ML22091A000
| ML22091A000 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Hermes File:Kairos Power icon.png |
| Issue date: | 03/23/2022 |
| From: | NRC Region 1 |
| To: | |
| References | |
| NRC-1874 | |
| Download: ML22091A000 (86) | |
Text
Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Title:
Forthcoming Public Outreach Meeting on the Proposed Kairos Hermes Test Reactor with Designated Period for Receipt of Environmental Scoping Comments Docket Number:
(n/a)
Location:
teleconference Date:
Wednesday, March 23, 2022 Work Order No.:
NRC-1874 Pages 1-84 NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC.
Court Reporters and Transcribers 1716 14th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20009 (202) 234-4433
1 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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PUBLIC MEETING
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FORTHCOMING PUBLIC OUTREACH MEETING ON THE PROPOSED KAIROS HERMES TEST REACTOR WITH DESIGNATED PERIOD FOR RECEIPT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCOPING COMMENTS
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WEDNESDAY MARCH 23, 2022
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The Public Meeting met via Video Teleconference, at 6:30 p.m. EDT, Brett Klukan, Facilitator, presiding.
2 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com NRC STAFF PRESENT BRETT KLUKAN, Facilitator JOSEPH ASEIZAT BENJAMIN BEASLEY SCOTT BURNELL SAMUEL CUADRADO DE JESUS PEYTON DOUB TAMI DOZIER KENNETH ERWIN DAN FRUMKIN JOSEPH GIACINTO BRIAN GLOWACKI RICHARD HARPER EDWARD HELVENSTON WILLIAM "DUKE" KENNEDY CINDY MONTGOMERY NADIYAH MORGAN DONALD PALMROSE JEFFREY SCHMIDT SUSAN VRAHORETIS LYNNEA WILKINS
3 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com ALSO PRESENT DAVID GREEN ADLER BRIAN CAMPBELL TERRY FRANK RANI FRANOVICH PETER HASTINGS ALYSSA LEE HAYES HEATHER HOFF GARY KAHANAK ALAN MEDSKER GUIDO NUNEZ-MUJICA MARTIN O'NEILL JOSHUA PAYNE RYAN PICKERING ELLEN SMITH MARK WATSON RON WOODY
4 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com CONTENTS Call to Order and Opening Remarks..................5 Introductions by NRC Management....................7 Safety Presentation................................9 Environmental Scoping Presentation................18 Comments from Elected Officials...................26 Statement of Kairos Power.........................37 Q&A on NRC Safety and Environmental Review Process...........................................42 Public Comments on the Scope of the Environmental Review..............................45 Public Comments on the Scope of the Environmental Review (Continued)
Closing Remarks...................................83 Adjourn...........................................84
5 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 6:32 p.m.
MR. BEASLEY: Welcome. We're glad you joined us this evening.
I am Ben Beasley. I am a Senior Project Manager in the Advanced Reactor Licensing Branch at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
This is a meeting about the NRC review of an application for a Construction Permit from Kairos Power. The application is for Hermes, a test reactor proposed to be built in Oak Ridge. The Docket No.
for this application is 05007513.
As a virtual meeting, I ask that everyone remain on mute unless you are speaking. The video is nice, also, but it's a good practice to turn off your camera when you are not involved in the conversation, just to help those of us with limited bandwidth.
Today's meeting is a comment-gathering meeting. The NRC staff will not make any regulatory decisions at this meeting.
The meeting is being transcribed, as Brett explained, by a court reporter.
The NRC staff will provide an overview of our review process, following by a question-and-answer session on the process. And after that
6 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com question-and-answer session, we will be collecting comments on the scope of the environmental review.
Throughout the meeting, please remember to identify yourself by giving us your name and if you are affiliated with an organization.
The primary staff in today's meeting are myself. I am a Project Manager for the Hermes application safety review.
Sam Wojack is the court reporter that is transcribing our meeting today.
Ed Helvenston, a Project Manager in the Non-Power Production and Utilization Facility Licensing Branch, and one of the Safety Project Managers on the Hermes project, will describe our safety review process.
Peyton Doub is an Environmental Scientist in the New Reactors Environmental Review Branch.
Peyton will describe the NRC's environmental review process.
Brett Klukan, you've already met. He is the Regional Counsel for our Region I Office. Brett's going to facilitate our question-and-answer session and, also, the comment-gathering session. And as he's already done some of that, he'll describe how to enter the speaker queue in order to ask your questions
7 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com and make comments.
Also here this evening is are Ken Erwin and Tami Dozier. Tami is the Project Manager of the environmental review, and Ken is the Branch Chief for the New Reactors Environmental Review Branch.
Duke Kennedy is the Branch Chief for Advanced Reactor Licensing Branch, and Duke is going to now make a few introductory comments.
So, Duke, take it away.
MR. KENNEDY: Thanks, Ben.
Let me get my background set here, so I'm in the office.
Yes, thank you very much, Ben.
And good evening and welcome to this public meeting.
My name is Duke Kennedy. I'm the Acting Chief of the Advanced Reactor Licensing Branch. And this Branch is the part of the NRC's Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation with responsibility for managing the safety review of the Hermes Construction Permit application.
I want to thank everyone in attendance for taking time this evening to meet with the NRC staff and provide your feedback and comments on this project. The NRC staff considers public involvement
8 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com in the Agency's activities to be the cornerstone of openness and transparency, two of our principles of good regulation.
The regulatory process provides a variety of opportunities for members of the public to be heard and involved in the licensing process, and your involvement helps the NRC staff to fulfill its responsibility to protect the public health and safety.
The NRC staff has prepared presentations covering the safety and environmental reviews of the Construction Permit application. The presentations will give you an overview of the NRC's processes and some information about the proposed Hermes reactor and the Construction Permit application.
Included in the presentations are key dates, contacts, and online resources that you can use to get more information. Please take advantage of those.
Again, thank you for taking the time to participate in this meeting. I will look forward to your feedback and comments, and I hope that the information we share tonight will help you to stay informed and involved.
Thank you.
9 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com With that, I'll pass the mic to Mr. Ed Helvenston for his presentation on the NRC staff's safety review.
Thank you.
MR. HELVENSTON: Thank you very much, Duke.
As Duke said, my name is Ed Helvenston.
I'm one of the Project Managers for the safety portion of the NRC's Hermes review. And I'll be providing the first portion of this presentation, giving an overview and discussing the NRC staff's safety review of the Hermes application.
For the second half of this presentation, I will turn it over to Peyton Doub, who will provide information on the environmental review and the environmental scoping process.
Do we have the slides for the presentation? Cindy, are you able to share the slides?
MS. MONTGOMERY: Can you see them now?
MR. HELVENSTON: I'm not seeing them, no.
MS. MONTGOMERY: Okay. Let me try one more thing.
MR. FRUMKIN: Cindy, this is Dan. You may need to have that window upfront if you're going
10 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com to share the window. If you have Teams showing, it may not show the slides.
There it is. Perfect.
MR. HELVENSTON: Oh, perfect. Thanks, Cindy and Dan.
And Cindy, if you can go ahead and go to slide 2, I can get started there.
So, I just wanted to start off the presentation by discussing the purposes of this meeting.
First, we want to provide an overview of the NRC's mission. We want to describe the NRC's review process; discuss the scoping process under the National Environmental Policy Act and the NRC's regulations.
We'd like to describe how you can provide comments during the environmental scoping period.
And then, most importantly, we want to answer your questions and listen to and gather your comments.
Slide 3, please.
So, just for some background on the NRC.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC, is an independent federal agency that is led by a Commission with up to five Commissioners appointed by
11 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com the President. The Commissioners work together in formulating NRC policy, developing regulations for nuclear safety, and adjudicating legal matters. The Commission is supported by a professional staff in carrying out its functions.
Since 1974, the NRC has regulated all civilian use of nuclear materials in the United States, including nuclear power reactors and non-power reactors. The NRC's mission is to protect public health and safety, promote the common defense and security, and protect the environment.
Slide 4, please.
With respect to nuclear reactors, the NRC performs reviews to determine whether it is safe to build and operate a proposed nuclear reactor at a site; evaluates environmental impacts of building and operating nuclear reactors at proposed sites; inspects construction of nuclear reactors, and once reactors are operating, also inspects to ensure their safe operation. And finally, licenses individuals who operate the controls of nuclear reactors.
In addition to nuclear reactors, the NRC also regulates other types of facilities that use nuclear materials; for example, various medical and industrial facilities and facilities that manufacture
12 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com reactor fuel.
Slide 5, please.
So next, I'll provide a brief overview of the Hermes facility that Kairos Power is planning to build in Oak Ridge.
Hermes would be a non-power test reactor with a core capable of creating up to 35 megawatts of heat. This is dozens of times smaller than a typical nuclear power plant.
