ML22271A834
| ML22271A834 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Erwin |
| Issue date: | 09/21/2022 |
| From: | James Downs Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards |
| To: | Overall P - No Known Affiliation |
| SECY RAS | |
| References | |
| TBD, RAS 56456, Nuclear Fuel Services 70-143-LA | |
| Download: ML22271A834 (8) | |
Text
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September 21, 2022 Ms. Park Overall
SUBJECT:
REQUEST FOR ACCESS TO SENSITIVE UNCLASSIFIED NON-SAFEGUARDS INFORMATION RELATED TO A LICENSE AMENDMENT FOR NUCLEAR FUEL SERVICES, INC.
Dear Ms. Overall,
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Staff (Staff) is responding to your letter 1 requesting, on behalf of yourself and Ms. Sandra Higgins Miller, access to sensitive unclassified non-safeguards information (SUNSI) included in the application to amend special nuclear materials license number SNM-124 submitted by Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (NFS). 2 You seek access to all of the SUNSI documents involved with this action at NFS. 3 The SUNSI information that NFS submitted in support of its application is eight documents withheld from public disclosure under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Section 2.390 as containing proprietary commercial information.
Pursuant to the Order Imposing Procedures for Access to Sensitive Unclassified Non-Safeguards Information and Safeguards Information for Contention Preparation, (SUNSI Order) included in the August 31, 2022, Federal Register notice, the Staff evaluated your request to determine whether (1) there is a reasonable basis to believe the petitioner is likely to establish standing to participate in this NRC proceeding, and (2) there is a legitimate need for access to SUNSI. For this proceeding, the Staff determined that, while there are some uncertainties as to whether you would meet the criteria for standing, there is a reasonable basis to believe that you could establish standing. However, as detailed below, the Staff has determined that you have not provided a sufficient basis to demonstrate that you have a legitimate need for access to SUNSI in this proceeding.
Need for SUNSI In your Request, you cited several reasons for why you need access to SUNSI. First, you stated
[t]he reasons we require these SUNSI documents is, the NRC has the Ketterer Report which ECAN Commissioned. . . . We did it. Therefore, I would be very interested in what the NRC is 1 Letter from Ms. Park Overall to NRC, RE: NRC-2022-0097 AND ALL OTHER #s LISTED BELOW 1 (Sept. 12, 2022) (Request) (Enclosure 1). Enclosure 1 is a version of your Request you filed with redactions to personally identifiable information on September 14, 2022.
2 See NFS License amendment application; opportunity to request a hearing and to petition for leave to intervene; order imposing procedures, 87 Fed. Reg. 53,507 (Aug. 31, 2022).
3 Request at 2.
willing to share with me. 4 Second, you stated [a]nother reason I am requesting access to the SUNSI materials is [t]he NRC pulled out of the study by the National Academy of Sciences . . . I would be very interested in seeing the SUNSI documents so as to help me understand the real purpose and function of the NRC. 5 The NRC policy regarding access to SUNSI balances the goal of providing meaningful access to NRC proceedings with the security, privacy, and commercial interests for limiting access to certain information. 6 Accordingly, a criterion for receiving access to SUNSI is that the requester has demonstrated a need for the requested SUNSI with respect to the ability to meaningfully participate in the adjudicatory proceeding. 7 The Commissions guidance on evaluating this need is, more specifically, that a request for SUNSI should include: (1) an explanation of the importance of the requested information to the proceeding, i.e., how the information relates to the license application or to NRC requirements or guidance, and how it will assist the requester in seeking intervention; and (2) an explanation of why existing publicly available versions of the application would not be sufficient. 8 Your request does not address these need criteria. More specifically, your request does not indicate whether you intend to seek intervention in the license amendment request proceeding, and relatedly, you do not indicate how the requested SUNSI information would further your meaningful participation in the proceeding, such as enabling you to proffer an admissible contention. You also did not include any explanation as to why the publicly available information regarding the license amendment request is insufficient for you to participate in the proceeding. Finally, the bases cited in your request focus on past activities at NFS, rather than on the NFS license amendment request currently before the NRC for its regulatory review. For these reasons, your request does not demonstrate a legitimate need for access to SUNSI; therefore, your request is denied.
4 Id. at 3.
5 Id.
6 See South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Co. (South Texas Project, Units 3 and 4), CLI 24, 72 NRC 451, 53-55 (2010).
7 See id. at 465.
8 Id.
In conclusion, because your request does not satisfy both requirements stated in the SUNSI Order, it is denied. Pursuant to the SUNSI Order, you may challenge this determination by filing a challenge within 5 days of receipt of this determination with: (a) [t]he presiding officer designated in this proceeding; (b) if no presiding officer has been appointed, the Chief Administrative Judge, or if he or she is unavailable, another administrative judge, or an administrative law judge with jurisdiction pursuant to 10 CFR 2.318(a); or (c) an officer if that officer has been designated to rule on information access issues.
Sincerely, James R. Downs, Senior Project Manager Fuel Facility Licensing Branch Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Docket No. 70-143-LA
Enclosures:
- 1. Request cc w/encl: Distribution via Electronic Information Exchange
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BEFORE THE COMMISSION In the Matter of NUCLEAR FUEL SERVICES, INC. Docket No. 70-143-LA (Application to amend Special Nuclear Material License, Erwin, Tennessee)
Certificate of Service Pursuant to 10 C.F.R § 2.305, I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing letter dated September 21, 2022, have been served upon the Electronic Information Exchange (the NRCs E-Filing System), in the captioned proceeding, this 21st day of September 2022.
/Signed (electronically) by/
Kevin C. Roach Counsel for NRC Staff Mail Stop: O-14-A44 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Telephone: (202) 425-2664 E-mail: Kevin.Roach@nrc.gov Dated in Atlanta, GA this 21st day of September 2022