ML013200181

Correspondence from Paul Gunter Submitting the Declaration of David Lochbaum, Union of Concerned Scientists, in Support of the Telephone Conference Call for November 7, 2001

ML013200181
Person / Time
Site:	Mcguire, Catawba, McGuire
Issue date:	11/06/2001
From:	Gunter P Nuclear Information & Resource Service (NIRS)
To:	Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
SECY RAS
References
50-369-LR, 50-370-LR, 50-413-LR, 50-414-LR, ASLBP 02-794-01-LR, RAS 3575
Download: ML013200181 (7)

Text

11-86-81 15:56 NIRS ID=282 462 2183 P82 DOCKETED USNRC UNITED STATES OF AMERICA November 15,2001 (11:17AM)

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF SECRETARY RULEMAKINGS AND ATOMIC SAFETY ANX) LICENSING BOARD PANEL ADJUDICATIONS STAFF Before Administrative Judges:

Ann Marshall Young,Chair Dr. Charles N. Kelber Lester S. Rubenstein Zn the Matter of: 1 Docket Nos. 50-369 1 50-370 Duke Energy Corporation ) 50-4 13 1 50-414 (McGuire Units I and 2, and November 06,2001 Catawba Units I and 2)

Nuclear Information and Resource Service Submission of The Declaration of David Lochbaum, Union of Concerned Scientists, In Support of theTelephone Conference Call for November 07,2001Regarding NIRS Request for Extension of Schedule for Submission of Contentions The following Declaration is respectfully submitted in reference to the teIephone conference call with the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board established for November

07. 200 1.

Paul Gunter Nuclear Information and Resource Service 1424 1 6 Street

~ NW Suite 404 Washington. DC 20036 Tel. 202-328-0002

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11-86-81 1 5 : 5 6 NIRS ID=282 462 2183 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD PANEL Before Adrninisbative Judges:

AM Marshdl Young, Chair Dr. Charles N. Kelber Lester S. Rubensrein In the Matter oE 1 Docket Nos. 50-369 1 50-370 Duke Energy Corporation 1 50413 1 50414 (McGuire Units 1 and 2,and 1 Catawba Units 1 and 2) 1 November 06,2001 CERTTFJCATE OF SERVICE I hereby c e d e that copies of "The Declaration of David Lochbaurn, NucIear Safety Engineer, Union of Concerned Scientists, Regarding Availability of Public Documents As Relared To thc Proposed Renewal ofthe Catawba and McGllirc Nuclear Station Operating Licenses " in the captioned proceeding have been sewed on the following.by FAX and deposit in the United States mail, first class, this Sixth day oENovcmber 2001.

The Honomble Ann Marshall Young Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel U.S.Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Commission Appellare Washington, DC 20555 Adjudication AMY@nrc.gov U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission x 415-5599 F ~ 301 Washington,DC 20555 Adjudicato~yfile The Honorable Lester S. Rubenstein Fax 301-415-3200 Att: John Cordes Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel U.S.Nuclear Rey1,atory Commission 'Susan L. Uual, Esq.

Washington, DC 20555 Antonio Fernandez Lesm@insn.com Officeof rhe General Counsel Fax 301-415-5599 US.NucIear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 The Bollorable Charles N. Kelber (e-mail: s I u ~ c . g o v )

Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel ]Fa 301415-1582 U.S. Nuckar Regulatory Commission Washingon, DC 20555 Janet Marsh Zeller, Executive Director r&K@nrc.gw Blue Ridge Enviromnental Defense League Fax 301415-5599 P.O.Box 88 Glendale Springs, NC 28629 Office of the Secretary (e-mad: B.EDL@skyb,.st.com)

U.S. Nuckar Regulato~yCoinmission Fax 336-982-2954 Washingon, DC 20555 A m : Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff (e-mail: l d E A & N D ! a @ m - g Q l : )

Fax 301415-1101

11-86-81 15:57 N I R S David A. Repka Course1 for Duke Energy Corporation Winston & Strawn 1400 L Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20005 E-Mail: &q&t@!n$ton.com Fax 2023713950 Paul Gunfer I

Nuclear I~formation d Resource Service Dated at WashingtonTistrict of Co1u1nbia this 1st day of Novem9er 2001

11-86-81 15:57 NIRS ID=282 462 2183 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMXSISON ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD Before Administrative Judge:

Ann Marshall Young, Presiding Officer In the Matter of Docket Numbers. 50-369-LR and 50-370-LR DUKE ENERGY CORPORATION and 50-413-LR and 50-414-LR (Catawba NucIear Station Units 1 and 2 and McGuire Nuclear Station Units 1 and 2)

November 6,2001

'DECLARATIONOF DAVID A. LOCICIISAUM, NUCLEAR SAFETY ENGINEER, UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS, REGARDING AVAILABILITY OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS AS RELATED TO THE PROPOSED RENEWAL OF THE C A T A W A AND MCGUIRE NUCLEAR STATION OPERATING LICENSES I, David A. Lochbaum, make the following declaration:

1. M y name is David A. Lochbaum. I reside in the state of Maryland.

2. I am employed by the Union of Concerned Scientists as their nuclear safety engineer.

I have been so employed since October 1996. The Union of Concerned Scientists, with offices located at 1707 H Street NW Suite 600, Washington, DC 20006, is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing responsible public policies in areas where technology plays a criticaI role.

3. I have the following responsibilities at UCS: a) direct and coordinate nuclear safety program; b) monitor developments in nuclear industry to assess and respond to impact; c) serve as technical authority and spokesperson on nuclear issues; and d) initiate legal action to correct safety problems.

