ML20210N518
| ML20210N518 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Vermont Yankee File:NorthStar Vermont Yankee icon.png |
| Issue date: | 01/29/1987 |
| From: | Mullett D VERMONT, STATE OF |
| To: | NRC OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY (SECY) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20210N468 | List: |
| References | |
| OLA, NUDOCS 8702130143 | |
| Download: ML20210N518 (1) | |
Text
.
C@AEMErjr
'87 FE3 -2 o4 37 STATE OF VERMONT DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE 120 STATE STR EET STATE OFFICE BUILDING MONTPELIER 05602 TEL sea ste-ass t January 29, 1987 Secretary of the Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 ATTN:
Docketing and Service Branch RE:
No. 50-271 Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corps Consideration of Issuance of Amendment to Facility Operating License and Proposed No Significant Hazards Consideration Determination and Opportunity for Hearing
Dear Secretary:
Enclosed please find for filing the State of Vermont's Petition to Intervene in the above-styled matter, pursuant to the notice contained in Volume 51, page 47324 of the Federal Register.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
We will await the ruling on our petition.
Very truly yours,
//h I
i
,s Davidl J. Mullett Special Counsel Vermonte Department of Public Service Special Assistant Attorney General DJM/sj cc:
Office of the General Counsel-Bethesda John A. Ritcher, Esq.
William Griffin, Esq.
New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution, Inc.
Enclosure 8702130143 870129 PDR ADOCK 05000271 PDR 0
- X4CTE:
m.c BEFORE THE UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 87 FEB -2 P4 :57 NO. 50-271
( Fr.
f.C.
VERMONT YANKEE NUCLEAR POWER CORPr CONSIDERATION OF ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENT TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE AND PROPOSED NO SIGNIFICANT MA2ARDS CONSIDERATION DETERMINATION AND OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING PETITION TO IM1'ERVENE NOW COMES the State of Vermont, by and through the undersigned counsel, and petitions for leave to intervene in the above-styled cause pursuant to 10 CFR 2.714 and the notice published at 51 FR 47324, and further requests that the Commission invoke the hybrid hearing procedure, as mandated by 10 CFR 2.1101 at agg.*
In support of said petition it is stated:
I.
RIGHT OF PETITIONER TO BE A PARTY.
The proposed license amendment involves the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station located in Vernon, Vermont.
- Petitioner does not intend by said request to waive any constitutional, statutory, or other legal objection to the hybrid hearing procedures; such objections, if any, will be made in timely fashion prior to any hearing on this matter.
D-,
c, j gy'd, W J UUfy 4P
2 Under the circumstances of this case, where the proposed amendment has a potentially widespread effect on the health, welfare and safety of the people of Vermont, the State of Vermont has a clear right to participate in the proceedings.
II.
EXTENT OF PETITIONER 'S PROPERTY, FINANCIAL, OR OTHER INTEREST IN THE PROCEEDING.
The State of Vermont has a clear responsibility to ensure that the health, welfare and safety of the people of Vermont is not compromised or adversely affected by an improvident granting of the requested license amendment.
Issuance of the license amendment under the circumstances proposed could, if State. health, safety and environmental concerns are not adequately addressed result in a significant increase in risk to Vermont and its citizens from the Vermont Yankee plant.
III. POSSIBLE EFFECT OF ANY ORDER WHICH MAY BE E NTERED IN THE PROCEEDING ON THE PETITIONER'S INTEREST.
As noted, the requested amendment involves a plant which is physically located in vermont.
Any order permitting the requested amendment would have both direct and indirect effect on Vermont and its citizenry.
An increase in the storage capacity of the spent fuel pool, and the subsequent filling of that increased capacity, could create increased risk to the public in the event of an accident involving the
3 pool, and may increase the likelihood of such an accident occurring.
Nor should it be overlooked that, under 20 v.s. A.
5 1 at mag., Vermont officials are charged with the responsibility of setting forth and effectuating plans to
" prevent, minimize, and repair injury and damage" resulting from radiological incidents (Eag 20 V.S.A.
