ML24123A162
ML24123A162 | |
Person / Time | |
---|---|
Site: | Browns Ferry ![]() |
Issue date: | 04/18/2024 |
From: | NRC/NMSS/DREFS/ELRB |
To: | |
References | |
NRC-2767 | |
Download: ML24123A162 (1) | |
Text
Official Transcript of Proceedings
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Title:
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Units 1, 2, and 3 Subsequent License Renewal Application
Docket Number: (n/a)
Location: video conference
Date: Thursday, April 18, 2024
Work Order No.: NRC-2767 Pages 1-27
NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC.
Court Reporters and Transcribers 1716 14th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20009 (202) 234-4433 1
1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
2 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
3 + + + + +
4 OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDS
5 ENVIRONMENTAL SCOPING MEETING
6 RE
7 BROWNS FERRY NUCLEAR PLANT UNITS 1, 2, and 3
8 SUBSEQUENT LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION
9 + + + + +
10 THURSDAY
11 APRIL 18, 2024
12 + + + + +
13 The meeting was held at 6:00 p.m. EDT via
14 videoconference.
15
16 PRESENT:
17 JESSICA HAMMOCK, Safety Review Lead
18 STEVE KOENICK, Chief of Environmental Project
19 Management, Branch 1
20 LANCE RAKOVAN, Facilitator
21 JESSICA UMANA, Environmental Review Lead
22
23
24
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 2
1 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S
2 (6:00 p.m.)
3 MR. RAKOVAN: All right, I've got six
4 o'clock, so let's go ahead and get started.
5 Hello, everyone. My name is Lance Rakovan
6 and it's my pleasure to facilitate today's public
7 meeting, hosted by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
8 Commission, or NRC, involving Browns Ferry Nuclear
9 Plant in its one, two, and three subsequent license
10 renewal.
11 My colleagues, Jessica Hammock and Jessica
12 Umana, will be our main presenters today. If we could
13 go to Slide 2, please?
14 Our goals today are to: (1) provide you
15 with an overview of the subsequent license renewal
16 process for both safety and environmental, for the
17 Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant review; and (2) to solicit
18 your input on the environmental issues that the NRC
19 should address in our environmental review.
20 I'd like to stress that we are here today
21 to gather information to prepare an Environmental
22 Impact Statement to evaluate the environmental impacts
23 for the potential license renewal of the operating
24 license for Browns Ferry Units 1, 2 and 3. We look
25 forward to hearing your scoping comments related to
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 3
1 areas covered by our environmental review.
2 A term you're going to hear a lot today is
3 scoping, which simply means determining the scope of
4 the environmental review; in this case, for the
5 continued operation of Browns Ferry.
6 Today's meeting is just one way that you
7 can participate in that process, and we'll be going
8 into more detail about that later. Let's go to
9 Slide 3, please.
10 So, our agenda for today. After some
11 opening remarks and introductions, we'll move on to a
12 brief presentation involving relicensing, with a focus
13 on environmental scoping.
14 We'll take a short time to see if anyone
15 has any clarifying questions on the presentation, and
16 after that comes the final and most important part of
17 this webinar, where we'll open the floor to you to
18 receive your scoping comments.
19 This is where we're hoping you will
20 provide your input on what the NRC should consider to
21 be in the scope of the NRC's environmental review for
22 Browns Ferry subsequent license renewal. Slide 4,
23 please?
24 So, with us today are a number of NRC
25 staff, including Jessica Hammock, who is the Safety
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 4
1 Review Lead, Jessica Umana, who is the Environmental
2 Review Lead.
3 I don't think we have John with us today,
4 but he is or Deputy Director of our Division of
5 Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support.
6 But we do have Steve Koenick with us, who
7 is the Chief of Environmental Project Management,
8 Branch 1, and Steve will be providing some opening
9 comments momentarily. We could move on to Slide 5.
10 So, just real quick. This is a comment-
11 gathering meeting by NRC's definition, which means our
12 primary purpose here today is to listen to you;
13 specifically, again, to collect your comments on
14 topics to be included in the Browns Ferry subsequent
15 license renewal environmental review.
