ML14342A336
ML14342A336 | |
Person / Time | |
---|---|
Site: | Vermont Yankee ![]() |
Issue date: | 12/08/2014 |
From: | Wachutka J L NRC/OGC |
To: | Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel |
SECY RAS | |
References | |
50-271-LA, ASLBP 15-934-01-LA- BD01, RAS 26989 | |
Download: ML14342A336 (5) | |
Text
December 8, 2014 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD In the Matter of ) )
ENTERGY NUCLEAR VERMONT )
YANKEE, LLC )
AND ENTERGY NUCLEAR ) Docket No. 50-271-LA OPERATIONS, INC. ) )
(Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station) )
NRC STAFF ANSWER TO ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD QUESTION ASKED DURING DECEMBER 1, 2014 CONTENTION ADMISSIBILITY ORAL ARGUMENT On December 1, 2014, an oral argument was held in the above-captioned proceeding regarding whether a hearing request1 submitted by the State of Vermont, through the Vermont Department of Public Service (Vermont), should be granted.2 Before concluding the oral argument, Chairman Hawkens directed the following question to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff (Staff): [W]hen [10 C.F.R. Part 50, Appendix E, Section VI] was promulgated it excepted Big Rock Point and all nuclear power facilities that are shut down permanently. Were any of the facilities that were shut down permanently, did they have spent fuel in the pools, and were not required to implement [the Emergency Response Data System (ERDS)]?[3] 1 Vermont Department of Public Service Notice of Intention to Participate, Petition to Intervene, and Hearing Request (dated Sept. 22, 2014; filed via the NRC's E-Filing system on Sept. 24, 2014) (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML14267A523). 2 See Transcript of Teleconference in the Matter of Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC, and Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station), at 14:1-3 (Dec. 1, 2014) (Tr.). 3 Tr. at 97:20 - 98:1. The attorney for the Staff responded that the Staff would "look that up and get [Chairman Hawkens] a response."4 This promised response is provided below. The ERDS requirement was added to the Commission's regulations on August 13, 1991 with the addition of new Section VI, "Emergency Response Data System," to Appendix E to 10 C.F.R. Part 50.5 As of this date, August 13, 1991, the following NRC-regulated, light-water nuclear power facilities were shut down permanently:6 Indian Point 1;7 Humboldt Bay 3;8 Dresden 1;9 La Crosse;10 Rancho Seco;11 and Shoreham.12 Also as of August 13, 1991, spent fuel was in the spent fuel pools (SFPs) of each of these facilities. Spent fuel was not completely 4 Tr. at 98:2-3. 5 56 Fed. Reg. 40,178, 40,184-85. 6 See generally NUREG-1350, Vol. 26, U.S. NRC 2014-2015 Information Digest, at Appendix C (Aug. 2014). Not included in this response, but also permanently shut down as of August 13, 1991, are: DOE legacy reactors GE Bonus, CVTR, Elk River, Hallam, Piqua, and Shippingport; non-light-water reactors Fermi 1 (sodium-cooled fast reactor), Fort St. Vrain (high-temperature gas reactor), and Peach Bottom 1 (high-temperature gas reactor); research and test reactors Saxton (23.5 MWt), Vallecitos (GE VBWR) (50 MWt), and Pathfinder (190 MWt); NS Savannah (a nuclear-powered ship); and Three Mile Island 2. See id. 7 Indian Point 1 was shut down on October 31, 1974. See SECY-96-001, Approval of Decommissioning Plan and Amendment of License for Indian Point Unit 1, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., at 1 (Jan. 2, 1996) (ADAMS Accession No. ML992950095). 8 Humboldt Bay 3 was shut down on July 2, 1976. See Letter from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to NRC, Revision 10 to the Defueled Safety Analysis Report and Revision 31 to the Humboldt Bay Quality Assurance Plan, at Enclosure 1, 1 1-2 (Feb. 4, 2014) (ADAMS Accession No. ML14035A514). 9 Dresden 1 was shut down on October 31, 1978. See Letter from Exelon Generation to NRC, Defueled Safety Analysis Report Update, Revision 7, at Attachment 2, 1-3 (June 20, 2014) (ADAMS Accession No. ML14171A360). 10 La Crosse was shut down in April 1987. See Letter from Dairyland Power Cooperative to NRC, LACBWR Decommissioning Plan and Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (D-Plan/PSDAR) Revision - March 2014, at Enclosure 2, 2-1 (Mar. 12, 2014) (ADAMS Accession No. ML14079A352). 