ML110550194: Difference between revisions

From kanterella
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(Created page by program invented by StriderTol)
 
(Created page by program invented by StriderTol)
 
(One intermediate revision by the same user not shown)
Line 14: Line 14:
| page count = 17
| page count = 17
}}
}}
=Text=
{{#Wiki_filter:Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Title            10 CFR 2.206 Petition RE Vermont Yankee Doc ket Number:  50-271 Location:        (telephone conference)
Date:            Monday, February 14, 2011 Work Order No.:  NRC-721                          Pages 1-15 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                        PETITION REVIEW BOARD 5                                      x-------------------------x 6 IN THE MATTER OF:
7 VERMONT YANKEE 10 CFR                      Docket No.      50-271 8 2.206 PETITION FROM 9 THOMAS SAPORITO 10    ------------------------- x 11                                  Monday, 12                                  February 14,          2011 13                    The  above-entitled          matter    convened        via 14 teleconference,        pursuant to notice,            at 10:00 a.m.
15 PRESENT:
16 THEODORE R.        QUAY,  Chairman,      Petition Review Board 17 THOMAS SAPORITO,          Petitioner 18 PHIL COUTURE,        Vermont Yankee 19 DONALD E.      JACKSON,    Region I,      NRC 20 JAMES S.      KIM,  Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 21      (NRR) 22 EKATERINA LENNING,          NRR 23 TANYA MENSAH,        NRR 24 MUHAMMAD RAZZAQUE,          NRR 25 STACEY L.      ROSENBERG,      NRR NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433            WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701        www.nealrgross.com v
2 1                          P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 2                                                                      10:00 a.m.
3                    MR. KIM:    Good morning.            I'd  like to thank 4 everybody        for  attending        this      meeting.        My name        is 5 James Kim and I am the Vermont Yankee Project Manager.
6                    We are here today to allow the Petitioner, 7 Mr. Thomas Saporito,          to address the Petition Review 8 Board,        regarding    2.206      petition        dated      January        14, 9 2011.
10                    I'm the Petition Manager for the petition.
11 The Petition Review Board chairman is                          Ted Quay.
12                    As  part      of  the    Petition        Review      Board, 13 review of this petition,                  Mr.      Saporito has        requested 14 this opportunity to address the Petition Review Board.
15                    The  meeting      is    scheduled        from 10      to    11 16 a.m.          The  meeting      is    being      recorded        by  the      NRC 17 Operations Center and will be transcribed by a court 18 reporter.        The transcript will become a supplement to 19 the      petition.        The      transcript        will      also    be      made 20 publicly available.
21                    I'd    like      to  open      this      meeting        with 22 introductions.            As we go around the room,                    please be 23 sure to clearly state your name,                      your position,              and 24 the office that you work for within the NRC.
25                    For the record,          I'll    start      off. This is NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433              WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701              www.nealrgross.com
3 1 James Kim.        I'm a Project Manager for the Division of 2 Operator Reactor Licensing in                  NRR.
3                    MR. RAZZAQUE:        This is      Muhammad Razzaque, 4 I work in        the Reactor Systems Branch of NRR.
5                    MS. LENNING:        Ekaterina Lenning.            I work 6 at NRR as DCR.
7                    MR. QUAY:      This    is    Ted Quay.        I'm the 8 Deputy        Director      in  the    Division        of  Policy        and 9 Rulemaking,        NRR,    and  I'm the        Petition Review Board 10 chairman.
11                    MS. MENSAH:      Tanya Mensah,        NRR.
12                    MR. ROSENBERG:        Stacey Rosenberg,          Branch 13 Chief in        the Division of Policy and Rulemaking,                      NRR.
14                    MR. KIM:    At this time,        are there any NRC 15 participants from headquarters                  on the phone?
16                    (No response.)
17                    What about the region?
18                    MR. JACKSON:      This is      Don Jackson,      Branch 19 Chief,      Division of Reactor Projects,                Region I.
20                    MR. KIM:      Are there        any representatives 21 for the licensee on the phone?
22                    MR. COUTURE:        Yes,    this    is  Phil Couture 23 with Vermont Yankee.
24                    MR. KIM:      Mr. Saporito,      will you please 25 introduce yourself for the record?
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 1                          MR. SAPORITO:          Yes,    my      name  is    Thomas 2 Saporito.                I'm  a citizen          of  the    United      States        and 3 resident          of      the  great    State      of  Florida.          I'm the 4 Petitioner in                this proceeding.
5                          MR. KIM:    Thank you.        Are there any other 6 associated members of the public on the phone?
7                          (No response.)
8                          Hearing none,          I'd  like to emphasize that 9 we each need to speak clearly and loudly to make sure 10 that the court reporter can accurately transcribe this 11 meeting.              If    you have      something        you'd      like    to    say 12 please        first        state your        name      for    the    record.          For 13 those        who        are    dialing      into      the    meeting,      please 14 remember            to      mute    your      phones      to      minimize        any 15 background            noise    or distractions.                If  you do not          a 16 mute button this can be done by pressing the keys *6.
17 To unmute press the *6                    keys again.            Thank you.
18                          At this time,        I'll    turn it      over to the PRB 19 Chairman,            Ted Quay.
20                          MR. QUAY:    Good morning.            Welcome to this 21 meeting regarding the 2.206 petition submitted by Mr.
