Monday, December 28, 2015

SUSQUEHANNA STEAM ELECTRIC STATION UNITS 1 AND 2: SUPPLEMENTAL INSPECTION REPORT 05000387/2015505 AND 05000388/2015505 AND ASSESSMENT FOLLOW-UP LETTER

SUSQUEHANNA STEAM ELECTRIC STATION UNITS 1 AND 2: SUPPLEMENTAL INSPECTION REPORT 05000387/2015505 AND 05000388/2015505 AND ASSESSMENT FOLLOW-UP LETTER

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THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR STATION, UNIT 1 -CLOSURE EVALUATION FOR REPORT PURSUANT TO 10 CFR 50.46 REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY DEGRADATION (CAC NO. MF5564)

THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR STATION, UNIT 1 -CLOSURE EVALUATION FOR REPORT PURSUANT TO 10 CFR 50.46 REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY DEGRADATION (CAC NO. MF5564)

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Tuesday, December 15, 2015

NRC Approves Changes to Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant’s Emergency Planning Requirements


The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted Entergy Nuclear Operations Inc.’s request to alter the emergency preparedness plan for the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station in Vernon, Vt., effective April 15, 2016, to reflect the plant’s decommissioning status. 

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Sunday, December 6, 2015

NRC Approves Changes to Reactor Oversight Process

Press Release 15-081: NRC Approves Changes to Reactor Oversight Process

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TRUCK CONTAINING LOW LEVEL WASTE RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL FROM TMI OVERTURNED


Agreement StateEvent Number: 51550
Rep Org: MARYLAND DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT
Licensee: HITTMAN TRANSPORT SERVICES
Region: 1
City:  State: MD
County: WASHINGTON
License #: 
Agreement: Y
Docket: 
NRC Notified By: RAY MANLEY
HQ OPS Officer: DONG HWA PARK
Notification Date: 11/18/2015
Notification Time: 18:40 [ET]
Event Date: 11/18/2015
Event Time: 18:00 [EST]
Last Update Date: 11/18/2015
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section: 
AGREEMENT STATE
Person (Organization): 
DAN SCHROEDER (R1DO)
BERNARD STAPLETON (IRD)
PAM HENDERSON (NMSS)
NMSS_EVENTS_NOTIFICA (EMAI)
Event Text
TRUCK CONTAINING LOW LEVEL WASTE RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL OVERTURNED 

At approximately 1800 EST on 11/18/2015, the Maryland State Police responded to an overturned truck on route I-81 in Washington County, MD. The truck departed Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station en route to Oak Ridge, TN. Maryland Department of Environment responded to the site with radiation detectors and the hazmat team. The radioactive material was classified as low level waste and contained within the vehicle. The radiation levels on contact were very low, and at 1 meter, radiation levels were at background levels. The State Police closed the road for accident reconstruction.

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TMI Siren Test on Dec. 3

There will be a Three Mile Island siren test on Thursday, Dec. 3 at 12:15 pm.   All 96 sirens around TMI will sound for three minutes.

Monday, November 23, 2015

NRC Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Rule for Mitigating Severe Reactor Accidents

Press Release 15-074: NRC Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Rule for Mitigating Severe Reactor Accidents

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Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3 - Safety Evaluation of Relief Request I4R-56 Associated with the Common Emergency Service Water System (CAC Nos. MF6551 and MF6552)

Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3 - Safety Evaluation of Relief Request I4R-56 Associated with the Common Emergency Service Water System (CAC Nos. MF6551 and MF6552)

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Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Licensing Board to Hold Evidentiary Hearing Beginning on Nov. 16 in Tarrytown, N.Y., on Indian Point License Renewal Contentions

A three-judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) will conduct an evidentiary hearing starting Monday, Nov. 16, regarding three safety-related challenges to the Indian Point nuclear power plant’s license renewal application. Entergy, which owns and operates the Buchanan (Westchester County), N.Y., plant, is seeking 20-year extensions of the operating licenses for Indian Point Units 2 and 3.