16 So, we do appreciate your patience in
17 terms of the presentation we're about to give. A lot
18 of you might know this information, but we want to
19 make sure that everyone who is joining us today at
20 least has a basic understanding of the license renewal
21 process, including environmental scoping.
22 Please note that we are both recording and
23 transcribing today's meeting, so the NRC staff can be
24 sure to get a full accounting of the comments you
25 provide.
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 5
1 Participants will be in listen-only mode,
2 until we get to the comment portion of our meeting,
3 or, again, when we see if there's any clarifying
4 questions on our presentation. And I'd like to stress
5 that no regulatory decisions will be made during
6 today's meeting.
7 With that, I'll go ahead and turn things
8 over to Steve, and I'll be back at some point soon.
9 So, Steve, please go ahead. Steve, if you're talking,
10 you're muted.
11 MR. KOENICK: That's always helpful.
12 Thank you, Lance. Thank you, Lance, and good evening
13 to everyone.
14 My name, as Lance mentioned, is Steven
15 Koenick and I am the Branch Chief for the
16 Environmental Project's Branch 1 in our Environmental
17 Center of Expertise at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
18 Commission. And I'd like to welcome you to our second
19 meeting that we are holding in the evening.
20 But before we get into the actual meeting
21 on the scoping for Browns Ferry subsequent license
22 renewal, I would like to give a brief introduction to
23 the NRC and its mission.
24 The NRC regulates commercial nuclear power
25 plants, research test and training reactors, nuclear
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 6
1 fuel cycle facilities, and the use of radioactive
2 materials in medical, academic, and industrial
3 settings.
4 The NRC was created by the Energy
5 Reorganization Act of 1974, and that really split the
6 former Atomic Energy Commission into the NRC, as an
7 independent regulatory body, and a promotional body
8 which became the Department of Energy.
9 On this slide you have a RR code for our
10 strategic plan, and if you have some free time, I'd
11 encourage you to check it out.
12 The plan has three strategic goals, and
13 they are the key to the Agency's successful fulfilling
14 post its mission, and those three goals and
15 objectives, specifically, the goals are to ensure the
16 safe and secure use of radioactive materials, continue
17 to foster a healthy organization, and to inspire
18 stakeholder confidence in the NRC.
19 For the third goal, stakeholder
20 confidence, we use meetings like this to appropriately
21 include you in the NRC activities, as effective ways
22 to engage with you and improve our transparency in our
23 regulatory processes.
24 We learned during the pandemic that
25 webinars, or virtual meetings, make our work
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 7
1 accessible to a broad audience. Thus, the two virtual
2 meetings for Browns Ferry scoping.
3 We also learned that holding meetings
4 during work hours may limit attendance to people who
5 couldn't participate during work hours.
6 So, to address some of these comments,
7 that's why we decided to have the two meetings, one
8 that we held last week during the day, and one in the
9 evening that we're holding tonight.
10 So, we would appreciate hearing from you
11 on really how we're doing in this regard.
12 As this meeting presents an opportunity
13 for people engagement, we're really looking to hear
14 from you on your insights and feedback on the
15 significant environmental issues that you feel are
16 important for the staff to consider in their detailed
17 analysis, as we prepare and finalize our Environmental
18 Impact Statement. We realize that local communities
19 provide a unique perspective and knowledge of the
20 area.
21 So, with that, thank you in advance. And
22 with that, I'd like to turn it back over to Lance.
23 Thank you.
24 MR. RAKOVAN: Thanks, Steve. And I will
25 go ahead and turn it to the Jessicas. I believe
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 8
1 Jessica Umana is going to take it over. Jessica, are
2 you with us?
3 MS. UMANA: Yeah. I just need a minute to
4 pull up the -- okay, I'm good.
5 Thank you, Steve, and thank you, Lance.
6 I'm Jessica Umana, I'm the lead environmental PM for
7 Browns Ferry subsequent renewal. Let me make sure
8 we're on the right slide. I don't know who's
9 preparing the slides. We are on Slide 6, right? Or
10 seven?
