ML112910201
| ML112910201 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Columbia  |
| Issue date: | 09/27/2011 |
| From: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | |
| Doyle D, NRR/DLR, 415-3748 | |
| References | |
| TAC ME3121, NRC-1157 | |
| Download: ML112910201 (75) | |
Text
Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Title: Columbia Generating Station License Renewal Public Meeting: Afternoon Session Docket Number: 50-397 Location: Richland, Washington Date: September 27, 2011 Work Order No.: NRC-1157 Pages 1-75 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 PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS DRAFT SUPPLEMENT 47 5 TO THE GENERIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT 6 FOR LICENSE RENEWAL OF NUCLEAR PLANTS FOR 7 COLUMBIA GENERATING STATION 8 + + + + +
9 TUESDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 27, 2011 11 + + + + +
12 RICHLAND, WASHINGTON 13 + + + + +
14 The Public Meeting convened at the Red 15 Lion Hotel, 802 George Washington Way, Richland, 16 Washington, at 2:00 p.m., Geraldine Fehst, 17 Facilitator, presiding.
18 PRESENT:
19 GERALDINE FEHST, Facilitator 20 DANIEL DOYLE, Environmental Project Manager 21 LARA USELDING, Public Affairs, Region IV 22 MICHAEL WENTZEL, NRR 23 DAVID WRONA, Branch Chief 24 MAHDI HAYES, Resident Inspector 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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2 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 Page 3 Welcome 4 Geraldine Fehst..................... 3 5 Introductions 6 Geraldine Fehst..................... 11 7 Results of NRC's Environmental Review 8 of the Columbia Generating Station's 9 License Renewal Application 10 Daniel Doyle, NRC Project Manager... 16 11 Clarifying Questions and Answers.......... 28 12 Public Comments........................... 37 13 Adjourn................................... 75 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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3 1 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 2 (2:05 p.m.)
3 MS. FEHST: Good afternoon, everyone.
4 Thank you for coming. I think it's -- we'll get 5 started just a few minutes late here.
6 My name is Gerri Fehst, and I'm 7 a Communication Specialist with the United States 8 Nuclear Regulatory Commission. I'll be moderating 9 this afternoon's meeting.
10 And you'll hear the Nuclear Regulatory 11 Commission called NRC. You're probably very familiar 12 with that acronym but for those who aren't, that's 13 what we usually go by.
14 I'm going to do my best to keep today's 15 meeting worthwhile for everyone, and I hope you'll 16 help me out with that. There are two purposes for 17 today's meeting. The first is to present the results 18 of the NRC's Environmental Review for the Columbia 19 Generating Station's License Renewal Application, as 20 published in the draft Supplemental Environmental rd 21 Impact Statement issued on August 23 , 2011.
22 The second purpose is to provide members 23 of the public with an opportunity to provide comments 24 regarding environmental issues that the NRC should 25 consider during its review.
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4 1 I'd like to stress that this is an NRC 2 public meeting, and that NRC is not a part of the 3 United States Department of Energy, or DOE, as it's 4 usually called.
5 The mission of the NRC is to regulate the 6 nation's civilian use of byproduct, source, and 7 special nuclear materials to ensure the adequate 8 protection of public health and safety, to promote the 9 common defense and security, and to protect the 10 environment.
11 Essentially, that means that the NRC's 12 regulatory mission covers three main areas, commercial 13 reactors for generating electric power and research 14 and test reactors used for research, testing, and 15 training. Uses of nuclear materials in medical, 16 industrial, and academic settings and facilities that 17 produce nuclear fuel. And, finally, transportation, 18 storage and disposal of nuclear materials and waste, 19 and decommissioning of nuclear facilities from 20 service.
21 The Department of Energy's overarching 22 mission is to advance the national economic and energy 23 security of the United States, to promote scientific 24 and technological innovation in support of that 25 mission, and to ensure the environmental cleanup of NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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5 1 the national nuclear weapons complex.
2 Today's meeting is just one way that you 3 can participate in the process. And you'll be hearing 4 more about that as the events -- as we go forward in 5 the meeting. So, first we'll hear a presentation from 6 the NRC Staff member, the Project Manager, on the 7 results of the Environmental Review of Columbia 8 Generating Station's License Renewal Application.
9 The presentation will be short to allow as 10 much time as possible for the second part of the 11 meeting, which is to listen to you and any comments 12 that you would like us to take back, and that we will 13 have on the record. We do have a court reporter here, 14 so there will be transcript of today's proceeding.
15 There were yellow and blue cards on the 16 table as you signed in, and the yellow cards were for 17 those who plan to make comments at today's meeting, 18 and the blue cards were just for those who were here 19 but wanted to be sure to be on our mailing list for 20 the follow-up final publication.
21 We have several yellow cards from those of 22 you who are here, and we also have cards from people 23 who are on the line. We do have people calling in 24 today, so we'll be taking comments from both you, the 25 audience members, and the callers.
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6 1 If you haven't filled out a card yet and 2 you decide you want to speak once the meeting gets 3 going, that's okay. Just get my attention and --
4 well, actually, let me direct you to the back of the 5 table where the sign-in is, and just head over there 6 for a yellow card and fill it out, and I'll be aware 7 of that, and maybe Mike will come up and bring me the 8 yellow cards, if there are any more.
9 We ask that you fill out the card not only 10 so that we have a good list of people who spoke at the 11 meeting, but we also would like it so we can get your 12 name correct on the transcript. And let me just take 13 a minute here to ask if anyone has not yet signed in, 14 please take the time to do so now before you forget.
15 We just have a running list of people who are 16 attending, and the sign-in table is just as you walk 17 in the door here.
18 We're going to do our best -- well, let me 19 explain why it's important for us to have your sign-in 20 and your names on the cards. As I mentioned, we are 21 transcribing the meeting, and we do want to have as 22 clean a record as possible, and we want to fully 23 capture your comments, so we need your name, clear 24 spelling of your last name, if we have it, or callers 25 who are making comments, we'll ask them to remember to NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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7 1 spell their last name certainly before making their 2 comments.
3 We also ask that you keep any side 4 conversations to a minimum so that the reporter can 5 hear everything clearly, and that we just have one 6 person speaking at a time so that everyone can hear 7 what is going on, and we can continue moving the 8 meeting forward.
9 As I said, when you get up please -- for 10 the first time, please identify yourself by name. And 11 if you're representing any organization on behalf --
12 making a comment on behalf of any organization, 13 please let us know and that will also go into the 14 transcript.
15 And it would also help very much to have a 16 clean transcript if you have any electronic devices, 17 if you could turn them off now, or at least put them 18 on vibrate so that that doesn't interfere with the 19 meeting, as well.
20 We're going to do our best to answer -- to 21 address any questions that you might have about the 22 results of the NRC's Environmental Review for 23 Columbia, and possibly any other NRC regulatory topics 24 that might come up, but we do ask that you please keep 25 in mind that we have only a few people from the NRC NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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8 1 here in this room, and we may not have the best person 2 here to answer your question. So, we can always take 3 your question back and get back to you, but just a 4 head's up that we may not have the absolute right 5 person to answer your individual question.
6 Other items. I'm hoping that when you 7 signed in you picked up an NRC public feedback form.
8 It's really important to us that we take back any 9 comments, any insights, any criticisms, any positives 10 that you have to communicate to us. We try to give 11 the best possible meeting that we can, but we also 12 need your feedback to enable us to do that. So, we 13 would really appreciate getting your opinion on that 14 form. And, as I say, if you haven't picked one up 15 already, they're on the same table where the yellow 16 and blue cards are, where the sign-in was.
17 So, just a couple of housekeeping items 18 before we get going. Restrooms for those who want to 19 take a break are directly out the door you came in.
20 Take a right, go all the way down the hall to the 21 first place where you can turn left, and restrooms are 22 on the right-hand side. Emergency exits, I doubt that 23 we'll need it, but in case we do, the exits are 24 certainly where you came in. And these two exit doors 25 will lead to the lobby, as well. So, three doors in NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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9 1 this room that lead directly to the lobby. This is 2 not an exit door. It goes to the kitchen. You don't 3 want to go there.
4 We already have some callers who have 5 identified themselves by name in advance of the 6 meeting, so I think the process that we'll follow here 7 is to take a few comments from the -- at the comment 8 period time, we'll take a few comments from the 9 audience, and then we'll turn to the phones. But for 10 those people who are calling in, I will identify them 11 by the names that we have, and I would also -- because 12 the goal is to, again, have one person speaking at a 13 time, and we want to avoid any situation where callers 14 are actually talking over each other. So, after we go 15 over the names of the callers whose names we already 16 have, I will ask if there are any other callers whose 17 names I did not call who like to make a comment. And 18 as I say, I know we have the names of some callers. I 19 understand some may be making comments and some may 20 just be listening in.
21 I've already, I think, emphasized enough 22 that we're creating a transcript for the meeting, but 23 bear with me. I'll repeat one more time for the sake 24 of the transcript, please identify yourself, both 25 callers and audience members by name, by organization, NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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10 1 and callers, please spell your name for the record so 2 we can keep it clear.
3 Now, for those on the phone, again, 4 anything -- if the callers would remember to as a 5 courtesy to all mute their phone by pressing *6. That 6 way while the meeting is going on, we will not be 7 distracted by any noise that's going on or 8 distractions that are going on in the room you happen 9 to be listening to your call in.
10 Also, with callers, if you could be sure 11 to -- when you take a turn to make a comment if you 12 could be aware that we will need your mailing address 13 if you want to receive a final Supplemental 14 Environmental Impact Statement when they are ready to 15 go. So, when you do -- if you do want to receive 16 that, please identify a mailing address. Well, 17 actually, the best thing would be for you to mail your 18 address to Daniel Doyle who is the Project Manager for 19 Columbia, who will be making the remarks immediately 20 following my opening remarks here. And he can be 21 reached I'll say it now daniel.doyle@nrc.gov. And if 22 you didn't catch that, his name and contact 23 information is on the Federal Register Notice, and 24 it's up on the web.