S2); any proceeding involving the amount of nuclear waste and the provision for its storage clearly is of concern to the State in this regard.
Moreover, allowance of the amendment would in all likelihood impose economic costs upon the State and its citizens by increasing the amount of low-level waste which Vermont may be forced to dispose of under the terms of-the Low Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act.
Finally, it should be pointed out th.at the effects and potential effects of these factors are not insignificant, given that the amendment requests an increase in storage capacity of 43.5%.
IV.
SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF THE SUBJECT MATTER AS TO WHICH PETITIONER WISHES TO. INTERVENE.
Petitioner wishes to intervene with respect to the following questions which the proposed amendment raises:
l a.
Questions pertaining to the necessity of the
]
preparation of an environmental impact statement by the Commission prior to issuance of the proposed amendment; b.
Questions concerning whether the proposed license amendment is of the type which Congress intended to
1 N
^
4
._c include among those actions which could be declardd '
~
a by the Commission to pose no significant hazard prior to the time that hearings are held; c.
Questions concerning whether a 1977 stipulation c
between the parties in Commission Docket No. 50-271 7
x; affects the proposed amendment; O
d.
Questions concerning adverse impacts of the ia proposed amendment on the State and its citizsna in~
)
i s
light of the terms of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Act setting forth State responsibilities for s
s the disposal of low-level wastes y
e.
Questions concerning the extent to which increasedS 7,o n
spent fuel storage would exacerbate the,effect of a '
l su severe accident;
(
37 f.
Questions concerning the increase in thE probability of an accident and opportunity for
I deliberate acts of malfeasance broughb about by, increased spent fuel storage and movements in and around the pool of equipment and spent fuel; g.
Questions concerning whether storage expatision presents the possibility of a new acdident. which has not been evaluated due to the possible dkopping of a spent fuel storage rack in or around the storage pool.
5' h.
Questions concerning the possible adverse effncts on the adequacy of the expanded spent fuel r,torage due to the inability of the Federal Department of
/
i 1
'A
x
$. :n(
sg
- - -y
..s l.
'c-
- g-p.
5 V
ir
." Q f
- 7 3-Energy to comply with the waste repository schedule set forth in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, and the uncertainty on when and if disposal will be
,e available that results from that inability.
j I '$
k WHEREFORE, having met the applicable tests for intervention, Petitioner prays that it be allowed to iE i.htervene in this matter.
~
THE STATE OF VERMONT
% a,
()
((
yj s
I h/ ON By:
Da/id J. 'Mullett er Speci Counsel Depart ent of Public Service Special Assistant Attorney General i
All pleadings related to this matter shall be served on:
b V
David J. Mullett Vermont Department of Public Service
.n i
120 State Street Montpelier, VT 05602
- Ib g
d' /
4',,.
f.
4 k
'w i
s 4-q,
/'
i i
i e
i
'.s F
[
w.
u
,_A,
.,n,
. u v,.
7.s BEFORE THE UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
'87 FEB -2 P4 38 0 Fit.
00Cr.
No. 50-271 M
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power
)
Corps Consideration of Issuance
)
of Amendment to Facility Operating )
License and Proposed No Signifi-
)
cant Hazards Consideration
)
Determination and Opportunity for
)
Hearing
)
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that I served a copy of the foregoing Petition to Intervene by causing a true copy hereof to be placed in the United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed as follows:
Secretary of the Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C.
20555 Office of the General Counsel-Bethesda U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C.
20555 i
John A. Ritcher, Esq.
Roper and Gray l
225 Franklin Street Boston, MA 02110 l
William Griffin, Esq.
Attorney General's Office State of Vermont Montpelier, VT 05602 New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution, Inc.