11 MR. RAKOVAN: Which slide would you like
12 to be on, Jessica?
13 MS. UMANA: Seven.
14 MR. RAKOVAN: There you go. We're there.
15 MS. UMANA: Thank you. Okay, so Browns
16 Ferry Units 1, 2 and 3, were licensed in December
17 1973, June '74, and July '76, respectively. The
18 renewed licenses for all three units were issued in
19 May 2006.
20 The licenses for Browns Ferry Units 1, 2
21 and 3 will expire December 2033, June 2034, and July
22 2036, respectively.
23 If a renewal is granted, it will be done
24 for another 20 years of the date of expiration. Let's
25 move on to Slide 8, please?
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 9
1 Tennessee Valley Authority submitted an
2 application to the NRC for subsequent license renewal
3 for Browns Ferry on January 19, 2024.
4 A license renewal application is required
5 to contain general information, such as the
6 applicant's name and address, business and adminis-
7 trative information, and technical information which
8 pertains to aging management. This information is the
9 focus of the safety review.
10 The application also includes an
11 environmental report, which is the applicant's
12 assessment of the environmental impacts of continued
13 operation.
14 This information serves as a starting
15 point for the staff to review the environmental
16 aspects of subsequent license renewal for Browns
17 Ferry.
18 I'm going to turn it over to Jessica
19 Hammock now, so she can cover the safety review for
20 Browns Ferry. Next slide, please.
21 MS. HAMMOCK: Thank you, Jess. Thanks,
22 Jess. All right, so we should be on Slide 9 now, for
23 everyone following along from home.
24 Once again, my name is Jessica Hammock and
25 I am the safety project manager for the Browns Ferry
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 10
1 subsequent license renewal review.
2 I'll now walk us through the NRC's
3 subsequent license renewal review process, as shown on
4 this slide.
5 Starting from the left, the process begins
6 once a subsequent license renewal application, or
7 SLRA, has been accepted for review.
8 Then, the process breaks out into two
9 parallel reviews, the safety review, which you see on
10 the top, and the environmental review in the middle.
11 These two reviews evaluate separate
12 aspects of a license renewal application. On the
13 safety side of the review following the staff's review
14 of the application, the Advisory Committee on Reactor
15 Safeguards, or ACRS, completes an independent review
16 of the application, to make a recommendation to the
17 Commission.
18 At the bottom of the flow chart, dotted
19 lines lead to hearings. The dotted lines represent
20 the opportunity for a hearing in accordance with the
21 Atomic Energy Act, which establishes a process for
22 members of the public to request involvement in
23 hearings on a variety of civilian nuclear matters,
24 including subsequent license renewal.
25 The Commission considers the outcome of
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 11
1 the hearing process in its decision on whether or not
2 to issue a renewed operating license.
3 Finally, with inputs from the
4 environmental review, ACRS's recommendation on the
5 safety review, as well as the staff's finding from the
6 safety review, a final decision is made by the NRC.
7 Next slide, please?
8 All right, we're on Slide 10 for
9 everybody. The Atomic Energy Act authorizes the NRC
10 to issue licenses for commercial nuclear power plants
11 to operate for up to 40 years. These licenses can
12 then be renewed for an additional 20 years at a time.
13 This period following that initial
14 licensing term is known as the period of extended
15 operation.
16 Now, subsequent license renewals would
17 allow plants to operate beyond that 60 years, meaning
18 the initial license and then that first renewal.
19 Subsequent license renewals would also be for
20 20 years.
21 The purpose of the safety review is to
22 identify aging effects that can impair the ability of
23 systems, structures, and components, or SSCs, within
24 the scope of license renewal, to perform their
25 intended functions, and to demonstrate that these
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 12
1 aging effects will be adequately managed during the
2 period of extended operation. The scope is not
3 changed from initial license renewal to subsequent
5 As previously mentioned on January 19,
6 2024, TVA submitted the subsequent license renewal
7 application for Browns Ferry.