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11 1 that you confine your comments to five minutes.
2 Again, as an opportunity to -- we see this is as an 3 opportunity for you to be heard, but we do want those 4 who need to leave on time be able to leave on time 5 without missing any part of the meeting, anything that 6 goes on.
7 So, I want to take this opportunity to 8 introduce some of the other NRC people who are here 9 today. And I'll begin with David Wrona, the Branch 10 Chief for the Division of License Renewal for the NRC; 11 Daniel Doyle. He's the Environmental Project Manager 12 for Columbia. He's also with the Division of License 13 Renewal. Michael Wentzel, who you met at the table.
14 He's another Environmental Project Manager, again with 15 the Division of License Renewal. Lara Uselding, there 16 she is at the back of the room. She is the Senior 17 Public Affairs Officer for our Regional Office, Region 18 IV in Texas. Do we have a Resident Inspector here 19 today? Oh, okay. And that is -- you're Jeremy Groom?
20 MR. HAYES: Mahdi Hayes.
21 MS. FEHST: Oh, you're Mahdi Hayes. Okay, 22 good. Hello, Mahdi, welcome. And if you'd like, you 23 can stay back there, or join the rest of the NRC up 24 here.
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12 1 to Daniel Doyle, who will make a presentation on the 2 results of the Environmental Review.
3 And we'll take a bit of time to explain 4 how to submit comments. I'll be back when we move to 5 the second part of the meeting, so if you have any 6 questions about the material that is covered today, 7 I'm going to ask that you hold your questions until 8 Daniel finishes his remarks, and then if you have 9 questions specifically on the presentation, I'll go 10 around the room with a handheld mic and take each of 11 your comments or questions, clarifying questions at 12 that point on -- in the order that I see the 13 questions. And then we'll move to the public comment 14 period. Thank you.
15 MR. DOYLE: Thank you, Gerri. My name is 16 Daniel Doyle, and before getting into my presentation, 17 I'm actually going to do things a little bit out of 18 order to accommodate a public official who has taken 19 some time to provide some comments here today, 20 Representative Brad Klippert is here. He has another 21 engagement that he needs to make it to, so what I'm 22 going to do actually before starting my presentation 23 is allow Representative Klippert to come up to the 24 podium and provide his comments. Mr. Klippert.
25 MS. FEHST: And I also just wanted to give NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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13 1 a hello and welcome to Barbara Lisk, who is from U.S.
2 Congressman Hastings's office. Thank you. And also 3 David Reeploeg from U.S. Senator Cantwell's office.
4 Thank you.
5 REPRESENTATIVE KLIPPERT: Well, if I 6 didn't feel honored before, I do feel honored now.
7 Thank you very much. I greatly appreciate your 8 accommodating me in this way.
9 I am Representative Brad Klippert of the 10 Washington State House of Representatives, and 11 Klippert is spelled K-L-I-P-P-E-R-T. And I just 12 wanted to say thank you very much for this time to 13 address you, the NRC.
14 I actually worked on the Columbia 15 Generating Station when it was constructed, and I 16 helped pay my way to go to college by the construction 17 of that site, so I can guarantee the soundness of that 18 structure simply because I worked there. So, it's got 19 to be good if I had a hand in the construction there.
20 I also wanted to say that this is a very 21 responsible steward in terms of our environment, this 22 generating station. Zero, I say again, zero impact on 23 our environment in terms of greenhouse gases. Is that 24 great, all that power being produced by that one site 25 without any greenhouses gases being emitted into the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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14 1 air. And it has secure onsite storage of used fuels, 2 and that's something that's really important today.
3 And we're talking about what are we going to do with 4 all the used fuels from the past, where are we going 5 to put them; Yucca Mountain and all that, and here's a 6 place that has its own onsite storage for used fuels.
7 It's safe, it's reliable. I love going 8 there and watching the sign how many days have gone 9 past since an injury took place that resulted in a 10 time loss accident, took place, and it goes on, and 11 on, and on because they are so safety conscious there.
12 Redundant safety systems to ensure safety 13 standards exceed the requirements. I flew helicopters 14 for the Army for 20 years, and we had two generators 15 on that aircraft, two engines on that aircraft, five 16 transmissions on that aircraft to make sure that that 17 aircraft would stay in the air and keep flying.
18 Redundant systems to ensure the safety and the 19 production of power in that helicopter, and the same 20 is true of Columbia Generating Station, redundant 21 systems to insure the safety of the power that's being 22 generated there.
23 As an economic driver to this area, over 24 1,100 people are employed at Columbia Generating 25 Station, and Energy Northwest creates more than $440 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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15 1 million into our economic activity in this area.
2 Sustained strong economic recovery will 3 require continued support of these reliable, cost-4 effective baseload resources.
5 I just took a tour as a member of the 6 Transportation Committee this last week, and it's so 7 important these days in our economy in Washington 8 State and the United States as a whole to ensure that 9 our exports -- we do everything we can to keep our 10 exports keep up with or exceed our imports. And 11 because of the low-cost power that we produce here in 12 Washington State, many corporations, many producers 13 want to come here and produce their products and ship 14 them all around the world because of the low-cost 15 power that's produced right here by the Columbia 16 Generating Station.
17 So, I just would like to encourage you 18 with all of my heart, as someone who believes in safe, 19 reliable nuclear energy, that it would be a very wise 20 thing on your part to extend the license for the 21 Columbia Generating Station. Now, I've been told to 22 ask for the next 20 years, but I've watched the Disney 23 cartoons and I say let's extend that license to 24 infinity and beyond. So, thank you, ladies and 25 gentlemen, and have a great day.
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16 1 MR. DOYLE: Thank you. I'm now going to go 2 into my presentation, and then we will have a question 3 and answer period, and then we'll open it up to other 4 public comments.
5 Again, my name is Daniel Doyle. I'm the 6 Project Manager at the NRC responsible for 7 coordinating all environmental-related activities for 8 the Columbia Generating Station License Renewal 9 Application.
10 On August 23rd, the NRC published its Draft 11 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, or Draft 12 SEIS, related to the Columbia Generating Station 13 License Renewal Application. The Draft SEIS documents 14 the NRC's preliminary review of the environmental 15 impacts associated with renewing the Columbia 16 Generating Station operating license for an additional 17 20 years. And today I'm going to present to you those 18 results.
19 I hope that the information provided will 20 help you understand what we've done so far, and the 21 role you can play in helping us make sure that the 22 final Environmental Impact Statement is accurate and 23 complete.
24 Just to point out one other thing for the 25 callers, is that we do have the bridge line in a NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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17 1 listen mode, so it's not necessary to mute the lines, 2 but if you've already done that, I think that that's 3 fine. But we have a moderator on the line, and when 4 we get to the portion where we'll be asking for either 5 questions or comments from the callers, we'll be 6 switching from a listen-only mode to a participation 7 mode.
8 Here's the agenda for today's meeting.
9 I'm sorry, one other thing I wanted to point out for 10 the callers, again, is that if you're near a computer 11 and you're not -- if you don't have the slides in 12 front of you, if are near a computer you can go to the 13 website, the NRC's website. If you go to Google and 14 search for Columbia Generating Station License Renewal 15 Application, click on that public website, these 16 slides that I'm presenting here in the room today are 17 available on the internet.
18 So, today I will discuss the NRC's 19 regulatory role, the preliminary findings of our 20 environmental review, including the power generation 21 alternatives that were considered, and I'll present 22 the current schedule for the remainder of the 23 environmental review, and how you can submit comments 24 after this meeting.
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18 1 discuss a topic that is not related to the 2 environmental review, but that is of interest to those 3 in attendance, the NRC's response to Fukushima. At 4 the end of the presentation, there will be time for 5 questions and answers on the environmental review 6 process, and most importantly, time for you to present 7 your comments on the Draft SEIS.
8 The NRC was established to regulate 9 civilian uses of nuclear materials, including 10 facilities that produce electric power. The NRC 11 conducts license renewal reviews for plants whose 12 owners wish to operate them beyond their initial 13 license period. NRC license renewal reviews address 14 safety issues related to managing the effects of 15 aging, and environmental issues related to an 16 additional 20 years of operation.
17 In all aspects of the NRC's regulation, 18 the Agency's mission is to ensure adequate protection 19 of public health and safety, to promote the common 20 defense and security, and to protect the environment.
21 We're here today to discuss the potential 22 site-specific impacts of license renewal at Columbia 23 Generating Station. The Generic Environmental Impact 24 Statement, or GEIS, examines the possible 25 environmental impacts that could occur as a result of NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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19 1 renewing licenses of individual nuclear power plants 2 under 10 CFR Part 54. The GEIS, to the extent 3 possible, establishes the bounds and significance of 4 these potential impacts.
5 The analyses in the GEIS encompass all 6 operating light water power reactors for each type of 7 environmental impact. The GEIS attempts to establish 8 generic findings covering as many plants as possible.
9 For some environmental issues, the GEIS found that a 10 generic evaluation was not sufficient, and that a 11 plant-specific analysis was required.
12 The site-specific findings for Columbia 13 Generating Station are contained in the Draft 14 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, or Draft 15 SEIS, which was published on August 23rd of this year.
16 This document contains analyses of all applicable 17 site-specific issues, as well as a review of issues 18 covered by the GEIS to determine whether the 19 conclusions in the GEIS are valid for Columbia 20 Generating Station.
21 In this process, the NRC Staff also 22 reviews the environmental impacts of potential power 23 generation alternatives to license renewal to 24 determine whether the impacts expected from license 25 renewal are unreasonable.
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20 1 For each environmental issue identified an 2 impact level is assigned. The NRC's standard of 3 significance for impacts was established using the 4 White House Council on Environmental Quality 5 terminology for significant.