The Hermes test reactor would demonstrate the key technologies of Kairos Power's fluoride salt-cooled high temperature reactor, or KPFHR, design.
These demonstrations would facilitate future commercial deployment of a full-scale, higher-powered nuclear power plant that is based on these technologies.
The Hermes reactor fuel would be tristructural isotropic, or TRISO, pebbles which are, essentially, about 4-centimeter diameter balls consisting of uranium and carbon. The TRISO pebbles are designed to retain radioactive material generated during reactor operation. The pebbles will contain high assay low enriched uranium, also known as HALEU, which is uranium enriched between 5 and 20 percent in the uranium-235 isotope. Kairos may also utilize
13 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com some TRISO fuel with unenriched uranium.
The fuel would be cooled by molten lithium and beryllium fluoride salt, known as Flibe, which is a chemically stable material that also retains radioactive material.
The graphite in the reactor structure and, also, the carbon in the pebbles would help maintain a chain reaction in the reactor.
The reactor would be compact in size, approximately 10 feet in diameter and 16-feet high.
There are many features of the reactor, including its low operating pressure, slow changes in temperature, and slow reaction to unexpected changes, which all help keep the reactor safe.
The TRISO fuel's and the Flibe salt's ability to retain radioactive material also contribute to the safety of the reactor.
Slide 6, please.
For the proposed Hermes site, Kairos has selected a site that is near the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and which formerly had another nuclear facility, the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion plant, which closed in the 1980s.
A closeup of the site, as well as the location of the site with respect to the wider area
14 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com and the town of Oak Ridge, are illustrated here on this slide.
The K-33 and K-31 buildings that formerly occupied the site have since been decommissioned and demolished, and the site is currently vacant.
Slide 7, please.
So, in terms of the NRC's review process for a Construction Permit application for a facility such as Hermes, here is a diagram that outlines the process.
Prior to submitting its CP application, or Construction Permit application, last fall, Kairos engaged in pre-application activities, such as audits, with the NRC to help ensure an efficient and effective review.
This diagram shows the parallel safety and environmental reviews the NRC is currently conducting on Kairos' application.
The public has an opportunity to request a
hearing on the application's safety or environmental portions. We'll discuss that further in subsequent slides.
I'll also discuss the safety review in further detail on the next slide. But, as illustrated here, the NRC staff will review the information in
15 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com the application and develop a Safety Evaluation Report. The Safety Evaluation Report, as well as the mandatory hearing on the application, which I'll also discuss later, inform the final decision on the application which is made by the Commission.
In addition, the NRC's Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, which is an advisory group of technical experts that is independent of the NRC staff, reviews the application and the staff's initial Safety Evaluation Report, and conducts public meetings with the staff, and then, prepares a letter which also informs the Commission's decision.
The environmental portion of the review will be discussed in more detail during the second half of this presentation. But, as illustrated here, the environmental review also supports the mandatory hearing and informs the Commission's final decision on the Construction Permit application.
Slide 8, please.
The NRC staff reviews applications for Construction Permits and Operating Licenses for non-power reactors, including test reactors such as Hermes, using the guidance in NUREG-1537, the "Guidelines for Preparing and Reviewing Applications for the Licensing of Non-Power Reactors," which is a
16 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com publicly available document.
Some areas of staff review for a
Construction permit application include: facility site characteristics; the preliminary facility design; preliminary analyses of both normal facility operation and possible abnormal events; quality assurance, which is how an applicant will ensure the quality of its design and construction process, and emergency preparedness.
Kairos submitted its application in two parts, with the Preliminary Safety Analysis Report supporting the safety review in September of last year. The company submitted its Environmental Report for the environmental review in October. The NRC accepted both parts of the application and began its detailed review of the application in November.
The NRC staff clearly documents its safety findings in an open and transparent process in a Safety Evaluation Report document, as mentioned on the last slide. The environmental review is documented in a
separate Environmental Impact Statement, which will be discussed further in the second half of this presentation.
The NRC staff currently expects to complete its Safety Evaluation Report, including the
17 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards review, by September of 2023.
Slide 9, please.
As I discussed previously, a mandatory uncontested hearing on Kairos' Construction Permit application will be held before any final Agency decision. During this hearing, which is required by NRC regulations, the NRC staff presents and supports its conclusions in the safety and environmental reviews before either the Commission or, if delegated by the Commission, the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.
In
- addition, as also discussed previously, interested persons may request a
contested hearing on the application. A contested hearing, if held, would be separate from the mandatory hearing. The period for a Petition for Leave to Intervene is currently open and will close on April 11th. Further details on how to request a hearing will be provided at the end of the environmental portion of this presentation.
Slide 10, please.
A Construction Permit, if issued, based on the Commission's decision following the hearing, would authorize Kairos to build the Hermes facility.
18 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com An additional application for an Operating License, including a Final Safety Evaluation Report and an NRC review of a final design, would be needed for an Agency decision that would approve operation of the facility.
Slide 11, please.
And with that, I'll turn the presentation over to the NRC's Peyton Doub, who will discuss details of the Hermes environmental review and environmental scoping.
MR. DOUB: Thank you, Ed.
Am I coming through?
MR. HELVENSTON: Yes, I hear you, Peyton.
MR. DOUB: Thank you, Ed.
As Ed mentioned, my name is Peyton Doub, and I'm an Environmental Scientist with NRC's Environmental New Reactors Branch. I am working with Tami Dozier, also with the same Branch, in managing the environmental review of the Kairos Hermes Construction Permit application.
The environmental review is how NRC complies with the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, as well as related environmental statutes, such as the Endangered Species Act and National Historic Preservation Act.
19 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com NRC performs environmental reviews in parallel with safety reviews. The NRC environmental staff is using tonight's meeting as an opportunity to reach out to listeners for suggestions on what environmental issues should be addressed in our review.
The environmental terms this process "scoping." We use information received during scoping to help focus our efforts on those issues of most importance.
Next slide, please.
The Applicant, Kairos, has stated that they designed the Hermes reactor to comply with environmental quality standards and regulatory requirements. The oldest rendering, to the left, depicts the Hermes reactor building, which, as has already been stated, will be a small non-power test reactor to demonstrate and generate data on new advanced reactor technology. It will generate power for sale or distribution.
Kairos has identified a 185-acre site within Oak Ridge's East Tennessee Technology Park, or ETTP, on lands that were formerly used by the Department of Energy to operate the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The photograph to the right shows
20 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com the site, which was formerly occupied by DOE Buildings K-31 and K-33, both very large buildings used in the gaseous diffusion process. DOE razed the buildings, remediated the site to a level suitable for industrial use, and excessed the land to the city of Oak Ridge for redevelopment.
Kairos has stated that it plans to build the proposed Hermes facilities entirely within lands whose soils have been previously graded and developed without having to disturb natural vegetation, wetlands, surface water features, or archeological sites.
Additionally, Kairos has stated that water demands will be small enough to met using only municipal and commercial water supplies without having to draw on surface water or groundwater.
Kairos has, therefore, designed the project without cooling towers or intake and discharge structures or pipelines extending to nearby surface water features.
Because the Hermes will not distribute power or require large quantities of power, Kairos does not plan to build any transmission lines.
Next slide, please.
NRC has determined, through its NEPA
21 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com compliance regulations in 10 CFR Part 51, that licensing non-power test reactors such as Hermes is a major federal action with the potential to significantly affect the human environment, and therefore, requires the Agency to prepare an EIS.
NRC uses a systematic process outlined in its regulations to evaluate potential environmental impacts in a transparent manner that gives the public an opportunity to voice concerns. Tonight's meeting is an opportunity for listeners to inform the NRC staff about specific environmental issues that you believe we need to address in the EIS.
Once the staff publishes a Draft EIS, NRC will offer the public another opportunity to comment on the results of environmental analyses before the staff completes a final version of the EIS.
Next slide.
This flowchart illustrates how the environmental review and EIS fits into the overall NRC licensing process. NRC accepted and docketed the Hermes application in December of last year. The NRC staff, then, issues a Notice of Intent in February of this year, kicking off the scoping process of which tonight's meeting is a part.
Once the staff completes the scoping
22 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com process and data collection needed to prepare an EIS, it will publish a draft of the EIS for public comment.
Once the public is given an opportunity to comment on the draft, the NRC staff will finish and publish a Final EIS. NRC performs this environmental review process concurrently with its safety review.
You will notice, as Ed explained, that there is also an opportunity for a hearing. This is an adjudicated hearing, required under the Atomic Energy Act, that is completed independent from the environmental and safety reviews. Neither tonight's scoping meeting nor the public meeting on the Draft EIS are related to the adjudicated hearing process.
I will present more information on that hearing process later.
Next slide, please. Slide 15. Thank you.
