ML062890280

2006/10/06-Letter from Annette L. Vietti-Cook to Michael J. Panter Responding to His 09/15/06 Letter (Also Enclosed) Urging the Commission to Consider Terrorism Vulnerability as Part of Its Safety Review for License Renewal Application for

ML062890280
Person / Time
Site:	Oyster Creek
Issue date:	10/06/2006
From:	Annette Vietti-Cook NRC/SECY
To:
Julian E
References
50-219-LR, ASLBP 06-844-01-LR, RAS 12376
Download: ML062890280 (5)

Text

SECRETARY UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 205560001 The Honorable Michael J. Panter Assemblyman, 12th District 167 Avenue of the Common Suite 7 Shrewsbury, NJ 07702 October 6, '2006 DOCKETED USNRC October 16, 2006 (8:40am) OFFICE OF SECRETARY RULEMAKINGS AND ADJUDICATIONS STAFF SERVED October 16,2006 Docket No. 50-219-LR Dear Assemblyman Panter: I am responding to your letter to Chairman Dale E. Klein, dated September 15, 2006, in which you urge the Commission to consider terrorism vulnerability as part of the safety review for the license renewal application for the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station. Currently, there is a proceeding before an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board with respect to the license renewal application for the Oyster Creek plant. Under Nuclear Regulatory Commission procedural rules for adjudications, the Commission has an appellate role in proceedings commenced before its Atomic Safety and Licensing Boards. Because of that role, I trust that you will understand that all members of the Commission must remain impartial during the pendency of a case, whether it is before a Licensing Board or on appeal to the Commission, and that it would be inappropriate for any of them to discuss or comment on issues involved in this matter.

A copy of your letter and this response will be placed on the Oyster Creek hearing docket and served on the parties to the proceeding.

Sincerely, &~L=w Annette L. Vietti-Cook cc: Service List NEW JERSEY GENERAL ASSEMBLY LEGISLATIVE OFFICE 167 AVENUE OF THE COhilvlON UNIT 7 SHRE\b7Si3URY, NJ 07702 PHONE. (732) 54-1-2116 PHONE (609) 115-1190 FAX (537) 544-4016 E-nia~l: AsrnPanterQnjleg org September 15, 3006 MICHAEL J. PANTER ASSEMBLYMAN FINANCIACINSURANCE VICE CHAIR Dale E. Mein. Ph.D. Chairman U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-6001 VI.4 FAX Ah9 MAIL Dear Chail-man Klein: It was disheartening and distressing to learn that the Nuclear Regulatory Cornnlission has decided to take a wait-and-see approach on the issue of whether to include terrorism

\wlnerability as part of the special safety review with respect to the proposed license renewal of the Oyster Creek nuclear power generating facility in New Jersey. Oyster Creek is the nation's oldest operating nuclear power facility and the main concern su~~ounding its relicensing, by environmentalists and experts alike, comes from its spent fuel rod pool, \fshich sits outside the plant's reactor containment system. The 40 foot deep pool contains nearly 375 tons of spent, radioactive fuel rods and has a profile 100 feet above gl-nmd. The structure around it has a corrugated metal roof instead of the more traditional reinforced concrete dome.

I sincerely doubt AmeriGen's and pour cornmission's contention that the structure could withstand a terrorist attack via airplane. Likewise. the National Academy of Sciences disagrees so strongly with your commission's stance that they published a paper in 2005 ~.arning that a partially or completely successful terrorist attack on the spent fuel pool by plar,e could be capable of starting a high-temperature fire which could release large quantities of radioactive material into the surrounding area. During a tour last year, I stood on the top floor of the building where Oyster Creek stores spent fuel rods. and surveyed first-hand the roof and u.alls that your commission certified able to withstand a direct terrorist attack by plane. I a!so had the terrible experience of being in lower Manhattan when the ten-oi-ist attacks occurred on September 11, 2001. My first-hand experiences lead me to believe that even a small plane could threaten the facility.