8 After receiving the application, the NRC
9 conducted an acceptance review. That's the first step
10 of our review.
11 The NRC determined that Tennessee Valley
12 Authority's application was sufficient and acceptable
13 for adopting on March 15, 2024.
14 Then, we move into our technical review,
15 which includes an aging management audit. The aging
16 management audit consists of three independent parts -
17 - the in-office technical review audit, the onsite
18 audit, and the breakout audit.
19 During all phases of the audit, the NRC
20 staff reviews the application, documents, and
21 references, in greater detail.
22 As part of the safety review, the staff
23 also reviews the applicant's operating experience for
24 information applicable to aging management.
25 Following the audit, an audit report is
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 13
1 issued. At the very end, the staff will document its
2 review in a safety evaluation, or SE. Next slide,
3 please, which should be Slide 11.
4 The NRC ensure the adequate protection of
5 public health and safety and the environment through
6 the regulatory process, which is shown here on this
7 slide.
8 The regulatory process consists of five
9 major components. We develop regulations and guidance
10 for applicants and licensees, we license or certify
11 applicants to either use nuclear materials, operate
12 nuclear facilities, or to decommission.
13 We oversee licensee operations and
14 facilities, to ensure that licensees comply with
15 safety requirements.
16 We evaluate operational experience at
17 licensed facilities, or involved license activities.
18 And in support of our regulatory decisions, we conduct
19 research, hold hearings to address the concerns of
20 parties affected by the Agency's decisions, and we
21 obtain independent reviews.
22 With license renewal, the regulatory
23 process now considers aging management as represented
24 by the red black-end arrow.
25 Now, I'm going to turn the meeting back
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 14
1 over to Jess Umana, who's going to discuss the
2 environmental slide. Please bring up Slide 12.
3 MS. UMANA: Thanks, Jessica. Hold on,
4 give me a minute. Okay, now for the environmental
5 review part of the application.
6 The National Environmental Policy Act
7 offer these federal agencies to consider environmental
8 impacts and federal actions.
9 The NRC's specific environmental
10 regulations are contained in Title X of the Code of
11 Federal Regulations, Part 51.
12 The objective of our environmental review
13 is to determine if the environmental impacts of
14 subsequent license renewal are so great that renewal
15 would not be a reasonable option.
16 Put simply, we are assessing if renewal is
17 an unacceptable from an environmental standpoint.
18 Slide 13, please?
19 Our environmental review considers the
20 impacts of continuing to operate the plant for an
21 additional 20 years, and any proposed mitigation from
22 those impacts.
23 We also consider impacts of reasonable
24 alternatives to the proposed action of subsequent
25 license renewal, including the impacts of not issuing
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 15
1 a subsequent renewed license.
2 The staff documents its environmental
3 review in an environmental impact statement.
4 The staff has developed a generic
5 environmental impact statement that addresses several
6 issues common to all nuclear power plants. We call
7 this the LR G-E-I-S. The LR GEIS.
8 It's a great resource to get familiar with
9 the areas that we're looking at as part of our
10 environmental review.
11 The NRC's currently gathering their
12 information and starting to prepare a site-specific
13 EIS in which we will address issues that are specific
14 to Browns Ferry.
15 The site-specific EIS will evaluate
16 environmental impacts of subsequent license renewal
17 for Browns Ferry, and reasonable alternatives.
18 Slide 14, please?
19 For a subsequent license review, the NRC
20 looks at a wide range of environmental impacts as part
21 of preparing their Environmental Impact Statement.
22 At this point, we need your comments in
23 these areas as part of the scoping process. Next
24 slide, please.
25 This slide here is a good illustration of
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 16
1 the different areas the staff reviews and considers as
2 part of preparing the environmental impact statement.
3 We should be on Slide 16.
4 The environmental review begins with the
5 scoping process, which is why we're here today. The
6 purpose of the scoping process is to identify
7 significant issues that should be considered in the
8 environmental review.