22 Saporito.
23                          I    would      like        to    first        share        some 24 background on our process.                          Section 2.206 of Title X 25 of    the      Code      of  Federal      Regulations          described        as    a NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433                  WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701            www.nealrgross.com v
5 1 petition          process,      the    primary      mechanism      for        The 2  primary          mechanism        for    the      public      to    request 3  enforcement          action by the NRC in                a public    process.
4  This process permits                anyone    to petition the NRC to 5  take enforcement-type action related to NRC licensees 6  or licensed activities.
7                      Depending          on    the        results      of        its 8  evaluation,          NRC could modify,            suspend,      or revoke an 9  NRC      issued      license      or    take    any    other    appropriate 10  enforcement          action      to  resolve      a  problem.        The      NRC 11  staff's        guidance for the disposition of 2.206 petition 12  request        is  in  Management        Directive        8.11  which        is 13  publicly available.
14                      The purpose of today's meeting is                  to give 15  the      Petitioner,          Mr. Saporito,        an    opportunity          to 16  provide any additional explanation or support for the 17  petition          before    the    Petition      Review      Board's        final 18  consideration and recommendation.                      This meeting is          not 19  a hearing, nor is            it  an opportunity for the Petitioner 20  to question or examine                  the Petition Review Board on 21  the      merits      or    issues      presented        in  the  petition 22  request.
23                      No decisions regarding the merits of this 24  petition will be made at this meeting.                        Following this 25  meeting,        the Petition Review Board will conduct                          its NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433              WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701          www.nealrgross.com v
6 1  internal deliberations.                The outcome of this internal 2 meeting will be discussed with the Petitioner.
3                      The    Petition        Review        Board    typically 4  consists        of    a  Chairman,      usually        a  manager    at      the 5  Senior Executive            Service level at the NRC and has a 6  Petition        Manager        and    a    Petition        Review        Board 7 Coordinator.                Other    members        of    the    Board        are 8 determined by the NRC staff,                    based on the content of 9  the information in            the petition request.
10                      At this time I would like to introduce the 11 Board.        I    am    Ted Quay,      the    Petition        Review      Board 12 Chairman.          James Kim is        the Petition Manager for the 13 petition under discussion today.                      Kate Lenning is          the 14 NRC      Office      PRB    Coordinator.            Our    technical      staff 15 includes Muhammad Razzaque from the Office of Nuclear 16 Reactor        Regulations        Reactor      Systems      Branch    and Don 17 Jackson        from      NRC    Region      I,    Division      of    Reactor 18 Projects.
19                      As described in          our process,        the NRC may 20 ask clarifying questions in order to better understand 21 the Petitioner's presentation and to reach a reasoned 22 decision whether to accept or reject the Petitioner's 23 request for review under the 2.206 process.
24                      I would like to summarize the scope of the 25 petition under consideration and the NRC activities                                to 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 1 date.        On January 14,        2011,    Mr. Saporito submitted to 2 the NRC        a petition under 2.206                concerning      the      safe 3 operation of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station.
4                      In  his    petition      request,        Mr. Saporito 5 requested          that    the    NRC  issue      a  confirmatory          order 6 requiring          the    licensee      to    immediately          bring        the 7 reactor        in    question      to    a  cold      shutdown      mode        of 8 operation; issue a civil penalty against the licensee; 9 remove the licensee's employees responsible for this 10 matter from NRC licensed activities                        for a period of no 11 less      than      five    years;      perform        an    immediate          NRC 12 investigation            and    inspection of          the Vermont          Yankee 13 Nuclear        Facility to ensure that all                  nuclear safety-14 related systems are properly operational in accordance 15 with the licensee's technical specifications and the 16 NRC license.
17                      Allow me to discuss the NRC activities                        to 18 date.        On January 19th,          you requested to address the 19 Petition          Review      Board      to    provide        supplemental 20 information for the Board's consideration prior to the 21 PRB's          internal        meeting        to      make      an      initial 22 recommendation.
23                      The    PRB    met    on    January        24,  2011        and 24 determined          your    request      for    immediate        action        of 25 bringing the Vermont Yankee to a cold shutdown mode of NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433              WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701            www.nealrgross.com
8 1  operation        because        the    PRB    did    not    identify          any 2  immediate public health and safety concerns that would 3 warrant        an immediate shutdown.                On January 24th you 4 were informed of the PRB's decision on the immediate 5  action.
6                      On January 26th,            you asked the PRB,              via 7  teleconference,            --    I'm sorry,      you addressed the PRB 8 via teleconference and provided additional information 9  in  support of your petition.