The hearing will take place at the DoubleTree Hotel, at 455 South Broadway in Tarrytown, N.Y. It will begin at noon on Nov. 16, with the start time for the subsequent days to be announced at the hearing.

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PC News Update : Entergy will pull the plug on Pilgrim by 2019, activists say not soon enough

On October 13th, Entergy made the announcement we have all been longing to hear - that Pilgrim will be closing. The excitement lasted for a brief minute until they mentioned a closing date by June 2019.

Entergy Corporation cited poor market conditions, reduced revenues and increased operational costs are the cause for their decision to close Pilgrim.

According to Entergy, the exact timing of the shutdown will depend on several factors, including further discussion with ISO-New England, and will be decided in the first half of 2016.

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Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Invitation for You and Your Students to Participate in the PA Power Dialog

[Please share this invitation with colleagues who teach courses about climate change, climate policy, environmental policy, environmental science, energy policy and/or economic development]

Dear Colleagues,

If you are teaching a course in spring 2016 that includes content on climate change, climate policy, environmental policy and/or energy policy, you and your students are invited to participate in the PA Power Dialog in Harrisburg on April 4, 2016. The PA Power Dialog, which is being organized by the Pennsylvania Environmental Resource Consortium (PERC), will engage Pennsylvania college and university students in meaningful dialog with state regulators, legislators and peers about the Clean Power Plan and its implementation in Pennsylvania.

Please contact Neil Leary (learyn@dickinson.edu) for more information or to reserve places for you and your students.

The program for the Dialog is still being developed (draft appended at end of this email), but will include a keynote talk by DEP Secretary John Quigley (confirmed), student panels in which students will share their work and viewpoints, small group roundtable discussions and opportunities for dialog. Topics for student panels will be decided in consultation with participating faculty.

We will also provide opportunity for student organizations to participate and will provide more information about this option in coming days.

The PA Power Dialog is one of a number of state-level dialogs that are being organized across the country by the Bard Center for Environmental Policy. Bard CEP is developing and sharing resources for teaching about the Clean Power Plan. PERC will assemble complementary resources that are Pennsylvania specific, which we will make available for your use.

We are working to make the conference free of charge. But there may be a small registration fee to pay for the venue and possibly food depending on whether we decide to provide lunch or have everyone get lunch on their own.

Draft Program:
9:30 – 9:45        Welcome & Overview
9:45 – 10:30      Student Panel 1
10:30 – 11:15    Student Panel 2
11:15 – 12:00    Student Panel 3

12:00 – 1:30      Lunch and keynote talk from DEP Secretary John Quigley

1:30 – 2:15        Implementation of the Clean Power Plan in PA: Status, Opportunities and Challenges
                          ·      Invited DEP official
                          ·      Invited Republican legislator
                          ·      Invited Democratic legislator

2:15 – 3:00        Open Q&A
3:00 – 3:45        Student Roundtables – small group discussions on selected topics
3:45 – 4:00        Closing Session

Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2 - Issuance of Amendments Re: Revisions to Technical Specification 3.4.10, "Reactor Coolant System Pressure and Temperature (P/T) Limits" (TAC Nos. MF4597 and MF4598)

Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2 - Issuance of Amendments Re: Revisions to Technical Specification 3.4.10, "Reactor Coolant System Pressure and Temperature (P/T) Limits" (TAC Nos. MF4597 and MF4598)

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Truck Watch to Alert Public to Radioactive Dangers: Fall Newsletter

Nukewatch Plans Truck Watch to Alert Public to Radioactive Transport Dangers

This fall, Nukewatch staffers will hit the road with our Geiger counter and begin tracking private contractors hauling low-level waste, checking for radiation leaking near our public highways. Nukewatch will use the results of their research to alert the public and inform a campaign against upcoming consolidated waste storage proposals that would require a massive increase in the cross-country transport of decades’ worth of waste or “spent” reactor fuel rods.