Such an event could potentially release radioactive material into the cominunity around the plant, a community that has grown by leaps and bounds since Oyster Creek first opened 37 years ago. It is the NRC's position that terror threats are regularly evaluated through "force-on-force" exercises and inspections.

However, I see no compelling reason why these exercises and inspections can't be added to the re-licensing review process. Instead of waiting for the Supreme Court to decide questions related to the inclusion of terrorism threats in nuclear reactor safety reviews, the PU'RC should assert itself in a maliner that provides maximum protection for residents in the Oyster Creek area. As one of your own commissioners, Gregory B. Jaczko, argued in his dissenting opinion regarding Oyster Creek: "This particular case presents a timely opportunity for the commission to resolve these matters, providing clarity and certainty for the potential increase in licensing reviews the conzmission may conduct in the next few years." Another terrorist attack on U.S. soil is not "remote and speculative," as the NRC has stated. It is a very real danger that we live with every day.

If there is even the specter of a chance that relicensing Oyster Creek could create a ripe target for a terrorist attack, that chance must be evaluated as part of the relicensing process. The people of New Jersey deserve - and should expect - no less. Sincerely, Mike Panter New Jersey General Assembly 1 2th Legislative District UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of AMERGEN ENERGY COMPANY, LLC ) (Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station) ) Docket No. 50-21 9-LR CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing LETTER FROM ANNETTE L. VIETTI-COOK TO MICHAEL J. PANTER RESPONDING TO HIS 09/15/06 (ALSO ENCLOSED)

URGING THE COMMISSION TO CONSIDER TERRORISM VULNERABILITY AS PART OF ITS SAFETY REVIEW FOR LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION FOR OYSTER CREEK have been served upon the following persons by U.S. mail, first class, or through NRC internal distribution.

Office of Commission Appellate Administrative Judge Adjudication E. Roy Hawkens, Chair U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel Washington, DC 20555-0001 Mail Stop - T-3 F23 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Administrative Judge Administrative Judge Paul B. Abramson Anthony J. Baratta Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel Mail Stop - T-3 F23 Mail Stop - T-3 F23 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Steven C. Hamrick, Esq. Richard Webster, Esq.

Mitzi A. Young, Esq. Rutgers Environmental Law Clinic Office of the General Counsel 123 Washington Street Mail Stop 1 5 D21 Newark, NJ 071 02-5695 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Docket No. 50-21 9-LR LETTER FROM ANNETTE L. VIETTI-COOK TO MICHAEL J. PANTER RESPONDING TO HIS 09/15/06 (ALSO ENCLOSED) URGING THE COMMISSION TO CONSIDER TERRORISM VULNERABILITY AS PART OF ITS SAFETY REVIEW FOR LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION FOR OYSTER CREEK Paul Gunter, Director Reactor Watchdog Project Nuclear Information and Resource Service 1424 16" Street, NW, Suite 404 Washington, DC 20036 Bradley M. Campbell, Commissioner New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection P.O. Box 402 Trenton, NJ 08625-0402 Ron Zak New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Nuclear Engineering P.O. Box 41 5 Trenton, NJ 08625-041 5 Suzanne Leta NJPIRG 11 N. Willow St. Trenton, NJ 08608 Donald J. Silverman, Esq. Kathryn M. Sutton, Esq.

Alex S. Polonsky, Esq. Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius LLP 11 11 Pennsyvlania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20004 Jill Lipoti, Director New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Division of Environmental Safety and Health P.O. Box 424 Trenton, NJ 08625-0424 J. Bradley Fewell, Esq. Exelon Corporation 200 Exelon Way, Suite 200 Kennett Square, PA 19348 John A. Covino, Esq. Ellen Barney Balint, Esq. Valerie Anne Gray, Esq. Caroline Stahl, Esq. Deputy Attorneys General New Jersey Office of the Attorney General Environmental Permitting

& Counseling Section Division of Law Hughes Justice Complex P.O. Box 093 Trenton, NJ 08625 Office of the&ecretary 6f the cot-rjhission Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 16" day of October 2006