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Official Transcript of Proceedings  NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Title:  Prairie Island Nuclear Plant    Public Meeting: Afternoon Session Docket Number: (n/a) Location:  Red Wing, Minnesota Date:  Wednesday, December 16, 2009 Work Order No.: NRC-3241 Pages 1-21  NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC. Court Reporters and Transcribers 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.
Official Transcript of Proceedings  NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Title:  Prairie Island Nuclear Plant    Public Meeting: Afternoon Session Docket Number: (n/a) Location:  Red Wing, Minnesota Date:  Wednesday, December 16, 2009 Work Order No.: NRC-3241 Pages 1-21  NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC. Court Reporters and Transcribers 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 234-4433 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 234-4433 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 2 + + + + +
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 2 + + + + +
3 PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS THE 4 PRAIRIE ISLAND NUCLEAR GENERATING PLANT, 5 UNITS 1 AND 2, SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL 6 IMPACT STATEMENT RELATED TO LICENSE RENEWAL 7 + + + + +
3 PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS THE 4 PRAIRIE ISLAND NUCLEAR GENERATING PLANT, 5 UNITS 1 AND 2, SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL 6 IMPACT STATEMENT RELATED TO LICENSE RENEWAL 7 + + + + +
8 Held At The 9 Red Wing Public Library 10 225 East Avenue 11 Red Wing, Minnesota 12 On 13 Wednesday, December 16, 2009 14 2:00 p.m.
8 Held At The 9 Red Wing Public Library 10 225 East Avenue 11 Red Wing, Minnesota 12 On 13 Wednesday, December 16, 2009 14 2:00 p.m.
15 16 NRC PARTICIPANTS:
15 16 NRC PARTICIPANTS:
17 Michael Fuller, Moderator 18 Lance Rakovan 19 Elaine Keegan 20 Andy Imboden 21 Jeffrey Rikhoff 22 Allan Barker 23 Prema Chandrathil 24 Karla Stoder 25 26 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
17 Michael Fuller, Moderator 18 Lance Rakovan 19 Elaine Keegan 20 Andy Imboden 21 Jeffrey Rikhoff 22 Allan Barker 23 Prema Chandrathil 24 Karla Stoder 25 26 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 2 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 1 2:00 P.M.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 2 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 1 2:00 P.M.
2  MR. FULLER:  Good afternoon. Can everyone 3hear me?  My name is Mike Fuller. I'm a Project 4Manager at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC 5 as you will hear it referred to today.
2  MR. FULLER:  Good afternoon. Can everyone 3hear me?  My name is Mike Fuller. I'm a Project 4Manager at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC 5 as you will hear it referred to today.
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12  Our purpose today is to discuss the 13 license renewal and, specifically, the environmental 14review for Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, 15Units 1 and 2, but more importantly, we are here today 16 to hear from you.
12  Our purpose today is to discuss the 13 license renewal and, specifically, the environmental 14review for Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, 15Units 1 and 2, but more importantly, we are here today 16 to hear from you.
17  Today's meeting will have two parts.
17  Today's meeting will have two parts.
18First, we'll have a presentation from the NRC staff on 19the license renewal process and the environmental 20review process, sort of where we are and what lies 21ahead. We will try to keep this part fairly short so 22that we can get to the real reason we're here, and 23that is, once again, to hear your comments. We want 24to hear your comments regarding the draft Supplemental 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
18First, we'll have a presentation from the NRC staff on 19the license renewal process and the environmental 20review process, sort of where we are and what lies 21ahead. We will try to keep this part fairly short so 22that we can get to the real reason we're here, and 23that is, once again, to hear your comments. We want 24to hear your comments regarding the draft Supplemental 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 3Environmental Impact Statement that was issued in 1 October.2  Now, when you came in, you were asked to 3fill out either a yellow or a blue card. The yellow 4cards were for those folks who wish to speak today and 5provide their comments, and I have some of those, and 6we'll use those to ask folks to come up at the 7appropriate time. The blue cards we asked you to fill 8out so that we have your correct name and address and 9 so forth if you wish to be on our mailing list.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 3Environmental Impact Statement that was issued in 1 October.2  Now, when you came in, you were asked to 3fill out either a yellow or a blue card. The yellow 4cards were for those folks who wish to speak today and 5provide their comments, and I have some of those, and 6we'll use those to ask folks to come up at the 7appropriate time. The blue cards we asked you to fill 8out so that we have your correct name and address and 9 so forth if you wish to be on our mailing list.
10  And I have a number of yellow cards here 11that I'll be using, and if anyone wishes to speak and 12 has not filled out a yellow card, please raise your 13 hand and let us know and we'll get one to you.
10  And I have a number of yellow cards here 11that I'll be using, and if anyone wishes to speak and 12 has not filled out a yellow card, please raise your 13 hand and let us know and we'll get one to you.
14  I'll also mention that our meeting today 15is being transcribed. It is important that we get a 16good transcription of the meeting, and so we'll ask 17that anyone that has any comments, when we get to that 18point, actually come to the microphone. At that time 19 we'll ask you to please identify yourself and also 20 identify any group that you may be affiliated with.
14  I'll also mention that our meeting today 15is being transcribed. It is important that we get a 16good transcription of the meeting, and so we'll ask 17that anyone that has any comments, when we get to that 18point, actually come to the microphone. At that time 19 we'll ask you to please identify yourself and also 20 identify any group that you may be affiliated with.
21  I'll also ask that we keep any side 22conversations to a minimum; and if you haven't already 23done so, this will be a good time for everyone to 24 please silence their cell phones.
21  I'll also ask that we keep any side 22conversations to a minimum; and if you haven't already 23done so, this will be a good time for everyone to 24 please silence their cell phones.
25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 4  We also had feedback forms available at 1the table when you signed in. It's very important to 2 us that you take the opportunity to fill those out.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 4  We also had feedback forms available at 1the table when you signed in. It's very important to 2 us that you take the opportunity to fill those out.
3Your feedback will be very helpful to us as we plan 4 for future meetings such as this.
3Your feedback will be very helpful to us as we plan 4 for future meetings such as this.
5  At this point I want to introduce Elaine 6Keegan. Elaine is our project manager and lead for 7 the environmental review, and she has prepared some 8slides. And also, Elaine, if you could, please 9introduce some of the other folks who are here within 10 NRC. Thanks.
5  At this point I want to introduce Elaine 6Keegan. Elaine is our project manager and lead for 7 the environmental review, and she has prepared some 8slides. And also, Elaine, if you could, please 9introduce some of the other folks who are here within 10 NRC. Thanks.
11  MS. KEEGAN:  Can you hear me?  Okay. Thank 12you, Mike. As Mike said, I'm Elaine Keegan. I'm 13Senior Project Manager in the Division of License 14Renewal in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation at 15the NRC. I won't say I'm the new project manager.
11  MS. KEEGAN:  Can you hear me?  Okay. Thank 12you, Mike. As Mike said, I'm Elaine Keegan. I'm 13Senior Project Manager in the Division of License 14Renewal in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation at 15the NRC. I won't say I'm the new project manager.
16I'm the last project manager for the environmental 17 part.18  I would like to introduce a few people 19from the NRC who are here. Andy Imboden, he's the 20Branch Chief for the Environmental Technical Review 21Group; Jeffrey Rikhoff is a socioeconomist in Andy's 22branch; we have Allan Barker, who is the Senior 23Government Liaison Officer out of the Region 3 office 24near Chicago, Illinois; we have Prema Chandrathil, who 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