The scoping process, which includes tonight's meeting, helps the NRC staff determine the issues to be analyzed in the EIS. You may provide input to the scoping process by speaking tonight or by submitting your input in writing no later than April 19th, 2022.
The staff will consider relevant scoping input during preparation of the EIS and will develop
23 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com a Scoping Summary Report summarizing information received and collected through the scoping process.
Later in this presentation, I will present more specific instructions for submitting comments.
Next slide, please.
The information-gathering process used by the NRC staff to prepare an EIS relies heavily on input and feedback from you, the public, and from external stakeholders, such as other federal, state, and local agencies, and from interested tribes. The NRC staff is interested in listening to how its licensing actions, such as this one, may affect you and your communities.
Next slide, please.
This slide shows the environmental issues typically addressed in EISes for new reactor licensing applications. Because of the small size and low resource demands for the Hermes project, and its confinement to previously disturbed land in an existing industrial park, the staff anticipates that impacts to many of these environmental resources may not be significant. However, your input is very important to make the staff aware of other environmental issues that may need to be addressed.
Next slide, please.
24 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com NRC published a Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS for the Hermes application on February 18th, last month. This opened a scoping comment period that includes tonight's meeting and concludes on April 19th, 2022.
NRC expects to publish the Draft EIS in November 2022, after which there will be a 45-day period when the staff will accept comments on the analyses reported in the Draft EIS. NRC expects to respond to these comments and issue a Final EIS by September 2023.
Next slide, please.
As I indicated earlier, the NRC also offers the opportunity for stakeholders and the public to formally petition to intervene in the licensing process. As I stated before, this opportunity is completely separate from the environmental and safety reviews, and may address, however, either environmental or safety issues.
If the NRC admits a
Petition to Intervene, if will hold a contested hearing to address the arguments and adjudicate the issues.
Again, tonight's meeting, as well as the planned public meeting to receive comments on the Draft EIS, are not hearings, and are only part of NRC's NEPA
25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com process, and not part of NRC's hearing process.
Instructions for filing a Petition to Intervene, should you be interested in doing so, may be found in The Federal Register hearing notice, as shown on this slide.
Next slide.
The Applicant materials from the Hermes application may be found online at the URL shown on this slide or at the Oak Ridge Public Library.
Next slide, please.
If you wish to speak to one of the points of contact on the NRC staff, their names and addressed are presented on this slide. Even though I'm going to move on to the next slide, this slide will be shown again to give you an opportunity to jot down the names and phone numbers of the contacts.
Next slide, please.
To conclude, we invite you to submit comments regarding how the NRC scopes its EIS for the Kairos Hermes project. You may request to speak tonight or you may submit your comments electronically to the email address shown on the slide, or in a letter to the indicated mailing address.
When submitting a comment, please make
26 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com sure that you provide your name and email address, so the NRC may provide you with a copy of the Draft and Final EIS. Again, comments must be received by April 19th, 2022.
Thank you for your interest.
I'll turn things back to Brett now.
MR. KLUKAN: Thank you, Peyton. I appreciate it.
So, before we begin with the question-and-answer session of the meeting tonight, as indicated on the agenda published to our public meeting website, I'd like to take a few moments to recognize those elected officials who indicated in advance of the meeting this evening that they would like to offer prepared statements.
So, we will begin with Dr. Mark Watson, the Oak Ridge City Manager. And, Mr. Watson, I will unmute you right now. So, whenever you're ready, Mr.
Watson, feel free to unmute yourself and begin your prepared statement.
MR. WATSON: Thank you, Brett.
I hope you can hear me now.
MR. KLUKAN: We can, sir. Thank you.
MR. WATSON: Very good.
I wish to say thank you for the
27 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com opportunity to express some initial items and thoughts, including the most important thing is that this particular project is in the city limits of Oak Ridge. And as it being in the city limits of Oak Ridge, there are a number of local rules/regulations that we need to collaborate on and make sure that certain things are met.
The city of Oak Ridge works on the Heritage Site through the Community Reuse Organization, and it's a little more complex than a normal community. And that takes some time for us to move forward through that.
One thing I would suggest -- and we find this happens when a
calendar of events are established and communications -- we like to have that adopted by our City Council with a resolution or a statement in time, and that takes Council actions.
And sometimes that doesn't match up.
And so, we would like permission that, if, for instance, April 19th is a hard-and-fast date, or we're looking to the November date, going into Christmas and 45 days' comments, it's a little difficult for the local officials to take particular actions. So, we would ask for flexibility in those timeframes, when they come about, to make the
28 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com comments and have them formally adopted by the City Council.
But a couple of things that I would mention is that we are very proud and have gone through long deliberations on reviewing the Kairos project. We think we've done a very adequate analysis on our part to assess what those potential impacts will be. Of course, there are the localized impacts on housing and schools, and different aspects, when we look at a couple of hundred people that will be new employees.
We are completely in agreement in the investment, and I would point out that many of the jobs that are located here will be residents from the region. And as we look at that, we would like to be able to see that our agreements -- you know, we are funding the tax pilot programs, the payment in lieu of taxes. And we've come to some very good agreements with that. It's not a 100-percent abatement, but the 30,000 people are investing in this project. So, we want to make sure that that is done well and right.
Just a couple of final thoughts. We are a full-service city with lots of aspects, including the utilities that are in our area. And I know one of the debates or discussions that have come on is
29 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com the aspect of public safety, public response by firemen, policemen, those sorts of individuals. And we particularly want to look at the public safety aspect of that and how we respond.
In today's federal world, for instance, the clearance permits to get onto various sites have challenged us with public safety services. And as we look at this, I know it's a private sector facility, but we have some of the best firemen that are around.
They have to be trained in very sophisticated matters. And so, we would like to ensure that that public safety element is able to be responding to and questions raised in that regard.
I think the schedule is reasonable. And we would look forward to providing future comments in written form, in adopted form, by the City Council.
And we appreciate you hosting this particular event today.
MR. KLUKAN: Well, thank you very much, Mr. Watson. We appreciate you participating in the meeting this evening.
We will, next, turn to Mr. Ron Woody, the Roane County Executive.
And I will unmute you here in one moment, sir. Okay.
30 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com So, Mr. Woody, you should be unmuted.
Whenever you're ready to begin, please feel free.
(Pause.)
Again, Mr. Woody, to begin your comments, just click on the microphone button -- it's part of the Teams platform -- and that will allow you to unmute yourself.
MR. WOODY: Okay.
MR. KLUKAN: There you go.
MR. WOODY: We can hear you now.
MR. KLUKAN: Great.
MR. WOODY: I tried going over to the chat room there.
MR. KLUKAN: Right, we're hearing you.
Thank you.
MR. WOODY: It's good to be with you all today, and appreciate the opportunity to have verbal comments. We also are aware of the written process here.
Kairos Power, of course, is in Roane County. I'm the County Executive for the County.
Since it is inside the city, though, the city kind of takes jurisdiction on a lot of the issues. Dr. Watson and I, we meet frequently. We talk on the phone frequently. We've got a great
31 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com relationship with the city, and we kind of look to them as the lead agency here.
Of course, you're in a community that has welcomed the advancement of nuclear power for generations, as we have had TVA in the area and the Department of Energy facilities.
So, I just wanted to, basically, kind of lend the support from the government of Roane County, as we collaboratively work together with the city of Oak Ridge and Kairos Power and the NRC.
And I appreciate the opportunity to say a few words. Thank you, Brett.
MR. KLUKAN: Thank you very much, and thank you for participating.
Next, we will turn to Mrs. Terri Frank, the Anderson County Mayor.
And let me find you there. Okay. One moment.
So, Mrs. Frank, your microphone should be unmuted -- well, you should be able to unmute yourself at this time. So, please feel free to begin when you're ready.
(No response.)
Again, Mrs. Terri Frank, whenever you're ready, you should be able to unmute yourself. And
32 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com so, feel free to do so and begin your prepared statement.
(No response.)
Oh, I'm getting a comment from Ben that you had not prepared to give a prepared statement.
You were on a list that I had indicating that you had apologized for that. I don't mean to put you on the spot.
So, we will now move to any other elected officials, including tribal representatives who would like to offer prepared statements at this time, or representatives of elected officials.
So,
- again, elected officials, representatives of elected officials, and including tribal representatives as well, if you would like to offer a prepared statement at this time, please raise your hand. You can do so either through the Teams app, by clicking the little hand icon, or if you're on the phone, press *5. Again, that is *5 to raise your hand.
Now I'll give you a moment here.
(Pause.)
Okay. It looks like we have one individual with their hand raised.
Mr. Campbell, I'm going to unmute you.
33 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com And so, you can begin your remarks.
Again, this is Brian Campbell.
MR. CAMPBELL: Yes. Hello. Brian Campbell.
I'm a pro nuclear advocate and I'm an eco-modernist.
