ML20236Q730

Ack Receipt of Describing Nuclear Energy Advisory Energy Advisory Council Position on Items Associated with NRC Insp Oversight of Decommissioning Power Reactor Licensees

ML20236Q730
Person / Time
Site:	Haddam Neck File:Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co icon.png
Issue date:	07/08/1998
From:	Roe J NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned)
To:	Concannon T, Woollacott E CONNECTICUT, STATE OF
Shared Package
ML20236Q732	List: ML20236Q730 ML20236Q734
References
NUDOCS 9807210009
Download: ML20236Q730 (2)

Text

___ _ - - _ - - _ - - _ - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ - - _ _ - - _______ _ _-_

p,"' -

• y purg\  ; UNITED STATES j

p NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION o & WASHINGTON. D.C. 20066-0001

,; g * , July 8, 1998 The Honorable Terry Concannon Mr. Evan Woollacott Co-Chairs, Nuclear Energy Advisory Council i

. Room 4035 '

Legislative Office Building

. Capitol Avenue Hartford, Connecticut 06106

Dear Ms. Concannon and Mr. Woollacott:

Thank you for your April 24,1998, letter describing the Nuclear Energy Advisory Council's (NEAC's) position on.a number of items associated with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) inspection oversight of decommissioning power reactor licensees. In particular, you stated that the NRC staff should adopt the option evaluated in DSI-24:

Decommissioning-Power Reactors, which proposed that a Decommissioning Resident inspector be assigned during all phases of decommissioning at power reactor facilities.

Further, you noted that there is no job description for a Decommissioning Resident

-Inspector and that to promote maximum public health and safety, an NRC staff individual, assigned at the facility, should be specifically qualified to monitor the decommissioning

, process, thus enhancing public confidence.

l The. efficient and effective regulatory oversight of licensed activities at decommissioning _

l power reactor facilities is one of the most important missions of the NRC. As articulated in l the letter we sent you on March 24,1998, our current practice Is to have an inspector at the site for some period after permanent cessation of power operations. This time period, l

which is continually reevaluated by the staff on a per site basis is based in part on the type l and schedule of decommissioning activities being conducted at the site and licensee

. performance. Typically, we maintain a Resident inspector at the site for about a year .

l following shutdown. However,if the activities at the facility do not warrant continuous site coverage, we may transfer this individual and conduct inspections from the regional office. /

[ .- Regarding your comment on Decommissioning Resident inspectors, we have already begun I ,to assess and improve our guidance in this area. First, we are developing a Resident /

Inspector transition training plan (for inspectors assigned to plants that have announced p

L that they will permanently shut down) to ensure that our onsite inspectors are appropriately retrained in the rules and regulations governing decommissioning, Secondly, we have 3

recently revised our NRC Inspection Manual Chapter (IMC 1245) on inspector g -)O

^

9907210009 990708

(

PDR STPRO ESOCT gm 9 f&s ko~n U"^'

~ - -

, y q - t&A Ns _. cT

l The Honorable Terry Concannon 2 Mr. Evan Woollacott training to implement a new qualification program entitled " Decommissioning inspector." I This individual would be the onsite replacement for the Resident inspector (a title 1 historically reserved for onsite inspectors at operating power plants), if a Decommissioning

. Inspector is assigned. And lastly, we have committed to reviewing and revising, as necessary, IMC 2561, " Decommissioning Power Reactor inspection Program," to

. incorporate recent lessons learned and to strengthen our guidance on the use of Resident

. inspectors and Decommissioning inspectors at decommissioning power plants.

Thank you again for communicating your opinions and views regarding NRC's oversight of licensed activities.

Sincerely, i

ctor

!- Division of Reactor Program Management

~

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation l

I f

l I

l I

l