16I'm the last project manager for the environmental 17 part.18  I would like to introduce a few people 19from the NRC who are here. Andy Imboden, he's the 20Branch Chief for the Environmental Technical Review 21Group; Jeffrey Rikhoff is a socioeconomist in Andy's 22branch; we have Allan Barker, who is the Senior 23Government Liaison Officer out of the Region 3 office 24near Chicago, Illinois; we have Prema Chandrathil, who 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 5is also out of the Region 3 office in Chicago, and she 1is with the Office of Public Affairs; and we have 2Karla Stoder, who is the Senior Residence Inspector at 3 Prairie Island.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 5is also out of the Region 3 office in Chicago, and she 1is with the Office of Public Affairs; and we have 2Karla Stoder, who is the Senior Residence Inspector at 3 Prairie Island.
4  For a brief overview of this meeting, what 5I intend to do is give a very short overview of the 6licensing process for Prairie Island so far, what we 7have done so far. I'm going to talk a little bit 8 about the draft that we published in October.
4  For a brief overview of this meeting, what 5I intend to do is give a very short overview of the 6licensing process for Prairie Island so far, what we 7have done so far. I'm going to talk a little bit 8 about the draft that we published in October.
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13  NRC's regulatory oversight has basically 14two primary statutes:  the Atomic Energy Act and the 15National Environmental Policy Act. The Atomic Energy 16Act gives the NRC the authority to license operating 17nuclear plants for 40 years. The 40 years is based on 18economic considerations and antitrust matters. It's 19 not based on any safety or technical issues.
13  NRC's regulatory oversight has basically 14two primary statutes:  the Atomic Energy Act and the 15National Environmental Policy Act. The Atomic Energy 16Act gives the NRC the authority to license operating 17nuclear plants for 40 years. The 40 years is based on 18economic considerations and antitrust matters. It's 19 not based on any safety or technical issues.
20  The Atomic Energy Act also gives the NRC 21 the authority to extend the license for 20 years as 22long as the plant can be operated safely and the 23 environment can be protected.
20  The Atomic Energy Act also gives the NRC 21 the authority to extend the license for 20 years as 22long as the plant can be operated safely and the 23 environment can be protected.
24  The National Environmental Policy Act, or 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
24  The National Environmental Policy Act, or 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 6NEPA, was established in 1969 as a national policy for 1considering the impacts of federal decision-making on 2the environment, so all Federal Government agencies 3 have to write an environmental assessment for major 4federal action. The license renewal has been deemed a 5 major federal action, and that is why we do prepare 6 the Environmental Impact Statement.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 6NEPA, was established in 1969 as a national policy for 1considering the impacts of federal decision-making on 2the environment, so all Federal Government agencies 3 have to write an environmental assessment for major 4federal action. The license renewal has been deemed a 5 major federal action, and that is why we do prepare 6 the Environmental Impact Statement.
7  Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant 8Unit 1 operating license expires August 9, 2013, Unit 92, October 24, 2014. 2013 and 2014. Northern States 10Power came in in April of 2008 with a license renewal 11application, and we have been working on that since 12 April of 2008.
7  Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant 8Unit 1 operating license expires August 9, 2013, Unit 92, October 24, 2014. 2013 and 2014. Northern States 10Power came in in April of 2008 with a license renewal 11application, and we have been working on that since 12 April of 2008.
13  The license renewal process has two 14concurrent pathways. There is the safety review, 15which looks at the safety aspects of plant operations, 16and it also looks at the plant's aging management 17 program.18  As of now, the safety evaluation report 19 documenting the findings from the safety review has 20been published. It was published in October of 2009.
13  The license renewal process has two 14concurrent pathways. There is the safety review, 15which looks at the safety aspects of plant operations, 16and it also looks at the plant's aging management 17 program.18  As of now, the safety evaluation report 19 documenting the findings from the safety review has 20been published. It was published in October of 2009.
21 The findings have been presented to our Advisory 22Committee on Reactor Safety, and I believe we're still 23waiting on a letter from ACRS on their final outcome, 24 whether they approve or not.
21 The findings have been presented to our Advisory 22Committee on Reactor Safety, and I believe we're still 23waiting on a letter from ACRS on their final outcome, 24 whether they approve or not.
25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 7  For the environmental part of the review 1-- I lost my place. Okay.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 7  For the environmental part of the review 1-- I lost my place. Okay.
2  We do an environmental review, and the 3review starts off with a scoping process where 4previous staff came to Red Wing and had a public 5meeting to gather public comments. Our NRC staff went 6to the plant, spent time there for an audit of the 7environmental area. All of that was combined into the 8draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for 9license renewal. It's actually Supplement 39 to 10NUREG-1437, which is the generic Environmental Impact 11 Statement.
2  We do an environmental review, and the 3review starts off with a scoping process where 4previous staff came to Red Wing and had a public 5meeting to gather public comments. Our NRC staff went 6to the plant, spent time there for an audit of the 7environmental area. All of that was combined into the 8draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for 9license renewal. It's actually Supplement 39 to 10NUREG-1437, which is the generic Environmental Impact 11 Statement.
12  As part of the review, the Prairie Island 13Indian Community was a cooperating agency in the 14preparation of the draft Environmental Impact 15Statement because of their expertise in the areas of 16historic and archeological resources, socioeconomic, 17 land use and environmental justice.
12  As part of the review, the Prairie Island 13Indian Community was a cooperating agency in the 14preparation of the draft Environmental Impact 15Statement because of their expertise in the areas of 16historic and archeological resources, socioeconomic, 17 land use and environmental justice.
18  In the 1990s, in an effort to improve the 19efficiency of the license renewal process, the NRC 20performed a generic assessment of the environmental 21impact associated with license renewal. 92 issues 22were identified. 69 of those issues were identified 23as generic to all operating plants and were given the 24category 1 distinction. 21 remained which had to be 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
18  In the 1990s, in an effort to improve the 19efficiency of the license renewal process, the NRC 20performed a generic assessment of the environmental 21impact associated with license renewal. 92 issues 22were identified. 69 of those issues were identified 23as generic to all operating plants and were given the 24category 1 distinction. 21 remained which had to be 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 8site-specifically evaluated, and in addition to that, 1environmental justice and the chronic effect of 2electromagnetic fields also have to be evaluated on a 3 site-specific basis.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 8site-specifically evaluated, and in addition to that, 1environmental justice and the chronic effect of 2electromagnetic fields also have to be evaluated on a 3 site-specific basis.
4  Impacts are quantified as small, moderate 5and large, and all the areas, the different issues, 6are fully explained in our Title 10 to the Code of 7Federal Regulations, Part 51, Appendix B. It has the 8list and the explanation for why it's small, moderate 9 or large.
4  Impacts are quantified as small, moderate 5and large, and all the areas, the different issues, 6are fully explained in our Title 10 to the Code of 7Federal Regulations, Part 51, Appendix B. It has the 8list and the explanation for why it's small, moderate 9 or large.
10  Our decision standard for environmental 11review is, as you can see here, to determine whether 12or not adverse environmental impacts of license 13renewal for Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant 14Units 1 and 2 are so great that preserving the option 15 of license renewal for energy planning decision-making 16would be unreasonable. Basically, is the renewal of 17 the operating license acceptable from an environmental 18 standpoint?