10                      The PRB met on February 2,                2011 to discuss 11  your petition and make                  an initial        recommendation          to 12  accept        your    petition        because        it    met  the      review 13  criteria.          On    January      8th,    you    informed    the      PRB's 14  initial        recommendation to accept your petition and you 15  requested another opportunity to address the PRB to 16  provide          any      comments          to    the      PRB's        initial 17  recommendation and additional information in                              support 18  of your petition.
19                      As a reminder for the phone participants, 20  please        identify yourself            if    you make any remarks as 21  this      will    help    in    the  preparation          of  the    meeting 22  transcript          that      will    be    made    publicly      available.
23  Thank you.          And at this point, Mr.              Saporito,    I'll      turn 24  it    over to you.
25                      MR. SAPORITO:          Okay,    thank you,      and good 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 1 morning.          I appreciate this opportunity to address the 2 NRC Petition Review Board concerning this most serious 3 matter related to public health and safety.
4                        As the NRC is          most certainly aware,              the 5 Vermont          Yankee      Nuclear      Power      Plant,    which      is    a 6 licensee        of    the    NRC,    and    has    a    dubious  record        of 7 numerous failures over the course of its                        license which 8 is    due      to expire        in  the very      near    future,    Vermont 9 Yankee Nuclear Power Plant initially                          obtained an NRC 10 license approximately 40 years ago.                          And because the 11 plant is        near the end of that licensing period,                        in    my 12 view,      the nuclear reactor should be shut down on that 13 basis alone.              The initial        safety analysis in          review 14 which was performed by the licensee and subsequently 15 adopted and accepted by the NRC was based on a life 16 expectancy            of  that    reactor      for    a  40-year    license.
17 That life        span is      now coming to a conclusion and based 18 on that        safety analysis,            the entire plant should be 19 shut down.
20                        A      reasonably-minded              person        would 21 understand that based on that safety analysis and the 22 license expectancy of 40 years,                        the nuclear reactor 23 operates          all    'the support        equipment      in  the  nuclear 24 support system has deteriorated over that same 40-year 25 period of          time.      And    the NRC's        safety margin which NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433                WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701          www.nealrgross.com
10 1 were accepted as proposed by the licensee at the time 2 that      the NRC    issued the        operating        license      for that 3 reactor are now questionable at best due to the age of 4 that plant.
5                    Previously,      the Chairman has outlined the 6 parameters of the petition and I'm not going to repeat 7 those.        However,    I  have    to stress          that  the    initial 8 determination by the NRC not to dispatch an inspection 9 team to the plant as requested in                  the petition is          very 10 discerning        to me    because      the NRC based          its    initial 11 decision not to immediately shut the nuclear reactor 12 down without the benefit of any Agency inspection at 13 the time.        And they based their decision apparently on 14 the response from the licensee as the condition of the 15 plant.
16                    But  the    licensee's        responses        have      very 17 little      credibility because the licensee has been found 18 to have provided false testimony under oath to one or 19 more government agencies related to the operation of 20 the nuclear reactor at Vermont Yankee site.
21                    Moreover,      the    licensee,          over    the      very 22 short period of time encompassing the revelations of 23 the      leaking    radioactive        tritium        at    the    facility 24 apparently is      not fully cognizant of the entire layout 25 and      structure    and    equipment        installation          at      the 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 1 facility        at Vermont Yankee          Nuclear Power          System and 2 was      not    cognizant      of  all    the    underground        piping 3 related to the systems which are inter-weaved with the 4 nuclear safety systems of the plant.
5                    Given these facts,          I again implore the NRC 6 to    send      an  augmented      NRC    inspection        team    to      the 7 facility        to  do    a    thorough      review    of    all    nuclear 8 safety-related systems and a review of the management 9 team in        place at that plant to ascertain whether the 10 licensee has          the wherewithal          to continue operations 11 consistent with NRC regulations under 10 CRF Part 50.
12 I suggest that the licensee does not.
13                    The recent incident which is                the subject 14 of this petition involving the failure of the licensee 15 to timely report an incident at the facility                          which is 16 reportable under NRC regulations within specific time 17 frames addressed therein, represents a shot across the 18 bow      for the    entire      nuclear    industry,      a  significant 19 warning,          signaling      the    potential      for      a  nuclear 20 accident.
21                    The    NRC      is    the      government        agency 22 responsible to protect public health and safety and to 23 protect        the  overall      environment          with    respect          to 24 operations of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, 25 specifically,          the nuclear reactor.              As such,      the NRC 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 1 is    wholly      accountable          for  any    release    of    nuclear 2 reactive particulates coming from that plant, stemming 3 from that nuclear reactor,                    as a result,        the Agency's 4 failure          to    take    the      actions      requested        in    this 5 petition.