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Tuesday, September 29, 2015

NRC Announces Management Changes, Streamlining

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today announced senior personnel changes that help streamline agency management and broaden the scope and diversity of its leadership at the top as the agency works to reduce its size in the coming years.

The most senior changes – which required Commission approval and will occur in early November – include:

Deputy Executive Director for Material, Waste, Research, State, Tribal and Compliance Programs Mike Weber will become director of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research;

Jennifer Uhle, currently deputy director for engineering in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, will become director of the Office of New Reactors;

Director of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards Catherine Haney will become the
Region II regional administrator in January, succeeding Victor McCree, who just assumed the agency’s most senior career position, Executive Director for Operations (EDO).

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Sunday, September 27, 2015

Markey: Filtered Vent Vote Adds to Litany of NRC Post-Fukushima Safety Failures

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Giselle Barry (Markey) 202-224-2742

Markey: Filtered Vent Vote Adds to Litany of NRC Post-Fukushima Safety Failures

Boston (August 21, 2015) – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) yesterday announced by a vote of 3-1 that it will not even put out for public comment the question of whether to upgrade America’s Fukushima-style reactors with a commonsense safety measure to prevent radiation exposure when vents are used to prevent hydrogen explosions during a meltdown. Commissioner Jeff Baran was the dissenting vote. In 2013, then-Rep. Markey and a group of House committee leaders called on the NRC to require that all U.S. nuclear reactors of the same design as the ones that melted down at the Japanese Fukushima nuclear facility install such vents in order to reduce exposure to radiation when the vents are used. Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Massachusetts has a reactor design that would utilize a filtered vent.

Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement:

“Yet again, the NRC has missed another opportunity to take the lessons learned from the Fukushima disaster and upgrade America’s nuclear fleet to make it safer in the face of a severe nuclear accident. The NRC has yet to require the nuclear industry complete implementation of a single Fukushima Task Force recommendation. It’s irresponsible, inexplicable and an abdication of NRC’s duty to protect public safety. Instead of following its top experts’ safety recommendations, the NRC chose to do nothing, leaving the people who live around these vulnerable nuclear facilities without an important protection. ”

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Exelon News Release

EXELON DEFERS DECISIONS ON ITS QUAD CITIES AND BYRON NUCLEAR PLANTS FOR ONE YEAR

Deferral follows outcome of third PJM capacity auction

CHICAGO (Sept. 10, 2015) — Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC) today announced that all of its nuclear plants in the PJM market cleared in the transition capacity auction for the 2017-18 planning year and that the company will defer any decisions about the future operations of its Quad Cities and Byron nuclear plants for one year. As a result, the company plans to continue operating its Quad Cities nuclear power plant through at least May 2018. The Byron plant is already obligated to operate through May 2019.

Exelon intends to bid Quad Cities, Byron, Three Mile Island and all eligible nuclear plants into the 2019-2020 PJM capacity auction next year. The decision to defer retirement decisions comes after rigorous analysis of the present and future economics of the plants, taking into consideration the constructive market trends stemming from the PJM capacity auction reforms.

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Cancer risks at nuclear plants to be concealed from public

Agency to leave children unprotected and public in the dark on cancer risks around nuclear power facilities

Vital cancer study canceled as nuclear industry moves in to offer end-run cover-up
TAKOMA PARK, MD, September 8, 2015 — Beyond Nuclear, a leading U.S. NGO of record on the health, safety and environmental dangers of nuclear power facilities, today decried the outrageous decision by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to cancel a study that would have examined cancer incidence and mortalities and the connection to U.S. nuclear facilities.

“Study after study in Europe has shown a clear rise in childhood leukemia around operating nuclear power facilities, yet the NRC has decided to hide this vital information from the American public,” said Cindy Folkers, radiation and health specialist at Beyond Nuclear.  The study, initiated in 2009 and carried out under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), had completed Phase 1 and was looking at seven pilot nuclear sites around the country, a project that was estimated to cost $8 million.

