ML091460259

Transcript of Crystal River, Unit 3, Scoping Meeting: Afternoon Session, Thursday, April,16, 2009, Pages 1-33

ML091460259
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Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Title:

Crystal River Nuclear Plant Scoping Meeting: Afternoon Session Docket Number: (n/a)

Location: Crystal River, Florida Date: Thursday, April 16, 2009 Work Order No.: NRC-2772 Pages 1-33

~ORIGINAL--\

NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC.

Court Reporters and Transcribers 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 234-4433

1 1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 2 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 3

4 CRYSTAL RIVER UNIT 3 5 NUCLEAR GENERAL PLANT 6 LICENSE RENEWAL PROCESS 7 and 8 ENVIRONMENTAL SCOPING MEETING 9

10 Thursday, April 16, 2009 11 The Plantation Golf Resort & Spa 12 9301 West Fort Trail 13 Crystal River, Florida 14 15 The above-entitled hearing was conducted 16 at 2:00 p.r 17 BEFORE: DAVID WRONA, Facilitator 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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2 1 INDEX 2 AGENDA PAGE 3 I. Welcome and purpose of meeting 3

]

4 [I. Overview by Mr. Kuntz 6 I

5 III. Overview by Ms. Keegan 16 I

6 [V. Public comments 7 Bert Henderson 22 8 Ginger Bryant 25 9 Brent Tolan 27 10 Andrija "Andy" Vukmir 30 11 VI. Closing 33 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

202)

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3 1 P RO C E E D I NG S 2 2:00 P.M.

3 MR. WRONA: Well, welcome everybody. If 4 I can have everybody's attention we're going to get 5 started here in just about a minute. Let everybody 6 grab their seats and get comfortable.

7 Again, welcome and thank you for coming 8 out this evening. My name is David Wrona. I'm a 9 supervisor with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and 10 I work in the Division of License Renewal. Along with 11 Mr. Robert Kuntz and Ms. Elaine Keegan, who happen to 12 be the Project Managers who are going to discuss the 13 details about how we make a decision about license 14 renewal. And it is privilege to act as the 15 facilitator for today's meeting. In addition we have 16 Mr. Roger Hannah from our Region 2 Office. He's a 17 Public Affairs Officer.

18 We are here for several reasons. The 19 first reason is to walk you through the process that 20 we take to review the environmental and safety review 21 of the Crystal River Unit 3 License Renewal 22 Application Review. And then the second, and probably 23 the main reason for this meeting, is to receive your 24 comments on what environmental issues we should 25 consider during this review.

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4 1 To start things off, I just wanted to go 2 through what y'all should expect from us this 3 afternoon. I'll go through a couple of ground rules 4 and then I'm going to turn it over to our presenters.

5 For the Agenda, we have a fairly short 6 presentation on the NRC's license renewal process, and 7 then we're going to open up the meeting to listen to 8 your comments.

9 Since our main focus is to gather comments 10 on what issues to include during our environmental II review, we would like to really limit the amount of 12 back and forth conversations that we do have, and the 13 NRC staff will be available after the meeting to ask 14 any questions you have on the process, or the NRC in 15 general.

16 This meeting is being transcribed. As 17 such, when it's your turn to speak, if you could 18 please approach the microphone and identify yourself.

19 It is very important that we only have one person 20 speaking at a time so that we end up with a very clear 21 transcript of today's meeting.

22 I want to stress that speaking here today 23 is not the only way that you can provide comments on 24 our process. If you don't have a chance to say 25 everything that you would like to when you come up to NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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5 1 the mic, or after you speak, you go home and you think 2 of other things, our presenters will go over other 3 ways that you can communicate with us to provide your 4 comments.

5 Right now we do not have very many 6 speakers signed up, so I don't think time is going to 7 be an issue. If, for some reason, a flood of folks do 8 come in and request to speak, at that point we may 9 have to limit your speaking time. But right now I 10 think we're set.

11 If you did not sign up to speak using one 12 of these yellow card, flag me down when somebody else 13 is speaking. I can get you a card and have you fill 14 one out. It's important that we get these cards from 15 you because, as I mentioned, it is being transcribed.