6 The NRC established three levels of 7 significance for potential impacts; small, moderate, 8 and large. For a small impact, the effects are not 9 detectible, or are so minor that they will neither 10 destabilize nor noticeably alter any important 11 attribute of the resources. For a moderate impact, 12 the effects are sufficient to alter noticeably but not 13 to destabilize important attributes of the resource.
14 For a large impact, the effects are clearly noticeable 15 and are sufficient to destabilize important attributes 16 of the resource.
17 This slide lists the site-specific issues 18 NRC Staff reviewed for the continued operation of 19 Columbia Generating Station during the proposed 20 license renewal period. The section of the Draft SEIS 21 addressing each of these issues is also shown here.
22 And, as discussed on the previous slide, each issue 23 was assigned a level of environmental impact of small, 24 moderate, or large by the environmental reviewers.
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21 1 the site-specific impacts related to license renewal 2 for each of these issues is small.
3 When reviewing the potential impacts of 4 license renewal on the environment, the NRC also looks 5 at the effects on the environment from other past, 6 present, and reasonably foreseeable future human 7 actions. These effects, referred to as cumulative 8 impacts, not only include the operation of Columbia 9 Generating Station, but also impacts from activities 10 unrelated to the plant, such as the radioactive waste 11 disposal, and tank waste stabilization and closure at 12 Hanford, the proposed reduction of the Hanford site 13 footprint, the cleanup of radioactive waste burial 14 grounds 618-10 and 618-11, proposed construction of 15 new energy projects, and climate change.
16 Past actions are those related to the 17 resources before the receipt of the license renewal 18 application. Present actions are those related to the 19 resources at the time of current operation of the 20 plant. And future actions are those that are 21 reasonably foreseeable through the end of plant 22 operation, including the period of extended operation.
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22 1 term.
2 For water resources, NRC preliminarily 3 concluded that there are small to large cumulative 4 impacts due to DOE activities on Hanford depending on 5 the location. For aquatic resources, impacts are 6 large due to past alterations of aquatic habitat and 7 fish passage along the Columbia River.
8 For cultural resources, ongoing 9 construction, restoration, and waste management 10 activities on the Hanford site have the potential to 11 significantly affect cultural resources, particularly 12 within the viewshed of Gable and Rattlesnake 13 Mountains. Therefore, the cumulative impacts would be 14 moderate. In other areas NRC considered, the Staff 15 preliminarily concluded that cumulative impacts are 16 small.
17 The National Environmental Policy Act 18 mandates that each Environmental Impact Statement 19 consider alternatives to any proposed major federal 20 action. The major step in determining whether license 21 renewal is reasonable or not is comparing the likely 22 impacts of continued operation of the nuclear power 23 plant with the likely impacts of alternative means of 24 power generation.
25 Alternatives must provide an option that NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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23 1 allows for power generation capability beyond the term 2 of the current nuclear power plant operating license 3 to meet future system generating needs. In the Draft 4 SEIS, the NRC initially considered 18 different 5 alternatives. After this initial consideration, the 6 Staff then chose the three most likely, and analyzed 7 those in depth.
8 Finally, the NRC considered what would 9 happen if no action is taken and Columbia Generating 10 Station shuts down at the end of its current license 11 without a specific replacement alternative. This 12 alternative would not provide power generation 13 capacity, nor would it meet the needs currently met by 14 Columbia Generating Station.
15 The NRC's preliminary conclusion is that 16 the impacts from energy alternatives would vary widely 17 based on the characteristics of the alternatives. In 18 most cases, construction of new facilities would 19 create significant impacts. All alternatives capable 20 of meeting the needs currently served by Columbia 21 Generating Station entail impacts greater than or 22 equal to the proposed action of license renewal.
23 Based on a review of the potential 24 environmental impacts from license renewal and 25 alternatives to license renewal, the NRC Staff's NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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24 1 preliminary recommendation in the Draft SEIS is that 2 the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal 3 for Columbia Generating Station are not great enough 4 to deny the option of license renewal for energy-5 planning decisionmakers.
6 I would like to emphasize that the 7 environmental review is not yet complete. Your 8 comments today, and all written comments received by th 9 the end of the comment period on November 16 will be 10 considered by the NRC as we develop the final SEIS, 11 which we currently plan to issue in February 2012.
12 Those comments that are within the scope 13 of the environmental review and provide new and 14 significant information can help change the Staff's 15 findings. The final SEIS will contain the Staff's 16 final recommendation on the acceptability of license 17 renewal based on the work we've already performed, and 18 the comments we receive during the comment period.
19 I am the primary contact for the 20 environmental review; the contact for the safety 21 review is Arthur Cunanan. Hard copies of the Draft 22 SEIS are available on the table in the back of the 23 room, as are copies on CD. In addition, the Richland 24 Public Library and the Kennewick Branch Library have 25 agreed to make hard copies available for public NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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25 1 review. You can also find electronic copies of the 2 Draft SEIS along with other information about the 3 Columbia Generating Station License Renewal Review on 4 line on the website on this screen, which is also 5 included in the handout.
6 The NRC will address written comments in 7 the same way we address spoken comments received 8 today. You can submit written comments either via 9 conventional mail, fax, or online. To submit written 10 comments online visit the website regulations.gov and 11 search for keyword or ID NRC-2010-0029. If you have 12 written comments this afternoon you may give them to 13 any NRC Staff member. Again, to ensure consideration 14 comments must be received by Wednesday, November 16th, 15 2011.
16 The notes that I copied on to this slide 17 are not the notes for this slide, so that's a good 18 plan for future preparation for checking the notes on 19 the slides. But I can handle it.
20 This is -- we added this slide for NRC's 21 response to Fukushima because we're aware that this is 22 a topic of significant public interest, so we wanted 23 to address it. We wanted to point out that the NRC's 24 response to Fukushima is a current operating issue.
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26 1 that are made by the NRC will apply to all plants that 2 currently have license regardless of license renewal 3 status. So, this is not within the scope of the 4 environmental review.
5 Following the earthquake and tsunami and 6 events at Fukushima in Japan earlier this year, the 7 NRC took several specific steps. We had increased 8 inspections at operating facilities to determine their 9 ability to respond to emergencies per their existing 10 guidelines.
11 The NRC created a near-term task force to 12 look at -- to review the information that was 13 available from the event and generate short-term 14 recommendations for how the NRC can move forward, or 15 potential actions to take to make U.S. nuclear 16 facilities more safe.
th 17 The NRC issued its report on July 12 ,
18 2011. One of their conclusions was that continued 19 operations and continued licensing activities do not 20 pose an imminent risk to public health and safety.
21 There is a NRC Staff paper on the prioritization of 22 the task force recommendations due on October 3rd, so 23 the NRC Staff will have more information in that 24 report on which actions can be taken without further 25 delay.
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27 1 There's more information about NRC actions 2 in response to Fukushima on this website. On this 3 slide, there's a link, if you go to the main NRC 4 website, NRC.gov, there's a link on the left side to -
5 - I believe it says "Japan Accident NRC Action," so 6 the task force report is available there.
7 I also brought hard copies of the NRC's 8 task force recommendations. They're available in the 9 back of the room. And, again, as I said, they're 10 available on the website.
11 Before moving into receiving your 12 comments, we'd like to give you an opportunity to ask 13 questions that you may have about the presentation 14 that I just gave. Please wait for the facilitator, 15 Gerri Fehst, to bring the microphone to you so we can 16 ensure that your comments are captured on the 17 transcript.
18 We will take comments from people in the 19 room, or questions from people in the room, and then 20 I'll open up the phone line for people on the phone if 21 they want to ask questions. And once we've taken any 22 initial questions that you may have for me or about 23 the presentation, we will then move into the comment 24 portion of the meeting where I'll be calling the 25 people who had filled out the yellow cards, or NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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28 1 indicated that they wanted to provide comments over 2 the phone, to provide their comments. And that's 3 where we'll -- that's when we'll take those comments.
4 So, I would be happy to take any questions 5 you may have at this time. Does anybody in the room 6 have any questions? Yes, sir? Can you just wait for 7 one minute, please?
8 MS. FEHST: One minute, please. I'll bring 9 you the mic so everyone can hear what you have to say.
10 Excuse me.
11 MR. POLLET: So, I have two questions. The 12 first is in regard to the location of the CGS station 13 on the Hanford nuclear reservation. And have -- does 14 the EIS -- I've not seen it in my review. Is there 15 any documentation of consideration of the unique 16 accident consequences elsewhere at Hanford in 17 combination with an event at CGS that affects all the 18 facilities on the Hanford nuclear reservation at the 19 same time?
20 MR. DOYLE: There is not. So, I understand 21 your question is about whether or not the 22 Environmental Impact Statement specifically addresses 23 the fact that there could be radiological accidents or 24 other accidents at Hanford, and that -- so, the answer 25 is no, that that's not addressed in the Draft SEIS.
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29 1 What we do talk about is the cumulative environmental 2 impact say on groundwater and air, other things that -
3 - other environmental impacts that other facilities or 4 waste burial grounds, or past actions at Hanford may 5 have on the environment, and how that -- the impact 6 from the plant would relate to those, basically. But 7 there are emergency response documents that the plant 8 is required to maintain. I forget the term for it. I 9 believe it's like an Emergency Response Plan, I think, 10 so these are -- I believe the best thing for -- to 11 address your question would be that there are current 12 documents that the plant is required to maintain 13 explaining how they would respond to offsite 14 accidents, like a fire or something like that.
15 MR. POLLET: But aren't you in the EIS --
16 aren't we entitled to see the cumulative impact and 17 how you would recover? I mean, you discuss design-18 basis accidents and beyond design-basis accidents.