10  Our decision standard for environmental 11review is, as you can see here, to determine whether 12or not adverse environmental impacts of license 13renewal for Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant 14Units 1 and 2 are so great that preserving the option 15 of license renewal for energy planning decision-making 16would be unreasonable. Basically, is the renewal of 17 the operating license acceptable from an environmental 18 standpoint?
19  This slide shows site-specific or some of 20the site-specific issues that were reviewed during the 21environmental review process. Staff consulted with a 22 number of federal and state agencies, including the 23U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, in an effort to identify 24threatened and endangered species and to identify 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
19  This slide shows site-specific or some of 20the site-specific issues that were reviewed during the 21environmental review process. Staff consulted with a 22 number of federal and state agencies, including the 23U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, in an effort to identify 24threatened and endangered species and to identify 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 9 other issues that are important to the area.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 9 other issues that are important to the area.
1  Cumulative impacts of all the issues were 2evaluated, because by themselves, they don't 3necessarily have a large impact; but when you combine 4them with all the other issues, there could be a 5significant issue. So we look at everything as 6cumulative. Preliminary findings show that there is 7potential for a moderate to large impact on the 8 aquatic and water resources.
1  Cumulative impacts of all the issues were 2evaluated, because by themselves, they don't 3necessarily have a large impact; but when you combine 4them with all the other issues, there could be a 5significant issue. So we look at everything as 6cumulative. Preliminary findings show that there is 7potential for a moderate to large impact on the 8 aquatic and water resources.
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12  They looked at conservation and there were 13two alternate energy sources:  One, a gas-fired at the 14plant site and then a gas-fired at a different site.
12  They looked at conservation and there were 13two alternate energy sources:  One, a gas-fired at the 14plant site and then a gas-fired at a different site.
15And there were two combinations of alternatives that 16 were looked at, which were a combination gas-fired, 17wind power, and conservation; and a second alternative 18was either Unit 1 or Unit 2 at the plant remaining in 19operation, combined with wind capacity and also 20 conservation.
15And there were two combinations of alternatives that 16 were looked at, which were a combination gas-fired, 17wind power, and conservation; and a second alternative 18was either Unit 1 or Unit 2 at the plant remaining in 19operation, combined with wind capacity and also 20 conservation.
21  Preliminary conclusions from the review 22are impacts of license renewal would be small for the 23resource areas. Potential environmental impacts of 24likely power generational alternatives, including not 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
21  Preliminary conclusions from the review 22are impacts of license renewal would be small for the 23resource areas. Potential environmental impacts of 24likely power generational alternatives, including not 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 10renewing, could reach moderate to large in some areas.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 10renewing, could reach moderate to large in some areas.
1 And based on the findings, staff's recommendation is 2that the environmental impacts of license renewal are 3not so great that license renewal would not be 4 unreasonable.
1 And based on the findings, staff's recommendation is 2that the environmental impacts of license renewal are 3not so great that license renewal would not be 4 unreasonable.
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16  Contact information:  If you would like to 17ask me any questions, my phone number is there, email 18address is there. I will respond; I will get you the 19 information you request.
16  Contact information:  If you would like to 17ask me any questions, my phone number is there, email 18address is there. I will respond; I will get you the 19 information you request.
20  The draft Supplemental Environmental 21 Impact Statement, there will be a copy left here at 22 the library, and it's also online if you follow the 23 link at the bottom of the slide.
20  The draft Supplemental Environmental 21 Impact Statement, there will be a copy left here at 22 the library, and it's also online if you follow the 23 link at the bottom of the slide.
24  For submitting comments, if you submit 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
24  For submitting comments, if you submit 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 11 cements to prairieislandeis@nrc.gov, we will get those 1comments. You can mail them to the Chief of the Rule 2Making and Directive Branch. In the past, we used to 3have the option of walking the comments to the White 4Flint Building in Rockville, Maryland, but that's been 5taken away since the rule-making people went away to a 6different location. So those are the best ways to get 7 your comments after this meeting today.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 11 cements to prairieislandeis@nrc.gov, we will get those 1comments. You can mail them to the Chief of the Rule 2Making and Directive Branch. In the past, we used to 3have the option of walking the comments to the White 4Flint Building in Rockville, Maryland, but that's been 5taken away since the rule-making people went away to a 6different location. So those are the best ways to get 7 your comments after this meeting today.
8  And that's it, and I'll turn it back to 9 Mike.10  MR. FULLER:  Thank you, Elaine. At this 11time, I'd like to ask if anyone has any questions for 12Elaine. If there was anything that she mentioned that 13you would like any clarification for or any 14clarification on, if you would raise your hand, 15 please.16  Okay. And also, as I said before, we're 17transcribing this, so I would ask you to please step 18up to the microphone so that the transcriber can hear 19 clearly what your question is. So please come on up.
8  And that's it, and I'll turn it back to 9 Mike.10  MR. FULLER:  Thank you, Elaine. At this 11time, I'd like to ask if anyone has any questions for 12Elaine. If there was anything that she mentioned that 13you would like any clarification for or any 14clarification on, if you would raise your hand, 15 please.16  Okay. And also, as I said before, we're 17transcribing this, so I would ask you to please step 18up to the microphone so that the transcriber can hear 19 clearly what your question is. So please come on up.
20  MS. EIDE-TOLLEFSON:  I'm Kristen 21Eide-Tollefson. I'm from Frontenac, Minnesota. I was 22interested in the category of new and significant 23information and what kind of factors those might be, 24and if NRC considers the big blip in the federal waste 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
20  MS. EIDE-TOLLEFSON:  I'm Kristen 21Eide-Tollefson. I'm from Frontenac, Minnesota. I was 22interested in the category of new and significant 23information and what kind of factors those might be, 24and if NRC considers the big blip in the federal waste 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 12 programs to be a factor such as that.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 12 programs to be a factor such as that.
1  And I had a second question about the 2decision standard. The way that it's phrased, it 3 sounds like the NRC is in charge of assuring safety 4 and environmental protection for decision-makers who 5make energy planning decisions, that this is not one 6of NRC's functions but it's for energy planners. And 7 could you just explain that a little more.
1  And I had a second question about the 2decision standard. The way that it's phrased, it 3 sounds like the NRC is in charge of assuring safety 4 and environmental protection for decision-makers who 5make energy planning decisions, that this is not one 6of NRC's functions but it's for energy planners. And 7 could you just explain that a little more.
8  MR. IMBODEN:  My name is Andy Imboden. I'm 9the branch chief of the environmental branch. The 10first question you had was new and significant 11information, and it's important to point out that what 12 was published is the draft site-specific Environmental 13Impact Statement. And if we missed something or there 14is a new development, that's the kind of material that 15we want to make sure we include in the final impact 16 statement.
8  MR. IMBODEN:  My name is Andy Imboden. I'm 9the branch chief of the environmental branch. The 10first question you had was new and significant 11information, and it's important to point out that what 12 was published is the draft site-specific Environmental 13Impact Statement. And if we missed something or there 14is a new development, that's the kind of material that 15we want to make sure we include in the final impact 16 statement.