“An $8 million price tag for the next phase of this study is a drop in the bucket for an agency with a $1 billion annual operating budget,” added Folkers.  The NRC identified the “significant amount of time and resources needed and the agency’s current budget constraints” as its excuse for terminating the study. 

Folkers noted that, in reality, nuclear industry manipulation, rather than budget constraints, could be behind the NRC’s sudden decision to abandon the NAS study.

In documents obtained by Beyond Nuclear it was revealed that NRC staff had been approached by the president of U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP), John Boice, offering a cheaper, faster and less sensitive study design to replace the NAS study, although the NRC has not yet agreed to accept the NCRP bid.

“NCRP is not only funded in part by the nuclear industry but its decision-makers also have strong pro-nuclear ties,” said Folkers, who has been leading a six-year effort by Beyond Nuclear and other groups to ensure the NAS cancer study went forward with scientific integrity. 

“John Boice has repeatedly taken industry funding for health studies and has testified against plaintiffs in radiation exposure cases,” Folkers continued.  “The public will have absolutely no confidence in any conclusions reached by such a study and would recognize it as an attempt by the NRC to, yet again, bury public concerns about radiation exposure,” Folkers added.

What’s also behind the cancelation, Folkers alleges, is the incontrovertible evidence of negative health impacts caused by the routine operation of nuclear power reactors and especially on children, that such a study would have made public. 

Last year, Dr. Ian Fairlie, a noted British radiation biologist, conducted a meta-analysis of cancer studies around nuclear plants in the UK, Germany, France and Switzerland and found “a highly statistically significant 37% increase in childhood leukemias within 5 km (3 miles) of almost all nuclear power plants” in those countries. 

Reacting to the NRC’s decision, Fairlie said it was “highly regrettable and inexplicable given the large amount of good evidence from countries outside the U.S. which strongly pointed to increased leukemias near nuclear power plants.”

The influence of the nuclear industry over the NRC is no surprise, given the agency receives 90% of its funding from the nuclear industry itself.  But a recent pattern of dismissing public engagement and canceling minimal safety measures at U.S. nuclear plants is a worrying trend.

“Funding a cancer study around nuclear power plants is a legitimate cost of doing radioactive business that the NRC could have collected through its licensing fees,” said Paul Gunter, Director of Reactor Oversight at Beyond Nuclear and an NRC watchdog.  “Instead, the NRC has decided to pass along another cost savings to the nuclear industry at the expense of public health and safety.”

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Visit www.beyondnuclear.org

NRC Ends Work on National Academy of Sciences Cancer Risk Pilot Study

The NRC is ceasing work on a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) pilot study (Phase 1 and Phase 2) of cancer risks in populations near U.S. nuclear power facilities. The NRC determined that continuing the work was impractical, given the significant amount of time and resources needed and the agency’s current budget constraints.

The NRC continues to find U.S. nuclear power plants comply with strict requirements that limit radiation releases from routine operations. The NRC and state agencies regularly analyze environmental samples from near the plants. These analyses show the releases, when they occur, are too small to cause observable increases in cancer risk near the facilities.

“We’re balancing the desire to provide updated answers on cancer risk with our responsibility to use Congressionally-provided funds as wisely as possible,” said Brian Sheron, director of the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. “The NAS estimates it would be at least the end of the decade before they would possibly have answers for us, and the costs of completing the study were prohibitively high.”

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Friday, September 4, 2015

Exelon Generation Company, LLC, Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Unit 1 - NRC Inspection Report No. 05000171/2015009

Exelon Generation Company, LLC, Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Unit 1 - NRC Inspection Report No. 05000171/2015009

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NRC to Increase Oversight of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Based on New Inspection Finding

NRC to Increase Oversight of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Based on New Inspection Finding

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has finalized an inspection finding of low-to-moderate safety significance and an associated violation for the Pilgrim nuclear power plant. The decision will result in increased NRC oversight at the Plymouth, Mass., facility.