19 Right? And including population dose and recovery, 20 and mitigation requirements for accidents. All that 21 is in there. For most reactors around the country, I 22 guess for every other reactor around the country you 23 don't have a combination of the same design-basis 24 earthquake could release massive amounts of 25 radioactive and chemical material into the air because NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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30 1 they're not located on anything like the Hanford 2 nuclear reservation with high-level nuclear waste 3 tanks that aren't -- so, telling me to look at the 4 emergency plan isn't relevant to what's in here, it 5 seems to me.
6 MR. DOYLE: Right. There is a section, as 7 you said, that talks about design-basis accidents and 8 severe accidents. That would be in Chapter 5. And 9 what we're doing in that section of the document is 10 talking about what the environmental impacts of those 11 two categories of accidents would be in the license 12 renewal period. So, the design-basis -- there is a 13 basic discussion in there, but I think the ultimate 14 answer is that no, that there's not a specific 15 discussion of the fact that the plant is located on 16 Hanford, and it sounds to me like you're essentially 17 making a comment that you think that it should. And 18 that's a fair comment, and if you want to take that, 19 then we can respond to that. But the answer to your 20 question is no, that's not specifically discussed in 21 the discussion of design-basis accidents and severe 22 accidents. So, the answer is no.
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31 1 documents.
2 My second question for Heart of America 3 Northwest is in regard to the alternatives analysis.
4 Who decided that the alternative analysis for 5 electrical generation or conservation and efficiencies 6 should be 1300 some odd megawatts, or 1350 when the 7 reactor itself doesn't produce that?
8 MR. DOYLE: I'm not familiar with that 9 number in the document or where that is. But, 10 essentially, you're pointing out that there's a 11 discrepancy between the alternative, and that it's 12 producing more power than what the plant is. And 13 that's maybe creating a higher impact for the 14 alternative. So that, again, would be a fair comment.
15 If that's stated in the Draft SEIS, that's not fresh 16 in my memory right now, what the electrical capacity 17 of the alternatives that we stated is. But the basic 18 intent is to see how could we replace the power 19 generation of the plant. So, if you think that 20 there's a discrepancy there then, again, that would be 21 more of a comment on the SEIS. But that's what we 22 were trying to do.
23 And who made the decision for those 24 alternatives is the NRC Staff that are working on it.
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32 1 that are able to review potential alternatives and 2 determine what those impacts would be, and write up 3 the basis for their decisions and explain that in 4 Chapter 8 of the document. So, Chapter 8 addresses 5 the concerns and the basis for our decisions of what 6 the reasonable alternatives are.
7 MR. POLLET: Thank you.
8 MS. FEHST: And also for the record, could 9 we get you to identify yourself by name, and if you're 10 representing an organization?
11 MR. POLLET: Sure, Gerry with a G, Pollet, 12 P-O-L-L-E-T, representing Heart of America Northwest 13 Regionwide Citizens Group.
14 MS. FEHST: Thank you.
15 MR. DOYLE: Does anyone else in the room 16 have questions about the presentation or the process, 17 or anything else before we open up the phone line to 18 see if there are any comments from people who have 19 called in?
20 MS. OLIVER: Are you taking comments from 21 people in the audience?
22 MR. DOYLE: We will absolutely move into 23 taking comments from people in the audience. What 24 we're doing right now is seeing if there are any 25 questions before I step down, any sort of NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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33 1 clarifications, or could you go back to that slide, or 2 just general process questions before moving into 3 taking comments. So, yes, we will definitely accept 4 comments from people in the room.
5 MS. OLIVER: Yes, my name is Marlene 6 Oliver. I represent a number of organizations, 7 although I don't speak for all of them. I do 8 represent Fighting Children's Cancer Foundation. I 9 have a background in cancer and working with National 10 Cancer Institute and with the American Nuclear Society 11 as a local member.
12 One of my questions has to deal with 13 neutron dosimetry and plant aging. We have a lab here 14 at Hanford that works with reactors all over the world 15 to determine how well they're holding up with time.
16 And I'm wondering if the nuclear plant here was 17 included in that analysis of plant aging with neutron 18 dosimetry, for example.
19 MR. DOYLE: There is a separate safety 20 review that is looking at how the plant is going to 21 adequately manage the effects of aging for passive 22 long-lived structures, so I believe that neutron 23 embrittlement is one of the issues that they are 24 looking at there.
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34 1 that are within the scope of license renewal, they're 2 looking at how they can adequately maintain. So, I'm 3 not sure if that answers your question. I'm not 4 specifically familiar with whether or not neutron 5 dosimetry is used. I'm not sure exactly if I 6 understand what your question is there, but yes, plant 7 aging is absolutely part of the NRC's review. It's 8 part of the safety review. And then managing the 9 effects of aging on certain structures, so I don't 10 know if that answers your question.
11 MS. FEHST: And again, just a reminder that 12 this is the period to ask clarifying questions of the 13 actual presentation. And immediately following this 14 we'll go into opening it up for public comment. Okay?
15 MR. DOYLE: Okay. Any other questions from 16 people in the room? Okay. I think we have a 17 moderator on the phone, Tamara. Are you there?
18 MR. LOPER: Hello?
19 MR. DOYLE: Yes, I can hear you.
20 MR. LOPER: Okay. I have one question.
21 And, also, to let you know the phone lines have 22 dropped the beginning portion so the people on the 23 phone only were able to hear the end of your comment.
24 MR. DOYLE: Okay.
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35 1 you to stop relicensing the plants until after we 2 learn what caused the damage, and what happened at the 3 Fukushima reactors. I'm just wondering what does the 4 EIS say about MOX fuel?
5 MS. FEHST: Caller, if I could respond to 6 you just quickly. I'm a moderator here in the room, 7 and right now the -- it's time just to take clarifying 8 questions on what the presentation provided when 9 Daniel Doyle was making his presentation about the 10 Draft SEIS. And immediately following clarifying 11 questions, we are going to go into the public comment 12 period. And it sounds as though your remarks would 13 fall into the category of public comment.
14 MR. LOPER: That's correct. I'm sorry, me 15 on the phone, I called in at 2:00 and I did not hear 16 any of the presentation that he gave.
17 MS. FEHST: I'm very sorry about that. I'm 18 sorry that we had technical difficulties. I can refer 19 you to -- Dan, you mentioned where the callers, people 20 who are calling can find the actual PowerPoint 21 presentation that you have just made?
22 MR. DOYLE: Yes. The slides that we're 23 presenting here in the meeting are on the website. If 24 you go to Google and search for NRC Columbia 25 Generating Station License Renewal, the first result NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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36 1 that pops up there should be the NRC's public website 2 for this review. And if you scroll down, there's a 3 subheading that says "Public Meetings," and then 4 there's the slides in there. So, I --
5 MR. LOPER: Thank you.
6 MR. DOYLE: -- expanded on the slides with 7 my remarks. I apologize for you not being able to 8 hear that, and the transcript will be released later 9 if you want to read that later. Also, later this 10 evening there's going to be another meeting starting 11 at 7:00 where I'm going to go through the same 12 remarks.
13 But just to -- I can point you to one page 14 in the Draft SEIS you were talking about, the 15 discussion of mixed oxide fuel or MOX fuel. There is 16 just a brief discussion. It's on page 2-2, the second 17 paragraph there where the NRC Staff is basically just 18 stating that we are aware of the -- I forget what it 19 was called. There was a -- basically, like an initial 20 feasibility study or something that environmental 21 group became aware of. There was a newspaper article 22 printed about it. We did talk to the applicant and 23 our brief summary of that issue is on page 2-2. Are 24 there any other questions from callers on the phone?
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37 1 the line is open.
2 PARTICIPANT: Yes, I just wanted to make a 3 comment, but I'll wait.
4 MR. DOYLE: Okay, so she'll wait until the 5 comment period. Any other comments from callers on 6 the phone, or any other questions? I'm sorry.
7 MODERATOR TAMARA: Your line is open.
8 PARTICIPANT: Yes, I am going to wait until 9 the comment period.
10 MODERATOR TAMARA: We show no further 11 questions.
12 MS. FEHST: I'm sorry, caller. I think you 13 were kind of breaking up. Could you repeat that, 14 please?
15 MODERATOR TAMARA: We show no further 16 questions.
17 MS. FEHST: Oh, okay.
18 MR. DOYLE: Okay, great. Thank you. So, 19 that concludes the question and answer period. We're 20 now going to shift the meeting into receiving your 21 public comments. We'll be taking comments both from 22 people in the room and on the phone. And the 23 facilitator, Gerri, is going to moderate this portion 24 of the meeting.
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38 1 to transition to the public comment period now, and I 2 have several yellow cards in my hand from audience 3 members who would like to make a comment. And I also 4 have cards, as I said earlier, from some identifying 5 callers that we have on the line. I'm not sure ever 6 caller who's listening in has a question. So, for 7 those names that I already have, I will call out your 8 name when the time comes. And if you have a comment 9 to make at that time, please do. And if you don't, 10 we'll just pass. And then at the end, I'll ask if 11 there are any callers on the line whose names I 12 haven't called. So, we'll try to get everyone's voice 13 heard today who has a comment that they would like to 14 make.
15 Again, this is the time for comments on 16 the results of the NRC's environmental review for the 17 license renewal application for Columbia. And we ask 18 that you confine your comments to this subject. And a 19 reminder once again that we do need to end the meeting 20 on time as a courtesy to those who have to leave on 21 schedule, and that they shouldn't have to miss any 22 part of the meeting because some comments or question 23 have gone on too long. So, we do ask that you keep 24 the focus on the comments, on the subject at hand, and 25 that you limit the comments to five minutes.
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39 1 And if you have a question, we may try to 2 give a brief answer. But as a reminder, we may not 3 have the right NRC expert in the room at this meeting.
4 And if we can't help you with a question, your 5 specific question, we'll certainly try to get back to 6 you as a follow-up to this meeting.
