ML15083A538
| ML15083A538 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | LaSalle  |
| Issue date: | 03/10/2015 |
| From: | NRC/OCM |
| To: | |
| Drucker D M | |
| References | |
| NRC-1423 | |
| Download: ML15083A538 (63) | |
Text
Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Title: Public Meeting RE License Renewal Application of LaSalle, Units 1 and 2: Afternoon Session
Docket Number: 50-373 and 50-374
Location: Ottawa, Illinois Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Work Order No.: NRC-1423 Pages 1-63
NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC. Court Reporters and Transcribers 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 234-4433
1 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
+ + + + +
PUBLIC MEETING RE LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION FOR LASALLE, UNITS 1 AND 2 AFTERNOON SESSION
+ + + + +
TUESDAY MARCH 10, 2015
+ + + + +
LASALLE COUNTY EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER 711 EAST ETNA ROAD OTTAWA, ILLINOIS
+ + + + +
The above-entitled matter commenced at 2:00 p.m., pursuant to Notice, before David Drucker, Senior Project Manager.
2 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 PRESENT:
NRC STAFF:
Bob Hagar, Facilitator
Region IV - Division of Reactor Projects
1600 E. Lamar Blvd.
Arlington, Texas 76011-4511
(817) 200-1546
Jeffrey Mitchell, Project Manager
David Drucker, Senior Project Manager
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Division of License Renewal
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555
3 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433
P R O C E E D I N G S (2:00 p.m.)
MR. HAGAR: All right, this is a meeting being called by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or
the NRC, to discuss the license renewal application for
the LaSalle County Station, license renewal application environmental review for the LaSalle County Station. My name is Bob Hagar. I'm a member of the NRC's facilitation corps. And in this meeting, my role has three parts. First of all, I'm going to try to help this meeting run smoothly. Second, I'm going to make
sure that everybody who has something to say in this
meeting has an opportunity so say it without interruption. And the third thing is I'm going to keep
us on schedule.
I'm going to do my best to make this meeting work well for everyone who's here. And I hope that
you'll help me do that. There's a few details about the meeting that I want to cover before we really get into it. Is this on? Okay. There we go. First of all, I
think everybody knows that Exelon has applied to renew
the LaSalle County Station operating licenses for both 4 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 units. The NRC is reviewing that application, and a copy of the application is out there on the table in
the hallway. They're going to review the environmental impacts of license renewal, and the NRC wants input from the public, from you, to focus their reviews. Now, this meeting's going to have three parts. The introduction
part is what we're doing right now.
After we're done, then the NRC's going to give a presentation that talks about the license renewal process with a focus on the environmental impact review. So that's what that presentation is about. Following
that, we'll have questions and answers about the
presentation materials because it's very important that the public understand what the NRC has to say.
And after we're done with the questions and answers, then we'll have public comments. Again, the
purpose of this meeting is to get public comments to help the NRC focus their environmental impact reviews. Now, a few details about the meeting, though. This meeting
is being recorded, because the NRC's got to produce a
transcript of this meeting.
And in order for the recording to be complete and accurate, we've got to make sure, we've got 5 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 to set up some ground rules. So one ground rule is we want you to always speak into a microphone. When it
comes time for you to speak, I will either bring a microphone to you, or I'll ask you to come up and speak into a microphone. And, of course, the speakers will
be speaking into a microphone, as well.
The first time you speak, you want to identify yourself. And if you represent a group, we'd like you identify what group you represent. And if you
have an unusual name, or an unusual spelling for your
name, we'd like you to also spell your name so that the court reporter gets it right. We need to minimize
background noise, avoid side conversations and that, because if two people are speaking on the recording, and the recording picks up two people speaking at the same time, we can't tell what either one of them said. So
minimize the background noise.
And finally, if you would please silence your personal electronics if you haven't done that already. Silence your cell phone and anything else you've got with you. Now I know that many of you can't
afford to disconnect yourself from the rest of the world for this meeting. So that's okay, but please keep you phone on silent. And if you need to take a call, please 6 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 step out in the hallway, so that your conversation doesn't become part of the permanent record. Any
questions about the ground rules? Is that okay with
everybody?
Okay, let's see if there's anything else I've forgotten. Now, I also want to tell you that
several people may be participating in this meeting by the phone lines. So, operator, could you tell us now
how many people are on the lines?
OPERATOR: We currently have three people. MR. HAGAR: So we have three people participating on the phone. So when it comes time for
the public, for you to provide input, either question
and answers or comments, we'll collect the input from
the people present first, and then we'll switch over to the phone line. So I wanted everybody to be aware of
that. Now when you signed in today, you may have noted the yellow cards like this. If you speak, we
really need your name on a yellow card so we'll have an
accurate list of the speakers, and so we'll spell your name properly. And if you decide to speak, and haven't filled out a yellow card, let me know. I can get a
yellow card to you during the meeting.
7 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 And if you're on the phone and want to speak, please ensure that when you speak you clearly
state your name and spell your name and the organization you represent. Be sure and spell your name. Because
we obviously don't have yellow cards for you, so we don't know how you spell your name. And also, on the edge of the table in the hallway is a stack of meeting feedback forms. So at the end of the meeting, we'd ask each of you to pick up a
feedback form, and fill it out, and either give it to
an NRC staff member, or drop it in the mail sometime in the future because it's postage paid. And your
assessment of how today's meeting went will help us
improve future meetings. So please take a moment to let us know what you think.
I want to remind everybody the restrooms are in the hallway just to your left. And if we should have to evacuate this building, the doors at the back
of the room are the way we will move out and assemble
in the parking lot out there. Do you have any questions about anything I've covered?
All right, I'm going to turn the meeting now over to Jeff Mitchell. He's the safety project manager for the NRC's review of LaSalle County license renewal 8 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 application. And I'll be back when we get to the second part of the meeting. And if you have any questions
about the material that's covered, please hold those
questions until we get to the second part. MR. MITCHELL: Okay, can everyone hear me okay, are the lines okay? Thank you. Good afternoon.
My name is Jeff Mitchell, and I'm a safety project
manager in the division of license renewal. And I'm
coordinating the staff's review associated with the
LaSalle County Station license renewal application on the safety side. Thank you all for taking the time to
come to this meeting.
I'd like to introduce the following Nuclear Regulatory Commission representative in attendance to support this meeting. Chris Miller is the director of the division of license renewal. Brian Wittick is the
branch chief in the division of license renewal. David Drucker is the environmental project manager. He'll be speaking next.
Rob Ruiz is the senior resident inspector, and not able to be here this afternoon. But John
Robbins is the second resident inspector at LaSalle
Count Station. And then Harold --
MR. LOGARAS: Harold Logaras.
9 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 MR. MITCHELL: -- Logaras is with the Region.
Mr. LOGARAS: Government liaison.
MR. MITCHELL: Okay. And anybody else that I missed that I should be introducing from the NRC.
Okay. Today we'll provide an overview of the license
renewal review process, that includes both a safety review and an environmental review. Now, we'll
describe ways in which the public can participate in the LaSalle license review process.