9 We are now gathering information that we
10 will use to prepare the Environmental Impact Statement
11 for the subsequent license renewal.
12 As part of that process, today we would
13 like to collect your comments on the scope of the
14 environmental review. That is, the environmental
15 impacts that the staff should consider in the areas
16 illustrated in the previous diagram.
17 The scoping period started on April 3,
18 2024, when a notice of intent to prepare an EIS and
19 conduct scoping was published in the Federal Register.
20 The NRC will be accepting comments on the
21 scope of the environmental review until May 3, 2024.
22 In general, we are looking for information
23 about environmental impacts from the continued
24 operation of Browns Ferry, Units 1, 2, and 3, during
25 the period of extended operation.
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 17
1 You can assist us in that process by
2 telling us, for example, what aspects of your local
3 community we should focus on, what local
4 environmental, social, and economic issues the NRC
5 should focus and should examine during environmental
6 review, and what reasonable alternatives are most
7 appropriate for your local region.
8 These are just some examples of the input
9 that we are looking for, and they represent the kinds
10 of information that we are seeking through the
11 environmental scoping period.
12 Your comments today would be very helpful
13 to us in providing insight on this nature of
14 environmental analysis. Next slide, please.
15 In conducting our environmental review, we
16 coordinate and consult with various local, state,
17 federal, and travel officials, and gather information
18 from these sources to ensure it is considered in our
19 analysis.
20 As illustrated on this slide with regard
21 to consulting agencies, we do check in with the U.S.
22 Fish and Wildlife Services, EPA, State and Historical
23 Preservation Office.
24 As part of the environmental review, the
25 staff may also hold public meetings to receive
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 18
1 comments on a draft EIS. Next slide, please? Now,
2 we're going to discuss the environmental scoping
3 process in more detail.
4 Here are the milestones that are important
5 to the environmental review process. If you have
6 environmental scoping comments and you would like to
7 submit them outside of today's meeting, you have until
8 May 3, 2024, to do so.
9 There will be an additional webinar --
10 pardon me. Based on our schedule, we plan to issue a
11 draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for
12 public comment in April 2025.
13 This is another way that you can be
14 involved in this process. Members of the public will
15 have an opportunity to provide comments on the draft
16 EIS.
17 While this slide lists the milestones for
18 environmental review, opportunities for public
19 involvement and the safety review will be performed
20 accordingly, with a separate schedule. Next slide,
21 please.
22 This slide identifies the primary proof of
23 contacts within the NRC for license renewal for Browns
24 Ferry Units 1, 2, and 3.
25 The other individual you see at the bottom
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 19
1 is Kimberly Green, and she is the current project
2 manager for the operation of Browns Ferry. Next
3 slide?
4 The Athens-Limestone County Public Library
5 on 603 South Jefferson Street in Athens, Alabama, has
6 agreed to make the license renewal application
7 available for public comment. The draft Supplemental
8 Environmental Impact Statement will also be available
9 at this library, where it is published for comment.
10 In addition, these documents will be on
11 the NRC website. Next slide?
12 The most important piece of information of
13 today's meeting is to receive comments that you may
14 have regarding the scope of the environmental review.
15 Here, we list the various ways you can
16 submit your comment for environmental review. You can
17 provide comments written by mail to the NRC provided
18 in the address above.
19 You can also send your comments in
20 electronic feed by going to regulations.gov, or via
21 email, as indicated on the slide. Please keep in mind
22 that your comments should be submitted by May 3rd.
23 And with that, Lance, I'm going to kick it
24 back over to you, please.
25 MR. RAKOVAN: All right. Thank you,
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 20
1 Jessicas. Let's go ahead and do a quick check to see
2 if anyone has any clarifying questions about our
3 presentation.
4 Again, our focus is on license renewal.
5 So, hoping that if you have any questions, they focus
6 on license renewal. If you have questions that are
7 outside of the scope of our presentation, we will most
8 likely ask you to either type up and email the
9 question to one of the meeting contacts and we'll make
10 sure that we get it to the right person, or some other
11 process.