I would like to just go back to the NRC mission statement: "promote the common defense and security."
If you're not aware, since the Ukrainian invasion, to me, we are in a new cold war since the USSR, Russia, or whatever you want to call it, is now aligned with China. And the NRC should definitely take that into a factor, when it approves -- I hope -- this Hermes reactor project, because the United States needs to do as much as possible in nuclear in this new foreign situation that is facing us, and facing the security of this country.
I am very disappointed that the NRC disapproved Oklo's application. To me, it just throws a bunch of uncertainty into people that are trying to build advanced nuclear reactors, like this Hermes project.
And one of my pro-nuclear people who I follow is Robert Brice. And he wrote in Forbes that,
34 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com "The NRC's rejection of the Oklo application shows the U.S. is miles behind China in advanced nuclear reactors."
And right now, they have a nice, 5,000-page agreement with Russia, and I just see them as taking total control of this technology worldwide, unless the NRC wakes up and starts approving advanced nuclear reactors. And China is beating the pants off of the United States in the race to deploy next-generation nuclear reactors.
Wait. That's not quite true. To have a race, the competitors have to be assembled at the starting line. The hard truth, the U.S. sector is in a bureaucratic inertia and is preventing it from even approaching the starting line. And the proof is the Oklo rejection for sure.
And if we're going to build these small modular reactors and these advanced fourth-generation reactors -- China already has one, a nice one. And their gas reactor is already providing power to the grid.
So, I would like the NRC to seriously consider: "promote the common defense and security."
Because I don't think it's doing it right now.
Thank you.
35 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com MR. KLUKAN: Thank you very much, Mr.
Campbell.
So, again, just for clarification -- it may not have been clear -- we are, right now, looking for elected officials. So, if you are an elected official, a representative of an elected official, or a representative of a tribe, please feel free to raise your hand at this time if you would like to give a prepared statement. If you're on the phone, press *5 at this time.
So, right now, we're just focused on elected officials or tribal representatives.
We will, then, move on after that, the question-and-answer portion, and then, to the public comment portion. So, we're going to go boom, boom, boom. So, right now, we're on elected officials.
So, are there any other elected officials at this time who would like to give prepared statements? Again, please feel free to raise your hand to let me know that you would like to do so.
And again, on the phone, that is *5. That is *5 to raise your hand.
Okay. We have Ms. Ellen Smith.
I am going to unmute your microphone now.
So, please feel free to unmute yourself when you are
36 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com ready.
(No response.)
Again, Ms. Ellen Smith, whenever you're ready to begin, please feel free to unmute yourself and being your prepared statement.
(No response.)
So, to unmute yourself, just click on the microphone icon at the top of your screen. It should have a little line through it right now to indicate that you are muted. To begin your prepared statement, just click that button, and then, we'll let you know when we can hear you. Again, this is for Ellen Smith.
(No response.)
MR. FRUMKIN: Ellen Smith is reporting in the chat that she can't unmute.
But you can call in. We can get you that number, and then, we should be able to unmute you that way.
MR. KLUKAN: Yes.
MR. FRUMKIN: Let me get that number into the chat for you.
MR. KLUKAN: So, while we're waiting, while Dan is helping Ms. Ellen Smith with calling into the meeting, are there any other elected officials or representatives of elected officials who
37 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com would like to give prepared statements this evening?
(No response.)
Okay. Hearing none, while we're waiting, Ms.
- Smith, to get you reconnected to the meeting -- and Dan I just saw posted the call-in number. So, feel free to call in there, and then, we'll connect you to via the phone.
I'm going to turn now to Peter Hastings, the Kairos Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Quality, to provide some initial comments.
So, again, let me find you, Mr. Hastings, to unmute you.
And again, Ellen, once you're able to call in, we will circle back to you.
Mr. Hastings, if you could raise your hand, that would help me. Oh, I found you. There we go.
Okay. All right, Mr. Hastings, you should be able to unmute yourself. Please feel free to begin your initial comments.
And then, again, Ms. Smith, we'll circle back to you right after this.
MR. HASTINGS: Thanks, Brett.
Can you hear me?
MR. KLUKAN: Yes, I can. Thank you.
38 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com MR. HASTINGS: Thank you.
Good evening.
This is Peter Hastings. Again, I'm Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Quality at Kairos Power.
We are very pleased with the NRC staff's efforts to fully inform the local community of the licensing process for the Hermes low power demonstration reactor. And we appreciate the opportunity to offer some brief remarks tonight.
Kairos Power's mission is to enable the world's transition to clean energy, with the ultimate goal of dramatically improving people's quality of life while protecting the environment. We are deeply committed to achieving that mission by way of development of an advanced reactor technology that can be deployed with robust safety at an affordable cost to replace the use of fossil fuels; that will contribute to the local and national economy, and that will play a meaningful role in reaching climate goals. Our Hermes reactor is an important step in the development of this technology, with the primary goal at Hermes of demonstrating that Kairos is capable of producing cost-effective nuclear heat.
In terms of the NRC staff's request for
39 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com input to the scope of the Hermes EIS, in addition to our Construction Permit application, our scoping input is being submitted for the record and reflects our desire for continued innovation and enhanced efficiency in the NRC staff's review.
We've had very successful engagement with the staff thus far, with virtually all of our pre-application Topical Reports either approved or nearing approval, and with an active review of our Construction Permit application that's been ongoing for several weeks now. And we look forward to continued progress.
We trust that our neighbors will benefit from the information presented here tonight, just as we're hopeful that they have benefitted, and will continue to benefit, from our own public outreach efforts.
For anyone interested in learning more, we encourage you to visit Kairos Power's virtual open house which features informational materials, videos, renderings of the Hermes site, and a contact form, if you'd like to reach out to our team. You can find that link under the Tennessee tab on our website at kairospower.com/tennessee.
Thanks again very much for the invitation
40 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com to make the remarks, and we look forward to the rest of the meeting.
MR. KLUKAN: Thank you very much for your comments.
Ms. Smith, I see you, and I'm going to unmute you --
MR. FRUMKIN: I've already allowed her to unmute.
MR. KLUKAN: All right. Yes, thanks, Dan. Appreciate it.
MR. FRUMKIN: You are unmuted, Ms. Smith.
Go ahead.
MR. KLUKAN: So, whenever you're ready, Ms. Smith, go ahead.
MS. SMITH: Hello. This is Ellen Smith.
I'm a member of the Oak Ridge City Council, an elected official.
And I'd like to echo comments made by our City Manager. I think our citizens are very excited about the Kairos Hermes reactor project and eager to see it come to fruition.
There are certainly questions that citizens have that I have heard from people and that I anticipate I would hear in the future, as people learn more about the reactor.
41 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com One question that people have had that I think the EIS should help answer for us is the question of the operating life of the test reactor and the potential follow-ons to the operation of that reactor, whether it be decommissioning or expansion or continuation in a different form.
Another question that I anticipate you hearing from the community has to do with construction. As you may or may not be aware, there's an airport planned in the K-25 site area in the East Tennessee Technology Park. And understanding the relationship between the construction of this project and the construction and operation of that airport is of great concern to our residents, and it's something that I hope you will address in the EIS.
So, that's the conclusion of my comments.
Thank you.
MR. KLUKAN: Thank you very much, and thank you for working with us. I apologize for the technical difficulties you were experiencing. So, again, thank you very much.
Again, one last call. Are there any other elected officials or tribal representatives who would like to offer prepared statements at this time?
Again, feel free to let me know that
42 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com you'd like to do so by raising your hand. If you're on the phone, press *5. Again, that is *5 to raise your hand if you are on the phone. I'll give you a minute here.
(No response.)
Okay. Seeing none, going once, going twice. All right.
So, we're now going to move on to the question-and-answer portion of the meeting. Again, the purpose of this is to answer any questions you may have regarding the NRC review processes. It's why we're here tonight; how tonight's meeting fits into the overall process; questions you may have about some of the slides you've seen regarding the NRC's review. Again, the intent is to address process and procedures questions.
Substantive matters regarding the content of Kairos Power's application should be raised during the public comment portion of the meeting, which will follow this portion.
And again, to let me know that you'd like to ask a question, please feel free to do so by raising your hand. If you're on the phone, then you can do so by pressing *5. Otherwise, if you're using the Teams app, click on the little icon that looks
43 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com like a hand, and then, that lets me know that you'd like to ask a question.
And again, we'd like the questions to focus on process and procedure; how the NRC's review works; how it all fits together, whatnot. That's what we're looking for in terms of this question-and-answer session.
Again, if you have substantive comments on the contents of the application, that will be for the public comment portion, which will follow this question-and-answer session.
So, with that, if you have a process and procedure question, please feel free to raise your hand at this time.
Okay. I am going to unmute the phone number that ends in 67. Again, if your phone number ends in 67, I'm going to unmute you at this time.