I'd like to reiterate that the most important part of today's meeting is to receive any
comments that you may have about the scope of the environmental review. We'll also give you some
information about how you can submit comments if you prefer not to speak at this meeting. I hope the
information we provide will help you understand the
license renewal review process a little bit better, and
how you can have input into this process.
Before I get into the specifics about the license review, license renewal review process, I'd
like to take a minute to talk about the NRC and our mission and our background. The NRC is a Federal agency. We regulate the civilian use of nuclear 10 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 material. The Atomic Energy Act authorizes the NRC to grant a 40-year operating license for nuclear power
reactors.
And I'd like to highlight that this 40-year term was based, primarily, on economic and anti-trust
considerations, and not on safety or technical
limitations. The Atomic Energy Act also allows for the renewal of licenses. The National Environmental
Policy Act established the national policy for
considering the impact of Federal decision making on the human environment. David Drucker will discuss NEPA in
greater detail later on in this briefing. The NRC's mission is three-fold. We ensure the adequate protection of public health and
safety, promote the common defense and security, and to protect the environment. The NRC accomplishes its
mission through a combination of regulatory programs
and processes, such as establishing rules, assessing license performance, and issuing enforcement actions.
We also evaluate operating experience from nuclear power plants across the country, and also
internationally. The NRC has resident inspectors at
all operating nuclear power plants. That's Rob Ruiz and John Robbins for LaSalle. These inspectors are 11 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 considered the eyes and ears of the NRC. They carry out our safety mission on a daily basis, and are on the front lines of ensuring acceptable safety performance and
compliance with nuclear requirements.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission received Exelon's application for license renewal of the LaSalle County Station on December 9, 2014, requesting an additional 20 years of operations. As you can see, the
current operating licenses for Units 1 and 2 expire in
2022 and 2023, respectively.
Licensees can submit an application for license renewal after it has operated for 20 years. The NRC has determined that this 20-year period of operation provides enough information for the staff to make an
informed decision on license renewal.
The first step in the license renewal process is to perform an acceptance and sufficiency review of the application. The purpose of this review
is to determine if the applicant has provided the required information in the application. Required
information includes technical information about plan structures and components, and how the applicant poses to manage the aging of its structures and components.
The technical specifications that define 12 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 the operating parameters of the plan. The application indicates if any changes or additions to the technical
specifications are necessary to manage the affects of aging during a period of extended operation. The
application also includes an environmental report, which is the applicant's assessment of the
environmental impacts of continued operation.
If the applicant has provided all the required information, it is considered acceptable to the NRC, and the staff will perform or commence the performance of a full review of the application. This
flow chart highlights the license renewal, or
highlights that the license renewal process involves
two parallel reviews.
The safety review, you'll see on the upper branch, and also the environmental review that takes the lower branch. These are parallel reviews. These two
reviews evaluate the separate aspects of a license renewal application. It also features three other
considerations in the Commission's decision of whether
or not to renew an operating license.
One of those considerations is the independent review performed by the advisory committee
on reactor safeguards, commonly referred to by its 13 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 acronym, the ACRS. Statutorily mandated by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, the ACRS is a group of scientists
and nuclear safety experts who serve as a consulting body to the Commission. The ACRS reviews the license
renewal application, the NRC staff's safety evaluation and inspection findings. The ACRS reports their
findings and recommendations directly to the
commission.
The dotted lines show that hearings may also be conducted if interested stakeholders submit
concerns or contingents, and their request for a hearing is granted. The atomic safety and licensing board, an adjudicatory panel, will conduct the hearings. The
Commissions considers the outcome of the hearing
process in its decision on whether or not to issue a
renewed operating license.
As part of the environmental review, staff consults with local, state, Federal and tribal officials, such as the EPA. And the staff holds public
meetings to receive comments on the draft EIS, environmental impact statement. I'm now going to
describe the license renewal review processes in a
little more detail, starting with the safety review.
So to better understand the license renewal 14 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 process from the safety side, it's good to know the safety principals that guide license renewal. The
first principal is that the current regulatory process is adequate to ensure that the licensing basis of all
operating plants provides and maintains an acceptable
level of safety.
And the second principal is that the current plant-specific licensing basis must be
maintained during the period, or during the renewal term in the same manner, and to the same extent as during the original license term. In other words, the same rules
apply that, apply during the renewal period as applied
during the first term.
In addition, a renewed license will include conditions that must be met to ensure aging of
structures and components important to safety is
adequately managed, so the plant's current licensing
basis is maintained during this period of extended
operation.
The safety review focuses on the safety of passive and long-lived components and structures and systems that the NRC deems important to plant safety.
We consider one, the safety-related systems, structures and components; an example would be reactor 15 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 containment.
Second, non-safety-related systems, structures and components, which if they failed could
adversely affect-safety related systems structures and
components; for example, if a piece of equipment
directly above a safety-related component were to fail. And third, systems, structures and components relied on for compliance with regulations
for certain regulated events; fire protection, environmental qualification, pressured thermal shock, and anticipated transients without scram and station black-out. The staff's main objective in this review is to determine if the affects of aging will be
adequately managed by the applicant. The results of
the safety review are documented in safety evaluation
reports, or SER. Okay, so let's look at how the NRC
actually goes about performing this evaluation.
The safety review consists of numerous, rigorous aspects. The technical staff reviews the
applicant's license renewal application and supporting
documentation to one, determine the applicant's
methodology to identify these systems, structures and
components within the scope of license renewal and are, therefore, subject to aging management review.
16 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 Second, to determine if the methodology has been properly implemented. And third, to determine, with reasonable assurance, if the affects of aging for
certain systems, structures and components will be
adequately managed or monitored by new and existing
programs and surveillance activities.
The staff uses site audits to verify the technical basis of the license renewal application, and to confirm that the applicant's aging management
programs and activities conform with how they are described in the application. The staff documents the
basis and conclusions of its review in a safety
evaluation report, the SER, which is publicly
available.
In addition, a team of specialized inspectors travel to the reactor site to verify that
aging management programs are being implemented, modified or, which are being implemented, modified or
planned consistent with the license renewal activity, application.
Finally, as I mentioned, the advisory committee on reactor safeguards performs an independent review of the license renewal application, the staff's
safety evaluation report, and inspection findings, and 17 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 makes a recommendation to the Commission regarding proposed action to issue a renewed operating license.
These are some of the safety review milestones associated with the planned review of the
LaSalle application. It's important to note that these dates are tentative. Schedule changes may result for a host of reasons. If significant issues are
identified in the license renewal, review may be
suspended indefinitely or terminated, or simply the
schedule change.
That concludes the description of the safety review. I'll now turn it over to David Drucker
to discuss the environmental review. MR. DRUCKER: Thank you, Jeff. I'm David Drucker. As Jeff said, I'm the environmental project
manager for the LaSalle license renewal application review. And in the next few slides, I'm going to show
you an overview of the environmental review process. A review is performed in accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act, commonly referred to as NEPA. NEPA established a national policy for considering environmental impacts. And that's the basic architecture for Federal environmental reviews.
