ML11234A078

NextEra Energy Seabrook LLCs Objection to Filing of Rulemaking Petition and Suspension Request Before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board

ML11234A078
Person / Time
Site:	Seabrook
Issue date:	08/22/2011
From:	Hamrick S NextEra Energy Seabrook
To:	Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
SECY RAS
References
RAS 20800, 50-443-LR, ASLBP 10-906-02-LR-BD01
Download: ML11234A078 (4)

Text

August 22, 2011 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board In the Matter of )

)

NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC ) Docket No. 50-443-LR

) ASLBP No. 10-906-02-LR (Seabrook Station, Unit 1) )

NextEra Energy Seabrook LLCs Objection to Filing of Rulemaking Petition and Suspension Request Before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board On August 11, 2011, Friends of the Coast and the New England Coalition (Friends/NEC) filed before both the Secretary and the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (Board) a Rulemaking Petition to Rescind Prohibition Against Consideration of Environmental Impacts of Severe Accidents and Spent Fuel Pool Accidents and Request to Suspend Licensing Decisions (Petition).1 The Petition requests that the NRC rescind regulations in 10 C.F.R. Part 51 that make generic conclusions about the environmental impacts of severe reactor and spent fuel pool accidents, and also requests that the NRC suspend the Seabrook license renewal proceeding while the NRC considers this petition and the environmental issues raised in a proposed new contention alleging a requirement to address the implications of the Fukushima Task Force Report. Petition at 1.

To the extent that this Petition seeks any action by the Board, NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC (NextEra) objects to Friends/NECs placing the Petition before the Board, because the Board has no authority to grant it. 10 C.F.R. § 2.802(a) provides that a rulemaking petition should be addressed to the Secretary, and the Board has been

delegated no authority to rescind the NRCs rules. Further, 10 C.F.R. § 2.802(a) provides that a petitioner for rulemaking may request the Commission (not the presiding officer) to suspend a proceeding to which the petitioner is a party pending disposition of the rulemaking petition. In addition, Friends/NEC and other entities have already submitted a request to the Commission to suspend all licensing proceedings proceeding pending consideration of the environmental implications of the Fukushima Daiichi accident,2 so any attempt to put a duplicative request before the Board is inappropriate. For all these reasons, Friends/NECs Petition is not properly before the Board,3 and NextEra will address its opposition to the Commission.

Respectfully Submitted,

/Signed electronically by Steven Hamrick/

Mitchell S. Ross Steven Hamrick James M. Petro, Jr. NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC 801 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Suite 220 700 Universe Blvd. Washington, DC 20004 Juno Beach, Florida 33408 Telephone: 202-349-3496 Telephone: 561-691-7126 Facsimile: 202-347-7076 Facsimile: 561-691-7135 E-mail: steven.hamrick@fpl.com E-mail: mitch.ross@fpl.com james.petro@fpl.com Counsel for NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC Dated: August 22, 2011 1

Beyond Nuclear filed a similar petition on the same date, but addressed it only to the Secretary.

2 Emergency Petition to Suspend All Pending Reactor Licensing Decisions and Related Rulemaking Decisions Pending Investigation of Lessons Learned From Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Accident (April 18, 2011).

3 NextEra does not object to the suspension request being submitted on the docket of this license renewal proceeding. NextEra only objects to its being filed as a request before the Board.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board In the Matter of )

)

NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC ) Docket No. 50-443-LR

) ASLBP No. 10-906-02-LR (Seabrook Station, Unit 1) )

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that NextEra Energy Seabrook LLCs Objection to Filing of Rulemaking Petition and Suspension Request Before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, dated August 22, 2011, was provided to the Electronic Information Exchange for service on the individuals listed below, this 22nd day of August, 2011.

Secretary Office of Commission Appellate Attn: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff Adjudication U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Washington, DC 20555-0001 hearingdocket@nrc.gov E-mail: OCAAMAIL@nrc.gov Administrative Judge Administrative Judge Paul S. Ryerson, Esq., Chair Dr. Richard E. Wardwell Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Atomic Safety and Licensing Board U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Email: psr1@nrc.gov Email: richard.wardwell@nrc.gov Administrative Judge Mary Spencer, Esq.

Dr. Michael Kennedy Maxwell C. Smith, Esq.

Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Richard S. Harper, Esq.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of the General Counsel Washington, DC 20555-0001 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Email: michael.kennedy@nrc.gov Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: mary.spencer@nrc.gov; maxwell.smith@nrc.gov; Richard.Harper@nrc.gov Raymond Shadis Kurt Ehrenberg New England Coalition New Hampshire Sierra Club Post Office Box 98 40 N. Main Street Edgecomb, Maine 04556 Concord, NH 03301 E-mail: shadis@prexar.com E-mail: Kurt.Ehrenberg@sierraclub.org

Paul Gunter Doug Bogen Beyond Nuclear Executive Director 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 400 Seacoast Anti-Pollution League Takoma Park, MD 20912 PO Box 1136 E-mail: paul@beyondnuclear.com Portsmouth, NH 03802 E-mail: dbogen@metrocast.net Matthew Brock, Esq.

Assistant Attorney General Environmental Protection Division Office of the Attorney General One Ashburton Place, 18th Floor Boston, Massachusetts 02108 matthew.brock@state.ma.us

/Signed electronically by Steven Hamrick /

Steven Hamrick 2