So, in order to unmute your phone, press
- 6. Again, that is *6.
Whenever you're ready.
So, again, I just unmuted the phone number ending in 67. If you'd like to ask a question, please feel free to do so now.
MR. COLCLASURE: This is Doug Colclasure in Oak Ridge.
44 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com If this question is out of place, please disregard.
But what is the source of the TRISO fuel for this demonstration reactor? And is there an NRC-licensed TRISO fuel lab facility in the U.S.?
MR. KLUKAN: Ed, would you like to -- I mean, this gets a little bit into the substance of the application. But we're going to check with Ed to see if he has a ready answer for you at this time.
MR. COLCLASURE: Okay.
MR. KLUKAN: So, Ed, I'll turn it over to you.
MR. BEASLEY: Brett, this is Ben. I can take it, also.
So, currently, there are not any licensed facilities that are producing TRISO fuel, but I know that there are vendors that are planning on applying for a fuel facility license. And so, certainly, there is a clock that's ticking in order to support the Hermes operation a few years down the road. And so, the various fuel manufacturers are working on that, but, currently, there are no applications at the NRC to produce TRISO fuel. Certainly, the capability has been proven, but, again, we just have to wait on those applications to come in to do those reviews.
45 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com MR. COLCLASURE: Great. Thank you very much.
MR. BEASLEY: You're welcome.
MR. KLUKAN: Thank you.
Are there any others at this point who have a question regarding how the NRC's review works; how it all fits together? So, if you have such a question, please feel free to raise your hand at this time.
(No response.)
Okay. Going once, going twice. All right.
We'll now move on to the public comment portion of the meeting.
Now, again, as I mentioned before we started the meeting -- there may have been some of you who weren't yet on the line -- so, I'm going to repeat what I said then, which is:
We are recording the meeting tonight, and we're also transcribing the meeting. So, for the sake of Sam, our transcriptionist, to make his life a lot easier, when it is your turn to speak or to offer your public comment, please state your name, as well as any affiliation, if you so choose.
I would ask that you not disclose any
46 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com personally identifying information, however. So, please don't give your phone number or your email address or your actual street address. If you want to say what town you're from, that's great, but don't go into more detail than that, just because this is a public transcript, and we don't want to disclose your personally identifying information in that way.
So, again, if you would like to offer a public comment at this time on the scope of the environmental review, please press *5, if you're on the phone, to raise your hand, or click on the hand button in Teams to let me know that you would like to offer a public comment.
And again, comments tonight will be taken verbally, you know, either through the phone or through the audio in Teams. We will not be accepting comments via chat. If you would like to submit written comments, you can do so via the sources listed on this slide, which you should see on the screen right now. So, again, we are accepting comments tonight verbally, just for clarification.
So, if you'd like to offer a public comment at this time, please raise your hand.
All right. We have one individual, Mr.
Ryan Pickering.
47 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com And I'm going to allow your microphone.
So, whenever, Mr. Pickering, you're ready to speak, please feel free to unmute yourself and begin.
MR. PICKERING: Thank you, Brett.
My name is Ryan Pickering. I'm an Energy Policy Researcher in Berkeley, California.
And I just want to commend everyone on this call for this tremendous effort of bringing this incredible technology to the United States.
And I appreciate the earlier caller highlighting the tremendous importance of this technology.
And I want to thank all the veterans on the call for delivering such a safe industry for these new technologies to robustly grow in the United States.
So, I just want to share a lot of gratitude for everyone on the call. And as a member of the public, we're cheering everyone on.
Thank you and good luck.
MR. KLUKAN: Thank you very much for your comments.
Again, to offer public comments during the meeting tonight -- oh, we have our next person.
So, Heather Hoff, I'm going to unmute
48 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com you, or allow you to unmute yourself right now. So, whenever you're ready, feel free to unmute yourself and begin.
MS. HOFF: Hi. Thank you.
My name is Heather Hoff. I started a nonprofit called Mothers for Nuclear because I used to be scared of nuclear, and I took a long time to change my mind about it. And now, I'm a big supporter. It's my hope for the future of humanity on our planet.
And I wanted to offer just a couple of comments and a couple of questions.
I love that it's on an existing site, using all this pre-used land. I think that's awesome.
And I loved the City Councilwoman's comments.
I thought those were valid and appropriate.
And I want to, I guess, stress the importance of a level playing field for nuclear when comparing to other technologies. When we're talking about environmental impacts of this facility compared to another non-nuclear facility, do we consider the impacts of accidents?
If we do, are they appropriately weighted? Do we have any kind of probabilistic risk assessment that says any potential
49 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com outcomes are so unlikely that they're not as important? How does that work, you know, when compared to other facilities? And do other EIRs for other facilities also consider accidents, like oil spills and fires, and stuff like that?
So, it's important to me that we have more clean electricity and more clean energy now, and I think nuclear is great at doing that. And I hope that the NRC will work going forward to make sure the process is as smooth as possible for getting the salt technologies out and commercially, you know, after this research facility.
Thank you.
MR. KLUKAN: Heather, thank you very much for your comments. We appreciate you participating in the meeting tonight.
So, again, if you would like to offer a public comment at this time, please feel free to hit
- 5 on your phone, if you're participating via phone tonight. Or hit the raise your hand function within Teams.
And so, I'm going to go up to Mr. Alan Medsker. I'm going to unmute you now. So, I've allowed your microphone. So, whenever you're ready to begin, unmute yourself and state your name.
50 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com Thank you.
And again, next up is Alan Medsker, M-E-D-S-K-E-R.
(No response.)
Unfortunately, Alan, we can't hear you.
It doesn't look like you've unmuted yourself. So, if you could, there should be an icon within Teams; it looks like a little microphone with a slash through it. Go ahead and click on that, and that will allow you to unmute yourself, so that we can hear you.
(No response.)
Okay. Alan, I'm going to ask that maybe Dan can help you on the side to figure out how to unmute yourself. Again, Dan has posted the call-in number. So, if you're having trouble with your computer audio, I would suggest calling in via the phone, and we'll collect your comment in that manner.
I apologize for any difficulties you may be experiencing.
So, are there others who would like to offer a public comment at this time?
And again, Alan, we'll circle back to you, once we've resolved your technical difficulties.
Okay. Gary Kahanak, I'm going to allow your microphone. So, whenever you're ready, please
51 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com feel free to begin your comments.
MR. KAHANAK: Hello. My name is Gary Kahanak. I'm an originating member of The Climate Coalition. My background is environmental science and public health and energy efficiency.
I really appreciate all the transparency for public comment on the Kairos project. But I would ask that, as the NRC goes through this process, that they try to consider relative risk assessment. My understanding of TRISO fuel is that it's very robust, resistant to high temperature, probably minimal probability of release of any radioactive materials.
The source term is quite small. So, the potential risk there is quite small, and I would ask that you all compare that to the potential gain from what this technology could provide.
We know that we have a massive fleet of coal plants that will be going offline as soon as we can find a replacement. And the Kairos technology, with its higher output temperature, is most probably a very likely candidate for plug-and-play to repower these existing coal plants.
And keep in mind that coal plants worldwide are killing 6 to 8 million people per year.
That is where the risk is. And so, what's important
52 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com is time. So, anything that the NRC can do to see this process along, time is of the essence. No one is asking for an unsafe, dangerous reactor to be made.
I don't think that would happen. But that's my main point, is: time is of the essence. Speed this along because many people will benefit and many lives will be saved.
Thank you very much.
MR. KLUKAN: Thank you very much for your comments. We appreciate you participating in the meeting this evening.
So, we have someone on the phone. We're hoping it's Alan who raised their hand. The phone number ends in 61. Again, this is 61. So, if your phone number ends in 61, I now am allowing your microphone. So, press *6 to unmute yourself. Again, that is *6 to unmute yourself. And feel free to begin whenever you're ready, again, by stating your name.
MR. MEDSKER: Hi. This is Alan Medsker.
MR. KLUKAN: Hi. We can hear you. Feel free --
MR. MEDSKER: Okay. Good. Sorry about that.
So, I actually was going to say very similar things to what Mr. Kahanak just offered.
53 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com First of all, I'm very excited about this project and about the technology being developed and commercialized in ways that will serve all of us well.
Energy is a key component of all of our lives, and we need a lot more of it. And we especially need a lot more clean energy, and this will help us get there.
The encouragement that I would offer is that assessments that are made regarding safety for holistic include not only assessment of risk of this technology and the reactor and follow-on projects that are resulting from that, but also the negative effects that it will have on the proliferation of fossil fuels.
Again, as Mr. Kahanak stated, the thing that we need to worry about is the impacts of climate change and pollution from burning things, and nuclear energy doesn't do either of those things. So, this technology, as well as other designs that are being worked on, will be key to us reducing that fossil fuel, we'll call it a load on the planet that, again, kills millions of people every year and exacerbates the global warming problem that we have.