16 If we have the card then your name is going to be 17 spelled correctly in the transcript.

18 In addition, if you would like to receive 19 a copy of all the environmental reports and 20 environmental letters that we're going to send to the 21 applicant, and made publicly available, there is a 22 section on the yellow card to just check "yes" and 23 please provide us your address. And if you're not 24 interested in speaking but would like to be added to 25 our mailing list, then we do have blue cards and NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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6 1 they're available over at the table.

2 Also on the table are some public meeting 3 feedback forms. If you would kindly take the time out 4 to fill in one of those, if you want to, it provides 5 feedback to us on ways that we could possibly improve 6 our public meetings.

7 And we also have a sign-in sheet, so if 8 you came in the door and bypassed the table and didn't 9 sign in, just sometime before you leave, we'd 10 appreciate it if you would sign in.

11 And finally, if you would please silence 12 any electronic devices you may have. And having said 13 that, I feel like I talked too long, so I'm going to 14 turn things over to Mr. Robert Kuntz to start our 15 presentation.

16 MR. KUNTZ: Good afternoon. As Dave 17 mentioned my name's Rob Kuntz. I am one of two 18 Project Managers for the NRC's Division of License 19 Renewal who coordinated the meeting today. And the 20 meeting today is associated with the Crystal River 21 Unit 3 Nuclear Generating Plant License Renewal 22 Application.

23 The other Project Manager is Ms. Elaine 24 Keegan, who Dave also pointed out.

25 And, I'd like to thank you all for taking NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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7 1 the time to come to our meeting today.

2 Today we'll provide an overview of the 3 license renewal process, which includes both a safety 4 review and an environmental review. We also describe 5 in more detail the environmental review process 6 associated with the license renewal review. But the 7 most important part of today's meeting, as Dave 8 mentioned, is to receive any comments you may have on 9 the scope of the environmental review. We also will 10 give you some information about how you can submit 11 comments outside of this meeting. Again, as David had 12 mentioned previously.

13 At the conclusion of today's presentation 14 we will be happy to answer any questions that you may 15 have on the license renewal process. However, I must 16 ask you to limit your participation to questions only 17 and hold your comments until the appropriate time 18 during the meeting. Once all questions are answered 19 we can begin to receive any comments that you have on 20 the scope of the environmental review.

21 I hope the information we provide will 22 help you to understand the license renewal review 23 process and the role that you can play in helping us 24 ensure that we consider all environmental relevant 25 information.

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8 1 Before we get started -- if we could go 2 back one, please? Yes, that one.

3 Before we get into the discussion of the 4 license renewal process, I'd like to take a minute to 5 talk about the NRC in terms of what we do and our 6 mission is.

7 The NRC is a federal agency established by 8 the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, and we regulate 9 the civilian use of nuclear materials. The Atomic 10 Energy Act of 1954 authorizes the NRC to grant 40 year 11 operating licenses for nuclear power reactors. This 12 40 year term was based primarily on economic and anti-13 trust factors. Not on technical or safety 14 limitations. The Atomic Energy Act also provides 15 provisions for renewing those initial 40 year license 16 terms.

17 The National Environmental Policy Act of 18 1969, often referred to as NEPA, establishes a 19 national policy for considering the impact of federal 20 decision making on the human environment. As a matter 21 of policy the Commission has determined that license 22 renewal constitutes a major federal action for which 23 an environmental impact statement is warranted.

24 The NRC's regulations governing nuclear 25 safety, security, and environmental protection, are NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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9 1 contained in Title 10 of the Code of Federal 2 Regulations, also referred to as 10 C.F.R. An 3 exercise in its regulatory authority, the NRC's 4 mission is threefold: To ensure adequate protection 5 of public health and safety, to promote the common 6 defense and security, and to protect the environment.

7 The NRC accomplishes its mission through 8 a combination of regulatory programs and processes, 9 such as establishing rules and regulations, conducting 10 inspections, issuing enforcement action, accessing 11 licensee performance, and evaluating operating 12 experience from nuclear plants both in this country 13 and internationally.

14 The NRC has resident inspectors at all 15 operating nuclear power plants. These inspectors are 16 considered the eyes and ears of the NRC. They carry 17 out our safety mission on a daily basis and are on the 18 front lines of ensuring acceptable safety, 19 performance, and compliance with the regulations.