7 And if you're looking for an in-depth 8 conversation, we do ask that you hold that and meet 9 with some of the NRC Staff after the meeting, so that 10 again we can move things along, but that you can still 11 have an opportunity to speak with NRC and get your 12 question addressed.
13 So, as a reminder, and people have been 14 good about this, but remember when you step up to the 15 podium to make your comment, please identify yourself 16 by name again for the reporter in the back. And, 17 also, if you're representing an organization, please 18 let us know on whose behalf you are speaking. And as 19 all of us in the room, let's try to give respect and 20 attention to the person who is at the mic here at the 21 podium making their comments. Let's try to remember 22 to keep one person at a time.
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40 1 mentioned, you'll still be seated in the audience, but 2 you'll know that you'll be the next two people to come 3 up, so that you can begin preparing your remarks, and 4 we can keep things moving. And after the first three 5 speakers from the audience, then we'll turn to the 6 phones and ask for a caller to make their remarks.
7 And, again, if I -- I will ask at the end 8 even for audience, if I -- has everyone been heard, 9 and ask you to fill out a yellow card if you haven't, 10 if in the course of the meeting you decide that you do 11 want to make a comment. It won't be too late. So, 12 just fill out a card and I'll get it, and we'll begin 13 that process.
14 Okay. So, the first speaker will be Colin 15 Hastings, Tri-City Regional Chamber, followed by 16 Marlene Oliver, followed by Lori Sanders.
17 MR. HASTINGS: Thank you. Colin Hastings, 18 Vice President, Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce.
19 On behalf of the Tri-City Regional Chamber of 20 Commerce, it is my honor to support Energy Northwest 21 for their license renewal application for the Columbia 22 Generating Station with NRC.
23 Columbia Generating Station and Energy 24 Northwest has been a vital part of the region's energy 25 mix, and has consistently provided vast amounts of NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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41 1 clean and affordable power to homes and businesses 2 across the northwest.
3 Energy Northwest has operated Columbia 4 Generating Station as a responsible steward to the 5 environment, and in a manner that protects public 6 health and safety.
7 Washington State and Tri-Cities region 8 enjoys some of the lowest electrical utility rates in 9 the United States because of the federal hydroelectric 10 system in Columbia Generating Station. Economic 11 recovery will require continued support for these 12 reliable, clean, low-cost, baseload power sources.
13 Renewal of this operating license is vital 14 to meeting the region's electricity needs. It will 15 help ensure a reasonable cost of power for households 16 and businesses to drive a strong economy.
17 Energy Northwest shows us their commitment 18 to the region by their activities in the community and 19 associations like ours. They're an integral part of 20 this area, and deserve license renewal so they can 21 continue to offer us clean and affordable energy.
22 On behalf of the Tri-City Regional Chamber 23 of Commerce and its Board of Directors, we support 24 their efforts to secure license renewal for the 25 Columbia Generating Station with the NRC. Thank you.
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42 1 MS. FEHST: Okay, you're next.
2 MS. OLIVER: Yes. My name is Marlene 3 Oliver. I have several hats. I do not speak for the 4 American Nuclear Society, although I am a member 5 thereof of the local section. I also have a graduate 6 degree in fresh water ecology. I've also worked on 7 cancer issues for many years with the National Cancer 8 Institute as a consumer advocate for research and 9 related activity, and head up the Fighting Children's 10 Cancer Foundation, and I just have a few questions to 11 make sure that these items might be included in the 12 document and addressed thereof.
13 We already addressed the issue of plant 14 aging and dosimetry, which impacts directly reactor 15 safety. Hopefully, that question will be adequately 16 answered with the proper testing.
17 I wanted to address alternative energy, 18 and energy density. The energy density of nuclear 19 fuel is the densest known to man. The cost to build 20 alternative energy sources, such as windmills, et 21 cetera, speaking as an ecologist now, is far higher 22 than the energy projected to come from those windmills 23 for a long time. It also disrupts bird migration 24 patterns, et cetera, et cetera.
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43 1 is the norm in Europe and most of the rest of the 2 world. We might call it recycling. It's against the 3 law in the United States. That issue would have to be 4 addressed by Congress, and hopefully members of the 5 public can get Congress to reverse their decision made 6 in the Carter years to not recycle, so to speak, their 7 nuclear waste.
8 As far as cancer goes, on a scale of one 9 to ten using National Cancer Institute statistics 10 going back to 1950, and hopefully this information 11 will be included in the document. Cancer is rated on 12 a scale of one to ten, ten being highest, how much 13 cancer per unit of population, for example, in the 14 State of Washington. It goes county by county across 15 the United States. There is only one county in the 16 State of Washington that rates a ten out of ten being 17 highest, more incidents of cancer per person than any 18 other county in the state, and that is King County.
19 At the Hanford site, we rate a five out of 20 ten, which is average. Across the river in Franklin 21 County, we rate a four out of ten, which is below 22 average. And I hope the document takes these items 23 into consideration. Thank you.
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44 1 then the first caller will be Mark Loper. Mark, are 2 you there? Or Rachel Stierling. We'll come back to 3 Mark later. Is there a Rachel Stierling on the phone?
4 Or Jane.
5 MODERATOR TAMARA: Rachel, your line is 6 open.
7 MS. FEHST: I'm sorry?
8 MR. DOYLE: The moderator.
9 MS. STIERLING: I'm sorry. I'm still 10 having technical difficulty with the phone line, and 11 I'm not hearing very well at all, so I'll pass at this 12 time.
13 MS. FEHST: Okay. We'll get back to the 14 callers then.
15 MS. SANDERS: Thank you. Hello, I'm Lori 16 Sanders. I'm also a new member of the American 17 Nuclear Society, the local branch. I'm a Benton PUD 18 Commissioner, and I'm on the Executive Board of Energy 19 Northwest. And I'm also a member of this community 20 for the past 52 years, so I gave something away there.
21 But what I would like to talk about today, 22 I want to echo a lot of what Colin said, hitting the 23 major points of the benefits of Columbia Generating 24 Station. But one that I really want to emphasize is 25 the baseload generation.
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45 1 At Benton PUD, we are faced with, as many 2 PUDs in the state are faced with, meeting a renewable 3 portfolio standard. And it's difficult because the 4 wind just doesn't blow all the time. And we are 5 really concerned about what the future is going to 6 look like for our generation portfolio. And we really 7 would like to emphasize that it's good to have this 8 resource in our community that is reliable and 9 consistent, and produces a lot of megawatts.
10 I believe you would need about 1,000 wind 11 turbines to produce what Columbia Generating Station 12 produces. So, from a visual pollution point of view, 13 I hike up on Rattlesnake Mountain about three times a 14 week, and I look out at the area. And I can see a few 15 wind turbines over here, and that looks nice. And I 16 can see Columbia Generating Station over here, and 17 that looks nice, but I wouldn't want to see 1,000 wind 18 turbines. I much prefer the small footprint of Energy 19 Northwest, and the baseload that it gives us.
20 And I'd like to say that the ratepayers in 21 Benton County support the continued operation of 22 Columbia Generating Station and the pursuit of the 23 license renewal. Thank you.
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46 1 Mark Loper.
2 MR. LOPER: Can you hear me?
3 MS. FEHST: Okay, go ahead, Mark.
4 MR. LOPER: Thank you. Okay. I have three 5 quick comments. I ask that the risk of using MOX fuel 6 be included in the EIS. I ask that no further actions 7 be taken until the risk of the Fukushima events are 8 fully analyzed, so that we can understand what 9 happened there. And then I ask that until the NRC 10 incorporates necessary new requirements, to wait to 11 take further action and that new information be made 12 easily available to the public at large. Thank you.
13 MS. FEHST: Thank you. That was succinct.
14 Thank you.
15 All right. We'll have the opportunity now 16 for three more speakers from those in the audience.
17 In order of priority here we'll first hear from Larry 18 Haler, State Representative Larry Haler, to be 19 followed by Gerry Pollet, to be followed by Carl 20 Holder. So, those are the next three speakers.
21 First, Larry Haler, Gerry Pollet, and Carl Holder.
22 MR. HALER: Thank you very much. I guess 23 for the record, my name is Larry Haler. I'm State 24 Representative for the Eighth District. I represent 25 the Tri-Cities area, Prosser, Benton City, and West NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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47 1 Richland.
2 I'm here mainly to talk today about what I 3 see and know as the economic benefits of having a 4 nuclear power station, a reliable one such as Energy 5 Northwest has with the Columbia Generating Station.
6 They have a highly skilled workforce of 1,100 people.
7 That's 1,100 people that we need to keep in this 8 community, especially in a time of, I don't want to 9 call this a recession, I think we're in a depression 10 economically nationwide, and I don't think we've 11 accepted that yet.
12 We're losing jobs left and right. We're 13 going to lose 3,500 jobs total by the end of October 14 at the Hanford site, and we need those 1,100 jobs in 15 this community. They're highly skilled people, and it 16 does add to our job base, as well as to our economy 17 because they're out there buying durable goods, which 18 we need to have purchased. And they're also buying 19 homes.
20 Energy Northwest itself creates $440 21 million of economic activity in this area. We need 22 that kind of purchasing power and spending power by 23 Energy Northwest, and by the Station itself, because 24 that does provide us with a great deal of money in 25 this community that we all need.
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48 1 Energy Northwest also supplies a reliable 2 baseload of energy. Somebody just mentioned wind 3 turbines. Wind turbines are only 20 percent 4 efficient, at best, and I know that the west side of 5 the state is constantly looking after building more 6 wind turbines in hopes that we can have more wind over 7 here to turn more wind turbines, but it just doesn't 8 work that way. We need the baseload not only from 9 Energy Northwest and the Columbia Generating Station, 10 but we need it as well from renewal resources from the 11 hydro dams.
12 In general, Energy Northwest is a good 13 neighbor. They have been a good neighbor for 25 14 years, and I would encourage the NRC, as well as this 15 community to support the relicensing of this facility.
