ML082740558

Letter from the Secretary to Jill Lipoti, State of N.J.,Drywell Analysis ASLB; a Copy of Letter from Jill Lipoti to the Commission (with Cc: Judge E. Roy Hawkens, ASLB, 09/16/08)

ML082740558
Person / Time
Site:	Oyster Creek
Issue date:	09/25/2008
From:	Annette Vietti-Cook NRC/SECY
To:	Lipoti J State of NJ, Dept of Environmental Protection
SECY RAS
References
50-219-LR, RAS H-70
Download: ML082740558 (6)

Text

UNiTED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 September 25, 2008 DOCKETED USNRC OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY September 25, 2008 (4:00pm)

OFFICE OF SECRETARY RULEMAKINGS AND Director Jill Lipoti, Ph.D. ADJUDICATIONS STAFF State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection SERVED September 26, 2008 Division of Environmental Health and Safety P.O. Box 424 Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0424

Dear Dr. Lipoti,

I am responding to your letter of September 16, 2008, sent to the Commissioners, in which you state the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's expectations regarding the Oyster Creek three-dimensional structural analysis of the drywell and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's review of that analysis.

Under agency regulations, the Commission has an adjudicatory role in the Oyster Creek license renewal proceedings. While an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will review the three dimensional structural analysis of the drywell, ultimately, the Commission itself may address this issue on administrative appeal. Due to the nature of the Commission's role, I trust you will understand that all members of the Commission must remain impartial while the case is pending. It would be inappropriate at this time for any of them to discuss or comment on issues involved in this matter.

A copy of your letter and this response will be served on the participants in the Oyster Creek proceeding.

Sincerely,

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Annette L. Vietti-Cook Secretary of the Commission cc: Oyster Creek Service List

§hdr of Nrm ]rr5ry DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION JON S. CORZINE LISA P. JACKSON Governor Commissioner Division of Environmental Safety and Health P.O. Box 424 Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0424 Phone: (609) 633-7964 Fax: (609) 777-1330 September 16, 2008 United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Document Control Desk Washington, DC 20555-0001

Subject:

Oyster Creek Generating Station Facility Operating License No. DPR-16 Docket No. 50-219 Drywell Analysis ASLB

Dear Commissioners:

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has been closely following the developments related to the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board's (ASLB) actions on the drywell corrosion monitoring issue at Oyster Creek. Most recently, the ASLB has determined that a public hearing to conduct oral arguments on this issue will be held on September 18, 2008 to try to clarify whether the three-dimensional structural analysis of the drywell, that AmerGen committed to perform prior to entering the proposed period of extended operation, will satisfy Judge Baratta's concerns. While NJDEP is not a party to the hearing, it seems timely for us to communicate our expectations on this issue.

NJDEP expects that the Oyster Creek three-dimensional structural analysis of the drywell will:

• be based upon actual thickness measurements, including those to be taken during the upcoming October 2008 refueling outage;

• determine if all ASME Code allowables are being met for every current licensing basis drywell load combination;

• be submitted to the NRC and the NJDEP in its entirety;

• if necessary, additionally be submitted to the NRC in a non-proprietary version (with absolute minimal, specifically justified redactions) in sufficient detail to allow for independent third party review of the analysis including detailed methodology of the drywell modeling, complete design and analysis assumptions with supporting justifications, and detailed discussion of inputs and results including justification for any capacity reduction factors ifused in the evaluation.

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NJDEP expects the NRC to:

• review the documentation as submitted, and provide a detailed description of their methodology used to evaluate the analysis in a supplemental Safety Evaluation Report (SER);

• discuss uncertainties in the model, uncertainty in inputs to the model, and any other measurement uncertainties that could contribute to the overall uncertainty of the result;

• summarize its findings about the margin available above the current licensing basis.

NJDEP intends to review the drywell analysis and provide any comments to the NRC. It would, therefore, be prudent for Oyster Creek's drywell submittal to be made well before the current commitment deadline (April 2009) to allow for proper reviews and comment resolution by all parties to be completed before the Commission reaches a decision on allowing Oyster Creek to enter a period of extended operation.

Should you have any questions or need additional information, please contact me directly at (609) 633-7964 or Mr. Patrick Mulligan, Manager of the Bureau of Nuclear Engineering, at (609) 984-7701.

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Director c: E. Roy Hawkens, USNRC Chairman, Administrative Judge, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Nancy T. McNamara, USNRC State Liaison Officer, Region 1 G. Edward Miller, USNRC Senior Project Manager, Oyster Creek Marc S. Ferdas, USNRC Senior Resident Inspector, Oyster Creek Donnie J. Ashley, USNRC License Renewal Project Manager, Oyster Creek Michael P. Gallagher, P.E., Vice President, License Renewal Projects, AmerGen Energy Company, LLC Timothy S. Rausch, Site Vice President, Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of AMERGEN ENERGY COMPANY, LLC Docket No. 50-219-LR (Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station)

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY TO JILL L1POTI, DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, STATE OF NEW JERSEY, DATED SEPTEMBER 25,2008 (RE: DRYWELL ANALYSIS ASLB) ; AND A COPY OF LETTER FROM JILL L1POTI TO THE COMMISSION (WITH CC: JUDGE E. ROY HAWKENS, ASLB), DATED SEPTEMBER 16,2008 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 Emily Krause, Law Clerk Richard Webster, Esq.

Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Julia LelV1ense, Esq.

Mail Stop - T-3 F23 Eastern Environmental Law Center U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 744 Broad Street, Suite 1525 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Newark, NJ 07102

2 Docket No. 50-219-LR LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY TO JILL UPOTI, DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, STATE OF NEW JERSEY, DATED SEPTEMBER 25,2008 (RE: DRYWELL ANALYSIS ASLB) ; AND A COPY OF LETTER FROM JILL UPOTI TO THE COMMISSION (WITH CC: JUDGE E. ROY HAWKENS, ASLB), DATED SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 Mary C. Baty, Esq. Donald J. Silverman, Esq.

Marcia J. Simon, Esq. Kathryn M. Sutton, Esq.

Brian Newell, Paralegal Alex S. Polonsky, Esq.

Office of the General Counsel Raphael P. Kuyler, Esq.

Mail Stop 15 021 Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 1111 Pennsyvlania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20555-0001 Washington, DC 20004 Paul Gunter, Reactor Oversight Jill Lipoti, Director Kevin Kamps New Jersey Department of Beyond Nuclear Environmental Protection Nuclear Policy Research Institute Division of Environmental Safety and Health 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 400 P.O. Box 424 Takoma Park, MD 20912 Trenton, NJ 08625-0424 Bradley M. Campbell, Commissioner J. Bradley Fewell, Esq.

New Jersey Department of Exelon Corporation Environmental Protection 4300 Warrenville Road P.O. Box 402 Warrenville, IL 60555 Trenton, NJ 08625-0402 Ron Zak Suzanne Leta New Jersey Department of N~IPIRG Environmental Protection 1'I N. Willow St.

Nuclear Engineering Trenton, NJ 08608 P.O. Box 415 Trenton, NJ 08625-0415

3 Docket No. 50-219-LR LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY TO JILL L1POTI, DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, STATE OF NEW JERSEY, DATED SEPTEMBER 25,2008 (RE: DRYWELL ANALYSIS ASLB) ; AND A COpy OF LETTER FROM JILL L1POTI TO THE COMMISSION (WITH CC: JUDGE E. ROY HAWKENS, ASLB), DATED SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 John A. Covino, Esq.

Ellen Barney Balint, Esq.

Valerie Anne Gray, 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 Secretary of the Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 26th day of September 2008