So, the assessment really needs to be holistic, and I know it's just the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but the effects, the follow-on effects,
54 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com of delayed processes really does have a real effect.
And we need to keep that in mind.
So, again, I appreciate all the work that everybody at the NRC is doing and the firms that are involved here, and I wish them all well.
Thank you.
MR. KLUKAN: Well, thank you very much for your comments. And thank you for participating in the meeting this evening.
Again, if you would like to offer a public
- comment, please press
- 5, if you're participating via phone, or use the raise hand function to let me know you would like to speak.
Okay. Our next speaker will be Rani Franovich. I am going to allow your microphone now.
So, whenever you are ready, please feel free to begin by stating your name.
Again, next up is Rani Franovich.
(No response.)
So, I'm sorry if you're having difficulties unmuting yourself, but, again, you should see a microphone icon on your Teams interface.
Click on that, and it should allow you to unmute yourself.
(No response.)
55 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com Again, Dan has posted the call-in number.
So, if you're having computer issues using Teams or getting the audio to work, please feel free to call in on the phone, and then, we will have you give your comment that way.
So, Rani, if you, again, can't unmute yourself, feel free to call in. Raise your hand by pressing *5, and we'll get your comment that way.
So, are there any others at this time?
We have a Mr. David -- oh, maybe not.
Are there any others who would like to offer a public comment at this time?
Again, hit the raise your hand button or hit *5.
All right. We have, next, Mr. David Green Adler. I'm going to allow your microphone, and begin whenever you are ready by stating your name.
Mr. Adler, feel free to begin whenever you are ready.
MR. ADLER: Hello. Can you hear me now?
MR. KLUKAN: Yes. Yes, we can.
MR. ADLER: Great.
MR. KLUKAN: Please feel free to begin, but start with your name.
MR. ADLER: Hello. I'm David Adler. I'm
56 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com a resident of the city of Oak Ridge. I and my family have been here since the '50s. We live within the city of Oak Ridge, but also enjoy the surface water bodies that flow away from this site.
I'm also very excited about this project.
I think that we need to move with some urgency away from the current processes we use to produce electricity and move towards clean electricity sources that do not contribute to the climate change problem.
Because I do also spend a lot of time in the Tennessee River, in the Clinch River, in the surface water bodies downstream from this facility, obviously, I care about that a lot. So, I'd like the analysis to carefully look at that.
But I, like other commenters, would like to see us approach this with some sense of urgency.
I think there is an important need to not drive the process out; of course, not to cut any corners on safety analysis, but to move forward with purpose and some sense of urgency.
I'm supportive of the project, and I greatly appreciate the opportunity to provide some initial input. Thank you.
MR. KLUKAN: Thank you very much for your
57 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com comments. And thank you as well for participating in the meeting this evening.
We're now going to turn to a phone number that ends in 64. Again, the phone number ends in 64.
I'm going to allow your microphone at this time. Press *6 to unmute yourself. Again, that is *6 to unmute yourself.
So, again, next up is a phone number ending in 64.
(No response.)
Again, if your phone number ends in 64, please feel free to hit *6 on your phone. *6 on your phone to unmute yourself. And we will let you know when we hear you.
All right. It looks like you've unmuted yourself. Please feel free to begin.
MS. FRANOVICH: Hi, Brett. This is Rani Franovich. Can you hear me?
MR. KLUKAN: Yes, we can. Thank you very much.
MS. FRANOVICH: Oh, good. Sorry about the technical difficulties joining in the other venue. I'm glad I was able to reach you by phone.
This is Rani Franovich. I speak on behalf of the Breakthrough Institute, which is an
58 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com independent 501(c)(3) global research center that identifies and promotes technological solutions to environmental and human development challenges.
We advocate appropriate regulation for licensing and oversight of advanced nuclear reactors to enable the timely deployment of safe, innovative, and economically viable emerging nuclear technology.
We believe new and advanced reactors represent critical pathways to climate mitigation and decarbonization.
The Breakthrough Institute does not receive funding from the industry.
I appreciate the opportunity to offer comment on the scope of the NRC's environmental review and preparation of an Impact Statement for the Hermes demonstration reactor.
The domestic and international dialog on nuclear energy has evolved over the last decade, drawing increasing support for civilian nuclear power from scientists, scholars, activists, and thought leaders. I agree with Brian Campbell that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has turbo-charged this evolution.
When Congress passed the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act of 2019, and the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act of 2020, it mandated
59 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com that the NRC modernize and streamline nuclear licensing and other regulatory procedures, in accordance with a new generation of smaller, safer nuclear reactor technologies that rely on a variety of fuels and fuel cycles.
Regulation of risks associated with nuclear reactor operations should be limited to levels of exposure to radiation that would result in observable health effects in a
large exposed population over a reasonable period of time. I agree with Gary Kanahak that those risks should be considered and weighed against the more significant health effects associated with alternative energy technologies that might supplant nuclear energy generation, primarily fossil sources that emit carbon dioxide.
The same principles apply to environmental reviews. The scope and detail should be considered relative to the environmental impacts of alternative forms of energy production.
I agree with Heather Hoff's comment that the siting of this demonstration reactor at an existing DOE location is sensible and minimizes environmental impact relative to, say, a greenfield site.
60 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com The Hermes reactor is a vital step forward to proving the safety and security of commercial deployment of larger-scale reactors of its design. Nuclear power generation advances the nation's clean energy goals, as well as energy independence and national security interests.
On behalf of the Breakthrough Institute, I urge the NRC to prepare its Environmental Impact Statement, in light of these considerations.
Additionally, and consistent with Mr. Kahanak's comments, I further urge the NRC to conduct a timely review and provide clear communication with the Applicant and the public.
Thank you again for the opportunity to make this comment.
MR. KLUKAN: Thank you very much. And I'm glad we were able to resolve these technical difficulties by having you give your comments over the phone. So, again, thank you very much for your comments, and thank you for participating in the meeting this evening.
Others who would like to offer prepared comments -- or excuse me -- public comments? Please either click the hand button on your Teams app or interface, or hit *5, if you are on the phone, to
61 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com raise your hand.
Okay. While we are experiencing a lull or short break in between members of the public who would like to offer comments at this time, I'm going to turn it over to Tami Dozier, who, as you can see listed on this slide on the screen, is one of our environmental Project Managers. And so, she has an announcement to make. And so, I'll turn it over to Tami.
So, thank you very much, Tami.
MS. DOZIER: Thank you, Brett.
So, I am Tami Dozier, like Brett said, and I am working with Peyton, whom you heard from earlier, on the environmental review. And so, I am appreciative of everyone's comments tonight.
I wanted to just remind everyone of what Peyton had mentioned, that we will be considering the comments submitted tonight in the preparation of our Environmental Impact Statement. And we are preparing a Scoping Summary Report that we would be glad to share with anyone who would like a copy.
And so, what I would like is for those of you who would like a copy, for us to send you a copy of the Scoping Summary Report, if you could give us your email address. And right now, you're looking at
62 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com a slide that has the best way to give us your email address is the email at the top of the slide here, kairoshermes-cpeis@nrc.gov. Just jot us a little thing that says, "Yes, I would like to be put on your list for receiving a copy of the Scoping Summary Report." And that will explain how we are considering your comments tonight in our environmental review.
So, thank you.
And, Brett, I'll turn it back to you.
MR. KLUKAN: All right. Great. Thank you so much, Tami.
And again, if you would like to, as Tami indicated, receive that report, please send your email address to the email address you see on the screen. Don't put it in the chat here. Again, that would share it amongst the other members of the public who are participating in the meeting tonight. Again, send it to that email address you see on the screen.
So, with that, let's turn back to public comments.
So, if you would like to offer an comment, please feel free to raise your hand using the raise hand function in the Teams interface or press *5 on your phone. Again, that is *5 to raise your hand, if you are participating via phone.
63 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com Okay. We are, next, going to turn to Martin O'Neill. Again, that is Martin O'Neill.
I am allowing your microphone now. So, please feel free to unmute yourself and begin with your name, whenever you are ready.
MR. O'NEILL: Yes. Thank you.
This is Martin O'Neill. I'm Associate General Counsel with the Nuclear Energy Institute.
And I
appreciate very much the opportunity to make public comment.
NEI is the trade association for the commercial nuclear technologies industry, and our mission is to promote the peaceful use and growth of nuclear energy via fission operations and effective domestic and international policies.
Our members include the universe of nuclear power plant owners and operations, as well as advanced reactor designers. And Kairos is one of our members.
And like many of the folks who have said they were very excited about this project, we think it's critical on the part of the industry's mission.
And one point I just want to emphasize today is the need for and purpose of the project.