Specifically, the enforcement action will move the plant into the Repetitive Degraded Cornerstone Column, or Column 4, of the NRC’s Action Matrix. The plant transitioned into the Degraded Cornerstone Column, or Column 3, in late 2013 as a result of unplanned shutdowns and unplanned shutdowns with complications that year. During an inspection in December 2014, the NRC found that Entergy, the plant’s owner and operator, had not adequately evaluated the causes of those shutdowns and that some corrective actions had not been completed as intended or were closed out prematurely.

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Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2 - Request for Additional Information Regarding License Amendment Request to Adopt NEI 99-01, Revision 6, EAL Scheme Change (TAC Nos. MF6057 and MF6058)

Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2 - Request for Additional Information Regarding License Amendment Request to Adopt NEI 99-01, Revision 6, EAL Scheme Change (TAC Nos. MF6057 and MF6058)

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Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2 - Acceptance of Requested Licensing Action Re: Proposed Relief Requests for the Third Ten-Year Inservice Inspection Interval (TAC Nos. MF6302 through MF6307)

Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2 - Acceptance of Requested Licensing Action Re: Proposed Relief Requests for the Third Ten-Year Inservice Inspection Interval (TAC Nos. MF6302 through MF6307)

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PA DEP News Release : Pennsylvania Climate Impacts Assessment Report Shows Threats to Human Health, Water and Air Quality

Pennsylvania Climate Impacts Assessment Report Shows Threats to Human Health, Water and Air Quality

HARRISBURG, PA -- Pennsylvanians should prepare for dangerously high summer temperatures and more severe storms, increased threat of certain diseases carried by insects, and drastic changes to agriculture and water quality, according to a new report on the impact of climate change from Penn State University. The report was authored by Dr. James Shortle with assistance from a multidisciplinary team of colleagues at Penn State.

The Pennsylvania Climate Change Act (PCCA) (Act 70), enacted by the General Assembly in 2008, directed Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to conduct a study of the potential impacts of global climate change on Pennsylvania over the next century. This report is the second update to the original report published in 2009.

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NRC Issues Mid-Cycle Assessments for Nation’s Nuclear Plants

NRC Issues Mid-Cycle Assessments for Nation’s Nuclear Plants

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued mid-cycle assessment letters to the nation’s 99 operating commercial nuclear power plants regarding their performance through the first half of 2015. The mid-cycle assessment period concluded on June 30, with 96 plants in the two highest performance categories.

“NRC senior management and staff perform a systematic review of all current performance indicators, recent inspection findings and other pertinent information for each domestic power reactor facility,” said Scott Morris, Director of the Division of Inspection and Regional Support in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. “One key outcome from this semi-annual process is to ensure that all of our stakeholders clearly understand the basis for our assessments of plant performance and the actions we are taking to address any identified performance deficiencies.”

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Mid-Cycle Assessment Letter for Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (Report 05000289/2015005)

Mid-Cycle Assessment Letter for Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (Report 05000289/2015005)

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Mid-Cycle Assessment Letter for Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2 (Report 05000387/2015005 and 05000388/2015005)

Mid-Cycle Assessment Letter for Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2 (Report 05000387/2015005 and 05000388/2015005)

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Mid-Cycle Assessment Letter for Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station (Report 05000277/2015005 and 05000278/2015005)

Mid-Cycle Assessment Letter for Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station (Report 05000277/2015005 and 05000278/2015005)

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION PLAN FOR THE AUDIT OF EXELON GENERATION COMPANY, LLC'S FLOOD HAZARD REEVALUATION REPORT SUBMITTAL RELATING TO THE NEAR-TERM TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATION 2.1-FLOODING FOR PEACH BOTTOM ATOMIC POWER STATION, UNITS 2 AND 3 (TAC NOS. MF6598 AND MF6599)

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION PLAN FOR THE AUDIT OF EXELON GENERATION COMPANY, LLC'S FLOOD HAZARD REEVALUATION REPORT SUBMITTAL RELATING TO THE NEAR-TERM TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATION 2.1-FLOODING FOR PEACH BOTTOM ATOMIC POWER STATION, UNITS 2 AND 3 (TAC NOS. MF6598 AND MF6599)

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Keystone Solar Tour - See an award winning solar farm in PA!