12 But again, we're looking to focus
13 specifically on clarifying questions for our
14 presentation tonight.
15 So, the process is raise your hand, and
16 then we will allow you to use your microphone, but you
17 will still need to unmute.
18 So, it looks like we have a question from
19 Michael Hallman. Mike, you should be able to unmute
20 yourself at this time and ask your question. Mike,
21 are you with us?
22 I've allowed you to activate your audio.
23 You just still need to unmute. I'll try one more
24 thing. All right, let's give that one more try.
25 Mike, are you with us?
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 21
1 MR. HALLMAN: Yes.
2 MR. RAKOVAN: There you are.
3 MR. HALLMAN: Yeah, whatever you did, that
4 worked. Fantastic. Thank you very much.
5 My name is Michael Hallman, I'm with the
6 Alabama Department of Public Health's Office of
7 Radiation Control and the Emergency Planning
8 Environmental Monitoring Branch that we work very
9 closely with our two nuclear facilities in the state,
10 including Browns Ferry.
11 Ironically enough, we just completed our
12 quarterly environmental sampling for Browns Ferry
13 around the plant, and I just wanted to informally and
14 unofficially report to you guys that in terms of our
15 TLDs within the ten-mile APZ, of course, you know they
16 register background.
17 Since I've been employed in 2017, all of
18 our soil, vegetation, and water samples have been
19 processed through the Alabama Department of
20 Environmental Management in Montgomery, with an MOU
21 that we have with them, and they have come back fine.
22 And the EPA also sends us kits to collect
23 water samples at particular sites as well, and those
24 have come back fine as well since my employment in
25 2017. So, I just wanted to let you know as far as
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 22
1 environment impact on the state level, or in terms of
2 the radiation control agency, that we're all green and
3 clean, as far as you're concerned, in terms of the
4 license renewal. Do you all have any questions,
5 comments, or concerns regarding such?
6 MR. RAKOVAN: Appreciate you adding that
7 information.
8 MR. HALLMAN: Sure. Nothing personal.
9 MR. RAKOVAN: Anyone have a follow-up on
10 that from the NRC?
11 MS. HAMMOCK: Hey, Lance. I would
12 actually just like to clarify for folks that may be
13 unfamiliar with the word background. That's just the
14 exposure you would expect to get walking your dog in
15 the park, driving to and from work, it's what we all
16 experience just living and breathing on the earth.
17 Just for folks that are unfamiliar with the term
18 background.
19 MR. RAKOVAN: Thanks for that, Jessica.
20 And thanks again for the information, Michael.
21 MR. HALLMAN: You're welcome. Thank you
22 so much.
23 MR. RAKOVAN: All right, just one quick
24 check to see if anyone has any clarifying questions
25 about the presentation, and then we'll move to
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 23
1 commenting again.
2 If you have a question, please use the
3 raise-your-hand feature so you can raise your hand.
4 For those of you on the phone, you can hit star-five,
5 and that will put your phone number on my screen.
6 As raising your hand, we will work to
7 activate your audio, but you will still need to unmute
8 yourself.
9 All right, I'm not seeing any hands, so
10 let's go ahead and see if anyone has any environmental
11 scoping comments. Again, same process. If you're on
12 teams, please use the raise-my-hand button. If you're
13 on the phone, you can hit star-five. And again, I
14 will take hands in the order that I see them.
15 Once I activate your audio, you will still
16 need to unmute yourself, and then provide your
17 comment.
18 So, again, looking for an environmental
19 scoping comment. I'll pause to see if we get any
20 hands.
21 So, Angela, while we're waiting, why don't
22 you back up a slide if you would, and we'll go through
23 one more time, at least, how you can provide your
24 comments outside of today's meeting.
25 You can provide them by mail to our Office
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 24
1 of Administration at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
2 Commission, Washington, DC, 20555.
3 You can go to the website regulations.gov,
4 and search for the docket ID, NRC-2004-0030, or you
5 can send them by email to brownsferryenvironmental --
6 that's one word -- brownsferryenvironmental@nrc.gov.