20 Now, specific to Crystal River Unit 3.

21 The plant was originally licensed in 1976, and their 22 current operating license expires December 3 rd, 2016.

23 The Florida Power Corporation filed an application for 24 license renewal on December 1 6 th of last year, 2008.

25 Generally the contents of the license NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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10 1 renewal application contain general information such 2 as the applicant's name and address, business and 3 administration information, technical information 4 which pertains to the aging management. This 5 information is the focus of the staff's safety review.

6 It would also include technical 7 specifications changes. Technical specifications 8 define the operating parameters of the plant. The 9 application would indicate if any changes or additions 10 to the technical specifications are necessary to 11 manage the effects of aging during the period of 12 extended operation.

13 The Crystal River application didn't 14 include any changes, required changes to the technical 15 specifications. And the application also included 16 environmental review -- I'm sorry -- environmental 17 report, which is the applicant's assessment of the 18 environmental impacts of continued operation. This 19 information serves as the starting point for the 20 staff's environmental review.

21 License renewal review involves two 22 parallel paths; the safety review and the 23 environmental review. These two reviews evaluate 24 separate aspects of the license renewal application.

25 The safety review focuses on the aging effects of NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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11 1 passive and long live components and structures that 2 the NRC had deemed important to safety. The staff's 3 main objective in this review is to determine whether 4 the effects of aging will be adequately managed by the 5 applicant. The review also considers generic and site 6 specific operating experience related to effects of 7 aging. The results of the staff's safety review are 8 documented in a safety evaluation report, often 9 referred to as an SER.

10 For environmental review the staff II considers, evaluates, and discloses the environmental 12 impacts of continued plant operation for an additional 13 20 years. The staff also evaluates the environmental 14 impacts of alternatives to license renewal. The 15 objective of the review is to determine if the 16 environmental impacts of license renewal are so great 17 that license renewal would not be a reasonable option, 18 or more plainly, is license renewal acceptable from 19 an environmental impact standpoint.

20 The staff prepares an Environmental Impact 21 Statement, or EIS, to document its environmental 22 review.

23 This slide we'd like to talk about a few 24 important areas of NRC oversight that are frequently 25 mentioned during routine interactions with members of NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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12 I the public.

2 The NRC staff addresses these areas of 3 performance every day as a part of the ongoing 4 oversight provided for all currently operating power 5 reactors. They include emergency planning, security, 6 and current safety performance, as defined by NRC 7 inspections, violations, and general assessment of 8 plant performance. For specific information on the 9 current performance at Crystal River you can use the 10 referenced website there on the bottom of this slide.

11 The NRC monitors and provides regulatory 12 oversight of activities in these areas on an ongoing 13 basis under the current operating license. Thus, we 14 do not re-evaluate them in license renewal. That's 15 not to say they aren't important for safety. We just 16 do not duplicate the regulatory process as part of the 17 license renewal process.

18 All right. The next slide is a schematic 19 of two parallel review paths. It also features two 20 other considerations the Commission decision is based 21 on. One of these considerations is the independent 22 review performed by the Advisory Committee on Reactor 23 Safeguards, or ACRS. The ACRS is statutorily mandated 24 by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, and the ACRS is a 25 group of scientists and nuclear safety experts who NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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13 1 serve as a consulting body to the Commission. The 2 ACRS reviews the license renewal application and the 3 NRC staff's safety evaluation. The ACRS then reports 4 their findings to the Commission.

5 A hearing may also be conducted.

6 Interested stakeholders may submit concerns or 7 contentions and request a hearing. An adjudicatory 8 panel from the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, or 9 ASLB, will be established to review contentions for 10 admissibility. If a hearing is granted, the 11 Commission considers the outcome of the hearing 12 process in its decision of whether or not to renew the 13 license.

14 Now I am going to describe the license 15 renewal review process in a little more detail, 16 starting with the safety review.

17 The regulations governing license renewal 18 are based on two guiding principles. To effectively 19 communicate these principles I need to describe a 20 concept used by the NRC. The concept is "licensing 21 basis." Licensing basis consists of a wide range of 22 design and operational requirements and conditions 23 that must be met for the plant to comply with its 24 operating license. It serves as the basis upon which 25 the NRC originally licensed the plant. To continue to NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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14 1 operate, a plant must conform with its licensing 2 basis. As mentioned, the regulations governing 3 license renewal are based on two guiding principles 4 that relate back to licensing basis.