16 Thank you very much.
17 MS. FEHST: Thank you. Next, Gerry Pollet, 18 to be followed by Carl Holder.
19 MR. POLLET: Gerry Pollet speaking for 20 Heart of America Northwest. And let me start by 21 saying the relicensing and proposed extension of the 22 operation of the sole commercial reactor in the 23 northwest until 2043 is a major issue of great 24 regional significance and interest. No one can deny 25 that. And, therefore, it is sad that the NRC and the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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49 1 applicant, Energy Northwest, have refused to hold 2 hearings around the region, especially around the 3 State of Washington where the owners of the plant 4 reside, and the people who use the electricity. And 5 we urge you to revisit this question as we've 6 requested, and to hold hearings on the question of 7 extending this reactor's operation to 2043 in Seattle, 8 in Snohomish, Clark, and the other major utility areas 9 that own this reactor.
10 Secondly, we formally request that the NRC 11 extend the comment period on this Environmental Impact 12 Statement until such time as both Energy Northwest --
13 the applicant -- and the Energy Department respond to 14 Public Records Act requests and Freedom of Information 15 Act requests that are essential to allow the public to 16 comment fully on the proposals.
17 There are significant issue areas, 18 particularly the proposed use of plutonium fuel that 19 Energy Northwest has refused to make documents public 20 in regard to, and has informed us that they will not 21 respond to that request in full until a month and a 22 half after the close of the comment period. That's 23 unacceptable. And the NRC, as long as you are 24 conducting a NEPA process and there is an issue in 25 regard to a related proposal, the NRC should be NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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50 1 cognizant of it and say we cannot close the comment 2 period until the information is available from the 3 applicant to the public.
4 Energy Northwest and the Energy Department 5 have a formal proposal to use highly dangerous 6 plutonium fuel in this reactor. It is missing from 7 the Environmental Impact Statement except to 8 acknowledge that you are aware of it.
9 Under the National Environmental Policy 10 Act, the NRC is required to include in the EIS the 11 potential impacts from all related proposals. At this 12 point in time, Energy Northwest, and a sister federal 13 agency, the Energy Department, have entered into 14 agreements, and the Energy Department has entered into 15 work orders with Pacific Northwest Lab and others to 16 study the use of plutonium fuel in the reactor.
17 The Energy Northwest's own technical 18 report distributed after Fukushima, where Reactor 3 19 used plutonium fuel, acknowledged that if Reactor 3 20 had a full load of MOX or plutonium fuel, MOX for 21 mixed oxide fuel, that it might have increased the 22 offsite radiation dose from what is already a horrific 23 accident by 40 percent. The region deserves to have 24 this debated in public, not behind closed doors, not 25 in biased briefings that never mention these risks to NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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51 1 the Energy Northwest Utility Member Boards. And the 2 way to do this is to put it in the EIS with full 3 discussion of the risks.
4 How am I doing on time, Gerri?
5 MS. FEHST: You have about two more 6 minutes. Thank you for asking.
7 MR. POLLET: Thank you. The risks of using 8 plutonium fuel are not only the risks of a severe 9 accident. The proposal is to use the contaminated and 10 dangerous 325 Building at Hanford to make the 11 plutonium fuel, and to assay it.
12 That would lead to creation of more waste 13 at Hanford, and more severe problems. And there is 14 the related issue of transportation of the weapons-15 grade plutonium to be made into the plutonium fuel 16 without any debate here.
17 It used to be when the FFTF reactor was 18 operating and you wanted to move plutonium fuel from 19 the 300 area where it was fabricated to the reactor, 20 you had a helicopter, rocket-propelled grenade guard 21 force to move the fuel three miles. Now we're talking 22 about moving plutonium, weapons-grade plutonium fuel 23 back to the region without any consideration of the 24 security risks, and at what price?
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52 1 the fact that this Environmental Impact Statement 2 draft fails to consider the unique location of the CGS 3 reactor in the middle of the Hanford nuclear 4 reservation. The 325 Building, as an example, is one 5 that will not withstand the same earthquake as it is 6 said -- claimed that CGS will withstand. The high-7 level waste tanks will not withstand that earthquake.
8 There are numerous facilities at Hanford that will not 9 withstand that earthquake, and there isn't any mention 10 or consideration of how you recover, for instance, 11 bringing diesel fuel and do the backup to restore 12 power to the plant, which is vital, as we all have 13 seen in light of Fukushima, when there are numerous 14 nuclear and chemical accidents occurring and releases 15 occurring at the same time from which recovery is 16 attempted at the same time at the Hanford nuclear 17 reservation.
18 We'll be testifying more on the fact that 19 we believe firmly that this EIS fails to consider that 20 the power from this reactor can be replaced by 2023 at 21 low-cost and with great reliability for the region.
22 Thank you. And I want to thank the NRC for making 23 available the phone line. With just five days of 24 notice, I believe 36 people have signed up to be on 25 the phone with just five days of notice. It shows the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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53 1 need for having meetings around the region for the 2 public to be able to address you face-to-face. Thank 3 you.
4 MS. FEHST: Okay. Thank you for your 5 comments. Carl Holder, and then we'll be turning to 6 the phones, and maybe doing three callers in a row.
7 MR. HOLDER: My name is Carl Holder. I'm 8 representing myself, a member of the community, and a 9 taxpayer. I'm an energy consultant, and I believe 10 that the energy from -- the baseload energy from the 11 Columbia Generating Station is a vital part of our 12 community. It represents a terrific economic force 13 not only now, but well into the future. The facility, 14 as I see it and as I read is perfectly sound, should 15 go ahead. It should be approved expeditiously, as to 16 eliminate any doubt.
17 In regard to a potential for the use of 18 different kinds of fuel, there's a terrific process 19 for any type of valuation going forward, and any 20 different fuel than they're using would require an 21 exhaustive research, must be maybe a decade in the 22 future, if at all. So, as far as the use of a 23 different fuel is concerned, I see that as an 24 unnecessary roadblock in going forward.
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54 1 Columbia Generating Station to achieve low-cost power 2 for our region, to be able to work in concert with the 3 river system and with the potential for renewable wind 4 energy. And as many people have noticed, wind energy 5 in this part of the world, it may be 20 percent at 6 best, but I like to say it's either on or off. Our 7 society does not work on energy that is off. We need 8 the baseload energy of the Columbia Generating 9 Station, and thank you for expeditiously moving this 10 forward. Thank you.
11 MS. FEHST: Thank you for your comments.
12 Okay. We'll turn to the phone once again, and 13 the three callers who are next in line, and again just 14 say pass if you are on the line but don't have a 15 comment. But, certainly, when I call your name if you 16 have a comment, please provide it. The three next 17 names are first, Rachel Stierling. Second, Jane 18 Boyajian, and third, Charles Johnson.
19 MS. STIERLING: Hi, this is Rachel 20 Stierling. And I'm going to hold my comments for the 21 7:00 call this evening, but I appreciate you calling 22 on me.
23 MS. FEHST: Thank you. Okay, good. We'll 24 move on to Jane Boyajian. Jane Boyajian, are you 25 there?
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55 1 (No response.)
2 MS. FEHST: Are we on?
3 MR. DOYLE: She's not there.
4 MS. FEHST: Okay. Charles Johnson.
5 MR. JOHNSON: Yes, hello. Can you hear me?
6 MS. FEHST: Yes, we can. Thank you. Go 7 ahead.
8 MR. JOHNSON: I'm Charles Johnson. I'm 9 calling in from Portland, Oregon. I'm on the Board of 10 Columbia Riverkeepers. I'm speaking on my own behalf 11 today.
12 First thing I guess I want to say is that 13 I have to recognize -- all of us who are participating 14 in this hearing need to recognize that this process of 15 NRC relicensing has been going on for several years at 16 this point, and as I understand, that there has not 17 been a single plant applying for relicensing that has 18 not been relicensed. So, I think that's one thing 19 that the NRC needs to be looking at right now, 20 particularly in light of the fact that the Fukushima 21 reactor was considered to be a very safe reactor by 22 the Japanese nuclear authorities up until it had its 23 postal meltdown.
24 And I guess the question that you at the 25 NRC should be asking yourselves is which of these NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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56 1 reactors that you're now rubber stamping and 2 relicensing is -- could be in 30 years, over the next 3 30 years, I should say, the next Fukushima, or the 4 next Chernobyl.
5 Obviously, it wouldn't be a Chernobyl.
6 It's not a Chernobyl design, but you do have some 7 Fukushima type reactors. Several things have already 8 been discussed. And there are similarities to designs 9 between the reactor at Hanford and some of the 10 problematic factors at Fukushima.
11 So, that being said, that's one of the 12 technical arguments, but that is something that I 13 think the NRC should seriously consider, consider 14 these relicensings. And should, in my opinion, delay 15 relicensing this reactor and all other reactors until 16 -- Fukushima, and what scenarios might create a 17 similar situation at one of our reactors. So, I think 18 it's -- particularly when you consider that this plant 19 is licensed through 2023. Where is the fire in 20 relicensing this reactor? It is way premature to be 21 rushing forward relicensing a reactor that still has 22 another 12 years of active license. Particularly, 23 when you consider that none of these reactors were 24 designed initially to last longer than 40 years.
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57 1 be rushing forward? We want a large cadre of reactors 2 way ahead of time, particularly in this case 3 definitely 12 years ahead of time. Particularly with 4 unanswered questions, such as the ones that Gerry 5 raised dealing with plutonium fuel potentially that 6 might be used at the site. The questions of other 7 accidents that may occur at that site. There are 8 questions being raised currently with the plant for 9 the high-level radioactive waste that is being built 10 in the central plateau at Hanford. Questions -- some 11 scientists there believe that there's a possibility of 12 a criticality accident at that plant. What impact 13 would that have upon the operation of Columbia 14 Generating Station? That's a question that you 15 haven't considered, and it's one that you should.