Event Summary   
Date - September 17, 2015
Location - Keystone Solar Project
1067 Lancaster Pike (at Deaver Road)
Quarryville, Pennsylvania  17566

Registration & Light Refreshments: (10:00-10:30)
Interactive Presentation (10:30-11:15)
Tour (11:15-12:00)
Working Lunch and Wrap-Up (12:00 - 12:30)

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Pennsylvania Wind Forum, October 14, Penn State Harrisburg

Dear Pennsylvania wind stakeholder:

According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Pennsylvania has deployed 1,340 megawatts of wind energy, resulting in an estimated $1.5 billion of economic development over 20 years. But that’s less than 20% of Pennsylvania’s wind potential!

To explore the future of Pennsylvania’s wind energy opportunities and challenges, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), in collaboration with the Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Coalition, will host a Pennsylvania State Wind Energy Forum on October 14 in Harrisburg. You are cordially invited to attend. The program will:
  • Address a wide variety of Pennsylvania wind stakeholders’ questions about the current status of wind energy technology, markets, and impacts, as well as opportunities for future development
  • Include perspectives from utilities, wind developers, advocacy groups, wildlife specialists, researchers, and government officials
  • Allow attendees to engage with topical experts during a lunchtime session of 20 table topics and in-depth Q&A.
The agenda will feature:

    John Hanger, Pennsylvania Secretary of Planning and Policy
    Larry Schweiger, CEO, Penn Future
    Gladys Brown, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Chair
    Rob Gramlich, AWEA VP of Policy
    Brent Alderfer, CEO and co-founder of Community Energy
    Shawn Garvin, EPA Regional Administrator (invited)
    A host of other Pennsylvania and regional leaders.

The panelists will address national and regional markets, the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, wind-natural gas integration, Pennsylvania wind project case studies, and wind developer perspectives. Attendees will wrap up the day by discussing Pennsylvania’s wind futures.

Please go to www.awea.org/pennsylvania to see the agenda details and register for the Forum (which includes lunch and an evening reception). We look forward to seeing you at Penn State’s Harrisburg campus on October 14.

Larry Flowers
AWEA State Wind Forums facilitator

PA DEP News Release : Work To Extinguish Mine Fire In Carbon County Continues To Progress


Work To Extinguish Mine Fire In Carbon County Continues To Progress
 
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is continuing drilling work to map the limits of the Jeansville mine fire in Banks Township, Carbon County. 
 
“DEP’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation is continuing to monitor the progress of efforts to extinguish this mine fire,” said John Stefanko, deputy secretary for Office of Active and Abandoned Mine Operations. “We are working with the contractor to complete the exploratory drilling work as fast as is safely possible.”
 
Minichi Inc., of Dupont, Luzerne County has drilled 38 of the proposed 51 holes. Drilling activity is expected to finish by the end of August, but could be extended if additional drilling is needed to accurately define the limits of the fire.

Exelon Merger with Pepco denied by the D.C. Public Service Commission

Commission Denies Pepco/Exelon Merger Application

(Washington, D.C.) Today, the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia (“Commission”) voted to deny an application for acquisition of Pepco Holdings, Inc. (PHI) by Exelon Corporation as not being in the public interest. In determining whether the Proposed Merger is in the public interest pursuant to D.C. Code §§ 34-504 and 34-1001, the Commission first considered the effect of the Proposed Merger transaction on each of the seven public interest factors. This included the effects of the transaction on ratepayers and shareholders, on competition in the local retail and wholesale markets and on conservation of natural resources and preservation of environmental quality. In doing so, the Commission identified how the effects of the Proposed Merger on each of the seven public interest factors would benefit or harm the public (including Pepco, District ratepayers, and the District community). The Commission then used its findings to assess the transaction as a whole. The Commission concluded that, taken as a whole, the transaction as proposed by Exelon and Pepco is not in the public interest. In a separate opinion, Commissioner Phillips concurred in part and dissented in part.