17  And the second part of your question was 18the decision-making standard. That is the commission 19decision-making standard. That was published by the 20commission, and the Atomic Energy Act for license 21renewal says that we may extend the license. It 22 doesn't say we shall.
17  And the second part of your question was 18the decision-making standard. That is the commission 19decision-making standard. That was published by the 20commission, and the Atomic Energy Act for license 21renewal says that we may extend the license. It 22 doesn't say we shall.
23  So it is up to the commission to go 24 forward or not, and that's just with respect to the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
23  So it is up to the commission to go 24 forward or not, and that's just with respect to the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 13environment. That's the standard that the commission 1will be using to go forward or not with the license 2 renewal.3  MS. EIDE-TOLLEFSON:  Could you clarify who 4 the energy planners and decision-makers are in that 5 context?6  MS. KEEGAN:  The decision-makers are --
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 13environment. That's the standard that the commission 1will be using to go forward or not with the license 2 renewal.3  MS. EIDE-TOLLEFSON:  Could you clarify who 4 the energy planners and decision-makers are in that 5 context?6  MS. KEEGAN:  The decision-makers are --
7it's not the NRC who are the decision-makers. It's 8the state and local people that decide how much power 9is needed for the area. They decide, and the plant 10itself, whether they want to continue operation.
7it's not the NRC who are the decision-makers. It's 8the state and local people that decide how much power 9is needed for the area. They decide, and the plant 10itself, whether they want to continue operation.
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16  MR. FULLER:  Okay. We are now at the 17point where we would like to switch over to our public 18comment phase of this meeting, and again, this is 19really the most important part of why we're here 20today. So we do want to hear from folks. So far I 21have one person who has indicated that they definitely 22 want to speak and provide comments.
16  MR. FULLER:  Okay. We are now at the 17point where we would like to switch over to our public 18comment phase of this meeting, and again, this is 19really the most important part of why we're here 20today. So we do want to hear from folks. So far I 21have one person who has indicated that they definitely 22 want to speak and provide comments.
23  I would also like to mention that Mr.
23  I would also like to mention that Mr.
24Chuck Ackman is here today, he represents Senator 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
24Chuck Ackman is here today, he represents Senator 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 14Klobuchar, and he wanted me to let you know that he's 1 also here to listen and to hear your comments.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 14Klobuchar, and he wanted me to let you know that he's 1 also here to listen and to hear your comments.
2  Now, if there are folks who would like to 3make a comment and as of yet have not filled out a 4yellow card, just raise your hand and we'll get one to 5you; but as it stands right now, we have one person 6 who has indicated that they would like to make some 7 comments.8  So Mr. Alan Childs, if you would, come on 9 up.10  MR. CHILDS:  Thank you, Mike. My name is 11Alan Childs II. I am currently the Vice President for 12the Prairie Island Indian Community and also a tribal 13 member of the Prairie Island Indian Community which 14resides within 600 yards of the Prairie Island Nuclear 15Plant. Our tribal offices, our police department, our 16 clinic, our community center all reside within this 17 distance.18  As we went through the slides, some of the 19comments, I guess, we are opposed to the relicensing 20 of the nuclear reactors at Prairie Island; but as a 21small impact as you saw in some of the slides, I think 22any small impact is a large impact to our community as 23 the proximity which we reside to the nuclear power 24 plant.25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
2  Now, if there are folks who would like to 3make a comment and as of yet have not filled out a 4yellow card, just raise your hand and we'll get one to 5you; but as it stands right now, we have one person 6 who has indicated that they would like to make some 7 comments.8  So Mr. Alan Childs, if you would, come on 9 up.10  MR. CHILDS:  Thank you, Mike. My name is 11Alan Childs II. I am currently the Vice President for 12the Prairie Island Indian Community and also a tribal 13 member of the Prairie Island Indian Community which 14resides within 600 yards of the Prairie Island Nuclear 15Plant. Our tribal offices, our police department, our 16 clinic, our community center all reside within this 17 distance.18  As we went through the slides, some of the 19comments, I guess, we are opposed to the relicensing 20 of the nuclear reactors at Prairie Island; but as a 21small impact as you saw in some of the slides, I think 22any small impact is a large impact to our community as 23 the proximity which we reside to the nuclear power 24 plant.25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 15  So although it may be small when the 1environmental study is done, that is only a snapshot, 2and we want to be very clear that we feel that is a 3 very large impact in our community as our everyday 4lives continue to go on and we live in the shadow of 5 the nuclear power plant.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 15  So although it may be small when the 1environmental study is done, that is only a snapshot, 2and we want to be very clear that we feel that is a 3 very large impact in our community as our everyday 4lives continue to go on and we live in the shadow of 5 the nuclear power plant.
6  Also, we feel that the regulations for 7environmental impact studies and things of that nature 8are inadequate compared to what is going on in other 9states as requirements as far as Illinois and other 10areas. And so we feel that these requirements are 11 very inadequate.
6  Also, we feel that the regulations for 7environmental impact studies and things of that nature 8are inadequate compared to what is going on in other 9states as requirements as far as Illinois and other 10areas. And so we feel that these requirements are 11 very inadequate.
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18 Ongoing information is very limited in that aspect.
18 Ongoing information is very limited in that aspect.
19  As we know, Xcel just currently did a 20groundwater study, which was the first in 30 years, so 21these things we feel are very inadequate for our 22safety and the standard that we set for our community 23 and what we want as far as safety.
19  As we know, Xcel just currently did a 20groundwater study, which was the first in 30 years, so 21these things we feel are very inadequate for our 22safety and the standard that we set for our community 23 and what we want as far as safety.
24  Also, we continue to feel that as we move 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
24  Also, we continue to feel that as we move 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 16through the licensing process, the issue of 1above-ground waste is still clearly absent from any of 2the environmental impacts that I've seen. And so when 3we're talking 100,000 years or 10,000 years, you know, 4how do you account for that in an environmental 5 impact, and we don't see that.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 16through the licensing process, the issue of 1above-ground waste is still clearly absent from any of 2the environmental impacts that I've seen. And so when 3we're talking 100,000 years or 10,000 years, you know, 4how do you account for that in an environmental 5 impact, and we don't see that.
6  And again, there is no solution to this as 7we continue to relicense. The inevitability is that 8there will be more nuclear waste and it will be stored 9there onsite. And so, again, no solution and 10 continued pollution of our environment.
6  And again, there is no solution to this as 7we continue to relicense. The inevitability is that 8there will be more nuclear waste and it will be stored 9there onsite. And so, again, no solution and 10 continued pollution of our environment.
11  And so these are some of the comments that 12I wanted to make today on behalf of the Prairie Island 13 Indian Community, that we are opposed to the 14relicensing, and that we do feel that many of the 15regulations in regards to environmental impacts to the 16rules are very inadequate to what else is going on in 17 other areas of the country. So thank you.
11  And so these are some of the comments that 12I wanted to make today on behalf of the Prairie Island 13 Indian Community, that we are opposed to the 14relicensing, and that we do feel that many of the 15regulations in regards to environmental impacts to the 16rules are very inadequate to what else is going on in 17 other areas of the country. So thank you.