16 Finally, this is not a technical reason 17 for running the plant or not running the plant, but it 18 keeps coming up in the pro side of the argument that 19 this is a firm load plant, baseload plant. By gosh, 20 you need it for that reason. The problem with that 21 argument is that this plant was shut down in May, and 22 just recently was started up again. Nuclear power 23 plants are baseload when they're running, but when 24 they're not running, they're a very large chunk of 25 power that you have to replace. So, there are pluses NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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58 1 and minuses in terms of baseload versus nuclear power 2 plant. And it's not all plus, if you have to put all 3 your eggs in one generating basket, so to speak, 4 because when they periodically have to shut it down 5 for refueling or if there's a problem or if there were 6 an accident that released any radiation whatsoever, 7 that possibly shut the plant down for a long period of 8 time, you have to replace all of that power. So, 9 large generating stations inherently have that 10 particular problem associated with them, and nuclear 11 power plants as well.
12 So, I appreciate the time and the fact 13 that you made it easy for those of us who were able to 14 take time in the afternoon and make a phone call and 15 listen to some testimony over a sticky phone line to 16 testify today, I really do believe that you should be 17 holding hearings throughout the region, particularly 18 in the hometowns of the utilities that own the 19 Columbia Generating Station so that the people who the 20 public utilities -- are the owners of those plants 21 have an opportunity to be able to testify. And I hope 22 that you'll reconsider that decision as you were urged 23 to do by Heart of America Northwest. Thank you very 24 much for your time.
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59 1 for your comment. Let's take one other caller, if 2 she's on the line, she or he, and then we'll turn back 3 to the audience. If there's an M.C. Goldberg on the 4 line and ready to make a comment, we'll take your 5 comment. And then that would be followed by Gary 6 Petersen and Gary Troyer. So, first, M.C. Goldberg on 7 the line. Is there an M.C. Goldberg on the line? Are 8 we okay with the phone?
9 MODERATOR TAMARA: We do not show an M.C.
10 Goldberg on the phone line.
11 MS. FEHST: Okay. All right. Thank you.
12 All right. Is there a -- yes, there is. Gary 13 Petersen. Okay, and please spell your name, and 14 identify the organization you're representing, if any.
15 MR. PETERSEN: Yes. My name is Gary 16 Petersen, P-E-T-E-R-S-E-N. I represent TRIDEC. I'm 17 the Vice President of TRIDEC.
18 Let me just start by saying I believe that 19 I'm very uniquely qualified to speak today. I happen 20 to live and have lived within 10 miles of the plant 21 ever since it was built and started up. I have a 22 daughter, my eldest daughter, who worked out there for 23 a period of time within the plant. If there was 24 anybody who had any concern whatsoever about that 25 reactor you would think it would be the people who NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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60 1 live closest to the reactor. And I have no concern 2 whatsoever.
3 So, I'm speaking on behalf of TRIDEC here.
4 TRIDEC is a community economic development 5 organization that serves both Benton and Franklin 6 Counties. We're designated by the State of Washington 7 as the associate development organization for both 8 counties, and we're also designated by the Department 9 of Energy since 1994 as a community re-use 10 organization for the Hanford site.
11 TRIDEC has about 350 member firms and 12 contracts with local cities, counties, port districts 13 to perform economic development services for the 14 community.
15 Energy Northwest has been a TRIDEC member 16 since the early 1960s. I am here today to speak in 17 favor of Energy Northwest's license renewal 18 application for Columbia Generating Station.
19 The Tri-Cities is the fastest growing 20 region in the state, if not in the country. It 21 continues to be identified as being one of the top ten 22 growing areas in the United States. The Columbia 23 Generating Station produces 1,157 megawatts of power.
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61 1 power. The license is a key to meeting the region's 2 current and future electric needs, and it's equally 3 important that Columbia Generating Station represents 4 one of the lowest cost, baseload clean energy options 5 available, zero greenhouse gas emissions.
6 From an environmental perspective, Energy 7 Northwest has operated Columbia in a manner that 8 protects the public's health and safety. I should 9 know, I live within 10 miles of the plant. And is a 10 responsible steward of the surrounding environment.
11 We support the NRC's preliminary recommendation that 12 Columbia does not have any environmental impacts that 13 would preclude the option of granting a license 14 extension for an additional 20 years.
15 Finally, Columbia is an important 16 employer, as Larry Haler has said, with over 1,100 17 highly skilled employees. At a time when we're seeing 18 a downturn in employment at the Hanford site each of 19 these jobs becomes critically important to us.
20 Finally, I close, unfortunately you've 21 heard a hypothesis of potential use of MOX fuel.
22 Before anybody examines that closely, I think they 23 better identify that it's real or not real. And at 24 this moment, I don't believe it's real. Thank you.
25 MS. FEHST: Thank you. Gary Troyer.
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62 1 MR. TROYER: Thank you. I'm Gary Troyer, 2 T-R-O-Y-E-R. I'm with the American Nuclear Society 3 Eastern Washington section.
4 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is 5 chartered with overseeing the technical and 6 operational safety of the U.S. nuclear power units.
7 This Agency is responsible worldwide for its work, is 8 respected worldwide for its work in ensuring safe 9 designs and operation. The Columbia Generating 10 Station of Energy Northwest is an example of those 11 efforts resulting in sustainable, reliable, 12 dispatchable, and economical electric energy for 13 regional users.
14 Renewing the operating license is 15 supported by the Eastern Washington section of the 16 American Nuclear Society. This essential resource, 17 Columbia Generating Station, ensures that region 18 continues an abundance of baseload electrical energy.
19 Lack of renewal would require replacement with higher 20 cost energy sources, including a mix of carbon fuel 21 supplies, which is currently unnecessary.
22 With reliability and capacity factors for 23 scheduled operation approaching 100 percent, the 24 Columbia Generating Station is our region's best 25 supplement to hydropower. Therefore, we fully endorse NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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63 1 renewal of the operating license for Columbia 2 Generating Station.
3 I'd also like to address the MOX issue. I 4 don't know of very many light water reactors in the 5 United States that don't have that in their core at 6 this time. We realize that the process of burning 7 uranium generates a little bit of plutonium. The 8 uranium is mixed, is oxide fuel; therefore, we have 9 mixed oxide. It's safe, it works. It will be tested 10 when we up the percentage rates. It's a way of 11 disposing of plutonium that is in excess.
12 Further, if we look at dispatchable and 13 reliability, we know that currently the Bonneville 14 Power Administration has about 3,100 megawatts of wind 15 power on line. The day before yesterday that was 16 zero, it was unpredicted. On the other hand, Columbia 17 Generating Station works in concert with the 18 hydropower. They go down when the rivers are high; 19 they come up when the rivers are low. Thank you.
20 MS. FEHST: Thank you for your comment.
21 We'll turn back to the phone, and just see if Jane 22 Boyajian has possibly returned to the line.
23 (No response.)
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64 1 been called on yet?
2 MODERATOR TAMARA: We do have Bella Berlly.
3 You line is open.
4 MS. FEHST: Okay. Caller, when you make 5 your comment, could you please identify yourself by 6 name, spell your last name, first and last name for 7 the reporter, and also if you're representing any 8 organization, please identify that. Thanks. Go 9 ahead.
10 MS. BERLLY: Thank you. My name is Bella, 11 spelled B-E-L-L-A (Telephonic interference).
12 MS. FEHST: Okay. Excuse me, caller.
13 We're having a little trouble. You're kind of 14 breaking up, and I think the reporter is having a 15 little trouble getting the spelling. Could you 16 perhaps slow down a little bit just to see if that 17 would help with the transcription, and maybe we'll 18 remedy what the problem is? If you --
19 MS. BERLLY: Well, like many of the other 20 callers have mentioned, I am also having technical 21 problems. I hear feedback and several voices echoing.
22 My last name is spelled B-E-R-L-L-Y. Did you hear 23 that?
24 MS. FEHST: Yes. Yes, we can. Thank you.
25 Yes, we can. Thank you.
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65 1 MS. BERLLY: Thank you. I am a private 2 citizen in (Telephonic interference). Before rubber 3 stamping the renewal, I strongly urge the NRC to hold 4 public hearings (Telephonic interference) Fukushima 5 type event at the Hanford plant.
6 An investigation by the Associated Press 7 has found that federal regulators have been repeatedly 8 weakening safety standards so that the nuclear power 9 industry can keep the nation's aging reactors 10 operating (Telephonic interference) when simply 11 failing to enforce the safety standards. Energy 12 Northwest, which runs the region's only commercial 13 nuclear reactor located at Hanford, has been secretly 14 planning to use the savings from plutonium fuel as was 15 used in Fukushima in Reactor 3, which has a great risk 16 of radiation leakage, as we all know.
17 Energy Northwest (Telephonic interference) 18 representing our local utilities were not required to 19 submit documents admitting that offsite radiation 20 doses would be higher from plutonium fuel and the 21 likelihood of an accident will increase. (Telephonic 22 interference) use contaminated buildings in Hanford's 23 300 area to fabricate plutonium fuel and create even 24 more waste instead of cleaning up the contaminated 25 area along the Columbia River.
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66 1 The Environmental Impact Statement on 2 relicensing the plant to run until 2043 ignored that.
3 I'd like to insist that the risks of using this fuel 4 be disclosed in the EIS (Telephonic interference) 5 needs to one, disclose and consider the impact 6 (Telephonic interference) as of September 2011, 7 including how it's even possible Energy Northwest will 8 ensure that (Telephonic interference) of the next 50 9 years.
10 Two, stop licensing until we learn what 11 was damaged and why at the Fukushima reactor, and that 12 NRC incorporates new -- and until the NRC incorporates 13 new safety requirements. Three, think about the 14 unique location of the reactor at Hanford nuclear 15 reservation. The NRC should require this on the EIS 16 portion and consider the impact if there is an 17 explosion, fire, or earthquake releasing radiation 18 from Hanford facilities preventing operation of the 19 CGS reactor, or recovery from (Telephonic 20 interference).