All Federal agencies must follow a systematic approach 18 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 in evaluating potential impacts, and also assess alternatives to those actions.
The NEPA process involves public participation and public disclosure. The NRC's
environmental regulations implementing the
requirements of NEPA are contained in Title V of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, and I've placed a copy of that out on the table. It's the big, thick purple
book. Our environmental review considers the impacts of license renewal and any mitigation of those impacts considered significant. We also consider the
impacts of alternative to license renewal, including the impacts of not issuing or renewing license. We
document our review in an environmental impact
statement, which is made publicly available.
The proposed action is the issuance of renewed licenses. The purpose and the need of the
proposed action is to provide an option that allows the
power generation beyond the term of the current nuclear
power plant operating licenses to meet future system
generating needs, as such needs may be determined by
other energy planning decision makers, not the NRC.
This definition of purpose and need 19 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 reflects the NRC's recognition that unless there are findings in our safety review required by the Atomic Energy Act or findings in the NEPA environmental
analysis that would lead the NRC to reject a license
renewal application, the NRC does not have role in
energy planning decisions of state regulators and
utility officials as to whether a particular nuclear
power plant should continue to operate.
The NRC staff analyzes a wide range potential impact to areas such as those shown on this slide. Additionally, we consult with various Federal, state and local officials and as well as leaders of
tribal nations. Examples include US Fish and Wild Life Service, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the Illinois
Historic Preservation Agency, and tribal nations with historic ties to the area around the plant. We gather
pertinent information from these sources, and ensure it is considered in our analysis. The
environmental review begins with a scoping process, which is an assessment of specific impacts and
significant issues that the staff should consider in preparing the environmental impact statement.
Currently, this is where we are in the process. The 20 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 information that we gather from you today and in the next few weeks will be considered in the development of the
environmental impact statement.
Some impacts are similar, if not identical, at all nuclear power plants. So to improve the
efficiency of our review, we developed a generic
environmental impact statement that addresses a number of impacts that are common to all nuclear power plants.
And it's a three-volume document, and I placed that, also, out on the table. And there are CDs that have a
copy of that three-volume document available for you to
take with you.
The staff supplements that generic environmental impact statement with a site-specific
environmental impact statement in which we address
issues that are specific to LaSalle. The staff also
re-examines the conclusions reached in the generic
environmental statement to determine if there are any
new and significant information that would change those conclusions.
So the scoping period started on February 3, 2015, when a notice of intent to prepare an
environmental statement and conduct scoping was
published in the Federal Register. The NRC will accept 21 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 comments on the scope of the environmental review until April 6, 2015. In general, we are looking for
information about the environmental impact of the
continued operation of LaSalle.
You can assist this process by telling us, for example, what aspects of your local community should we focus on. What local environmental, social and
economic issues the NRC should examine during our review. And what other major projects are in progress or planned in the area Finally, what reasonable
alternatives are most appropriate in this region?
These are just some of the examples of the input we seek for the environmental scoping process.
We don't know the community as well as you do, so your comments help us to ensure a thorough review. Public
comments are an important part of the environmental
process. And so I want to make sure you understand what it is we do with your comments.
All of your comments, whether provided verbally during this meeting or this evening's meeting, or on a written letter or in an e-mail are considered and addressed. We respond to each comment as a part of
the environmental review process. The environmental
impact statement is one of many factors, as well as the 22 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 several others shown here on the slide, that influence the decision of whether or not to renew these licenses.
I just want to mention a few very important areas of NRC oversight that routinely come up during our interactions with members of the public. NRC staff
addresses the items shown in this slide everyday, as a
part of our ongoing regulatory oversight provided for
all currently operating nuclear reactors.
I just want to point out for current safety performance, I've included these two websites, and that will take you to the NRC websites that address safety performance. Rather than writing this down, copies of
these slides are available and so you can, you know, obviously you'll have that. It's on the slides and you can take that home with you. The NRC monitors and
provides regulatory oversight and activities in these
areas on an ongoing basis for all current operating licenses. And so we don't re-evaluate these during
This slide shows important milestones in the environmental review process. These dates, of
course, are subject to change based on progress of the review. And the opportunity to submit spoken comments
closes on April 6th, so that's that middle one right 23 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 there. It just happens to be, as Jeff noted, the same date as the last date to submit contentions for a
hearing.
Please note that a draft supplemental environmental impact statement will be issued for
public comment in February of 2016, with an associated
public meeting to receive your comments on this
preliminary document.
In addition to providing verbal and written comments at this meeting, there are other ways to submit comments. You can provide written comments by mail to the address provided on the top of the slide. You can
submit comments online using Federal rule making website, regulations.gov. And that website, if you're
going to use it, you want to enter the keyword that's shown here on the slide, NRC-2014-0268. This is
specific to the LaSalle license renewal review.
Or, of course, you can e-mail me your comments, and my e-mail address is on the next slide.
Please note that comments will be edited to remove any
identifying or contact information, so you don't want
to include any information in the comment that you don't want to be publicly disclosed. And as I mentioned, the
deadline for submitting comments is April 6, 2015.
24 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 So Jeff and I are the primary contacts for the license renewal review for LaSalle. Our contact information is provided on the slide. Hard copies of
the license renewal application and environmental
report may be found at the libraries shown on the slide, right at Marseilles and Seneca.
The draft supplemental environmental impact statement will also be available at these
libraries when it's published for comment out in
February, 2016. And these documents will also be on the NRC's website at the web address shown at the bottom of
the slide.
As you came in, you were all asked to fill out a registration card at the reception table. If you
included your address on that card, I will mail a copy, a CD copy of the draft and the final EIS to you. And
this concludes my presentation, and I'll turn it back
over to Bob Hagar.
MR. HAGAR: Okay, now we're in Part 3 of the meeting, when the public has a chance to ask questions and get answers about the presentation materials. So
does anyone here have any questions about the material
that was just presented? All right. Operator, does
anyone on the phone have any questions about the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 material that was just presented? OPERATOR: Currently there are no questions in queue. But, as a reminder, if anyone would like to ask a question, you may press *1 on your touch tone phone. Please un-mute your phone and record your
first and last name clearly when prompted. To withdraw your question, press *2. And once again, if you would
like to ask a question, you may press *1 and record your name. One moment to see if we have any questions. We do have a question in queue; one moment. Okay, our question, we do have a question in queue from Ruth
Thomas. your line is open. MS. THOMAS: Thank you. This is Ruth Thomas, and in case you didn't hear me, I'm with several
organizations; one of them primarily is
Environmentalists, Inc., which has been involved in the nuclear power issues for I think it's 42 years, something like that. And we keep asking these
questions, and we keep staying involved, and yet we are
recognized for not being heard, either in writing or orally or any other way. Nor are other members of the
public.