18  MR. FULLER:  Thank you, Mr. Childs. Is 19there anyone else who would wish to speak, make a 20 comment?21  I have Mr. Mark Schimmel from Xcel Energy.
18  MR. FULLER:  Thank you, Mr. Childs. Is 19there anyone else who would wish to speak, make a 20 comment?21  I have Mr. Mark Schimmel from Xcel Energy.
22  MR. SCHIMMEL:  Thank you very much. I'm 23Mark Schimmel. I'm the Site Vice President at the 24Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant. I'm here 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
22  MR. SCHIMMEL:  Thank you very much. I'm 23Mark Schimmel. I'm the Site Vice President at the 24Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant. I'm here 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 17today to give Xcel's position on the NRC draft 1 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 17today to give Xcel's position on the NRC draft 1 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.
2  Xcel Energy supports the draft 3Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. We 4 believe that the rigorous audits and inspections 5 conducted by the NRC has led to a report confirming 6 our own conclusion, that continued operation of the 7 plant will have minimal impact on the environment.
2  Xcel Energy supports the draft 3Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. We 4 believe that the rigorous audits and inspections 5 conducted by the NRC has led to a report confirming 6 our own conclusion, that continued operation of the 7 plant will have minimal impact on the environment.
8  The draft Supplemental Environmental 9Impact Statement supports the mission of our own 10facility, which is safe, reliable, and economical 11operation, with the safety of the public, our 12employees and the environment being our number 1 13 priority, as it always is.
8  The draft Supplemental Environmental 9Impact Statement supports the mission of our own 10facility, which is safe, reliable, and economical 11operation, with the safety of the public, our 12employees and the environment being our number 1 13 priority, as it always is.
14  Prairie Island is more than a power plant 15operated by highly skilled workers. It's a part of 16the community. Not only does the plant rely on local 17 companies for goods and services, but our employees 18also live and contribute to the surrounding 19 communities.
14  Prairie Island is more than a power plant 15operated by highly skilled workers. It's a part of 16the community. Not only does the plant rely on local 17 companies for goods and services, but our employees 18also live and contribute to the surrounding 19 communities.
20  Some examples of that:  We're very proud 21to participate and give back to the community in lots 22 of different ways, such as serving on city and town 23boards, as leaders in civic and community 24organizations; a lot of our people are coaches on 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
20  Some examples of that:  We're very proud 21to participate and give back to the community in lots 22 of different ways, such as serving on city and town 23boards, as leaders in civic and community 24organizations; a lot of our people are coaches on 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 18sports teams of local schools, local church 1committees, local boards and councils, along with 2 members of charitable organizations.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 18sports teams of local schools, local church 1committees, local boards and councils, along with 2 members of charitable organizations.
3  Our employees also raise a considerable 4amount of money for local United Way campaigns, 5American Cancer Society, and the Make-A-Wish 6 Foundation, just to name a few.
3  Our employees also raise a considerable 4amount of money for local United Way campaigns, 5American Cancer Society, and the Make-A-Wish 6 Foundation, just to name a few.
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22 Thank you.
22 Thank you.
23  MR. FULLER:  Thank you, Mr. Schimmel.
23  MR. FULLER:  Thank you, Mr. Schimmel.
24  Okay. Anyone else?  We have Ms. Vicky 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
24  Okay. Anyone else?  We have Ms. Vicky 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 19 Winfrey with the Prairie Island Indian community.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 19 Winfrey with the Prairie Island Indian community.
1  MS. WINFREY:  Good afternoon, everyone.
1  MS. WINFREY:  Good afternoon, everyone.
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15  And I don't know how up to date the 16equipment is, if it's state-of-the-art, but if we need 17better monitoring, we would like that. We would like 18to feel safe and we would like to have the best of 19 everything because it is close to our community.
15  And I don't know how up to date the 16equipment is, if it's state-of-the-art, but if we need 17better monitoring, we would like that. We would like 18to feel safe and we would like to have the best of 19 everything because it is close to our community.
20  And that's all I would like to see and to 21 make sure that the air is monitored, the water, the 22groundwater, make sure everything is monitored 23 continually and we get that information.
20  And that's all I would like to see and to 21 make sure that the air is monitored, the water, the 22groundwater, make sure everything is monitored 23 continually and we get that information.
24  And then talking about good neighbors, 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
24  And then talking about good neighbors, 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 20we're good neighbors, also. We're the largest 1employer in Goodhue County, and we do a lot of 2donations to our surrounding areas, and we still 3continue to do the things that the City of Red Wing 4does, contribute and employ our people. Some work in 5 the city and live in the City of Red Wing.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 20we're good neighbors, also. We're the largest 1employer in Goodhue County, and we do a lot of 2donations to our surrounding areas, and we still 3continue to do the things that the City of Red Wing 4does, contribute and employ our people. Some work in 5 the city and live in the City of Red Wing.
6  So we still are opposed to the 7relicensing, and that's our position as a tribe.
6  So we still are opposed to the 7relicensing, and that's our position as a tribe.
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9  MR. FULLER:  Thank you, Ms. Winfrey.
9  MR. FULLER:  Thank you, Ms. Winfrey.
10  Okay. I don't see any other hands of 11anyone else, so at this point I would like to turn it 12 over to Mr. Andy Imboden who can sort of wrap things 13 up for us here. Thank you.
10  Okay. I don't see any other hands of 11anyone else, so at this point I would like to turn it 12 over to Mr. Andy Imboden who can sort of wrap things 13 up for us here. Thank you.
14  Andy? 15  MR. IMBODEN:  My name is Andy Imboden, 16Chief of the Environmental Review Branch in the Office 17of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. The purpose of this 18meeting and this evening's meeting at the same 19 location is to collect comments on the draft 20Environmental Impact Statement concerning the license 21renewal of Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant 22Units 1 and 2, and I would like to thank everyone who 23 spoke.24  Comments received orally at today's 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.  
14  Andy? 15  MR. IMBODEN:  My name is Andy Imboden, 16Chief of the Environmental Review Branch in the Office 17of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. The purpose of this 18meeting and this evening's meeting at the same 19 location is to collect comments on the draft 20Environmental Impact Statement concerning the license 21renewal of Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant 22Units 1 and 2, and I would like to thank everyone who 23 spoke.24  Comments received orally at today's 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS  1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 21presentations and also that we get in writing will be 1reviewed by me and my staff, and we'll provide a 2response to those when we publish the final 3 Environmental Impact Statement.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 21presentations and also that we get in writing will be 1reviewed by me and my staff, and we'll provide a 2response to those when we publish the final 3 Environmental Impact Statement.
4  So speaking here isn't your only 5opportunity to provide a comment. If something you 6heard peaks your curiosity, something in the handouts, 7there is different ways to get your comments in by the 8 end of next month.
4  So speaking here isn't your only 5opportunity to provide a comment. If something you 6heard peaks your curiosity, something in the handouts, 7there is different ways to get your comments in by the 8 end of next month.