Kairos did address that in its Environmental Report,
64 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com Section 1.3. And as indicated in the Environmental Report, certainly, Kairos is a commercial entity with some commercial objectives, but I
think it's important to understand that this project is also undergirded by important national policy considerations that relate to energy security and independence, as well as climate mitigation initiatives.
And Kairos, as noted in the Environmental Report, was awarded funding under DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. And as the ER indicates, the need for this project, therefore, is tied, in part, directly to DOE's objective under the ARDP to assist private industries in the United States to demonstrate advanced reactors, with a goal of designing and developing the safe and affordable reactor technologies that could be licensed and deployed over the next 10 to 14 years.
So, again, I just want to underscore that fact, as the NRC considers the need for the project, which also informs the consideration of alternatives, that the Agency bear in mind these are very important considerations.
And I guess, on that point, I did want to
65 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com note that, last week, Members of Congress, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, sent a letter to Chairman Hanson and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm talking, in part, about the need for a very efficient licensing process. But that letter did underscore how there is significant bipartisan support for advanced nuclear research and development, and that it's critical to the strengthening of the U.S. energy independence, to retain leadership in energy innovation, and addressing global climate change.
And that letter notes a number of different statutes, including the Nuclear Energy Innovations Capability Act, the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act, as well as the Energy Act of 2020. And that last one is actually provided the statutory authority for the ARDP program in which Kairos is participating. So, again, I think these are all important considerations.
And finally, I did want to commend the NRC on the efforts it's been making in recent years to kind of innovate and improve and streamline its environmental review process.
I think the Environmental Center of Expertise has done a good job in that regard. And we would encourage the NRC to
66 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com continue to look for ways to streamline the environmental review process, and, in particular, leverage existing analyses of the Advanced Nuclear Reactor GEIS that's under development that made it possible to incorporate portions of that by reference, as well as other EISes.
So, thanks for the opportunity, then, to comment, and I do apologize for some of the background noise. Thank you.
MR. KLUKAN: It was barely noticeable with that.
So, thank you very much for your comment, and thank you, as well, for participating in the meeting tonight.
Are there others who would like to offer prepared -- or excuse me -- public comments at this time?
Again, please indicate your desire to do by raising your hand using the Teams interface or by pressing *5 on your phone. Again, that is *5.
(Pause.)
Again, if you'd like -- I know I'm going to sound like a broken record by the end of this evening, if I haven't already -- if you'd like to offer a public comment, again, press the raise hand
67 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com button -- oh, here we go.
Mr. Campbell, I will unmute you in a moment. So, there you go.
All right. So, Mr. Campbell, whenever you're ready, please feel free to unmute yourself.
MR. CAMPBELL: Brian Campbell, pro-nuclear advocate and eco-modernist.
I apologize for going out of turn. I didn't realize that. I apologize.
And I just, also, wanted to refer to the NRC's mission statement on environmental protection, protecting the environment. To me, nuclear power does that. Because every time you build a nuclear power plant, you're not emitting. And anytime that a nuclear plant is either decommissioned prematurely or not built, it's filled in by something. And it's not renewable energy for the most part. It's going to be something that's going to emit fossil fuel.
So, with that, thank you.
MR. KLUKAN: Well, thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Campbell.
And again, no worries, as I wrote in chat. We're happy that you offered your comments tonight and were able to participate in the meeting.
So, thank you again.
68 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com Others who would like to offer public comments?
Please feel free to raise your hand or, if you're participating via phone, press *5. Again, that is *5.
(Pause.)
All right. We have JP.
JP, I'm going to allow your microphone at this time. Please begin whenever you're ready by stating your name and any affiliation.
MR. PAYNE: Hi. My name is Joshua Payne.
I'm a nuclear engineer.
I was just wondering if, in the preparation of these Environmental Impact Statements, the NRC is considering the latest report from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on the "Life Cycle Assessment of Electricity Generation Options," and, you know, the life cycle emissions relative environmental impacts, and those things.
MR. KLUKAN: All right. Great. Thank you for your comment, and thank you for participating this evening.
Others who would like to offer a prepared comments tonight?
(Pause.)
69 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com Again, if you're on the phone, press *5, or hit the raise your hand functions within Teams, to let me know that you would like to speak.
(Pause.)
Okay. It looks like Alyssa Lee Hayes.
I'm going to allow your microphone at this point.
So, whenever you are ready, feel free to unmute yourself and state your name and any affiliation.
And again, Alyssa Hayes.
(No response.)
It looks like you're unmuted. So, we should be able to hear you. You might want to check your microphone on your computer to see if that's not separately muted. And then, otherwise, to --
MS. HAYES: Ah, how about now?
MR. KLUKAN: There. There, we can hear you.
MS. HAYES: There you go. Okay. In my Teams preferences, I had the wrong device. There we go. Thank you. Sorry.
My name is Alyssa Hayes. I am a graduate student at the University of Tennessee. I've been living in Knoxville for the past few years. I'm currently there now because, obviously, I'm a student.
70 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com And so, I have a very short comment, because I will be living in this area for a while.
And I just want to say that I am supportive of this endeavor, as a local resident. I've been to that site and seen, basically, the same empty fields that were shown in the images. And I think that this is going to help expand this part of eastern Tennessee technologically in terms of jobs.
And I really hope that this comes to fruition, and I am excited for these economic and technological developments.
I'm a
nuclear engineering student as well, and I hope that this brings additional job opportunities for future nuclear engineers in my Department here at UT, more opportunities for them to see advanced nuclear research that they, themselves, could get their hands on in the future.
So, yes, I look forward to seeing this project come to fruition. Thank you.
MR. KLUKAN: Well, thank you very much for your comments, and thank you, as well, for participating in the meeting this evening.
Others who would like to offer public comments at this time?
Please show me by raising your hand using
71 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com the Teams interface or press *5 on your phone. Again, that is *5.
(Pause.)
Okay. While we have a pause here, I will turn it over to Ed for another announcement.
So, again, if you have a public comment that you'd like to give, feel free to raise your hand.
But, for right now, we're going to turn it over to Ed for another announcement from the NRC staff.
So, Ed, I turn it over to you.
MR. HELVENSTON: Yes, thanks, Brett.
I just wanted to give another reminder, as we've said a couple of times, and as I think we had on the slide. For anyone that would like to submit a written comment, the date to do that by is April 19th, and there's the email address and the mailing address you can provide those to.
And I also just wanted to make sure that it was clear as well that, you know, we mentioned during the presentation the opportunity to request a hearing on the safety or environmental portions of the application. That's a different date. That date for that is April 11th. So, that's a different date than the deadline for submitting comments. We just
72 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com wanted to make sure that was clear, too, to anyone that was interested.
MR. KLUKAN: Thanks, Ed, for that reminder.
So, we'll go back to public comments.
So, if you'd like to offer a public comment, please feel free to use the raise hand function or press *5 on your phone, if you're participating via phone. Again, that is *5.
(Pause.)
- Again, if you'd like to offer a
public -- I know I'm sounding like a broken record -- but if you'd like to offer public comment, please feel free to use the raise hand function within the Teams interface or press *5 on your phone to raise your hand. Again, that is *5.
And we will go until 8:30. Everyone will be here until the scheduled end of the meeting.
So, even if you've already offered a comment at this point, if there is anything else you would like to raise, please feel free to do so. Just raise your hand, and I will be happy to unmute you.
So, again, please click the raise hand function in Teams or hit *5 on your phone. Thanks again.
(Pause.)
73 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com Okay. So, again, if you'd like to offer a prepared -- or excuse me -- a public comment, please feel free to raise your hand, and I'll unmute you.
Or, if you've thought of any process questions that you would like to ask at this time, given that we have a lull in the public comment portion, please feel free to give those as well at this time.
Again, if you have a process question about how the environmental review works; how the safety review works, you know, given that we have this lull in the public comment portion, please feel free to raise those kind of process questions now as well.
(Pause.)
All right. Mr. Campbell, I am going to allow your microphone. So, feel free to unmute yourself whenever you're ready.
MR. CAMPBELL: Yes, Brian Campbell, pro-nuclear advocate and eco-modernist.
A process question: it was discussed earlier about the contested environmental review, if it's going to happen.
Do you know the approximate -- like if there's a contesting, like what's the timeline for that, and how would that affect the Hermes project?
74 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com Thank you.
MR. KLUKAN: Yes, thank you for the question. And I'm going to turn it over to one of our attorneys in the Office of General Counsel, Rich Harper, to answer that question.
So, Rich, whenever you're ready.
MR. HARPER: Yes, Mr. Campbell, to answer the question: the track for the adjudicatory hearing runs separately from the safety and environmental review. So, that actually will not be finalized until the completion of that adjudicatory hearing. But that hearing should run concurrently, and so, should not affect the timing of that.