Download FC 1119 Press Release_82515

Download FC 1119 Executive Summary_82515

TMI Open House Invitation

Join Us at Three Mile Island for Community Information Night!

Three Mile Island invites you and your family to join us on Thursday, September 10, 2015 at our Community Information Night.

Open House: September 10, 2015 5 to 8 p.m. at the TMI Training Center
The training center is located on Rt. 441 at 1009 Pecks Road, across the street from TMI.

Download Invitation

Markey: Filtered Vent Vote Adds to Litany of NRC Post-Fukushima Safety Failures

Markey: Filtered Vent Vote Adds to Litany of NRC Post-Fukushima Safety Failures

Boston (August 21, 2015) – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) yesterday announced by a vote of 3-1 that it will not even put out for public comment the question of whether to upgrade America’s Fukushima-style reactors with a commonsense safety measure to prevent radiation exposure when vents are used to prevent hydrogen explosions during a meltdown. Commissioner Jeff Baran was the dissenting vote. In 2013, then-Rep. Markey and a group of House committee leaders called on the NRC to require that all U.S. nuclear reactors of the same design as the ones that melted down at the Japanese Fukushima nuclear facility install such vents in order to reduce exposure to radiation when the vents are used. Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Massachusetts has a reactor design that would utilize a filtered vent.

Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement:

“Yet again, the NRC has missed another opportunity to take the lessons learned from the Fukushima disaster and upgrade America’s nuclear fleet to make it safer in the face of a severe nuclear accident. The NRC has yet to require the nuclear industry complete implementation of a single Fukushima Task Force recommendation. It’s irresponsible, inexplicable and an abdication of NRC’s duty to protect public safety. Instead of following its top experts’ safety recommendations, the NRC chose to do nothing, leaving the people who live around these vulnerable nuclear facilities without an important protection. ”

Read article

NRC to Hold Public Meetings in Maryland and Nevada on Yucca Mountain Environmental Report Supplement

NRC to Hold Public Meetings in Maryland and Nevada on Yucca Mountain Environmental Report Supplement

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold a series of public meetings at agency headquarters in Rockville, Md., and in Nevada to seek public comment on a supplement to the Department of Energy’s Environmental Impact Statement for a proposed geologic high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

The draft supplement, which evaluates the proposed repository’s potential impacts on groundwater and from surface discharges of groundwater, was released on Aug. 13. The public comment period begins today, with publication of a notice in the Federal Register and ends Oct. 20. The NRC staff will hold a public conference call Aug. 26 from 2-3 p.m. Eastern Time to explain how to submit comments. Call-in information is available on the NRC website. Procedures for submitting comments are also explained in today’s Federal Register notice.

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State Challenges NRC In Federal Court Over Yankee Decommissioning Funds

State Challenges NRC In Federal Court Over Yankee Decommissioning Funds

The state of Vermont has gone to court to fight a decision by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission that could affect the decommissioning of the now-closed Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.

The NRC ruled recently that Vermont Yankee can dip into its decommissioning fund and use some of the money to handle spent nuclear fuel.

On Thursday, the state challenged the NRC in the U. S Court of Appeals in Washington. Public Service Commissioner Christopher Recchia -- whose department represents ratepayers -- said that NRC rules are clear that decommissioning funds can only be used for decommissioning.

“It’s got to be used for, I think the NRC terms are, ‘activities that reduce the radiological exposure at the site.’ So yes, decommissioning,” Recchia said.

The NRC in June granted Yankee an exemption and allowed it to spent about $225 million of the roughly $660 million fund for spent nuclear fuel. Recchia is concerned that diverting some of the money from the decommissioning fund could slow the timetable for dismantling the plant.

The state was joined in its legal challenge by two utilities that collected the decommissioning fund from ratepayers. Recchia said Green Mountain Power and the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. have a clear stake in how the decommissioning money is spent.