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Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Title: Prairie Island Nuclear Plant Public Meeting: Afternoon Session Docket Number: (n/a) Location: Red Wing, Minnesota Date: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 Work Order No.: NRC-3241 Pages 1-21 NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC. Court Reporters and Transcribers 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 234-4433 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 2 + + + + +

3 PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS THE 4 PRAIRIE ISLAND NUCLEAR GENERATING PLANT, 5 UNITS 1 AND 2, SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL 6 IMPACT STATEMENT RELATED TO LICENSE RENEWAL 7 + + + + +

8 Held At The 9 Red Wing Public Library 10 225 East Avenue 11 Red Wing, Minnesota 12 On 13 Wednesday, December 16, 2009 14 2:00 p.m.

15 16 NRC PARTICIPANTS:

17 Michael Fuller, Moderator 18 Lance Rakovan 19 Elaine Keegan 20 Andy Imboden 21 Jeffrey Rikhoff 22 Allan Barker 23 Prema Chandrathil 24 Karla Stoder 25 26 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 2 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 1 2:00 P.M.

2 MR. FULLER: Good afternoon. Can everyone 3hear me? My name is Mike Fuller. I'm a Project 4Manager at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC 5 as you will hear it referred to today.

6 It's my pleasure to be facilitating 7today's meeting along with my colleague, Mr. Lance 8Rakovan. Lance, if you could -- okay. Thank you. Our 9job today is to help make this meeting as productive 10as it possibly can be for everyone involved, and we'll 11 be looking for your help for that.

12 Our purpose today is to discuss the 13 license renewal and, specifically, the environmental 14review for Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, 15Units 1 and 2, but more importantly, we are here today 16 to hear from you.

17 Today's meeting will have two parts.

18First, we'll have a presentation from the NRC staff on 19the license renewal process and the environmental 20review process, sort of where we are and what lies 21ahead. We will try to keep this part fairly short so 22that we can get to the real reason we're here, and 23that is, once again, to hear your comments. We want 24to hear your comments regarding the draft Supplemental 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 3Environmental Impact Statement that was issued in 1 October.2 Now, when you came in, you were asked to 3fill out either a yellow or a blue card. The yellow 4cards were for those folks who wish to speak today and 5provide their comments, and I have some of those, and 6we'll use those to ask folks to come up at the 7appropriate time. The blue cards we asked you to fill 8out so that we have your correct name and address and 9 so forth if you wish to be on our mailing list.

10 And I have a number of yellow cards here 11that I'll be using, and if anyone wishes to speak and 12 has not filled out a yellow card, please raise your 13 hand and let us know and we'll get one to you.

14 I'll also mention that our meeting today 15is being transcribed. It is important that we get a 16good transcription of the meeting, and so we'll ask 17that anyone that has any comments, when we get to that 18point, actually come to the microphone. At that time 19 we'll ask you to please identify yourself and also 20 identify any group that you may be affiliated with.

21 I'll also ask that we keep any side 22conversations to a minimum; and if you haven't already 23done so, this will be a good time for everyone to 24 please silence their cell phones.

25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 4 We also had feedback forms available at 1the table when you signed in. It's very important to 2 us that you take the opportunity to fill those out.

3Your feedback will be very helpful to us as we plan 4 for future meetings such as this.

5 At this point I want to introduce Elaine 6Keegan. Elaine is our project manager and lead for 7 the environmental review, and she has prepared some 8slides. And also, Elaine, if you could, please 9introduce some of the other folks who are here within 10 NRC. Thanks.

11 MS. KEEGAN: Can you hear me? Okay. Thank 12you, Mike. As Mike said, I'm Elaine Keegan. I'm 13Senior Project Manager in the Division of License 14Renewal in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation at 15the NRC. I won't say I'm the new project manager.

16I'm the last project manager for the environmental 17 part.18 I would like to introduce a few people 19from the NRC who are here. Andy Imboden, he's the 20Branch Chief for the Environmental Technical Review 21Group; Jeffrey Rikhoff is a socioeconomist in Andy's 22branch; we have Allan Barker, who is the Senior 23Government Liaison Officer out of the Region 3 office 24near Chicago, Illinois; we have Prema Chandrathil, who 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 5is also out of the Region 3 office in Chicago, and she 1is with the Office of Public Affairs; and we have 2Karla Stoder, who is the Senior Residence Inspector at 3 Prairie Island.

4 For a brief overview of this meeting, what 5I intend to do is give a very short overview of the 6licensing process for Prairie Island so far, what we 7have done so far. I'm going to talk a little bit 8 about the draft that we published in October.

9 There will be slides on how to provide 10comments outside of this meeting, and as Mike said, 11the major purpose of this meeting is to get comments 12 from the public.

13 NRC's regulatory oversight has basically 14two primary statutes: the Atomic Energy Act and the 15National Environmental Policy Act. The Atomic Energy 16Act gives the NRC the authority to license operating 17nuclear plants for 40 years. The 40 years is based on 18economic considerations and antitrust matters. It's 19 not based on any safety or technical issues.

20 The Atomic Energy Act also gives the NRC 21 the authority to extend the license for 20 years as 22long as the plant can be operated safely and the 23 environment can be protected.

24 The National Environmental Policy Act, or 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 6NEPA, was established in 1969 as a national policy for 1considering the impacts of federal decision-making on 2the environment, so all Federal Government agencies 3 have to write an environmental assessment for major 4federal action. The license renewal has been deemed a 5 major federal action, and that is why we do prepare 6 the Environmental Impact Statement.

7 Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant 8Unit 1 operating license expires August 9, 2013, Unit 92, October 24, 2014. 2013 and 2014. Northern States 10Power came in in April of 2008 with a license renewal 11application, and we have been working on that since 12 April of 2008.

13 The license renewal process has two 14concurrent pathways. There is the safety review, 15which looks at the safety aspects of plant operations, 16and it also looks at the plant's aging management 17 program.18 As of now, the safety evaluation report 19 documenting the findings from the safety review has 20been published. It was published in October of 2009.

21 The findings have been presented to our Advisory 22Committee on Reactor Safety, and I believe we're still 23waiting on a letter from ACRS on their final outcome, 24 whether they approve or not.

25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 7 For the environmental part of the review 1-- I lost my place. Okay.

2 We do an environmental review, and the 3review starts off with a scoping process where 4previous staff came to Red Wing and had a public 5meeting to gather public comments. Our NRC staff went 6to the plant, spent time there for an audit of the 7environmental area. All of that was combined into the 8draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for 9license renewal. It's actually Supplement 39 to 10NUREG-1437, which is the generic Environmental Impact 11 Statement.