MR. KLUKAN: And again, thank you very much, Mr. Campbell, for that question, and we appreciate your participation in the meeting this evening.
Others who would like to offer public comments at this time?
Again, please raise your hand within Teams or hit *5 on your phone. Or, if you have a similar kind of process question, please feel free to raise it now, given that we have time remaining this evening. So, please feel free.
(Pause.)
75 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com So, given that we noticed the meeting until 8:30, and just case someone isn't able to join us until later, we will hold the meeting open until 8:30.
So, again, if you have a public comment, please feel free to raise your hand by using the Teams application or hitting *5 on your phone.
(Pause.)
Again, to ask a question, please feel free to hit *5 on your phone, or to raise a public comment, please hit *5 on your phone, or raise your hand within the Teams function.
MS. HOFF: Hello. This is Heather Hoff.
I think maybe there was a comment directed at me to ask a question out loud. I put it in the chat.
But I was just wondering, for other facilities that have EIRs, is there a similar process where they have an environmental review that's prepared or conducted by their own regulator?
MR. KLUKAN: So, Heather, thank you very much for that question. I was waiting to see who from the NRC staff was going to take it. So, that was the pause there.
MS. HOFF: Thanks.
MR. KLUKAN: So, we're actually going to
76 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com turn it over to Scott Burnell.
So, Scott, whenever you're ready, please feel free.
MR. BURNELL: Good evening, everyone.
I'm Scott Burnell. I'm one of the spokespeople for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Heather, that's a fairly wide-ranging question. A couple of examples I can give you would be for natural gas transmission pipelines or oil pipelines, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission carries out a very similar role in putting together an Environmental Impact Statement for those proposed projects. So, that would be one example of another industry where the regulator does prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.
Thank you.
MR. KLUKAN: And, Heather, thanks again for the question, and we appreciate you participating in the meeting this evening.
Okay. Others, public comments, again?
For probably the 100th time this evening, if you would like to put forth a public comment, please feel free to raise your hand within the Teams interface or hit *5 on your phone. Again, that is
- 5.
77 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com (Pause.)
Again, if there is anything else you would like the NRC to consider as part of its environmental scoping, please feel free to speak up now. Again, you can also offer written comments, as we've described during the NRC's presentation, and as Tami later discussed as well, or Tami and Ed later discussed.
But we have time remaining. So, if you would like to offer a comment, even if you've offered one already, you know, we have the time remaining.
So, please feel free to hit *5, if you're on the phone, or raise your hand within the Teams interface.
(Pause.)
Okay. I'm going to unmute the phone that ends in 67. Again, if your phone ends in 67, I am going to allow your mic now, and feel free to unmute yourself by pressing *6, and begin whenever you're ready by stating your name.
MR. COLCLASURE: This is Doug Colclasure.
Several of the commenters have pointed out the timeliness, expediency. I know you have several hard dates, the EIS, the 45-day comment, the final. What would be your projected start of construction? Can you make that projection at this
78 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com point?
MR. KLUKAN: Ed or Ben, I would turn it over to you to see if you could discuss what the projected timeline would potentially look like, recognizing we can't give a firm answer.
MR. BEASLEY: Right. That's really more of a question that Kairos would need to answer, but I believe they are planning on starting the construction sometime later in 2023.
MR. KLUKAN: Thanks, Ben, for that answer.
And then, thank you as well for the question, and for participating in the meeting this evening.
So, others with process questions or with public comments?
Please feel free to raise your hand within Teams or press *5 on your phone, if you are participating via phone.
(Pause.)
Okay. Again, another reminder. If you'd like to offer a public comment, please raise your hand within Teams or press *5 on your phone.
Again, we have somewhat of a lull right now. I'm going to turn it over to Ben for some
79 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com additional information from the NRC staff.
So, whenever you're ready, Ben.
MR. BEASLEY: Thanks, Brett.
So, just for anyone's information, if you're interested in keeping track of the review of the application, we do have a website, the website on the project, and there is a link to a dashboard for the review. And so, I'm going to post a link for that, the NRC public website, the Hermes project web page. I'll post that in the chat, and you can check there anytime for the status of the review.
Thank you.
MR. KLUKAN: Thanks, Ben, for sharing that. And again, that will be in the chat function, and you can navigate to that via the little chat bubble you see at the top of your Teams icon.
Again, if you would like to offer a public comment at this time, please press *5, if you're participating via phone, or raise your hand in the Teams interface.
(Pause.)
Again, if you'd like to offer a public comment, please feel free to press *5, if you're participating via phone, or raise your hand within the Teams icon, and I will unmute your phone.
80 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com (Pause.)
All right, one more time. If you'd like to offer a public comment, even if you've already done so, please feel free to raise your hand within Teams or press *5 on your phone. Again, that is *5.
(Pause.)
And again, the slides for this meeting, we've posted a link to them in the chat. And if you're participating via phone, you can navigate to the meeting announcement on the NRC's public web page, and a link to the slides is there.
So, if you want to reach out to any of these other individuals you see listed here, that information is included in those slides, which you can, again, either find on the public website or via the link that we posted to the chat within Teams.
(Pause.)
All right. One very final last time, if you would like to make a public comment, please feel free to raise your hand within Team or, otherwise, press *5. Again, that is *5 on your phone.
(Pause.)
Okay. We have two individuals.
I am going to go first to Guido. I am
81 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com going to allow your microphone now. So, please feel free to unmute yourself and begin by stating your name whenever you are ready.
MR. NUNEZ-MUJICA: Good afternoon.
Thank you very much for this opportunity.
I would like to make a comment supporting the project. As a resident of the San Francisco Bay area who works in tech, I am often very worried that there's a single sector that's the remaining part of the economy here. And I don't think that we have a lot of very capable people that are able to do our things, but they really don't have the opportunity.
So, I think that this is a step in the right direction to diversify the economy of the area in California and to give more opportunities to people who, even if they have the skills to work in traditional software technology, maybe they want to do something that feels more meaningful, more purposeful, and this is a way to contribute to fighting global warming.
Thank you very much.
MR. KLUKAN: Thank you very much for your comment and for participating in the meeting tonight.
We're next going to turn to Ryan Pickering. I am going to allow your microphone now.
82 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com Feel free to unmute yourself whenever you are ready.
MR. PICKERING: Thank you, Brett.
Well, that was a tough comment to follow.
Thank you.
And, you know, what I was surprised to be saying is that no one else is on this phone call right now, which surprises me because this is such an important event for the United States and the world.
And what we're working on is very important, and it's a moment in time that we're all just sitting here working on it digitally.
But I must say, I am so impressed by the level of integrity and thoughtfulness of American nuclear energy. And with what we have built, we must inspire a young generation to take this tremendous responsibility on.
And it's clear that nuclear energy is a nonpartisan issue. And that's important because energy is life, and what we do is important.
So, I know it's been hard times for nuclear energy. You know, I, myself, was an anti-nuclear advocate in the past, and I've changed my mind because of all the hard work that everyone has done, so that we are empirically a good response to modernity.
83 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com So, thank you again. I'm happy to read this into federal commentary and the federal record because there's a lot of great people who have come before us to bring us to these moments where both American business and the American government can work together to bring cheap, clean energy for the United States and, also, the world.
And that is how the world wants us to lead, is pro-energy, and that is the promise that working with America provides. And we must regain that cultural leadership.
And I commend everyone for their bravery in these times because I know there's a lot of opposition to this technology, and we must be patient, but also resilient.
So, thank you, everyone, and keep up the good work.
MR. KLUKAN: Oh, well, thank you again for your comments and for participating in the meeting this evening.
And
- again, that goes for all who participated in the meeting this evening. Thank you for attending.
And thank you as well to those of you who offered public comment.
84 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com With that, I will now turn it over to Ben for some closing remarks.
And again, on my behalf, thank you very
- much, again, for attending and your offering comments.
So, with that, Ben?
MR. BEASLEY: Thanks, Brett.
And I do want to thank everyone again just for your participation tonight; for taking some time out of your evening to join us and offer us your thoughts.
Just two final reminders of the deadlines. April 11th is the deadline for filing a request for a petition for leave to intervene on the project. That's the hearing request. That's April 11th.
And then, the deadline for providing comments on the environmental scoping is April 19th.
And the addresses to do that are up on the screen.
And certainly, when the Teams meeting closes down, they won't be on your screen, but these slides are available on the NRC's public website.
And so, you can get the information there.
So, again, thank you, everyone, for joining us, and have a good evening.
85 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14th STREET, N.W., SUITE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com MR. KLUKAN: All right. Thank you again, everyone. Have a good evening.
And I am going to close out the Teams meeting at this time.
So, again, thank you very much. Have a good night.
(Whereupon, at 8:33 p.m., the public meeting was concluded.)