7 Again, we ask that you submit your
8 comments by May 3rd, and we will attempt to
9 incorporate any comments received after that date into
10 our processes. But we cannot guarantee it.
11 I might have misspoke. I apologize. The
12 docket ID is NRC-2024-0030. I think I may have said
13 2004. I apologize for that. Thank you for the
14 clarification.
15 Again, looking to see if anyone has any
16 environmental scoping comments, use the raise-your-
17 hand feature if you're on Teams, or star-five if you
18 are on the phone.
19 Well, we don't appear to have any takers.
20 Jessica, was there anything else that you wanted to
21 cover? Or Steve? Should we go ahead and move to
22 close?
23 MS. UMANA: I'd like to give us a minute.
24 And then if we have no comments, then we move to
25 close. Steve, do you have something to say?
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 25
1 MR. KOENICK: Yeah, I was going to say the
2 same thing. If people are joining us a few minutes
3 late, we can -- I think a few of us can hang out. I
4 mean, this obviously concludes -- we have these late-
5 concluded that the presentation is in the comment
6 period, so I would say we could wait until 6:45, and
7 then that would be the time I would say we could
8 adjourn the meeting.
9 I could give my concluding remarks now and
10 put it on, but then I think we stay open in case
11 people join us late.
12 So, I will share my concluding remarks.
13 And so, I wanted to thank everyone for taking the time
14 today to attend today's public meeting and allowing
15 time for questions and comments.
16 I would like to briefly summarize your
17 next steps. As you had heard, we are currently about
18 halfway through our scoping period and we'll accept
19 comments until May 3, 2024.
20 Our team will gather the comments that we
21 heard, and all the comments that we heard from the
22 meeting last week, that meeting was transcribed and we
23 will be going through that meeting transcript as
24 taking those comments, as well as any that we receive
25 from the various forums that we had heard about.
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 26
1 And then we will evaluate those comments
2 and we will put all that together and issue a scoping
3 summary report that will summarize the conclusions
4 reached from the scoping process.
5 We anticipate issuing the draft
6 Environmental Impact Statement in the spring of 2025.
7 And then once we issue that draft Environmental Impact
8 Statement, we'll have another public meeting similar
9 to this format, where we will present our findings,
10 and then solicit comments on the draft.
11 So, we look forward to hearing from you.
12 And again, we look at how we are doing to conduct
13 these meetings, and we look forward to any feedback
14 that you may have in that regard.
15 So, with that, thank you for taking the
16 time to attend the meeting, and have a wonderful
17 evening. And like I said, we will stay online until
18 6:45 to allow anybody who may join us late to catch
19 up. With that, I'll turn it back to you, Lance.
20 MR. RAKOVAN: All right, we'll go in a
21 holding pattern for approximately 45 minutes. Those
22 of you on the line, you're more than welcome to stay
23 with us. But it's probably going to be pretty boring.
24 But we will be here. We'll go into listening mode.
25 MR. KOENICK: So, Lance, a quick
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 27
1 clarification. You said for 45 minutes. I meant --
2 MR. RAKOVAN: Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry.
3 No, no, no, no. Sorry, fifteen more minutes.
4 MR. KOENICK: Fifteen more minutes. Yes,
5 there you go. Thank you.
6 MR. RAKOVAN: Thank you for the
7 clarifications. I need all sort of clarifications
8 tonight.
9 MS. UMANA: I know what you meant, Lance.
10 MR. RAKOVAN: Angela, can we back up to
11 the make-a-comment slide? There we go. Nope, 22,
12 please. Next one. There you go. Just in case.
13 We'll leave that up and we'll go into hibernation.
14 (Long Pause.)
15 MR. RAKOVAN: All right, folks. That's
16 6:45, so I think we are officially going to close.
17 Thanks to those of you who hung out. But with that,
18 we are going to close the meeting. Thank you all.
19 (Whereupon, the above-entitled matter
20 went off the record at 6:45 p.m.)
21
22
23
24
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