ML23292A026

LTR-23-0211-RI Thomas Congdon, Executive Deputy, Department of Public Service, Chair, Indian Point Decommissioning Oversight Board, Letter Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation Inspection and Office of the Inspector General Report-RI

ML23292A026
Person / Time
Site:	Indian Point
Issue date:	10/19/2023
From:	Doug Tifft NRC Region 1
To:	Congdon T State of NY, Dept of Public Service
References
LTR-23-0211-RI, SST-23-2810
Download: ML23292A026 (1)

Text

October 19, 2023 Thomas Congdon Executive Deputy, Department of Public Service Chair, Indian Point Decommissioning Oversight Board Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12223-1350

Dear Mr. Congdon,

I am responding to your letter dated August 31, 2023 regarding the Office of the Inspector Generals (OIG)-20-012, Special Inquiry into the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region IIs Inspections of Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations (ISFSIs) at Operating Reactors issued in February 2023.

Be assured that the NRC has reviewed the report and addressed the findings. The NRC concluded there is no immediate safety concern, and that the agency has reasonable assurance of adequate protection in the long-term safety of ISFSIs. The overall NRC response to the OIG report is publicly available and may be found in ADAMS under accession number ML23075A356.The responses to your specific questions about the New York plants are enclosed.

Thank you for taking the time to express your concerns. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact me at 610-337-6918.

Sincerely, Doug Tifft Regional State Liaison Officer cc: Alyse Peterson, State Liaison Officer Designee Douglas B. Tifft Digitally signed by Douglas B.

Tifft Date: 2023.10.19 09:45:49 -04'00'

T. Congdon 2

Q1: For each of New Yorks operating ISFSIs (Indian Point, R.E. Ginna, Nine Mile Point, and James A. FitzPatrick), please provide the date and accession number for all NRC inspection reports issued with a focus on ISFSI activities.

Response: Publicly available NRC inspection reports, including those related to NRC ISFSI inspection activities, can be found on NRC.gov by using the web-based Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) and may be found here:

https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.

Q1a: How many inspection hours were spent on each of these ISFSI inspections?

Response

It is important to note that the NRC defines inspection completion in terms of completing the inspection objectives listed in the applicable inspection procedures and not based on the amount of time needed to complete any specific inspection activity. The resource estimates outlined in the inspection procedures are utilized as NRC budget and staff planning tools rather than as a means to define inspection completion. As such all required IFSFSI inspections have been completed at the NY State facilities mentioned in your letter. Inspection procedures utilized for NRC ISFSI inspection activities may be found at: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/insp-manual/inspection-procedure/index.html.

Q1b: Were the individuals conducting each ISFSI inspection fully qualified in accordance with NRCs qualification standards and ISFSI inspection procedures?

Response: Yes. The NRC has been inspecting ISFSI programs since 2008 and over the years the inspection qualifications for this program have evolved. The NRCs qualification requirements for ISFSI inspectors may be found in Inspection Manual Chapter 1246 Appendix B3. All ISFSI inspections conducted by Region I NRC inspectors have had, at a minimum, a fully qualified lead inspector with other inspectors either qualified or working towards qualification under the NRCs Inspection Manual Chapter 1246 Appendix B3.

Q2: Has the NRC conducted any New York State ISFSI inspection where the report has not been made public?

Response: Yes. The NRC staff conducted periodic security inspections that included ISFSIs in New York State and those reports were not made public due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter. The report cover letters were made public and the full unredacted reports were shared with our partners in New York State in each case. All other NRC ISFSI inspection activities are documented in publicly available inspection reports.

Q3: The first NRC inspection report for ISFSIs/dry casks at Indian Point was dated February 9, 2010. By that time, dry casks had been loaded at the Indian Point site since January 11, 2008, with a total of 5 IP Unit 1 dry casks and 7 IP Unit 2 dry casks loaded.

Why didnt NRC inspect dry cask loading operations at Indian Point during the first two years?

Response: We conducted inspections prior to February 2010 which are documented in two reports with accession numbers ML081020398 and ML083190276. These inspection reports document the results of our inspections of the loading operations at Indian Point during that timeframe.

ML23292A026 ADAMS Package Accession Number: ML23255A015 SUNSI Review Non-Sensitive Sensitive Publicly Available Non-Publicly Available OFFICE RI/EAGL RI/DRSS RI/EAGL RI/EAGL NAME DTifft / DBT*

ADimitriadis / AD*

JNick / JN*

DTifft DATE 10/17/23 10/18/23 10/18/23 10/19/23

• concurrence via email