12 As part of the review, the Prairie Island 13Indian Community was a cooperating agency in the 14preparation of the draft Environmental Impact 15Statement because of their expertise in the areas of 16historic and archeological resources, socioeconomic, 17 land use and environmental justice.

18 In the 1990s, in an effort to improve the 19efficiency of the license renewal process, the NRC 20performed a generic assessment of the environmental 21impact associated with license renewal. 92 issues 22were identified. 69 of those issues were identified 23as generic to all operating plants and were given the 24category 1 distinction. 21 remained which had to be 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 8site-specifically evaluated, and in addition to that, 1environmental justice and the chronic effect of 2electromagnetic fields also have to be evaluated on a 3 site-specific basis.

4 Impacts are quantified as small, moderate 5and large, and all the areas, the different issues, 6are fully explained in our Title 10 to the Code of 7Federal Regulations, Part 51, Appendix B. It has the 8list and the explanation for why it's small, moderate 9 or large.

10 Our decision standard for environmental 11review is, as you can see here, to determine whether 12or not adverse environmental impacts of license 13renewal for Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant 14Units 1 and 2 are so great that preserving the option 15 of license renewal for energy planning decision-making 16would be unreasonable. Basically, is the renewal of 17 the operating license acceptable from an environmental 18 standpoint?

19 This slide shows site-specific or some of 20the site-specific issues that were reviewed during the 21environmental review process. Staff consulted with a 22 number of federal and state agencies, including the 23U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, in an effort to identify 24threatened and endangered species and to identify 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 9 other issues that are important to the area.

1 Cumulative impacts of all the issues were 2evaluated, because by themselves, they don't 3necessarily have a large impact; but when you combine 4them with all the other issues, there could be a 5significant issue. So we look at everything as 6cumulative. Preliminary findings show that there is 7potential for a moderate to large impact on the 8 aquatic and water resources.

9 We looked at alternatives to the nuclear 10power plants, what options are available. One option 11 was no action where the licenses would expire.

12 They looked at conservation and there were 13two alternate energy sources: One, a gas-fired at the 14plant site and then a gas-fired at a different site.

15And there were two combinations of alternatives that 16 were looked at, which were a combination gas-fired, 17wind power, and conservation; and a second alternative 18was either Unit 1 or Unit 2 at the plant remaining in 19operation, combined with wind capacity and also 20 conservation.

21 Preliminary conclusions from the review 22are impacts of license renewal would be small for the 23resource areas. Potential environmental impacts of 24likely power generational alternatives, including not 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 10renewing, could reach moderate to large in some areas.

1 And based on the findings, staff's recommendation is 2that the environmental impacts of license renewal are 3not so great that license renewal would not be 4 unreasonable.

5 These are the milestones. The ones in red 6are the ones that have been accomplished. Draft 7comments: Comments on the draft are due by midnight, 8 January 30, 2010.

9 Once we get the comments, we will address 10the comments, we will revise the Environmental Impact 11Statement as appropriate, and we will issue a final 12Environmental Impact Statement. And as of right now, 13we're not sure. It's going to be dependent upon the 14number of comments and how much it's going to take to 15 resolve them.

16 Contact information: If you would like to 17ask me any questions, my phone number is there, email 18address is there. I will respond; I will get you the 19 information you request.

20 The draft Supplemental Environmental 21 Impact Statement, there will be a copy left here at 22 the library, and it's also online if you follow the 23 link at the bottom of the slide.

24 For submitting comments, if you submit 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 11 cements to prairieislandeis@nrc.gov, we will get those 1comments. You can mail them to the Chief of the Rule 2Making and Directive Branch. In the past, we used to 3have the option of walking the comments to the White 4Flint Building in Rockville, Maryland, but that's been 5taken away since the rule-making people went away to a 6different location. So those are the best ways to get 7 your comments after this meeting today.

8 And that's it, and I'll turn it back to 9 Mike.10 MR. FULLER: Thank you, Elaine. At this 11time, I'd like to ask if anyone has any questions for 12Elaine. If there was anything that she mentioned that 13you would like any clarification for or any 14clarification on, if you would raise your hand, 15 please.16 Okay. And also, as I said before, we're 17transcribing this, so I would ask you to please step 18up to the microphone so that the transcriber can hear 19 clearly what your question is. So please come on up.

20 MS. EIDE-TOLLEFSON: I'm Kristen 21Eide-Tollefson. I'm from Frontenac, Minnesota. I was 22interested in the category of new and significant 23information and what kind of factors those might be, 24and if NRC considers the big blip in the federal waste 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 12 programs to be a factor such as that.

1 And I had a second question about the 2decision standard. The way that it's phrased, it 3 sounds like the NRC is in charge of assuring safety 4 and environmental protection for decision-makers who 5make energy planning decisions, that this is not one 6of NRC's functions but it's for energy planners. And 7 could you just explain that a little more.

8 MR. IMBODEN: My name is Andy Imboden. I'm 9the branch chief of the environmental branch. The 10first question you had was new and significant 11information, and it's important to point out that what 12 was published is the draft site-specific Environmental 13Impact Statement. And if we missed something or there 14is a new development, that's the kind of material that 15we want to make sure we include in the final impact 16 statement.

17 And the second part of your question was 18the decision-making standard. That is the commission 19decision-making standard. That was published by the 20commission, and the Atomic Energy Act for license 21renewal says that we may extend the license. It 22 doesn't say we shall.

23 So it is up to the commission to go 24 forward or not, and that's just with respect to the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 13environment. That's the standard that the commission 1will be using to go forward or not with the license 2 renewal.3 MS. EIDE-TOLLEFSON: Could you clarify who 4 the energy planners and decision-makers are in that 5 context?6 MS. KEEGAN: The decision-makers are --

7it's not the NRC who are the decision-makers. It's 8the state and local people that decide how much power 9is needed for the area. They decide, and the plant 10itself, whether they want to continue operation.

11 That's all on the state/local level.

12 MS. EIDE-TOLLEFSON: Thanks.

13 MR. FULLER: Okay. Thank you. Any other 14 questions for clarification on what Elaine went over?

15 (No response.)

16 MR. FULLER: Okay. We are now at the 17point where we would like to switch over to our public 18comment phase of this meeting, and again, this is 19really the most important part of why we're here 20today. So we do want to hear from folks. So far I 21have one person who has indicated that they definitely 22 want to speak and provide comments.

23 I would also like to mention that Mr.

24Chuck Ackman is here today, he represents Senator 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 14Klobuchar, and he wanted me to let you know that he's 1 also here to listen and to hear your comments.

2 Now, if there are folks who would like to 3make a comment and as of yet have not filled out a 4yellow card, just raise your hand and we'll get one to 5you; but as it stands right now, we have one person 6 who has indicated that they would like to make some 7 comments.8 So Mr. Alan Childs, if you would, come on 9 up.10 MR. CHILDS: Thank you, Mike. My name is 11Alan Childs II. I am currently the Vice President for 12the Prairie Island Indian Community and also a tribal 13 member of the Prairie Island Indian Community which 14resides within 600 yards of the Prairie Island Nuclear 15Plant. Our tribal offices, our police department, our 16 clinic, our community center all reside within this 17 distance.18 As we went through the slides, some of the 19comments, I guess, we are opposed to the relicensing 20 of the nuclear reactors at Prairie Island; but as a 21small impact as you saw in some of the slides, I think 22any small impact is a large impact to our community as 23 the proximity which we reside to the nuclear power 24 plant.25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 15 So although it may be small when the 1environmental study is done, that is only a snapshot, 2and we want to be very clear that we feel that is a 3 very large impact in our community as our everyday 4lives continue to go on and we live in the shadow of 5 the nuclear power plant.