And so, in talking about the environmental 26 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 issues, something was said about degradation. And certainly it should be recognized that both of these
nuclear power plants were licensed in 1973. That means 41 years, so a lot has happened in that time, including
the aging and problems.
And the problems with Mark II in the ones, the one, I think Three Mile Island was Mark II and
Fukushima. And according to the predictions, having an accident like Fukushima is considered by the NRC and the Department of Energy as un-probable event. And that
you wouldn't have an accident more than once per million years. That was the standard for accepting nuclear power. And I want to see the various problems factored
into your consideration. I didn't hear these problems, well they're more than problems, they're, it's not only
the safety issue as to whether this is going to cause
a massive accident, but it's the fact that releases are being made routinely, and they're affecting people.
And yet, the really independent studies in
consideration of nuclear power are being ignored. MR. HAGAR: Ruth, may I interrupt you for just a moment, please?
MS. THOMAS: What?
27 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 MR. HAGAR: Let me, if I may interrupt you, we want to wrap up any questions that anybody has about
the material that was presented. And it sounds like you're really moving into the next part of the meeting.
Do you have a, first let's clarify, do you have any
questions about the material that the NRC staff
presented?
MS. THOMAS: Yes.
MR. HAGAR: Okay, could you ask those questions, and let's give the NRC staff a chance to
respond? MS. THOMAS: Yes. I'd like to know what aging, I call it aging problems are being factored into
the decision, into the review.
MR. HAGAR: Okay, Ruth, could you stand by, and let's get a member of the NRC staff to answer that.
MS. THOMAS: Yes.
MR. MITCHELL: Hi, Ruth. My name is Jeff Mitchell. I'm the safety project manager with the NRC for this license renewal application review. As
discussed in the slides in the presentation, I believe
your question was which particular aging management is
reviewed during this, during the review process. Is
that right?
28 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 MS. THOMAS: Yes, taking into consideration everything that ages, especially that
which ages when it's exposed to radiation.
MR. MITCHELL: Sure. So there's two major area. Number one, as discussed in the slide, the idea
is that the, at least the principals of license renewal
are that the current licensing basis will be maintained.
And involved with that licensing basis, it involves the
management of certain components.
Additionally, with license renewal, we take an additional look at long-lived passive
components to make sure that the aging management of
those components and systems and structures are taken
into account, as well. Does that help? MS. THOMAS: Well, of course, you're talking about an environmental impact statement. Now, that is completed and/or the safety analysis report, or maybe you call it safety, the safety report and the
environmental report, what status are they?
MR. MITCHELL: Right. So I was speaking primarily on the safety side, which would be documented in the staff's safety evaluation report, or SER. And that has yet to be written. We're still very early in
the review process, and that review won't, or that 29 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 report won't be written until early 2016. MS. THOMAS: 2016. And how much, how much time is it between the completion and the requests for comments? I think it's 60 days or something like that.
But anyway, beside, it's kind of beside the point. I mean, it's not, it's not the underlying. It's, for
example, a number of us have been listening to meetings
about whether to have a harden vent on both the Mark I and the Mark II, as I understand it. And I don't know
if a final decision has been made on that, and that's
a problem that goes back -- MR. HAGAR: Ruth, let me interrupt again.
You're moving into the issue of whether a boiling water
reactor should have harden vents, and that's not the
purpose of this meeting. Let me -- MS. THOMAS: No, I'm really not asking that. What I'm asking is what is the answer to the
question of what benefits are there to the public being
exposed to these risks and health affects and the environment being damaged? Plus, I think ever member
of the public has a right to really complain about that, because their money is going into these reactors, when
it could be going for all sorts of other things.
MR. HAGAR: All right, Ruth --
30 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 MS. THOMAS: In other words, other energy that doesn't produce these results. And none of, none
of what I've heard is accepting the fact that you're
using man-made materials that have never existed
before, that are releasing radioactivity, that are
exposing us --
MR. HAGAR: Ruth --
MS. THOMAS: -- during normal operation.
MR. HAGAR: Ruth, I have to interrupt right now. You're getting into areas and questions that are
outside the scope of this meeting. And --
MS. THOMAS: Well, I realize that, and I want to know where the scope is when you get questions
like that.
MR. HAGAR: Well Ruth, let me remind you again -- MS. THOMAS: Who do you, who do you contact and say members of the public are concerned and they
don't want, they want the NRC and the other people that know about nuclear to think about stopping it. And
think about that question that nobody has found an answer to, as to where you're going to isolate these.
You talk about clean-up, and now who do I submit a list
of questions and a list of definitions that I would like, 31 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 like acceptable exposure, acceptable however you word it? MR. DRUCKER: Ruth, this is David Drucker.
MS. THOMAS: Adequate, you don't, you don't use adequate in relation to nuclear materials. MR. DRUCKER: Ruth, let me interrupt you.
This is David Drucker, the environmental project manager. And yes, you should be submitting those questions and comments to me. We do, as a part of the
license renewal environmental review, look at human
health impacts. And it sounds to me that's exactly what you're talking about; human health impacts. So if
there are radionuclide emissions from the plant -- MS. THOMAS: Which site of the, which report is that in? MR. DRUCKER: That would be in the environmental impact statement. And we'll be
producing a draft in February of 2016, and you're, I
would appreciate you sending me those comments
directly. And we did state -- MS. THOMAS: Well, I think I can probably send them before you get the draft out, because I found, after reviewing I would say may be 10 environmental
impact statements, they come out the same. Except that 32 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 now that we've been exposed to more radiation, we're supposed to be able to withstand more exposure, which
is just the opposite.
The more you get, then the less, so are you suggesting that it would be a good idea for us to work
on, the thing is I want some, we, because it's a whole lot of people; we would like some response. Not saying
these regulations are going to stop these things from happening. They haven't, and they won't. And we want
this addressed now. MR. DRUCKER: So Ruth, my contact information, and we have spoken on the phone once before this meeting, is 301, are you ready to copy, Ruth? Why
don't you write down my phone number, and we can continue this. MS. THOMAS: Oh yes.
MR. DRUCKER: And you can provide your --
MS. THOMAS: Is that your phone number?
MR. DRUCKER: Yes, because you called me first. MS. THOMAS: What?
MR. DRUCKER: Remember you called me first? MS. THOMAS: Yes, I have 301-415-6223.
33 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 MR. DRUCKER: That's it, Ruth. So great, we can talk later in the week.
MS. THOMAS: All right.
MR. DRUCKER: Terrific. Thank you.
MS. THOMAS: Thank you.
MR. DRUCKER: And we're going to move on now. MS. THOMAS: Bye.
MR. HAGAR: Thank you. Operator, is there anyone else who has a question? OPERATOR: I'm showing you further questions in queue. MR. HAGAR: All right, thank you. All right, now we'll move to the fourth part of the meeting, and that's where we'll ask the public to provide comments. And I've got several names here. It looks
like about eight or nine, of names of people here in this room who have some comments to make.