6                      The    licensee        has    failed    to  demonstrate 7 over      the    course      of    its      license,      the    ability        to 8 properly operate and manage the nuclear facility,                                the 9 Vermont        Yankee    Nuclear        Power      Plant.      And    this      is 10 evidenced            in      numerous          NRC-related          inspection 11 activities          at the facility,            the collapse of cooling 12 towers,        tritium release,            the failure to timely report 13 events          and    incidents          as      required      under        NRC 14 regulations.
15                      Recently,      high-level management has been 16 removed          from    the    facility,          related      to  the      false 17 testimony          that was      given under oath              concerning        the 18 Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant.
19                      Taken    as    a    whole,      the  licensee      cannot 20 provide        reasonable      assurance        to    the NRC      that they 21 will comply with NRC regulations                        and requirements as 22 they are required to do under the license which they 23 hold under 10 CFR Part 50.
24                      For these reasons,            I again urge the NRC to 25 issue      a    confirmatory        order      to    cause    the    immediate NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433              WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701            www.nealrgross.com
13 1  shutdown of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Reactor until such 2  time the NRC can send an augmented inspection team to 3 properly        evaluate          the    entirety        of    that    facility 4  including        all        the    operations,          the    events,        and 5 management's            reactions        and    failure        to  report      that 6  event      and  to      issue      a    civil    penalty      against        the 7  licensee for violating NRC requirements as previously 8 discussed concerning the timely report of the event in 9 question that's              encompassed in          this petition and the 10  cause        and    removal          of    the    licensee's          employees 11  responsible          for      this    incident        as  capture      in    this 12  petition.
13                      These are reasonable requests which will 14  protect the public health and safety as this nuclear 15  reactor        and    its    supporting      nuclear        reactor      systems 16  continue to deteriorate not only from neglect from the 17  licensee,        but      because      they are      at    the  very    end of 18  their life        expectancy as captured in the initial                        Final 19  Safety Analysis Report within the licensee's license 20  that was issued by the Agency.
21                      And      that's      all    I    have      to  say.          I'm 22  available        to      answer      any    questions        the  NRC    or    the 23  public        or media which may be participating                          at this 24  conference call may have.                      Thank you.
25                      MR.      QUAY:      Okay,    thank you.        At this time NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433                WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701            www.nealrgross.com
14 1 does the staff here at headquarters have any questions 2 for Mr.        Saporito?
3                      (No response.)
4                      MR. QUAY:      Okay,  seeing none,        what about 5 the region?
6                      MR. JACKSON:        No,  we have none.
7                      MR. QUAY:      Are there any questions                from 8 the licensee?
9                      MR. COUTURE:        No questions or comments.
10                      MR. QUAY:      Okay. Okay,    before I conclude 11 this      meeting,      members      of  the    public      may    provide 12 comments          regarding      the  petition        and  ask    questions 13 about the 2.206 petition process.                        However,    as stated 14 at the opening,            the purpose of this meeting is                  not to 15 provide        an  opportunity        for  the      Petitioner      or      the 16 public        to  question      or examine        the    Petition      Review 17 Board regarding the merits of the petition request.
18                      I did hear one beep --              did any member of 19 the public join the phone call?
20                      (No response.)
21                      Okay,    hearing none,          Mr. Saporito,        thank 22 you      for    taking    time    to  provide      the    NRC  staff      with 23 clarifying information on the petition you submitted.
24                      Before we close,          does the court reporter 25 need      any    additional        information        for    the    meeting 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 1 transcript?
2                COURT      REPORTER:            This  is      the      court 3 reporter.      The  only    question        I  have    is    could        the 4 person from the licensee spell his last                    name.
5                MR. COUTURE:        Yes,    it's    C-O-U-T-U-R-E.
6                COURT REPORTER:            And is    your first          name 7 Phil or Bill?
8                MR. COUTURE:        Phil,      with a P.
9                COURT REPORTER:          Bill?
10                MR. COUTURE:        Phil.      P-H-I-L.
11                COURT REPORTER:          Thank you.        Those are all 12  the questions I have.
13                MR. QUAY:      Okay,    thank you.          With that, 14  the meeting    is  concluded and we will be terminating 15  the phone connection.
16                (Whereupon,      at    10:19 a.m.,        the Petition 17  Review Board meeting was concluded.)
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 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
CERTIFICATE This is    to certify that the attached proceedings before the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission in    the matter of:                  Vermont Yankee Name of Proceeding:          10 CFR 2.206 Petition of:
Thomas Saporito Docket Number:                50-271 Location:                    (teleconference) 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.
Tobias Walter Official Reporter Neal R. Gross & Co.,        Inc.
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433            WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701      www.nealrgross.corn}}

