construction of a facility). Thus, I find little motivation for considering the recapture of time spent in either of these non-power-producing conditions (extended shutdowns or refueling outages). Licensees seeking such additions to their terms of operation could do so under the auspices of the License Renewal Rule, for which the necessary NRC infrastructure has been established.
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