I'm going to provide those, ask you to come up to the front, come stand here at the lectern if you wish, or stand next to the lectern. And I'll hold the microphone, and make your statement. Please try to
hold your statement to about three minutes, until we get through everybody, and we'll see how much time is left 34 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 after that.
So the first speaker is going to be Reed Wilson, and he'll be followed by Roger Blomquist, is
that right? Okay. So Reed, come on up. MR. WILSON: Thank you. I'm Reed Wilson.
I'm the deputy district director for Congressman Adam
Kinzinger who represents the 16th Congressional District of Illinois. I'm also the director of
economic development of the City of Ottawa. In that
capacity, I'd like on behalf of Mayor Robert Eschbach
to welcome you all to Ottawa.
Ottawa is the heart of the 16th Congressional District, and the congressman's district
congressional office is located here in Ottawa. The
16th District travels, begins 130 miles southeast of
here at the Indiana border, and sweeps up through north
central Illinois to Rockford and Wisconsin; a large
congressional district.
And, therefore, the 16th District has more nuclear power generating stations than any other congressional district in this country. I'd like, though, to present this letter also on behalf of
Congressman Kinzinger, if I could.
MR. HAGAR: If you've got it in writing, 35 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 how about just handing that to the NRC staff, rather than, you don't need to read it to get it into the record. If you'll just provide it in writing to the NRC staff, that'll make it part of the record.
MR. WILSON: Okay.
MR. HAGAR: Would that be all right?
MR. WILSON: That would be fine, actually.
By the way, my first name is R-e-e-d, in case someone's wondering about that. You asked about the spelling at the outset. I can do that, and I'll be happy to do just
that. MR. HAGAR: All right, Reed, thank you very much. MR. WILSON: You're welcome.
MR. HAGAR: Okay, Roger Blomquist, you're next. MR. BLOMQUIST: I'm Roger Blomquist; that's B-l-o-m-q-u-i-s-t. I'm currently employed at
Argon National Laboratory where I'm a nuclear engineer.
And I'd just like to provide just a little bit of
background information that many of you will be very
familiar with, but surely not everyone.
To begin with, what about reactors in Illinois? Believe it or not, over the decades there 36 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 have been about 30 nuclear reactors built and operated in Illinois, beginning with CP-I at the University of Chicago in 1942. Argon National Laboratory, which is
a Department of Energy laboratory that is focused on
nuclear energy, has designed, built and operated 13
additional reactors in the State of Illinois on that current site, or nearby in the Chicago suburbs. Those
are all shut down now.
And we also built and operated another 14 reactors in Idaho at our laboratory up there. That was from 1943 to 1990. In the '70s and '80s, companies in
the state built an additional 13 commercial reactors, three of which have been shut down. And since 1998, we've added about 10 percent to the nuclear capacity in
the state by uprights, where we improved our analysis
or upgraded components to make the plants more capable.
And also, obviously, we've been working on license extensions, which this hearing is a part of.
During that time, the Illinois air has become a lot
cleaner because of the coal that was not burned due to
the fact that we were operating nuclear reactors to
generate electricity.
Currently, we're the top generating state in the country; 25.6 is the 2012 number, so about 25.6 37 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 percent of the total electric generated capacity in Illinois is nuclear. But about 49 percent of the total
generation is nuclear. So that shows you how impactful nuclear is in terms of air quality and electricity
supply. The remaining is 41 percent coal, about six
percent gas, and four percent wind.
In the world, there are now almost 440 operable reactors, 60 that are under construction, and 184 planned, and hundreds more proposed. In the
country, we have five under construction, and those are
all in the southeastern United States. So what role
does Argon play in this, and how is that relevant to this hearing? We work, at Argon, we work on the science that underpins the nuclear engineering using a combination of experiments and computing. We're
working to convert research reactors around the world from highly enriched uranium to low enriched uranium.
We're testing important material properties using
materials from real reactors to support extending the
lives of our current reactors, and understand the
behavior of future reactors.
Some of this work, by the way, is funded by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. We're also working 38 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 on advanced reactors. This is all in parallel. And those advanced reactors have some very attractive characteristics. They will get about 100 times the
electricity out of each pound of uranium mined, compared with today's reactors.
They'll make a Fukushima-type problem essentially impossible, because these are low-pressure systems. And this has been tested on one of our reactors in Idaho. And they will reduce the
sequestration period of used nuclear fuel from hundreds of thousands of years to a few hundred years. Why nuclear? It's the energy density. Energy has to be stored to be really useful. And the
energy stored in a kilogram of uranium, depending on how you account for it, is over a million times the energy stored in a kilogram of natural gas. That means to
consume natural gas or coal staggering amounts of
materials are required to be input into the furnace, and they all come out the other end. So it has to be an open
system. Also nuclear uses small amounts of land and other resources, and that's even compared with wind, solar and hydro. It's so clean, it's used on nuclear
submarines, which is where I was first introduced to 39 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 this technology. You can put over a hundred people in a sealed steel tube, and send them to sea for three
months at a time. It's completely clean. The limiting factor on endurance there is food for the crew.
Almost two-thirds of the zero-emission electricity in the United States is generated using
nuclear fission. The rest is hydro, 21 percent, and renewable is about 15 percent. And in terms of carbon
dioxide emission reduction, I would like to point out the example of Sweden and France, each of which pretty
much completely decarbonized their electricity
generation by a massive introduction of nuclear energy. And it took only 15 years in each case. And nuclear
energy, I think, will therefore be necessary if we're
going to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Thank you.
MR. HAGAR: Thank you, Roger. Next will be Doug O'Brien, followed by Bryon Mooney.
MR. O'BRIEN: Thank you. I'm Doug O'Brien with the Illinois Clean Energy Coalition. And we're
here today for, as you've heard, what is called the NRC's environmental scoping meeting on the LaSalle Station
license renewal. So I want to talk and focus on the
scope of the environmental impact of the plant.
40 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 First and foremost, LaSalle, as you heard like other nuclear plants is a highly efficient producer of base load electricity, providing energy for the
equivalent of two millions homes. While that's crucial to our economy and our quality of life, it's also vital
to our environment. The operations of this plant alone displaces the generation of millions of tons of harmful
CO2 every year.
Every megawatt of electricity produced by nuclear power is a megawatt that does not rely on carbon pollution emitting fossil fuels. According to the
Illinois Clean Energy Coalition's 2014 study, Illinois' nuclear fleet prevented the emission of over 92 million
tons of CO2 in 2012, which is the equivalent of the
pollution emitted by every passenger car in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa.
Now other sources of clean energy are vital to our future, as well. But the simple truth is that
we cannot quickly or easily replace nuclear generation with other clean sources. And a nuclear plant like
LaSalle would require thousands of new wind turbines to replace it's electricity generation. But we still
cannot rely on wind 24/7. And the process of siting
wind farms, the capital needed to build them, and to 41 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 connect them to the grid, is daunting.
Losing any of our nuclear plants would leave us with no short-term alternatives but to increase our use of fossil fuels, a move in the wrong direction.
