ML20212R660

Request for Hearing & Petition to Intervene Submitted by New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution.* Petition to Intervene & Request for Hearing Re Util Application to Increase Spent Fuel Pool.Certificate of Svc Encl

ML20212R660
Person / Time
Site:	Vermont Yankee
Issue date:	01/29/1987
From:	Weiss E HARMON & WEISS, NEW ENGLAND COALITION ON NUCLEAR POLLUTION
To:	NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
References
CON-#187-2347 OLA, NUDOCS 8702030029
Download: ML20212R660 (7)

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j23/7 00LMETQ U1NPC UNITED STATES OF AMERICA '87 JAN 29 P 5 :19 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION CFF :

CCC: n

)

In the Matter of )

)

Vermont Yankee Nuclear )

Power' Co rporation

) Docket No. 50-271 (>L.

)

(Vermont Yankee Nuclear ) {

Power Station) )

)

REQUEST FOR HEARING AND PETITION TO INTERVENE SUDMITTED BY NEW ENGLAND COALITION ON NUCLEAP POLLUTION =

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On June 18, 1986, the NRC published notice of the request of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation to amend the operat-ing license for the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station to permit storage of 2,870 fuel assemblies in the plant's spent f uel pool. 51 Fed. Reg. 22,246. Yankee's license currently permits storage of 2,000 assemblies. This latest request, if granted, would almost quintuple the amount of spent fuel permitted to be stored on-site by the terms of Vermont Yankee's original license and would allow the storage in the pool of almost eight full core loads. The June 18, 1986, notice contained the NRC's proposed determined that this amendment involved "no significant hazards considerations."

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8702030029 B70129 PDR ADOCK 05000271 0 PDR J)S63

O- 0 The New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution ("NECNP")

made three (3) filings in response to the June 18 notice.1 These filings generally presented information raising safety issues concerning the proposed amendment, argued that the proposed action requires an Environmental Impact Statement and disputed the Commission's proposed finding that the amendments raises no significant hazards considerations. NECNP requested the opportunity to make a full submission in writing on these issues and argued that they must be considered and resolved by the Com-I mission before authorizing any further expansion of Vermont Yankee's spent fuel pool.

On December 31, 1986, 51 Fed. Reg. 47,324, the NRC published a new notice stating that "(dl ue to oversight", its original notification had failed to state, as required by 10 CFR S 2.1107, that Yankee's request falls within Section 134 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, permitting any interested party to request a hearing, petition to intervene and, if desired, to I

invoke the " hybrid" procedure described in 10 CFR Part 2, Su bpa r t  ;

K. The Commission also stated that , if a hearing is requested, 1 New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution's Objection to Pro-posed Finding of No Significant Hazards Consideration, Request for Compliance with National Environmental Policy Act, and Request For Opportunity to Comment on Application to Increase Spent Fuel Storage Capacity at Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station, July 21, 1986; New England Coalition on Nuclear Pol-lution's Supplemental Response to Vermont Yankee Spent Fuel Pool Expansion Request, Sept. 19, 1986; New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution's Second Supplemental Response to Vermont Yankee Spent Fuel Pool Expansion Request, No v. 19, 19 8 6.

it will make a final determination on the question of whether no significant hazards consideration is presented here.

Pursuant to the Commission's rules and the notice published at 51 Fed. Reg. 47,324, NECNP hereby requests a hearing, peti-tions to intervene and notes that it will invoke the hybrid hear-ing procedures.2 Pursuant to 10 C FR S 2. 714, NLCNP states the following:

1. As is more fully described below, NECNP is entitled to participate as a party to this proceeding on behalf of its mem-bets whose lives, well-being and proper ty would be placed at increased risk should the requested license amendment be granted.

NECNP and its members are parties "whose interest may be affected by the proceeding" and are thus entitled to claim a hearing, pur-

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suant to 4 2 U.S.C. S 2239(a) .