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11-86-81 15:57 N I R S ID=282 462 2183 P86 Declaration of David A. Lochbaum, Nuclear Safety Engineer Page 2

4. I graduated in June 1979 from The University of Tennessee with a bachelor of science degree in nuclear engineering.

5. After receiving my nuclear engineering degree, I went to work for the Georgia Power Company as a junior engineer at their Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Power Plant I held various positions in the commercial nuclear power indusfry for over 17 years prior to joining UCS.

6. I am the author of Nuclear W a r e Disposal Crisis (Pennwell Books, Tulsa, January 1996) on the technical problems with spent fuel storage at reactor sites and numerous reports for UCS on nuclear safety issues.

7. I have prepared and submitted several petitions under 10 CFR 2.206 to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on behalf of UCS which required research comparable to that required of NlRS in this proceeding.

8. I am a member of the NRC's ADAMS Users Group, formed by the agency to facilitate improvements to the Agency-wide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS).

9. 1 am a frequent user of the NRC's website. The consultants hired by the NRC to redesign its website met with me last year to solicit my input on the materials used most frequently. Commissioner Jeffiey S. Menifield m g e d from me to "test-drive" the NRC's proposed redesigned website. At his request, 1 met with Commissioner Merrifield and his staff along with Commissioner McGaffigan on August 2, 2001,'to discuss my comments on the website. At that meeting, Ms. Fran Goldberg of the NRC staff described several of the changes to the redesigned website that had been made because of my comments.

10. At the request of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), 1 prepared this declaration to document my assessment of the problems confronting members of the public and public interest groups caused by the actions taken by the NRC following the attacks of September 11". Specifically, these actions were closing down the agency's website on or about October lothh, restoring a limited website (hereafter referred to as Weblite) on or about October 1 7 ' ~and ~ limitations on access to materials in the NRC Public Document Room. NIRS asked me to assess the impact of these NRC actions on their ability to intervene in the subject proceeding.

9. I am not questioning the NRC's dccision to restrict public access to information pending review in light of September llb. I have advocated that NRC suspend all licensing activities until its review was completed and public access--even at a modified level-restored.

11-66-61 15:57 NIRS ID=282 462 2183 Declaration of David A. Lochbaum, Nuclear Safe9 Engineer Page 3

11. It is my professional opinion that the actions taken by the NRC following the attacks of September 11' significantly impede NIRS in this proceeding. I base this conclusion on the following facts:

a) Daily Event Reports @ERs) were available on the NRC's website but they are not available Weblite or in ADAMS. DERs are reports to the NRC from its licensees made in accordance with 10 CFR 50.72/50.73. DERs may be followed by the formal submission to the NRC of Licensee Event Reports (LERs). LERs were not available on either the NRC's website or WebIite, but are available in ADAMS. DERs not being on the Weblite makes it more difficult to search for relevant experience. The LERs in ADAMS only go back to November 1999.

LERs prior to November 1999 must be Iocated using the agency's Bibliographic Retrieval Service (BRS). BRS is essentially a computerized index of the microfilm records available from the Public Document Room. The BRS index allows searches by fields such as docket number, document title, keywords, and date (or date range). BRS does not allow searches of content within documents as allowed in ADAMS. The NRC's website allowed searches of content within DERs. I have downloaded DER files since I joined UCS in 1996. I can use the advanced search function of MicrosofifMWord to find specific content wirhin the DER files. But content searches can only be made when the DERs are publicIy available. Absent the DERs, NIRS must perform crude searches of BRS for LERs prior to November 1999- NTRS is impeded because they must (i) review more LERs than would be necessary with an effective search routine and (ii) miss relevant LERs that would have been discovered with an effective search routine.

b) Generic correspondence (i.e., NRC Bulletins, Circulars, and Information Notices) were available on the NRC's website but they are not available on Weblite or in ADAMS. h our 2.206 petition dated April 5, 1998, and submitted to the NRC, UCS pointed out:

TVA has an operating Iicense for [Browns Ferry] Unit 1, but the facility has not been operated since March 1985 and has been on administrative hold since June 1, 1985. The NRC has issued approximately 39 bulletins, 141 generic letters, and 1,047 information notices to its licensees while Unit 1 has been on administrative hold.

The NRC issued more than one thousand information notices between June 1, 1985, and April 5, 1998. None of these documents are available on the NRCs Weblite. 1searched ADAMS on November 6 , 2001, and found a grand total of thirty three (33) information notices in ADAMS-the oldest having a date of March 6, 2000. Thus, none of the 1,047 information notices cited by UCS in our 2.206 petition of April 5, 1998, are available to NIRS via ADAMS or Weblite. As described above, NIRS is impeded by being forced to use BRS to search for relevant information in NRC's generic communications.

11-86-81 15:58 N I R S ID1282 462 2183 Declaration of David A. Lochbaum, Nuclear Safety Engineer Page 4 c) The NRC's hpection Manual was available on the NRC's website but it is not available on Weblite. Revisions and updates to the Inspection Manual since November 1999 are available in ADAMS. A hard copy of the Inspection Manual is available for viewing in rhe NRCrsPublic Document Room within One White Flint N ~ f between i the hours of 7:45am and 4:lSpm Monday through Friday.

Because the bulk of the effort in this proceeding is being handled out of NlRS Southeast office in Asheville, North Carolina, the NRC's elimination of its Inspection Manual fiom Weblite impedes NIRS' use of this material. I would hope that the NRC staff would not contend that its Inspection Manual is immaterial.

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

Exccuted November 6,200 1 r1 David A. Lochbaum Union o f Concerned Scientists 1707 H Skeet NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20006 (202) 223-6133