The US EPA has announced new rules for states to reduce
carbon emissions. Simply put, there is no way Illinois can hope to meet those goals, nor can we as a nation hope
to meaningfully reduce carbon emissions if we do not
ensure the continued operation of our nuclear fleet.
In addition, it is vital that the NRC continue to push forward for practical waste storage
rules that will allow for the continued safe and secure
storage of used fuel, or to continue to wait for the
Federal Government to live up to the law that was passed
years ago requiring a long-term storage solution.
So, from an environmental standpoint, LaSalle is a critical component in our drive to reduce
pollution, and to change the course of our planet on
climate change. It cannot be replaced in the short term without incurring a significant increase in carbon
emissions. And it has responsibly stepped up to the
need for safe and secure used fuel storage.
So, from an environmental standpoint, LaSalle Station is a huge positive for Illinois and the 42 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 US and the Illinois Clean Energy Coalition urges the renewal of their operating license. Thank you.
MR. HAGAR: All right, next is Bryon Mooney followed by John Keenan.
Mr. MOONEY: Good afternoon. My name is Bryon Mooney, and I'm with LaSalle Station engineering.
I'm pleased to have the opportunity to speak about the environmental benefits of LaSalle Station. LaSalle
Station, along with the other Exelon nuclear plants in Illinois lead the nation in providing clean energy, and
will be critical to Illinois' compliance with EPA's
limits on carbon emissions.
As an employee of LaSalle Station, I have the unique opportunity to witness the station's safe
operations. Safety is first and foremost in everything we do, and my friends and colleagues are some of the
finest nuclear professionals, who strive to maintain
the health and safety of our neighbors and our
coworkers.
As the lead of the North American Young Generation in Nuclear, I have seen how LaSalle Station
employees are good environmental stewards, both in
their work at the plant and in various volunteer and
outage efforts which often have environmental benefits.
43 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 Thank you. MR. HAGAR: All right, John Keenan is up, followed by Mike Gallagher. MR. KEENAN: Good afternoon. I'm John Keenan. I'm the operations director of LaSalle County Generating Station. I have the overall responsibility
for the safe day-to-day operation of both nuclear
generating units, including shift operations and
support staff personnel. I have 15 years of experience in the nuclear industry. I started my career with LaSalle Station in 2000 as an equipment. I was the
operation shift supervisor, shift manager and shift
operation superintendent.
Operating the station safely and reliably is a key responsibility for all employees of LaSalle's
generating station; one that we take very seriously and
as a personal commitment to ourselves, the community, and the industry. I'm proud to say that we've been a
key part of this community for more than 30 years.
LaSalle County Generating Station operates in a manner the preserves the environment. We maintain a comprehensive radiological monitoring program that
extensively monitors the air, water and soil around the
facility to ensure that we are not adversely impacting 44 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 the environment.
We have a comprehensive onsite environmental groundwater protection program. This program includes 20 onsite monitoring wells. We have
detailed procedures that outline how water, how we test all water leaving the site. Radiation monitors are
staged at 50 locations within a 10-mile radius around
the plant to monitor dose levels and ensure the safety
of the community.
LaSalle's environmental management systems are certified under the strict criteria of the International Organization for Standardization.
Specifically, we received the ISO 14001 certification.
This is an internationally recognized benchmark for
environmental management. The ISO 14001 certification requires a commitment to excellence in meeting our
regulatory requirements, and in the prevention of
pollution, and continuous improvement of our
environmental systems.
The Wild Life Habitat Council recognized LaSalle County Generating Station's commitment to
environmental stewardship by awarding us the wild life
at work certification. This distinction was awarded
for our wild life habitat management, and environmental 45 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 education programs, as well as our commitment to establishing long-term wild life habitat enhancements
for animals species living on our property.
To ensure LaSalle continues to operate safely for years to come, Exelon continues to invest in LaSalle. We spend millions of dollars each year to
improve and modernize equipment to enhance plant operations and safety systems. Our investment in the
future doesn't stop with investment equipment.
We hired 31 new employees since the start of 2015, and we maintain a workforce of approximately 800 employees. During our annual maintenance and
re-fueling outages, that population grows temporarily
for about a month by another 1,500 employees, bringing
a boost to the local economies.
We also take pride in our investment in the community. Last year our employees gave over $180,000
to local United Way agencies. We support Labor of Love, a home repair blitz for people who are unable to care
for their homes themselves, in addition to working with
the Seneca High School on local road clean-ups.
We provided scholarships and raised funds for our local schools, food pantries and educational initiatives. Our employees host toy, coat and school 46 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 supply drives. And LaSalle Station funds various not-for-profit agencies. In short, we do our very best to be a good neighbor.
For more than 30 years, LaSalle Station has performed reliably and safely, and has set numerous
benchmarks for, benchmarks in the nuclear power industry. We work towards license renewal everyday through dedication and continuous improvement. In
conclusion, we look forward to working with the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission in review of our license renewal application. Thank you for the opportunity to address
you today.
MR. HAGAR: Thank you.
MS. GALLAGHER: Okay, good afternoon. My name is Mike Gallagher, and I am the vice president of license renewal for Exelon. I have overall
responsibility for the LaSalle County Generating
Station license renewal application. First of all, I'd like to thank the NRC for this opportunity to speak on behalf of Exelon on this very important project for us. Exelon has a great deal of experience with license renewal, as we have already obtained the renewed licenses for our Dresden and Quad Cities plants here in
Illinois, and for seven of our other facilities in 47 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and New York. We also have an application for our Byron and Braidwood
stations here in Illinois under NRC review.
So just briefly about myself, I've been working in the nuclear power industry for nearly 34 years. I was a license senior reactor operator and
plant manager at our Limerick Generating Station in
Pennsylvania, and I've worked at two other nuclear
plants and our corporate office.
Mr. Keenan, our director of site operations at LaSalle, spoke about the reasons for renewing the license. I would like to speak, briefly, about the
process for preparing this license renewal application, and the amount of work and engineering analysis that was put into preparing the application.
Because the LaSalle Station can be operated safely and reliably, Exelon decided to pursue license renewal for LaSalle. LaSalle's safe, efficient
operation promotes a critical supply of carbon-free electricity for Illinois and beyond. LaSalle produces enough clean power to supply 2.3 million homes. So in
2011, we announced our attention to seek license renewal for LaSalle. We later started the work necessary to
prepare the application.
48 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 After over two years of work, we submitted the application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on December 9 2014. Safe and reliable operations has been the hallmark at LaSalle Station since it came on line, and our goal during the license renewal process is to
demonstrate to the NRC and our neighbors how we will
continue that legacy during the additional 20-year
operating period. The application, when you print it out, is about 2,200 pages. It's a huge amount of information.
But that only represents a small part of the work that
has been done for the engineering analysis to prepare the application. We invested over 60,000 man hours of
engineering work. Once we completed our engineering
work to prepare the application, we brought in experts
from outside Exelon to review the application ensure
that it was complete, thorough and accurate.