5 The first principle is that the current 6 regulatory process is adequate to ensure that the 7 licensing basis of all operating plants provides and 8 maintains an acceptable level of safety. The second 9 principle is that the current plant specific licensing 10 basis must be maintained during the renewal term in 11 the same manner and to the same extent as during the 12 original licensing term. In other words, the same 13 rules that apply under the current license will apply 14 in the renewal term. In addition, any renewed license 15 will include conditions that must be met to ensure 16 aging of structures and components, important to 17 safety, are adequately managed so that the plant's 18 current licensing basis is maintained during the 19 extended period of operation.

20 The safety review is rigorous. The staff 21 reviews the applicant's license renewal application 22 and supporting documentation. This review includes an 23 evaluation of new and existing programs and 24 surveillance activities, to determine, with reasonable 25 assurance, that the effects of aging for certain NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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15 1 plants, structures, and components, will be adequately 2 managed or monitored. The safety also include site 3 audits, to verify the technical basis of the license 4 renewal application, and to confirm the applicant's 5 aging management programs and activities conform with 6 how they are described in the application.

7 The staff documents the basis and 8 conclusion of its review in a safety evaluation 9 report, which will be publicly available. In 10 addition, a team of specialized inspectors travel to 11 the reactor site to verify the aging management 12 programs, are being implemented, modified, or planned, 13 consistent with the license renewal application.

14 Finally, as I've mentioned, the ACRS 15 performs an independent review of the license renewal 16 application and the staff's safety evaluation report, 17 and makes a recommendation to the Commission regarding 18 the proposed action to issue a renewed license.

19 Now, turning to the environmental review 20 for license renewal. This review is performed in 21 accordance with the NEPA of 1969. NEPA provides the 22 basis architecture for federal environmental review 23 requirements. It requires that all federal agencies 24 follow a systematic approach in evaluating potential 25 impacts associated with major federal actions and NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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16 1 alternatives to those actions. By law, the NEPA 2 process involves public participation and public 3 disclosure.

4 The NEPA Act also established the U.S.

5 Council on Environmental Quality, or CEQ, with the 6 Executive Office of the President. CEQ establishes 7 policy for implementation of NEPA. The NRC's 8 environmental regulations contained in 10 C.F.R. Part 9 51, are largely based on those that CEQ developed.

10 Our environmental review considers the 11 impact of the license renewal and any mitigation for 12 those impacts we consider to be significant. We also 13 consider the impacts of alternatives to the license 14 renewal, including the impact of not issuing a renewed 15 license. The staff documents its environmental review 16 in an EIS.

17 That concludes my portion of the 18 presentation. Now Elaine will provide more details on 19 the environmental review and scoping process.

20 MS. KEEGAN: Hi. And thank you for being 21 here. As Rob said, I am Elaine Keegan. I am the 22 second Project Manager for the Crystal River 23 relicensing, and I will cover the environmental review 24 process.

25 For license renewal review NRC looks at a NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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17 1 wide range of environmental impacts as part of 2 preparing the EIS. In conducting our environmental 3 review we consult with various federal, state, and 4 local officials, as well as leaders of the Native 5 American nations, and we gather pertinent information 6 from these sources to ensure it's considered in our 7 analysis.

8 As illustrated on this slide the various 9 agencies are Fish and Wildlife, EPA, Florida 10 Department of Natural Resources, Florida Bureau of 11 Radiation Protection, Florida State Historical 12 Preservation Office.

13 The environmental review begins with a 14 scoping process, which is what starts here today. The 15 purpose of the scoping process is to identify 16 significant issues that should be considered in the 17 environmental review. We are gathering information 18 that we will use to prepare an Environmental Impact 19 for the license renewal. As part of the process we 20 are here to collect your comments on the scope of the 21 environmental review, that is, the environmental 22 impacts that the staff should consider.

23 Staff has developed a generic 24 Environmental Impact Statement that addressed a number 25 of issues common to all operating nuclear power NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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18 1 plants. The staff is supplementing that generic EIS 2 with a site specific EIS, in which we will address 3 issues that are specific to the Crystal River Unit 3 4 site. The staff also reexamines the conclusions 5 reached in the generic EIS to determine if there's any 6 new and significant information that would change 7 those conclusions.

8 The scoping period started on April 6 th, 9 2009, when the Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS and 10 Conduct Scoping was published in the Federal Register.