Latest revision as of 03:59, 13 November 2019

Transcript of 10 CFR 2.206 Petition Re Vermont Yankee, February 14, 2011, Pages 1-15
ML110550194
Person / Time
Site: Vermont Yankee File:NorthStar Vermont Yankee icon.png
Issue date: 02/14/2011
From:
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
To:
References
NRC-721
Download: ML110550194 (17)
v • d • e


Text

Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Title 10 CFR 2.206 Petition RE Vermont Yankee Doc ket Number: 50-271 Location: (telephone conference)

Date: Monday, February 14, 2011 Work Order No.: NRC-721 Pages 1-15 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 PETITION REVIEW BOARD 5 x-------------------------x 6 IN THE MATTER OF:

7 VERMONT YANKEE 10 CFR Docket No. 50-271 8 2.206 PETITION FROM 9 THOMAS SAPORITO 10 ------------------------- x 11 Monday, 12 February 14, 2011 13 The above-entitled matter convened via 14 teleconference, pursuant to notice, at 10:00 a.m.

15 PRESENT:

16 THEODORE R. QUAY, Chairman, Petition Review Board 17 THOMAS SAPORITO, Petitioner 18 PHIL COUTURE, Vermont Yankee 19 DONALD E. JACKSON, Region I, NRC 20 JAMES S. KIM, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 21 (NRR) 22 EKATERINA LENNING, NRR 23 TANYA MENSAH, NRR 24 MUHAMMAD RAZZAQUE, NRR 25 STACEY L. ROSENBERG, NRR NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com v

2 1 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 2 10:00 a.m.

3 MR. KIM: Good morning. I'd like to thank 4 everybody for attending this meeting. My name is 5 James Kim and I am the Vermont Yankee Project Manager.

6 We are here today to allow the Petitioner, 7 Mr. Thomas Saporito, to address the Petition Review 8 Board, regarding 2.206 petition dated January 14, 9 2011.

10 I'm the Petition Manager for the petition.

11 The Petition Review Board chairman is Ted Quay.

12 As part of the Petition Review Board, 13 review of this petition, Mr. Saporito has requested 14 this opportunity to address the Petition Review Board.

15 The meeting is scheduled from 10 to 11 16 a.m. The meeting is being recorded by the NRC 17 Operations Center and will be transcribed by a court 18 reporter. The transcript will become a supplement to 19 the petition. The transcript will also be made 20 publicly available.

21 I'd like to open this meeting with 22 introductions. As we go around the room, please be 23 sure to clearly state your name, your position, and 24 the office that you work for within the NRC.

25 For the record, I'll start off. This is NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com

3 1 James Kim. I'm a Project Manager for the Division of 2 Operator Reactor Licensing in NRR.

3 MR. RAZZAQUE: This is Muhammad Razzaque, 4 I work in the Reactor Systems Branch of NRR.

5 MS. LENNING: Ekaterina Lenning. I work 6 at NRR as DCR.

7 MR. QUAY: This is Ted Quay. I'm the 8 Deputy Director in the Division of Policy and 9 Rulemaking, NRR, and I'm the Petition Review Board 10 chairman.