There are two different parts of the application; the safety review and the environmental
review. For the safety review, we took an in depth look at the history and the condition of the safety equipment in the plant. We did that to determine whether the
necessary maintenance was being performed on that
equipment, and to make sure that the equipment was able 49 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 to operate when it's needed, not only today, but for an additional 20 years of operation.
When you look back at LaSalle when it was built, all the equipment was new. It was thoroughly
tested to make sure it would perform properly. But like anything else, equipment does age and, therefore, certain activities need to be done to that equipment.
Preventative maintenance is performed, sometimes
equipment is refurbished, sometimes it's replaced.
There may be modifications done to the plan to upgrade the equipment. In fact Exelon has invested
$61 million in 2014 alone to improve and modernize equipment and enhance plant operations and safety. We
also reviewed our calculations that were performed as
part of the design of the plant to ensure that the plant
could operate safely for the original 40 years.
We analyzed those calculations, and were able to confirm that the plant would be able to operate safely for 60 years. Overall, our conclusion from an
engineering view is that LaSalle could operate safely
for 60 years.
We also took a look at the environmental impacts of continuing to operate LaSalle. We looked at all aspects of continued impact of the plant on the 50 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 environment. Our conclusion is that the impacts on the environment are small. And I use the term small in the sense that it is in the regulation. The regulation
defines small as the environmental affects are not
detectible or are minor.
We also reviewed the alternatives if LaSalle would not have its license renewed, and another
source of electrical generation would have to be
installed, either here onsite or someplace else to generate the replacement electricity. We concluded
that any other means of generating the replacement
electricity would have more of an impact on the
environment than the continued operation of LaSalle.
So, in conclusion, we operate LaSalle safely, and we can continue to safely operate it for an additional 20 years. LaSalle will provide approximately 2,313 megawatts of base load generation.
It's not only safe, but it's clean, it's reliable, and it's economical. Continued operation of LaSalle will
benefit this community, the State of Illinois and our
nation. Thanks for this opportunity.
MR. HAGAR: Thank you. Next up is Larry Louis followed by Shelly, help me with the name, Shelly. MS. OCEPEK: Ocepek.
51 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 MR. HAGAR: Ocepek?
MS. OCEPEK: OCEPEK.
MR. HAGAR: Okay, Ocepek. Okay, Shelly you're next. MR. LEWIS: Good afternoon. My name is Larry Louis, and it's L-o-u-i-s. I'm a business agent
with the construction Union of Smart Sheet Metal Local
1, and I'm here on behalf of the Illinois Valley Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents over
2,000 Union construction workers here in the Illinois
valley. We work here, we live here, and we're speaking in support of re-licensing of LaSalle Station.
LaSalle Station has been a good neighbor to the Union construction workers in this area. They were used in
the initial construction back in the '70s and '80s. And the station continues to use them for refuel outages, as well as for other maintenance activities.
To me, when you assess a risk of a nuclear power station, no one is at bigger risk than those that
work inside the station. That includes us. We have
construction workers inside the LaSalle Station pretty much every day of the year. We see, firsthand, the
commitment that Exelon has and, I think more 52 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 importantly, that Exelon employees have for safety; protecting themselves, their families, the plant and
the environment, plus the public. Everyone adheres to the same safety rules.
There's no difference, and there shouldn't be. I speak from experience. Before I got this job, I used to work for the maintenance contractor at LaSalle Station. So
why would anyone go to work at a nuclear power plant if
it wasn't safe; put themselves and, potentially, their families at risk? Well, we wouldn't. If the emphasis wasn't on safety, we wouldn't be there. We witness and
we participate in the safety culture at LaSalle Station
everyday where safety is always number one. So safety's a big word. What am I talking about? Well, there's all kinds of safety. There's the plant operations safety, radiological safety, industrial safety, environmental safety, just to name a few. So, as I said, we work in there everyday. The
vast majority of the non-Exelon employees working there live in the Illinois Valley.
During the year 2014, the prime maintenance contractor, CB&I, Chicago Bridge & Iron, formerly Stone and Webster, had payroll at LaSalle Station only of over $20 million. Yeah, $20 million was paid into this area.
53 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 They hired approximately 900 people; that included tradesmen, clerical, supervision and support people who logged just under 300,000 man hours.
That money went to people that live right here. That money made house payments, bought cars, groceries, and blue jeans and furniture and everything else. It made college tuition possible. Supported every business located here in the Illinois valley.
That's just one contractor. There are others out
there, so the $20 million figure would grow much higher. That is an economic asset to the Illinois valley that
cannot be overlooked.
The real issue here, I believe, is the safe production of adequate amounts of electricity. And I
already stated about the safety culture at LaSalle Station. The energy industry in Northern Illinois
safely and securely generates adequate amounts of
electricity for now, as well as for the future. And
also provides good jobs doing it. There are other ways to make electricity.
We all hope that someday coal will produce without emissions. But we also know now the negative impacts that it has on the environment. Wind and solar and
hydro, we hope certainly that they continue to grow.
54 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 But right now they are unable to produce enough electricity for the current demand, much less for any
economic growth.
Nuclear generating stations are the only option that we have for capably, safely producing enough electricity to meet today's requirements, and the projections for tomorrow. Without nuclear energy
stations, we would not be able to safely produce and meet the demands of the residential, commercial, agriculture and industrial customers. Everyday each one of us, everybody in this room, grows more dependent upon electricity. Illinois
is fortunate to have enough electricity to power
manufacturing and other industries, as well as each one of our houses. Plus, that abundant supply of
electricity is always forefront when economic
development in Northern Illinois is discussed.
So considering the amount of electricity safely produced by LaSalle Station, the positive impact on the Illinois valley of LaSalle Station, the good jobs it provides, the Illinois Valley Building Construction
Trades Council strongly supports nuclear power, and
strongly supports the renewal of the operating license
at LaSalle Station. Thank you.
55 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 MR. HAGAR: Thank you. MS. OCEPEK: Hello. I'm Shelly Ocepek.
My last name, just think of a ceptic tank; that seems to be the easiest way to remember, is O-c-e-p-e-k and it's spell Ocepek. I am an executive director of the
local United Way that's located here in Ottawa that
serves three-fourths of LaSalle County.
There are, I've been with United Way for 24 years. And during that time, as well as many, many
years prior to that, LaSalle Station has been a trusted friend and a trusted partner of our efforts to provide
service to the community; those most vulnerable and need help from us. Besides generating energy, LaSalle
station generate people who have an enormous amount of
heart. They care about their community. They care about the well being of its children. They care about the well being of its neighbors. And I, personally, cannot thank the people, the fine people
from the LaSalle Station more than I, and I'm so pleased
I have the opportunity to do that right now. I took a look at the last 15 years. And in the last 15 years, and we're a very small United Way, there are over 50 United Ways in the State of Illinois.
56 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 Which many of them receive support from Com Ed, Exelon and LaSalle Station. And in the course of the last 15
years, the employees, the employees, the heart of
LaSalle Station, contributed
$1.2 million to our little tiny United Way, and to our rural area.