11 The NRC will accept comments on the scope of the 12 environmental review until June 6 th, 2009.

13 In general, we are looking for information 14 about the environmental impacts from continued 15 operation of Crystal River during extended operation 16 period. You can assist us in that process by telling 17 us, for example, what aspects of your local community 18 we should focus on, what local, environmental, social, 19 and economic issues the NRC should examine during our 20 environmental review, and what reasonable alternatives 21 are also appropriate for your local region.

22 These are just some examples of the input 23 we're looking for, and they represent the kinds of 24 information we are seeking through the Environment 25 Scoping Process. Your comments today would be helpful NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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19 1 in providing insights of this nature for the 2 environmental analysis.

3 This slide represents the NRC's various 4 considerations for deciding if a renewed operating 5 license will be issued. It's a rigorous review 6 involving safety evaluation report, regional 7 inspections, and so on.

8 Also, as indicated on this slide, public 9 comments are an important part of the environmental 10 review process. We consider all of the comments that 11 we receive from the public during the scoping process 12 as part of preparing our Supplement Environmental 13 Impact Statement.

14 In addition to providing comments at 15 today's meeting, there are other ways you can submit 16 comments. You can provide written comments to the NRC 17 Chief of Rules and Directives Branch, at the address 18 on the slide. You can e-mail to, 19 crystalrivereis@nrc.gov. Or you could call Rob or 20 myself. Our business cards are on the desk over 21 there. We will address them. Comments should be 22 submitted by June 6 th, 2009.

23 This slide shows the important milestone 24 dates for the environmental review process. The 25 opportunity to submit contentions for a hearing closes NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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20 1 on May 8 th. If you have comments you would like to 2 submit outside of today's meeting you have until June 3 6', 2009, to do so. We are planning to issue a draft 4 supplement EIS on the Crystal River relicensing, 5 probably April 2010.

6 While this slide lists the milestones for 7 the environmental review and opportunity for public 8 involvement, the safety review is performed in 9 accordance with a schedule listed at the NRC website.

10 On the next slide -- although there's no 11 next slide. Well, we have a schedule that we haven't 12 developed yet. It's in the process and various things 13 are impacting it.

14 Additional information. If you want to 15 contact us about comments, these are the various ways 16 to find us. The Safety Evaluation Report and 17 Environment Report is located at the Crystal River 18 Library. It's also located on the NRC's public 19 website.

20 As you came in you were given the 21 opportunity to fill out a registration card if you 22 would like to speak. If you didn't there's the other 23 card to fill out, and we will add you to our mailing 24 list.

25 And, that's the end of my presentation.

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21 I MR. WRONA: Thank you, Rob and Elaine.

2 Rob, if you could, could you go back one 3 or two slides here to get the schedule up? One more 4 back.

5 Although it's not on here this will be on 6 our public website as soon as we have a schedule set.

7 But as Elaine mentioned, the draft supplemental 8 Environmental Impact Statement issue date is around 9 April 2010. Sometime shortly after that, within a 10 month or so we'll have another public meeting, similar 11 to this one, where we will present our draft 12 Environmental Impact Statement and ask for public 13 comments on that.

14 I just wanted to point that out because we 15 do not have that up on our website yet. But as I 16 said, as soon as it becomes publicly availably we will 17 get it up there in plenty of time, and our public 18 meeting are noticed on our website also. So that's 19 our primary method for notifying the public of 20 upcoming meetings.

21 And with that, I'm going to move right 22 into the public comment period. I have four cards.

23 If anybody didn't get a card and needs one, raise your 24 hand. When somebody else is speaking I'll bring one 25 by.

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22 1 If I could ask you to come up to the 2 microphone here, again, state your name for the 3 transcript. The reason we're not passing the 4 microphone around is because we do have a 5 transcriber's microphone up here and they're picking 6 that up.

7 So what I'll do is, I'm just going read 8 the names in the order that I got them, and then 9 that's the order that we'll call you up here. First 10 we'll have Mr. Bert Henderson, then we'll have Ms.

11 Ginger Bryant, then we'll have Mr. Brent Tolan, and 12 then we'll have Mr. Andrija Vukmir. And I'm sorry if 13 I'm mispronouncing any of these names.