11 MS. MENSAH: Tanya Mensah, NRR.

12 MR. ROSENBERG: Stacey Rosenberg, Branch 13 Chief in the Division of Policy and Rulemaking, NRR.

14 MR. KIM: At this time, are there any NRC 15 participants from headquarters on the phone?

16 (No response.)

17 What about the region?

18 MR. JACKSON: This is Don Jackson, Branch 19 Chief, Division of Reactor Projects, Region I.

20 MR. KIM: Are there any representatives 21 for the licensee on the phone?

22 MR. COUTURE: Yes, this is Phil Couture 23 with Vermont Yankee.

24 MR. KIM: Mr. Saporito, will you please 25 introduce yourself for the record?

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 1 MR. SAPORITO: Yes, my name is Thomas 2 Saporito. I'm a citizen of the United States and 3 resident of the great State of Florida. I'm the 4 Petitioner in this proceeding.

5 MR. KIM: Thank you. Are there any other 6 associated members of the public on the phone?

7 (No response.)

8 Hearing none, I'd like to emphasize that 9 we each need to speak clearly and loudly to make sure 10 that the court reporter can accurately transcribe this 11 meeting. If you have something you'd like to say 12 please first state your name for the record. For 13 those who are dialing into the meeting, please 14 remember to mute your phones to minimize any 15 background noise or distractions. If you do not a 16 mute button this can be done by pressing the keys *6.

17 To unmute press the *6 keys again. Thank you.

18 At this time, I'll turn it over to the PRB 19 Chairman, Ted Quay.

20 MR. QUAY: Good morning. Welcome to this 21 meeting regarding the 2.206 petition submitted by Mr.

22 Saporito.

23 I would like to first share some 24 background on our process. Section 2.206 of Title X 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations described as a NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com v

5 1 petition process, the primary mechanism for The 2 primary mechanism for the public to request 3 enforcement action by the NRC in a public process.

4 This process permits anyone to petition the NRC to 5 take enforcement-type action related to NRC licensees 6 or licensed activities.

7 Depending on the results of its 8 evaluation, NRC could modify, suspend, or revoke an 9 NRC issued license or take any other appropriate 10 enforcement action to resolve a problem. The NRC 11 staff's guidance for the disposition of 2.206 petition 12 request is in Management Directive 8.11 which is 13 publicly available.

14 The purpose of today's meeting is to give 15 the Petitioner, Mr. Saporito, an opportunity to 16 provide any additional explanation or support for the 17 petition before the Petition Review Board's final 18 consideration and recommendation. This meeting is not 19 a hearing, nor is it an opportunity for the Petitioner 20 to question or examine the Petition Review Board on 21 the merits or issues presented in the petition 22 request.

23 No decisions regarding the merits of this 24 petition will be made at this meeting. Following this 25 meeting, the Petition Review Board will conduct its NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com v

6 1 internal deliberations. The outcome of this internal 2 meeting will be discussed with the Petitioner.

3 The Petition Review Board typically 4 consists of a Chairman, usually a manager at the 5 Senior Executive Service level at the NRC and has a 6 Petition Manager and a Petition Review Board 7 Coordinator. Other members of the Board are 8 determined by the NRC staff, based on the content of 9 the information in the petition request.

10 At this time I would like to introduce the 11 Board. I am Ted Quay, the Petition Review Board 12 Chairman. James Kim is the Petition Manager for the 13 petition under discussion today. Kate Lenning is the 14 NRC Office PRB Coordinator. Our technical staff 15 includes Muhammad Razzaque from the Office of Nuclear 16 Reactor Regulations Reactor Systems Branch and Don 17 Jackson from NRC Region I, Division of Reactor 18 Projects.

19 As described in our process, the NRC may 20 ask clarifying questions in order to better understand 21 the Petitioner's presentation and to reach a reasoned 22 decision whether to accept or reject the Petitioner's 23 request for review under the 2.206 process.

24 I would like to summarize the scope of the 25 petition under consideration and the NRC activities to 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 1 date. On January 14, 2011, Mr. Saporito submitted to 2 the NRC a petition under 2.206 concerning the safe 3 operation of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station.

4 In his petition request, Mr. Saporito 5 requested that the NRC issue a confirmatory order 6 requiring the licensee to immediately bring the 7 reactor in question to a cold shutdown mode of 8 operation; issue a civil penalty against the licensee; 9 remove the licensee's employees responsible for this 10 matter from NRC licensed activities for a period of no 11 less than five years; perform an immediate NRC 12 investigation and inspection of the Vermont Yankee 13 Nuclear Facility to ensure that all nuclear safety-14 related systems are properly operational in accordance 15 with the licensee's technical specifications and the 16 NRC license.