P.O. Box 545 Brattleboro, VT 05301 l
l
2 DATED at Montpelier, Vermont this 29th day of January, 1987.
VERMONE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE
'?,
i /
it
/
/
b BY:
D vi J. Nullett "
c al C6unsel t
0 l
l
o
- W,[y UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
'87 FG -5 A]; ;;g
)
In the Matter of
)
[ chi
)
Vermont Yankee Nuclear
)
Power Corporation
)
Docket No. 50-271
)
(Vermont Yankee Nuclear
)
Power Station)
)
)
ATTORNEY GENERAL JAMES M. SHANNON'S REQUEST FOR A HEARING AND PETITION TO INTERVENE WITH RESPECT TO VERMONT YANKEE'S SPENT FUEL POOL EXPANSION REQUEST Attorney General James M. Shannon hereby requests a hearing with respect to Vermont Yankee's request to expand spent fuel storage capacity, noticed at 51 Fed. Reg. 22,245 (June 18, 1986), in accordance with the " Notice of Consideration of Issuance of Amendment to Facility Operating License and Proposed No Significant Hazards Consideration Determination and Opportunity for Hearing," noticed at 51 Fed. Reg. 47324 (December 31, 1986), and in accordance with the hybrid hearing procedures set forth therein, and the Attorney General further petitions pursuant to 10 C.F.R. S 2.714 and S 2.715(c) for leave to intervene in that proceeding.
Attorney General Shannon seeks to intervene in this proceeding on behalf of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Several Massachusetts communities are located within ten miles of the Vermont Yankee site (the plume exposure emergency planning zone), and a large portion of the Commonwealth lies within fifty miles of the site (the ingestion exposure emergency planning zone).
The health and safety of Massachusetts citizens could therefore be affected by the S 7 vos Wy (Mb 6 [
??
t outcome of'this proceeding.
Attorney General Shannon also has a right to Participate in this proceeding as a representative of an intetasted State pursuant to 10 C.F.R. S 2.715(c).
The Attorney General asserts that vermont Yankee's request to expand its spent fuel pool storage capacity presents a significant hazards consideration.
Boiling water reactor probabilistic risk assessment studies indicate that the frequency of severe accidents for these reactors is non-negligible.
A significant quantity of hydrogen gas could be generated in the event of a severe accident, even if the accident is terminated.
Through containment leakage or containment f ailure, this hydrogen gas would be released to the reactor building.
It is likely that this hydrogen gas will burn or detonate, generating pressure that will threaten the structural integrity of the reactor building.
Given the location of the spent fuel pool, it is possible that either:
(a) spent fuel cooling systems will be damaged and rendered inoperable and that limited access to the building will prevent repair; or (b) the structural integrity of the spent fuel pool will be breached.
Inadequate cooling of the f uel in the spent fuel pool can then lead to a radiological release.
The greater the number of fuel assemblies in the spent fuel pool, the larger the release is likely to be.
There are alternatives to increasing the spent fuel pool that the licensee has not proposed, and that should be
considered, including at least the following:
(a) constructing a dry spent.. fuel storage facility, or (b) constructing an in-ground spent.fu'el pool.
Attorney General Shannon wishes to participate in this proceeding with respect to the issues set forth above.
Respectfully submitted, JAMES M.
- SHANNON, ATTORNEY GENERAL of the COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS (h
'bSnu_, c{u ',
By:
CAROL S.
SNEIDER Assistant Attorney General Environmental Protection Division Department of the Attorney General One Ashburton Place Boston, MA 02108 Dated:
January 30, 1987 1
l
E D
- :V ( ~ t
~
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
..s
.r.
'87 FEB -5 All :
~"-
)
In the Matter of
)
6Fr. _
)
80C4E j".
.,,7 K"
Vermont Yankee Nuclear
)
Power Corporation
)
Docket No. 50-271
)
(Vermont Yankee Nuclear
)
Power Station)
)
)
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Carol S. Sneider, hereby certify that on January 30, 1987, I made service of the within document by mailing copies thereof, postage prepaid, by first class mail, to:
Secretary of the-Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C.
20555 Attention:
Docketing and Service Branch Of fice of the General Counsel-Bethesda U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C.
20555 John A. Ritcher, Esquire Ropes and Gray 225 Franklin Street Boston, Massachusetts 02110 d/w
$ "RLt
( u Carol S.
Sneider Assistant Attorney General Environmental Protection Division Dated:
January 30, 1987