11 Rancho Seco was shut down on June 7, 1989. See Letter from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District to NRC, Biennial Update to Rancho Seco License Termination Plan, at 1-2 (Oct. 30, 2014) (ADAMS Accession No. ML14310A197). 12 Shoreham was shut down as of June 28, 1989. See In the Matter of Long Island Power Authority (Shoreham Nuclear Power Station, Unit 1); Order Terminating the Facility Operating License, 60 Fed. Reg. 19,309, 19,309-10 (Apr. 17, 1995). removed from the Indian Point 1 SFP until December 11, 2008,13 from the Humboldt Bay 3 SFP until December 11, 2008,14 from the Dresden 1 SFP until January 15, 2002,15 from the La Crosse SFP until September 19, 2012,16 from the Rancho Seco SFP until August 21, 2002,17 and from the Shoreham SFP until June 1994.18 To the Staff's knowledge, ERDS was never installed at any of these facilities. Additionally, Chairman Hawkens asked the Staff, "[c]an you respond to Mr. Kisicki's understanding that neither [the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)] nor the States have approved the [Entergy] staff reduction proposal?"19 The Staff responded by referring to correspondence between FEMA and the NRC, which the Staff stated was not publicly available.20 The Staff has since determined that this correspondence does not contain any information that would preclude it from being made public and, thus, has made it publicly available.21 13 Letter from Entergy to NRC, Notification of Unit 1 Transfer of 160 Spent Fuel Assemblies from the Spent Fuel Pool to the Indian Point Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (Dec. 11, 2008) (ADAMS Accession No. ML091130457). 14 Letter from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to NRC, Revision 10 to the Defueled Safety Analysis Report and Revision 31 to the Humboldt Bay Quality Assurance Plan, at Enclosure 1, 1 1-2 (Feb. 4, 2014) (ADAMS Accession No. ML14035A514). 15 Letter from Exelon Generation to NRC, Supplemental Information Supporting the Request for Exemption from the Secondary Offsite Accident Liability Insurance Requirement of 10 CFR 140.11(a)(4) (Feb. 13, 2002) (ADAMS Accession No. ML020640101). 16 Letter from Dairyland Power Cooperative to NRC, LACBWR Decommissioning Plan and Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (D-Plan/PSDAR) Revision - March 2014, at Enclosure 2, 2-2 (Mar. 12, 2014) (ADAMS Accession No. ML14079A352). 17 Letter from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District to NRC, Biennial Update to Rancho Seco License Termination Plan, at 1-2 (Oct. 30, 2014) (ADAMS Accession No. ML14310A197). 18 60 Fed. Reg. at 19,310. 19 Tr. at 95:22-24. 20 See Tr. at 96. 21 See Letter from Vanessa E. Quinn, Chief, Radiological Emergency Preparedness Branch, FEMA, to Joseph Anderson, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response, NRC (Aug. 19, 2014) (ADAMS Accession No. ML14233A593).
Respectfully submitted,
/Signed (electronically) by/ Jeremy Wachutka Counsel for the NRC Staff U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of the General Counsel Mail Stop O15-D21 Washington, DC 20555 Telephone: (301) 415-1571 E-mail: Jeremy.Wachutka@nrc.gov Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 8th day of December, 2014 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD In the Matter of )
) ENTERGY NUCLEAR VERMONT ) YANKEE, LLC )
AND ENTERGY NUCLEAR ) Docket No. 50-271-LA OPERATIONS, INC. )
) (Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station) )
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE Pursuant to 10 C.F.R. § 2.305, I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing "NRC STAFF ANSWER TO ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD QUESTION ASKED DURING DECEMBER 1, 2014 CONTENTION ADMISSIBILITY ORAL ARGUMENT," dated December 8, 2014, have been filed through the Electronic Information Exchange, the NRC's E-Filing System, in the above-captioned proceeding, this 8th day of December, 2014. /Signed (electronically) by/ Jeremy Wachutka Counsel for the NRC Staff U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of the General Counsel Mail Stop O15-D21 Washington, DC 20555 Telephone: (301) 415-1571 E-mail: Jeremy.Wachutka@nrc.gov Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 8th day of December, 2014