17 Allow me to discuss the NRC activities to 18 date. On January 19th, you requested to address the 19 Petition Review Board to provide supplemental 20 information for the Board's consideration prior to the 21 PRB's internal meeting to make an initial 22 recommendation.

23 The PRB met on January 24, 2011 and 24 determined your request for immediate action of 25 bringing the Vermont Yankee to a cold shutdown mode of NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com

8 1 operation because the PRB did not identify any 2 immediate public health and safety concerns that would 3 warrant an immediate shutdown. On January 24th you 4 were informed of the PRB's decision on the immediate 5 action.

6 On January 26th, you asked the PRB, via 7 teleconference, -- I'm sorry, you addressed the PRB 8 via teleconference and provided additional information 9 in support of your petition.

10 The PRB met on February 2, 2011 to discuss 11 your petition and make an initial recommendation to 12 accept your petition because it met the review 13 criteria. On January 8th, you informed the PRB's 14 initial recommendation to accept your petition and you 15 requested another opportunity to address the PRB to 16 provide any comments to the PRB's initial 17 recommendation and additional information in support 18 of your petition.

19 As a reminder for the phone participants, 20 please identify yourself if you make any remarks as 21 this will help in the preparation of the meeting 22 transcript that will be made publicly available.

23 Thank you. And at this point, Mr. Saporito, I'll turn 24 it over to you.

25 MR. SAPORITO: Okay, thank you, and good 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 1 morning. I appreciate this opportunity to address the 2 NRC Petition Review Board concerning this most serious 3 matter related to public health and safety.

4 As the NRC is most certainly aware, the 5 Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, which is a 6 licensee of the NRC, and has a dubious record of 7 numerous failures over the course of its license which 8 is due to expire in the very near future, Vermont 9 Yankee Nuclear Power Plant initially obtained an NRC 10 license approximately 40 years ago. And because the 11 plant is near the end of that licensing period, in my 12 view, the nuclear reactor should be shut down on that 13 basis alone. The initial safety analysis in review 14 which was performed by the licensee and subsequently 15 adopted and accepted by the NRC was based on a life 16 expectancy of that reactor for a 40-year license.

17 That life span is now coming to a conclusion and based 18 on that safety analysis, the entire plant should be 19 shut down.

20 A reasonably-minded person would 21 understand that based on that safety analysis and the 22 license expectancy of 40 years, the nuclear reactor 23 operates all 'the support equipment in the nuclear 24 support system has deteriorated over that same 40-year 25 period of time. And the NRC's safety margin which NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com

10 1 were accepted as proposed by the licensee at the time 2 that the NRC issued the operating license for that 3 reactor are now questionable at best due to the age of 4 that plant.

5 Previously, the Chairman has outlined the 6 parameters of the petition and I'm not going to repeat 7 those. However, I have to stress that the initial 8 determination by the NRC not to dispatch an inspection 9 team to the plant as requested in the petition is very 10 discerning to me because the NRC based its initial 11 decision not to immediately shut the nuclear reactor 12 down without the benefit of any Agency inspection at 13 the time. And they based their decision apparently on 14 the response from the licensee as the condition of the 15 plant.

16 But the licensee's responses have very 17 little credibility because the licensee has been found 18 to have provided false testimony under oath to one or 19 more government agencies related to the operation of 20 the nuclear reactor at Vermont Yankee site.

21 Moreover, the licensee, over the very 22 short period of time encompassing the revelations of 23 the leaking radioactive tritium at the facility 24 apparently is not fully cognizant of the entire layout 25 and structure and equipment installation at the 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 1 facility at Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power System and 2 was not cognizant of all the underground piping 3 related to the systems which are inter-weaved with the 4 nuclear safety systems of the plant.

5 Given these facts, I again implore the NRC 6 to send an augmented NRC inspection team to the 7 facility to do a thorough review of all nuclear 8 safety-related systems and a review of the management 9 team in place at that plant to ascertain whether the 10 licensee has the wherewithal to continue operations 11 consistent with NRC regulations under 10 CRF Part 50.

12 I suggest that the licensee does not.

13 The recent incident which is the subject 14 of this petition involving the failure of the licensee 15 to timely report an incident at the facility which is 16 reportable under NRC regulations within specific time 17 frames addressed therein, represents a shot across the 18 bow for the entire nuclear industry, a significant 19 warning, signaling the potential for a nuclear 20 accident.