21 Hanford's high-level waste tanks and 22 highly contaminated buildings (Telephonic 23 interference) the Energy Northwest proposal to use the 24 plutonium fuel (Telephonic interference) possible.
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67 1 a swimming pool above the reactor vessel, the same 2 design that proved so dangerous at Fukushima. We urge 3 removal to hardened concrete casks. Number five, the 4 low-level waste from this reactor goes to the 5 commercial radioactive waste landfill in the center of 6 Hanford. The chemical and radioactive leak has 7 already been projected to be high enough to cause 5 8 percent (Telephonic interference).
9 Thank you for taking my comments.
10 MS. FEHST: Well, thank you for providing 11 them. We appreciate it.
12 Are there any other callers on the line 13 who would like to make a comment?
14 MODERATOR TAMARA: Next, Hafiz Heartsun.
15 Your line is open.
16 MR. HEARTSUN: Hello.
17 MS. FEHST: All right. Yes, we can hear 18 you caller, which is good. And I would just like to 19 remind you to state your first and last name, and 20 spell the last name please for the record. And if 21 you're speaking on behalf of an organization, please 22 identify that organization. Thanks. Go ahead.
23 MR. HEARTSUN: Okay. My name is Hafiz 24 Heartsun, that's H-E-A-R-T-S-U-N, and I'm speaking as 25 an individual.
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68 1 MS. FEHST: Could you spell your first 2 name, please?
3 MR. HEARTSUN: H-A-F-I-Z.
4 MS. FEHST: Okay, thank you. Go ahead.
5 MR. HEARTSUN: Okay. I've been to a 6 meeting at Hood River about Hanford, and I'm 7 disappointed that it's not being held there, and we 8 have to go through this conference call. And I got 9 dropped from the line; I was not able to hear the 10 presentation at the beginning. I did hear one man 11 comment at the end that he was involved in the 12 construction of the plant, and he feels confident that 13 it's built really well.
14 I encourage that remark, but I also want 15 to point out that this confidence does not override 16 the laws of physics, the inevitability of human error, 17 or extreme natural events. Similarly confident 18 individuals built Fukushima, Chernobyl, Three Mile 19 Island, as well as the Challenger Space Shuttle, 20 Apollo 13, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, and the people 21 who set up this conference call. There have been any 22 number of failed engineering endeavors, and they will 23 continue to happen. It is hopeful to strive to 24 overcome failure but it's foolish to believe that it 25 can be entirely eliminated. It will continue to NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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69 1 happen, and no one can predict how or when, or what 2 exactly they will be. There will continue to be 3 deaths and (Telephonic interference). However, this 4 inevitability is not an excuse for government or 5 corporate denial of their responsibility.
6 Radioactivity poses a unique challenge 7 that it creates power plants which explode and 8 distribute toxic materials over vast areas and can 9 create dead zones, such as around Chernobyl and 10 Fukushima.
11 My comment is that it's obvious to me that 12 the danger of failure in this case far outweighs the 13 advantages of nuclear power. I also take issue with 14 the notion that nuclear power is economical. This 15 view does not take into account decommissioning costs 16 of all of these plants. The cleanup of catastrophic 17 disasters which have happened and will happen in the 18 future. Still unresolved waste disposal issue shows 19 no sign of being resolved at all.
20 I also take issue with the idea that 21 nuclear power is green. It is carbon free, it's also 22 calorie free. This superficial green-ness masks the 23 blackness, high-level radioactive waste. Part of the 24 designed fuel cycle and the possibility of accidental 25 or catastrophic releases. Nuclear power can be NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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70 1 construed to be superior to coal, or wind, or solar by 2 comparing certain statistics, but does not make 3 nuclear clean. The advantage nuclear power does have 4 is a powerful political lobby and a corporate call to 5 the media and legislation (Telephonic interference) 6 continued profit.
7 Other technologies are lagging behind 8 nuclear in their ability to provide adequate 9 electricity because research and development funds 10 were slashed when Reagan took the solar panels off the 11 White House in 1980, so we need to catch up and phase 12 over to less toxic, dangerous forms of power 13 generation and not put our eggs in a nuclear basket 14 and arrogantly believe that a Fukushima, Chernobyl 15 cannot happen.
16 I'm also concerned like the previous 17 caller about the report that I heard of NRC's safety 18 standards in order to so-call safely relicense nuclear 19 power plants. This making nuclear power less 20 expensive short-term, and an increased likelihood of 21 accidents short-term.
22 Comment on the local Richland citizens 23 which have commented in favor of Hanford's nuclear 24 power generation. I fully agree with what you're 25 saying. It's wonderful that it's providing employment NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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71 1 for the community, and that they have been very safe 2 up to this point and very kind to the community with 3 apparently minimal radioactive releases that have not 4 created a notable spike, although I do know of 5 individuals who do have thyroid cancer from living in 6 the area.
7 Regardless, the past experience of them 8 being safe does not ensure safety in the future, and I 9 urge you to consider that there is a toxic bomb, 10 really. It is a controlled nuclear explosion 11 happening that if gotten out of control will 12 contaminate your home, like has happened at Fukushima 13 and Chernobyl, and there is no way a human can 14 guarantee that will not happen. So, you know, 15 mistakes can happen, and it would be much better if 16 there was a dam in the river there getting hydro 17 electricity, much safer. When a hydro electric plant 18 fails, the place is not contaminated for centuries.
19 Thank you.
20 MS. FEHST: Okay. Thank you, caller. I 21 think I'll turn back to the floor to see if we have 22 any audience members who have not submitted cards 23 whose names I don't have yet. Is there anyone here in 24 the room who has a comment they'd like to make this 25 afternoon? Okay. It looks like we're finished here NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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72 1 in the main room. But let me turn back to the callers 2 and just see if there's anyone on the line who hasn't 3 had a chance to give their comment this afternoon. Is 4 there anyone who would still like to make a comment?
5 MODERATOR TAMARA: Karen Axell, your line 6 is open.
7 MS. FEHST: Okay. Caller, if you could 8 repeat your name again, and if you are with an 9 organization, identify that organization. And when 10 you give your name, please spell the first and last 11 name. The first time you came on, the call was kind 12 of breaking up, so whatever you could do to make the 13 call come through better.
14 MS. AXELL: Sure, can you hear me?
15 MS. FEHST: Yes, that's great.
16 MS. AXELL: Very good. My name is Karen 17 Axell, that's A-X-E-L-L, and I live in Vancouver, 18 Washington. And I want to echo the previous comment 19 on the weakening safety standards for the NRC and the 20 proposed EIS should make an analysis of all the 21 dangers and impact of proposals and implications 22 available to the public for public comment, especially 23 in regard to plutonium.
24 It should disclose all unresolved safety 25 issues. You should stop the relicensing process until NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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73 1 the Fukushima accident is analyzed as to exactly what 2 was damaged there and why. You must take into account 3 the location of Hanford in regard to possible fire, 4 earthquake, explosion hazard, dangers to the region, 5 land and groundwater.
6 I urge the removal of the spent fuel to 7 hardened concrete casks. You must address the 8 disposal of the radioactive waste from the site. And 9 I echo everyone who has said that you should be 10 holding these hearings in other places in the region, 11 especially where the public utilities are holding 12 partial ownership of the reactor. Thank you very 13 much.
14 MS. FEHST: Okay. Thank you for your 15 comment. Are there any other callers on the line?
16 MODERATOR TAMARA: We do have Colm Brennan.
17 Your line is open.
18 MR. BRENNAN: Yes. My name is Colm 19 Brennan, C-O-L-M B-R-E-N-N-A-N. I live in Beaverton, 20 Oregon. I'm with the Alliance for Democracy, Oregon 21 Chapter. I believe that the power plant should not be 22 relicensed like all the other callers have said until 23 we resolve these safety problems that have been 24 formally identified by the NRC Staff.
25 And, also, to address the issue of NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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74 1 plutonium fuel, which if the Fukushima plant had been 2 fully loaded with plutonium fuel, 40 percent greater 3 radiation would have possibly leaked into the 4 atmosphere. And I believe also that when we're 5 dealing with situations as dangerous as we have, that 6 the public should be made aware of what is going on, 7 and there should be more public meetings and 8 information for people to comment and make their 9 voices well known on this issue. And that's all I 10 have to say on behalf of the Alliance for Democracy.
11 Thank you very much.
12 MS. FEHST: Thank you for your comment.
13 Are there any other callers who would like to make a 14 comment this afternoon?
15 MODERATOR TAMARA: We show no more comments 16 or questions.
17 MS. FEHST: Okay. It appears that we have 18 finished with the comment period. There will be 19 another meeting this evening, open house from 6:00 to 20 7:00, and the meeting will officially begin at 7:00.
21 On behalf of the NRC, we'd like to thank 22 you all for coming, for your attention, for your 23 respectful attention to everybody's remarks, and also 24 for some very well thought out comments. We 25 appreciate that.
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75 1 This is not your only opportunity to 2 provide your comments. You can do so online and by 3 U.S. mail. And, of course, all the contact 4 information is up on the slide up on the screen. And 5 we look forward to hearing from you by November 16th.
6 November 16th is the filing deadline for comments.
7 We will -- the NRC will review all the 8 comments that have come in today, and provide a 9 response to all substantive comments in the Final 10 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, the SEIS, 11 and immediately following this meeting, NRC Staff will 12 be available for a little while if any of you who are 13 here would like to talk one-on-one with some of the 14 people from the NRC who are here.
15 And I want to thank you again for your 16 comments, and for taking your time, and also for 17 adhering to the time frame. And, most of all, for 18 such a respectful audience with regard to your fellow 19 audience members. Thank you.
20 (Whereupon, the proceedings went off the 21 record at 3:58 p.m.)
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