14 So with that, if Mr. Henderson could come 15 on up.

16 MR. HENDERSON: Thank you, and good 17 afternoon. My name's Bert Henderson, retired faculty 18 from University of Florida. And I have, fortunately, 19 had the opportunity to be able to teach energy 20 efficiency, sustainability, and green building for 21 about the past ten years as a faculty member for UF.

22 I've taught school children, folks to 23 homeowners, on how to use energy efficiency and to 24 reduce your utility bills. And taught contractors, 25 architects, engineers, building officials, utility NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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23 1 staffs, and just all people that have anything to do 2 with the construction industry and use of green 3 building, sustainability, or energy efficiency.

4 And the reason that I wanted to come here 5 today, because I know that that plugs into with what 6 the NRC Progress Energy is trying to do, they are 7 trying to provide an energy source that is 8 inexpensive, that is clean, and contributes to our 9 attempt to have a green environment.

10 I mean there are other energy sources that 11 people talk about; solar, using more coal, renewable 12 energies. But all of those at this point, the 13 technology has not caught up with this that either has 14 a cost benefit or effects the environment less than 15 nuclear power does at this present time. Now, maybe 16 tomorrow it will come up with a PV panel that we can 17 get, you know, at eight cents a kilowatt hour, it will 18 cost us $100, and we can put a pair big enough on the 19 house to provide all the electricity that the house 20 needs. But unfortunately that's not going to happen, 21 at least not within the next 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br />, according to 22 what information I have.

23 So we've got to focus on energy sources 24 that are going to provide us a quality and a 25 consistent source of energy to power the homes that NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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24 I are now using more and more electricity, for stereos 2 and computers and refrigerators and washer/dryers, and 3 the list goes on and on and on.

4 So that's why I think, from my personal 5 perspective, and from what research that I've done and 6 been involved in the energy industry, that the nuclear 7 power contributes to the green environment that we're 8 all trying to focus on.

9 So with that, I charge the Nuclear 10 Regulatory Commission to follow their mission to 11 protect the environment by allowing Crystal River 3 to 12 stay online, and to continue to operate.

13 Then we have those who might say that, 14 well, yeah, but, you know, nuclear power, we've had a 15 lot of problems. I mean look at Three Mile Island and 16 look at the plant over in Russia that blew up and 17 Chernobyl, and, you know, we're worried about Crystal 18 River 3's going to blow up, and all this kind of 19 stuff.

20 Well, I know I'm preaching to the choir.

21 But we know that nuclear power plants don't blow up.

22 Ha. That's all there is to it. We affect the 23 environment more when we get out and drive our car.

24 We affect the environment more when we live in our 25 homes and we put our air conditioners down to 72 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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25 I degrees and wonder why it's not cool enough here in 2 Florida. You know? Sometimes it just does not make 3 sense to me the way the public views energy, energy 4 efficiency, and use of energy. And I am all for, one, 5 if anybody's here from the School Board, I think we 6 all have to make everybody go through 9 th grade 7 physics so they understand you don't get nothing for 8 nothing. All right?

9 So my whole point in this, and I'm going 10 to end my babble here real quick, is to provide the 11 opportunity for Crystal River 3 to stay online to 12 provide an inexpensive source of clean, green, energy 13 that we desperately need at this point in our societal 14 life.

15 MR. WRONA: Thank you, Mr. Henderson.

16 Next, if we could have Ms. Ginger Bryant.

17 MS. BRYANT: Thank you. Mr. Henderson, I 18 am from the School Board. I'll make a note.

19 MR. HENDERSON: Thank you.

20 MS. BRYANT: My name is Ginger Bryant and 21 I am a lifelong resident of Citrus County. I would 22 like to take this time to point out what Progress 23 Energy -- what an outstanding partner Progress Energy 24 is with Citrus County schools, and with Citrus County 25 Education Foundation. I am going to share with you NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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26 1 just a few of the things that Progress Energy does to 2 support education in this community.

3 Progress Energy and UCF Leadership 4 Institute -- there was a million dollars donated by 5 Progress Energy to help the Central Florida provide 6 leadership training for Florida educators. And Citrus 7 County was fortunate to be one of thirteen counties 8 participating in this Institute.