“They are the ones that have an interest in this fund. And we obviously want to support the ratepayers but they have a more direct claim to it. So we thought it would be useful, and they agreed, to join the suit,” he said.

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THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR STATION, UNIT 1 - STAFF ASSESSMENT OF INFORMATION PROVIDED PURSUANT TO TITLE 10 OF THE CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS PART 50, SECTION 50.54(f), SEISMIC HAZARD REEVALUATIONS FOR RECOMMENDATION 2.1 OF THE NEAR-TERM TASK FORCE REVIEW

THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR STATION, UNIT 1 - STAFF ASSESSMENT OF INFORMATION PROVIDED PURSUANT TO TITLE 10 OF THE CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS PART 50, SECTION 50.54(f), SEISMIC HAZARD REEVALUATIONS FOR RECOMMENDATION 2.1 OF THE NEAR-TERM TASK FORCE REVIEW OF INSIGHTS FROM THE FUKUSHIMA DAl-ICHI ACCIDENT (TAC NO. MF3905)

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FORTHCOMING MEETING WITH THE NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE (NEI) TO DISCUSS ITS PROPOSAL TO DEVELOP INDUSTRY GUIDANCE FOR DECOMMISSIONING FUNDING

Decommissioning Funding (Reissued with larger conference room, gotomeeting and conference information)
FORTHCOMING MEETING WITH THE NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE (NEI) TO DISCUSS ITS PROPOSAL TO DEVELOP INDUSTRY GUIDANCE FOR DECOMMISSIONING FUNDING

Tuesday, August 25, 2015 8:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. EST   5:30am-8:30am PDT

http://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/view?AccessionNumber=ML15225A138

LOCATION: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) ACRS Conference Room, T-2B3 11545 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852 PURPOSE: NEI to present its proposal for developing an industry guidance document on decommissioning funding, as stated in the April 17, 2015, NEI letter to the NRC (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System Accession No. ML15209A887).

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Tue, Aug 25, 2015 8:30 AM - 11:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
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Friday, August 14, 2015

NRC Approves Changes to Petition-for-Rulemaking Process

NRC Approves Changes to Petition-for-Rulemaking Process

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today approved a final rule that will streamline and clarify its process for addressing petitions for rulemaking. The new rule will be published shortly in the Federal Register.

Any member of the public can petition the NRC to issue a new regulation or amend an existing one. The final rule marks the first comprehensive update to the NRC’s process for considering rulemaking petitions since the process was established in 1979. The NRC published proposed changes for comment in May 2013, and considered the comments received in finalizing the rule.

The revisions will clarify the NRC’s policies and practices at each stage of the petition-for- rulemaking process, including how the staff evaluates petitions and how it communicates information about both the status of petitions and rulemaking activities that address them. It also improves the process for resolving a rulemaking petition and for closing the petition docket, which would occur after the NRC denies a petition or initiates a rulemaking to address a petitioner’s concerns. The changes are intended to enhance the consistency, timeliness and transparency of the process and improve its efficiency.

More information about the petition-for-rulemaking process can be found on the NRC’s website.

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Pilgrim facility cuts its power


It was the fourth time in the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station’s 43-year history that seawater flowing through its intake pipes exceeded the 75-degree federal limit.

Sea water flowing into Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station from Cape Cod Bay over the weekend reached an excessive temperature that forced the Plymouth plant to cut power and prepare for a rare shutdown, Pilgrim officials said Tuesday.

The operators of the station, which is about 35 miles south of Boston, cut power by 10 percent around 4 p.m. on Sunday to cool sea water pulled into the plant.

The plant resumed full power about 3½ hours later, and Lauren Burm, a spokeswoman for Entergy Corp., the plant’s owner, said, “the plant remained in stable condition the whole time, and there was never a threat to the public or the plant.”

Plant officials suggested that the elevated temperature — 75.09 degrees — was the result of a combination of tides and wind mixing water discharged from the plant with the water being drawn into its intake pipes.

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