The amount of support that we receive from the people of LaSalle Station, in the last three years
it ranges from $96,000; again, I'm speaking of employees only, to $160,000. So for our community, for our United Way, that accounts for anywhere from 24 percent to 36
percent of the dollars that we are able to raise and
invest in services in our community.
Those are services like home delivered meals for elderly people. It is services like safe shelter for abused women and their children. It is removing a child that is unsafe in their home, and
placing them in safe foster care for a period of time until, hopefully, the family can be reunited. It's
putting children of low income into programs such as
safe after-school care, as well as preschool for
children who, otherwise, would not have the opportunity for early learning.
In 1992, United Way, our local United Way, the Illinois Valley Building Trades and a local bank 57 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 looked hard at what do we do about the senior citizens, the low income families and single parents who cannot maintain their homes; who were at risk of losing their
homes, who lost their homeowner's insurance because
their home was in such disarray, that they wouldn't
cover them.
And we came up with a project called Labor of Love. That program has been running since 1992, so we're soon to celebrate our 24th anniversary. It's
supposed to be a one-day blitz; a one-day effort first Saturday in October. It usually stretches out over
about six months from the time we start until the time
we finish.
It was about 2000, a few individuals from LaSalle Station got involved; it is an all volunteer effort. On that Saturday, we have anywhere from 400 to 700 people come out to help us. And these are people
with skills like the trades, people who have no skills
like myself and my family, teenagers, church members, lawyers, accountant, grandmas, you name it, who come out to help. Kind of the old fashioned barn raising idea;
let's help out our neighbors. Then it just few. So 2000 it started with a handful of people, 2001 a few more. By 2003, LaSalle 58 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 Station picked up the project as its own signature event. Its employees named it as its outreach effort, and since that time, over the course of 12 years, the
individual from the station, along with sponsorship, have contributed over $150,000 to the project, and
renovated 70 homes.
Last year along, just last year, there was 106 people from LaSalle Station. So we had 400
volunteers throughout our services, but LaSalle Station accounted for 24 percent of those people. They committed to the leadership of renovating eight homes.
And when I say eight homes, that can be complete roof replacement. It can be lifting the house and repairing its foundation. Heating system, painting, leaf raking. We haven't come up with anything just yet that we absolutely won't do. So they
said they'd take on eight.
For the first time ever, we had five homes, these are all low income homeowners who live in their homes and own their homes. We had five homes without leadership and without volunteers. And, of course, LaSalle Station said we'll do it. And they took on a
total of the 13 homes. It's an amazing effort; we could not do it without them, as is many of the efforts I told 59 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 you about that we're able to do because of their continued support.
Could we do the things that we do without the station? Yes. At the level we do it? No way. It would be a very minute service that our community could provide. I'm so proud to live here. I'm proud to live in LaSalle County. And I'm proud of the services that
we have.
But we have those services because of the extraordinary people that are at the station. So I am
so proud to call them our partner. And I've had the pleasure to tour the facility twice. I don't think our community has any idea of the protection we have from
unwanted visitors coming in.
The very first time I visited, I was so intimidated. It was far more secure than an airport.
My social security had been checked. And then even the exit strategy is amazing in itself. I had never been
screened going out before. And I am don't think people understand the gift we have in our backyard.
And so, from my perspective, a very small organization, thank you so much for what you do. And
on top of that, they are now bringing in various of their contractors. For example, it was mentioned Chicago 60 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 Bridge & Iron joined us for Labor of Love last year, because the station said come on. The year before it was Barnhart Crane, come on. And so I can't say enough about our partner, our neighbor and our friend. So
thank you very much.
MR. HAGAR: Thank you, Shelly. All right, we've run through all of the yellow cards that I have.
That tells me that we've run through all of the people who want to make a comment. So let me ask now is there
anyone else who wants to comment, provide input that
will help the NRC focus it's environmental impact
reviews? Anyone present?
All right, then operator, is there anyone on the phone who wants to m ake a comment now that would help the NRC focus their environmental impact reviews? OPERATOR: I'm showing no questions on queue. MR. HAGAR: All right. No one here has a question or a comment. No one on the phone has a comment. So I think we need to wrap it up. Chris, you
want to make some closing comments, and then I'll close
the meeting. MR. MILLER: Thank you, Bob. I want to start off by thanking everyone who participated, who 61 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 helped us put this meeting together, and all of the folks who came and provided comments for us to review in this important effort. I wrote down a list of notes of
things that I heard, and that we will, after we review
the record, take into account as we're going through
this application review.
But let me just go through a couple of them. We heard from Ruth, and Ruth is going to get back with
us and provide us additional comments regarding the
environmental review, and what additional things that
she has questions about.
We heard from Reed Wilson who represented Representative Kinzinger. And he started off to read a statement, but he provided us a letter. And I know
that folks didn't get to hear, but essentially, the
representative pointed out a couple of things. One, the reliable, appreciating the reliable energy that
LaSalle County Station provides.
But also, the transparent process that we're using to gather information to provide this review. And I just want to highlight that that's
something that we value very much in the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission. We want to be open. We want to be transparent. We want people to know how we're 62 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 providing these reviews. And we also value the public comment. We want to hear from the folks like you just heard from now, and we want to have that input into our process. So we
want you to know that we're hearing you, and that we'll
continue to make that, you heard that we're going to make a record of this available. We'll continue to keep this process open throughout the entire review process until we make our final determination on the application.
We heard from Roger Blomquist, pointing out the benefits of zero carbon emission. And several of
the folks who provided comments provided comments in that direction. You heard from Mr. Keenan about the, and also from Byron Mooney about the safe operation and
the benefits that the station provides, and how they
provide that.
Mr. Gallagher ran down, you know, the safe operation of the plant, and the extensive reviews that they have done, and the results of those reviews.
Which, by the way, I think our staff pointed out that you can get that material if you ask for it. It's available here, or you can contact one of the contact
points in our slides and get that material, as well.
Larry Louis focused on the safety practices 63 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 at LaSalle, and also the economic benefits as provided by the station. And Shelly provided her feedback on the good neighbor that the LaSalle County Station is.
We've heard a number of comments in that area. So we
look forward to that. We have another public meeting tonight.
If somebody didn't get a chance, we'll have a meeting tonight that will start at 7:00. And so there's time
for additional, and room for additional comments in that area. But again, we heard some good comments, and we will review all of them. And we'll use them to make a
finding on this as we go through our process. Thank you very much. MR. HAGAR: All right, we've gone through all four parts of this meeting. And the last I checked, no one had anything else to say. So I want to thank all of you for your time and attention. I especially want
to thank everybody who had something to say in this
meeting. Because the information exchange is what this meeting is about.
I want to remind everybody what I said earlier. There are meeting feedback forms on the table as you plan to leave the area. Please take one of those
and fill it out and give us some feedback on how this 64 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 meeting went from your perspective. With that, thank you again, and this meeting is adjourned. (Whereupon at 3:30 p.m. the
meeting was concluded.)