9 The purpose of Progress Energy UCF 10 Leadership Institute was to strengthen and to support 11 school district leaders in their efforts to improve 12 student achievement. This five-year program involved 13 a large number of our school and our district 14 administrators. It included outstanding keynote 15 speakers, excellent supporting materials and 16 opportunities for collaboration with colleagues 17 throughout Florida.

18 I feel the Institute contributed greatly 19 to the success of the School District. We've been an 20 A School for the past three years. And I don't know 21 what that means, but we have been an A School. At 22 least we weren't a B or anything less.

23 Progress Energy supports foundation 24 grants. It had awarded several grants to our 25 Education Foundation. Last year we applied for and NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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27 1 received $25,000 for our Power of Education Project.

2 This project included funds to support our Power 3 Industry Academy at the Withlcoochee Technical 4 Institute, assistance for students needing funds to 5 take industry certification exams, student 6 scholarships for Power Industry Academy, and funds to 7 enable our Education Foundation to hire an Executive 8 Director. Our 2009/2010 $25,000 grant will also 9 include funds to create a Central Career Academy 10 website, and funds to provide industry consultant to 11 work with students.

12 As a member of the Citrus County School 13 Board, and the Citrus County Education Foundation, I 14 would like to express my sincere appreciation to 15 Progress Energy for forming such a strong partnership 16 and for supporting children and education in our 17 community.

18 MR. WRONA: Thank you, Ms. Bryant.

19 Next, if we could have Mr. Tolan come up.

20 MR. TOLAN: Hi. My name's Brent Tolan and 21 I'm a Progress Energy employee. I actually work at 22 the Crystal River Nuclear Plant. And one thing Ms.

23 Bryant said, that Progress Energy's been really 24 involved in the schools. And one thing we're doing 25 next week is going out and we're going to be part of NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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28 1 Engineer's Week, and go into the classrooms and try 2 and teach kids what it's like to be an engineer.

3 But not to toot our own horn here. It 4 just demonstrates that, like myself, everyone who 5 works at the plant is a resident of this area, and we 6 do those things not because we're Progress Energy 7 employees, it's because we love the area we work in.

8 And, I mean, that's one of the things that drew me 9 here initially.

10 I love the environment here. I love being 11 outside doing those types of things. And I think --

12 I'm trying to get back to what the meeting is about, 13 environmental impact. I've read the greenest product 14 you can purchase is the one you already own, because 15 it's something you already have with you. And while 16 it's not always the case with power plants and large 17 scale power production, I think this is one of the 18 areas where it does apply. And we've already got a 19 nuclear plant here. It doesn't make sense to let our 20 license lapse when we have the opportunity to go 21 another 20 years with something that's already here, 22 it's already producing clean, efficient power.

23 You have to consider that if we were -- if 24 we did shut down the plant we would have to replace 25 that with another power source. People aren't going NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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29 1 to turn off their lights, and they aren't going to 2 stop using the devices that they use.

3 So if you do shut down the nuclear plant, 4 you might build another nuclear plant. Hopefully we 5 do that before too long. But it's not to replace the 6 plant that we currently operate. And that's an 7 important thing to realize.

8 The other thing to think about too is, we 9 do live in a pretty delicate area. And we are able to 10 maintain a certain level of natural mystique. And 11 there are people who love it here, and they work here, 12 and they would never leave, even if we shut down the 13 plant. But those people need jobs, and I would hate 14 to see those people have to resort to some other means 15 to support themselves, and potentially sacrifice the 16 environment to do so. I mean there's the opportunity 17 to over-fish the waters, and to go cut down land and 18 turn it into some facility, just something to get by.

19 So I think those are important things to realize when 20 we're talking about extending the life of this plant 21 from an environmental aspect..

22 But also, I mean, I don't know that this 23 is really the correct forum, but think about the 24 economic impact the plant has. If it were to go away 25 there are a number of high paying jobs, educated NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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30 1 people that would have to find new work and they would 2 be -- again, it opens up the community to find new 3 ways of generating tax revenues and things like that.

4 But it's important to realize that this is 5 a good thing for the community. And I hope that's 6 what came across today in my little bit of rambling.

7 But I'm just trying to keep it short and sweet. So, 8 thanks.

9 MR. WRONA: Thank you, Mr. Tolan.

10 And I have Mr. Vukmir.

11 MR. VUKMIR: Good afternoon. My name's 12 Andy Vukmir. My wife, Hazel, and I are 13 environmentalists. We belong to Citrus County 14 Audubon. We're also involved with the Homosassa 15 Wildlife State Park; we are volunteers there.

