ML12094A283

LTR-12-0115 - Letter Response to Thomas O'Brien, Newburyport City Council, from Andrew L. Bates, Acting Secretary of the Commission, Resolution with Respect to the Relicensing of the Seabrook Station

ML12094A283
Person / Time
Site:	Seabrook
Issue date:	04/03/2012
From:	Bates A L NRC/SECY
To:	O'Brien T F City of Newburyport, MA, City Council
Shared Package
ML12094A277	List: ML12094A276 ML12094A283
References
LTR-12-0115
Download: ML12094A283 (1)

Text

April 3, 2012 Thomas F. O'Brien President Newburyport City Council Newburyport City Hall 60 Pleasant Street P.O. Box 550 Newburyport, MA 01950

SUBJECT:

SEABROOK NUCLEAR POWER STATION

Dear Mr. O'Brien and Council Members:

On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am responding to your letter of March 12, 2012, to Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko in which you requested that the NRC require Seabrook Nuclear Power Station's owner/operator to repair the concrete and abate the groundwater infiltration before considering relicensing the reactor. You also enclosed a unanimous resolution of the City Council to this effect.

To the extent that your letter requests that the Commission halt the relicensing of Seabrook, the Commission cannot respond. Under Commission regulations, the Commission has an adjudicatory role in the Seabrook license renewal proceeding. Matters related to Seabrook's license renewal application are currently pending before an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. Additional matters could come before the Commission in its adjudicatory capacity in the future. Therefore, it would be inappropriate for the Commission to comment on your request to halt relicensing of Seabrook.

To the extent your letter raises concerns about assessment of, repair, and aging management of the concrete degradation at Seabrook, I am referring your letter to the technical staff to provide a response.

Please be assured that should information at any time show that there is a basis to question the continued safe operation of Seabrook, the NRC will take appropriate action as part of the agency's ongoing safety oversight.

Sincerely, /RA/ Andrew L. Bates Acting Secretary of the Commission