21 The NRC is the government agency 22 responsible to protect public health and safety and to 23 protect the overall environment with respect to 24 operations of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, 25 specifically, the nuclear reactor. As such, the NRC 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 1 is wholly accountable for any release of nuclear 2 reactive particulates coming from that plant, stemming 3 from that nuclear reactor, as a result, the Agency's 4 failure to take the actions requested in this 5 petition.

6 The licensee has failed to demonstrate 7 over the course of its license, the ability to 8 properly operate and manage the nuclear facility, the 9 Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. And this is 10 evidenced in numerous NRC-related inspection 11 activities at the facility, the collapse of cooling 12 towers, tritium release, the failure to timely report 13 events and incidents as required under NRC 14 regulations.

15 Recently, high-level management has been 16 removed from the facility, related to the false 17 testimony that was given under oath concerning the 18 Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant.

19 Taken as a whole, the licensee cannot 20 provide reasonable assurance to the NRC that they 21 will comply with NRC regulations and requirements as 22 they are required to do under the license which they 23 hold under 10 CFR Part 50.

24 For these reasons, I again urge the NRC to 25 issue a confirmatory order to cause the immediate NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com

13 1 shutdown of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Reactor until such 2 time the NRC can send an augmented inspection team to 3 properly evaluate the entirety of that facility 4 including all the operations, the events, and 5 management's reactions and failure to report that 6 event and to issue a civil penalty against the 7 licensee for violating NRC requirements as previously 8 discussed concerning the timely report of the event in 9 question that's encompassed in this petition and the 10 cause and removal of the licensee's employees 11 responsible for this incident as capture in this 12 petition.

13 These are reasonable requests which will 14 protect the public health and safety as this nuclear 15 reactor and its supporting nuclear reactor systems 16 continue to deteriorate not only from neglect from the 17 licensee, but because they are at the very end of 18 their life expectancy as captured in the initial Final 19 Safety Analysis Report within the licensee's license 20 that was issued by the Agency.

21 And that's all I have to say. I'm 22 available to answer any questions the NRC or the 23 public or media which may be participating at this 24 conference call may have. Thank you.

25 MR. QUAY: Okay, thank you. At this time NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com

14 1 does the staff here at headquarters have any questions 2 for Mr. Saporito?

3 (No response.)

4 MR. QUAY: Okay, seeing none, what about 5 the region?

6 MR. JACKSON: No, we have none.

7 MR. QUAY: Are there any questions from 8 the licensee?

9 MR. COUTURE: No questions or comments.

10 MR. QUAY: Okay. Okay, before I conclude 11 this meeting, members of the public may provide 12 comments regarding the petition and ask questions 13 about the 2.206 petition process. However, as stated 14 at the opening, the purpose of this meeting is not to 15 provide an opportunity for the Petitioner or the 16 public to question or examine the Petition Review 17 Board regarding the merits of the petition request.

18 I did hear one beep -- did any member of 19 the public join the phone call?

20 (No response.)

21 Okay, hearing none, Mr. Saporito, thank 22 you for taking time to provide the NRC staff with 23 clarifying information on the petition you submitted.

24 Before we close, does the court reporter 25 need any additional information for the meeting 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 1 transcript?

2 COURT REPORTER: This is the court 3 reporter. The only question I have is could the 4 person from the licensee spell his last name.

5 MR. COUTURE: Yes, it's C-O-U-T-U-R-E.

6 COURT REPORTER: And is your first name 7 Phil or Bill?

8 MR. COUTURE: Phil, with a P.

9 COURT REPORTER: Bill?

10 MR. COUTURE: Phil. P-H-I-L.

11 COURT REPORTER: Thank you. Those are all 12 the questions I have.

13 MR. QUAY: Okay, thank you. With that, 14 the meeting is concluded and we will be terminating 15 the phone connection.

16 (Whereupon, at 10:19 a.m., the Petition 17 Review Board meeting was concluded.)

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 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

CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the attached proceedings before the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the matter of: Vermont Yankee Name of Proceeding: 10 CFR 2.206 Petition of:

Thomas Saporito Docket Number: 50-271 Location: (teleconference) 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.

Tobias Walter Official Reporter Neal R. Gross & Co., Inc.

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

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.corn

Retrieved from "https://kanterella.com/w/index.php?title=ML110550194&oldid=2121567"