16 For the past years -- let me see. We're 17 also involved with the Whooping Crane migration in 18 Citrus County, when they fly over up in Dunnellon.

19 We've lived here and been residents for 20 the past 12 years and are fond admirers and supporters 21 of nuclear power. I put many years in experimental 22 nuclear physics, starting plants up around the world, 23 and I'm still here. Yes, I've been irradiated. We 24 are all. You talk on your cell phones, you get your 25 microwave working, your garage door opener.

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31 1 Radiation. So some of these people that fear 2 radiation, it's part of life. How about the so-called 3 -- our environment with our stones and just where we 4 live.

5 So at this time I urge the NRC and the 6 public to support the license renewal process for the 7 Crystal River Unit 3 Nuclear Power Plant. Nuclear 8 energy keeps America business competitive, and the 9 plants themselves are incredible job resources for 10 Crystal River and the surrounding communities.

11 As a nation the U.S. Department of Energy 12 projects that the U.S. energy demand will rise about 13 25 percent by 2030. This means our nation will need 14 hundreds of new plants to provide electricity for your 15 homes and continued economic growth in Crystal River 16 and Citrus County.

17 Nuclear plants are the lowest cost 18 producers of the baseload of nuclear electricity being 19 provided by reliable and affordable source of 20 electricity. And, nuclear energy helps to keep 21 American businesses competitive.

22 Nuclear plants are a source of a local job 23 growth here in Crystal River. Those same nuclear 24 plants, which do not emit carbon dioxide, accounts for 25 the majority of the voluntary reduction in greenhouse NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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32 1 gas emissions in the electric power sector, according 2 to a 2007 report from Power Partners, a partnership 3 between the electric power industry and the U.S.

4 Department of Energy.

5 The nation's nuclear power plant are among 6 the safest, secure, industrial facilities in United 7 States. Multiple layers of physical security, 8 together with high levels of operation performance, 9 project plant workers and the environment. The 10 primary concern of Progress Energy is the health and 11 safety of the public.

12 Let's see now. Used fuel. Sometimes 13 called waste. It is not. It is called spent fuel.

14 It can be recycled. Yes. This spent fuel is not a 15 threat to the public. Under an integrated management 16 approach, spent fuel will remain stored at the nuclear 17 power plants until moved to a consolidated interim 18 storage facility. Eventually the United States will 19 follow Great Britain and Japan in recycling of this 20 spent fuel to extract the remaining energy and proceed 21 to enrichment, followed by fabrication, and also 22 returning the uranium to the nuclear power plants as 23 fuel.

24 Yes. In closing, I am thankful for the 25 opportunity of having clean nuclear power to produce NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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33 1 electricity. I urge NRC, working together as a team 2 with Progress Energy and the public, to support this 3 renewal process for Crystal River Unit Nuclear Power 4 Plant. Sincerely.

5 MR. WRONA: Thank you, Mr. Vukmir.

6 That was all the yellow cards that I have 7 had.

8 Is there anybody else that would like to 9 make a statement that didn't have a chance to fill out 10 a yellow card?

11 (No response.)

12 MR. WRONA: Okay. Well, before we close 13 the meeting I'd just like to thank you all for coming 14 out and providing your comments on the license 15 renewal. Remind you that the NRC staff will stay here 16 a little bit after this meeting, so if you have some 17 specific questions on renewal, what we do, please stop 18 by and visit with us. Take some literature that we 19 brought down here so we don't have to carry it back on 20 the airplane.

21 With that, I think we'll go ahead and 22 close the meeting. Thank you.

23 (Whereupon, at 2:43 p.m., meeting 24 concluded.)

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CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the attached proceedings before the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the matter of: Crystal River Nuclear Plant Name of Proceeding: Scoping Meeting:

Afternoon Session Docket Number: (n/a)

Location: Crystal River, Florida were held as herein appears, and that this is the original transcript thereof for the file of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission taken by me and, thereafter reduced to typewriting by me or under the direction of the court reporting company, and that the transcript is a true and accurate record of the foregoing proceedings.

Gretchen Schultz Official Reporter Neal R. Gross & Co., Inc.

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