2. NECNP is a nonprofit educational organization incor-porated under the laws of Vermont, with some 4 50 members and sup-l 2

[ Although 10 CFR S 2.1109 provides that the hybrid procedures may be invoked by a request filed "within ten (10) days after

, an order granting a request for hearing," the December 31, 1986, notice seems to require in this case that the original petition for hearing contain such a request in order to be considered timely:

Requests for hearing or petitions for leave to intervene which did not seek to invoke the hybrid hearing procedures are not authorized by this notice and would be considered l

nontimely.

f 51 Fed. Reg. 47,325, Col.2.

l While NECNP doubts that the NRC may lawfully condition the y grant of a request for hearing or petition to intervene upon the party's invoking hybrid procedures (since as the agency admits, its original notice was defective due to its own fault), the issue is of little practical significance, since the licensee can invoke the hybrid procedures in any case.

porting groups throughout the New England states. Approximately 100 members of NECNP live in the Brattleboro-Putney area and over 50 members live within ten (10) miles of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station. The health and safety of these members, in particular, would be jeopardized by the requested amendment.

NECNP was an Intervenor in the operating license proceeding for Vermont Yankee, beginning in 1971, and in the license amend-ment proceeding concerning the licensee's last request to increase spent fuel storage capacity to 2000 fuel assemblies.

NECNP is governed by a Board of Trustees and advised by science advisors from New England colleges and universities. The organization has worked for many years to educate the public about the hazards of nuclear power, the benefits of alternative energy options and the inextricable link between nuclear power and nuclear weapons. NECNP also operates the " Great New England Energy Show", the area's only mobile educational unit on alterna-tive energy and nuclear waste. NECNP has participated in numerous NRC rulemaking petitions and in proceedings for other r nuclear plants.

3. An order increasing the spent fuel storage capacity at f

Vermont Yankee would af fect the interest of NECNP and its members by increasing the risk to public health and safety associated with operation of the Vermont Yankee plant and with on-site spent fuel storage and by foreclosing the consideration of other, pos-sibly less hazardous options for spent fuel storage and manage-ment.

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4. The specific aspects of the subject matter of this pro-ceeding as to which NECNP wishes to intervene include but are not limited to the increased risk to public health and safety associ-ated with more tightly packing the fuel assemblies in the pool, the increased potential for a radioactive release from the pool associated with a reactor accident, and the great increase in potential accident consequences caused by a-40% increase of radioactive inventory, most significantly Ce sium , in the pool.

These safety concerns are particularly significant for a BWR design such as Vermont Yankee's, where the spent fuel pool is above grade, in close proximity to the reactor core, yet outside containment in a building not designed to withstand such forces as hydrogen explosion. Even a reactor accident which is not suf-ficiently severe to cause a release of fission products from con-tainment could involve the generation of explosive quantities of hyd rogen , threatening the integrity of the pool its cooling sys-tems.

6-In addition, NECNP contends that the amendment requires an Environmental Impact Statement, pursuant to the National Environ-mental Policy Ac t. NRC has to our knowledge as yet taken no steps to comply with NEPA.

Respectfully submitted, l l / p i

._ l ..L' Ellyn+R. Weiss Diane J. Curran HARMON & WEISS 1

2001 S Street, N.W.

Suite 430 Washington, D. C.

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20009 Counsel for NECNP f

Date: January 29, 1987 i

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 87 JAN 29 P5 :19 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 6ff LE - A" 00CXf 4 _.:i* M I In the Ma tter of )

)

Vermont Yankee Nuclear )

Power Co rporation ) Docket No. 50-271

)

(Vermont Yankee Nuclear )

Power Station) )

)

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE The undersigned certifies that I have this day served

" Request for Hearing and Petition to Intervene submitted by New England Coalition in Nuclear Pollution" upon the following by deposit in the U. S. mail, first class prepaid:

Daniel R. Muller John A. Pi tscher, Es q .

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Ropes and Gray Washington, D. C. 20555 225 Franklin Street Boston, MA 02110

• Secretary of the Commission Of fice of the General-U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Counsel Be thesda Washington, D. C . 20555 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Attn: Docketing and Service Branch Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 l ,- ' '

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