6 Also, we feel that the regulations for 7environmental impact studies and things of that nature 8are inadequate compared to what is going on in other 9states as requirements as far as Illinois and other 10areas. And so we feel that these requirements are 11 very inadequate.

12 And as far as the rule-making policy and 13things like that, it needs to be looked at, and 14possibly a national standard or something to that 15effect, because we do feel that these are only 16snapshots taken for the time of the environmental 17study, and then that's the only information we have.

18 Ongoing information is very limited in that aspect.

19 As we know, Xcel just currently did a 20groundwater study, which was the first in 30 years, so 21these things we feel are very inadequate for our 22safety and the standard that we set for our community 23 and what we want as far as safety.

24 Also, we continue to feel that as we move 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 16through the licensing process, the issue of 1above-ground waste is still clearly absent from any of 2the environmental impacts that I've seen. And so when 3we're talking 100,000 years or 10,000 years, you know, 4how do you account for that in an environmental 5 impact, and we don't see that.

6 And again, there is no solution to this as 7we continue to relicense. The inevitability is that 8there will be more nuclear waste and it will be stored 9there onsite. And so, again, no solution and 10 continued pollution of our environment.

11 And so these are some of the comments that 12I wanted to make today on behalf of the Prairie Island 13 Indian Community, that we are opposed to the 14relicensing, and that we do feel that many of the 15regulations in regards to environmental impacts to the 16rules are very inadequate to what else is going on in 17 other areas of the country. So thank you.

18 MR. FULLER: Thank you, Mr. Childs. Is 19there anyone else who would wish to speak, make a 20 comment?21 I have Mr. Mark Schimmel from Xcel Energy.

22 MR. SCHIMMEL: Thank you very much. I'm 23Mark Schimmel. I'm the Site Vice President at the 24Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant. I'm here 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 17today to give Xcel's position on the NRC draft 1 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.

2 Xcel Energy supports the draft 3Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. We 4 believe that the rigorous audits and inspections 5 conducted by the NRC has led to a report confirming 6 our own conclusion, that continued operation of the 7 plant will have minimal impact on the environment.

8 The draft Supplemental Environmental 9Impact Statement supports the mission of our own 10facility, which is safe, reliable, and economical 11operation, with the safety of the public, our 12employees and the environment being our number 1 13 priority, as it always is.

14 Prairie Island is more than a power plant 15operated by highly skilled workers. It's a part of 16the community. Not only does the plant rely on local 17 companies for goods and services, but our employees 18also live and contribute to the surrounding 19 communities.

20 Some examples of that: We're very proud 21to participate and give back to the community in lots 22 of different ways, such as serving on city and town 23boards, as leaders in civic and community 24organizations; a lot of our people are coaches on 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 18sports teams of local schools, local church 1committees, local boards and councils, along with 2 members of charitable organizations.

3 Our employees also raise a considerable 4amount of money for local United Way campaigns, 5American Cancer Society, and the Make-A-Wish 6 Foundation, just to name a few.

7 Our employees, along with myself, feel 8that the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant has 9been a productive contributor to the energy needs of 10 the State of Minnesota and is a valuable asset and a 11 good neighbor to the surrounding communities and 12 environment.

13 We remain committed to operating safely, 14reliably, economically, and focusing on being a good 15 neighbor and a good steward of the environment.

16 As I mentioned previously, the safety of 17the public, our employees, and the environment remains 18our number 1 priority and always has been. I and the 19rest of the employees, several sitting in this room, 20for instance, look forward to serving you and meeting 21the needs of our communities for many years to come.

22 Thank you.

23 MR. FULLER: Thank you, Mr. Schimmel.

24 Okay. Anyone else? We have Ms. Vicky 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 19 Winfrey with the Prairie Island Indian community.

1 MS. WINFREY: Good afternoon, everyone.

2I'm Victoria Winfrey, I've been elected President of 3the Prairie Island Tribal Council, and I would like to 4say that living only 600 yards from the nuclear plant 5 and working there and seeing it every day, it makes 6you feel is it really safe, are you really monitoring 7 it enough.

8 I know we have had so many studies done 9and we've heard so much about it, but through the 10meetings that I have been to, the wells that were 11studied weren't really a lot -- there weren't a lot of 12them located on the reservation and we're closest to 13the plant. And so I feel there hasn't been enough 14 monitoring.

15 And I don't know how up to date the 16equipment is, if it's state-of-the-art, but if we need 17better monitoring, we would like that. We would like 18to feel safe and we would like to have the best of 19 everything because it is close to our community.

20 And that's all I would like to see and to 21 make sure that the air is monitored, the water, the 22groundwater, make sure everything is monitored 23 continually and we get that information.

24 And then talking about good neighbors, 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 20we're good neighbors, also. We're the largest 1employer in Goodhue County, and we do a lot of 2donations to our surrounding areas, and we still 3continue to do the things that the City of Red Wing 4does, contribute and employ our people. Some work in 5 the city and live in the City of Red Wing.

6 So we still are opposed to the 7relicensing, and that's our position as a tribe.

8 Thank you.

9 MR. FULLER: Thank you, Ms. Winfrey.

10 Okay. I don't see any other hands of 11anyone else, so at this point I would like to turn it 12 over to Mr. Andy Imboden who can sort of wrap things 13 up for us here. Thank you.

14 Andy? 15 MR. IMBODEN: My name is Andy Imboden, 16Chief of the Environmental Review Branch in the Office 17of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. The purpose of this 18meeting and this evening's meeting at the same 19 location is to collect comments on the draft 20Environmental Impact Statement concerning the license 21renewal of Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant 22Units 1 and 2, and I would like to thank everyone who 23 spoke.24 Comments received orally at today's 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 21presentations and also that we get in writing will be 1reviewed by me and my staff, and we'll provide a 2response to those when we publish the final 3 Environmental Impact Statement.

4 So speaking here isn't your only 5opportunity to provide a comment. If something you 6heard peaks your curiosity, something in the handouts, 7there is different ways to get your comments in by the 8 end of next month.

9 We heard some very important comments 10today on nuclear waste issues, environmental 11monitoring and a shared concern for the safe operation 12of nuclear power, and so I would like to thank 13 everyone for coming and we'll be here to talk to you 14 offline for a while. Thank you.

15 MR. FULLER: As Andy just said and I can 16reinforce, folks from the NRC will be staying after 17the meeting today if anyone has questions or anything 18else they would like to discuss further. But at this 19point, we can go ahead and adjourn this meeting, and 20 thank you all very much for coming.

21 (Whereupon, at 2:40 p.m. the proceedings 22 were adjourned.)

23 24 25