Peach Bottom: Cyber-Security Inspection

Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station - Information Request for the Cyber-Security Inspection, Notification to Perform Inspection 05000277/2019403 and 05000278/2019403

ADAMS Accession No.  ML18330A053

Susquehanna: Emergency Preparedness Inspection Report

SUSQUEHANNA STEAM ELECTRIC STATION – EVALUATED EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS EXERCISE INSPECTION REPORT 05000387/2018501 AND 05000388/2018501

Download PDF

Nuclear Regulatory Commission - Press Release

No: 18-061 November 26, 2018

CONTACT: Scott Burnell, 301-415-8200

NRC Makes Available Application to Transfer Bellefonte Construction Permits

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has received an application from Nuclear Development LLC, to transfer the deferred construction permits for the unfinished Bellefonte Unit 1 and 2 reactors in Alabama. The application is now available for public review on the NRC website.

Nuclear Development filed the application on Nov. 13, seeking to transfer the permits from the Tennessee Valley Authority. The Bellefonte units are partially complete pressurized-water reactors located approximately six miles northeast of Scottsboro, Ala. The NRC placed the Bellefonte construction permits in deferred status in 2010.

The NRC staff is reviewing the application to determine if it has sufficient information to complete the agency’s review. If the application is determined to be complete, the staff will docket it and publish a notice of opportunity to request an adjudicatory hearing before the NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. Information about the license transfer process is available on the NRC website.

State officials to receive pay raises

State lawmakers will have a nice Christmas gift waiting for them next month.

Starting December 1, they'll be getting an automatic pay raise. Now some are calling for these raises to come to an end.

State law requires an automatic pay increase for Pennsylvania lawmakers, judges, and top executive officials. Their annual salaries increasing by thousands.

"The automatic pay raise is legalized theft," said Eric Epstein.

Epstein, with the state watchdog group Rock the Capital, has been an outspoken critic of the state's automatic Cost of Living Adjustments or COLA for state lawmakers, judges, and top executive branch officials for years.

"We should go back to where we were prior to 1995," said Epstein. "And if the legislators want a pay raise, put it before the voters."

Read more

Beyond Nuclear opposes second license extension for Peach Bottom nuclear plant

NEWS FROM BEYOND NUCLEAR

November 20, 2018
Contact: Paul Gunter, Director, Reactor Oversight Project, Beyond Nuclear, 301-523-0201
David Lochbaum, independent nuclear engineer and expert witness,
423-488-8318

Beyond Nuclear opposes second license extension for Peach Bottom
nuclear plant


Relicensing could see aging PA reactors run for 80 years with deteriorating safety

TAKOMA PARK, MD -- Scientific knowledge gaps in the management of reactor safety issues caused by aging, and acknowledged by the nuclear industry, have prompted Beyond Nuclear to challenge an application to extend the operating license for two nuclear reactors in Pennsylvania.

Beyond Nuclear, an environmental advocacy group based in Takoma Park, MD, is opposing an application from Exelon Generation, owner of the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant in Delta, PA, to extend the operating lifetime of its two reactors there for another 20 years.
Exelon has submitted a Second License Renewal (SLR) application for an additional 20-year extension of the operating license for Peach Bottom units 2 and 3.

Beyond Nuclear submitted a request on Monday asking the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a public hearing and intervention before the NRC’s Atomic Safety Licensing Board.

The hearing would address the application’s failure to comply with NRC regulations that require Exelon to demonstrate how it will manage increasing wear and tear caused by the combination of extreme heat, pressure, radiation and vibration on Peach Bottom safety systems throughout the requested 60- to 80-year extended period of operation.

Both units are GE Mark I boiling water reactors and are already operating within their first approved 20-year license extension to the original 40-year license which expired in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Exelon is now seeking NRC approval to extend the operation of Peach Bottom Unit 2 from 2033 to 2053 and Unit 3 from 2034 to 2054.

“According to NRC regulations, the onus is on Exelon to demonstrate in its application how Peach Bottom operators will manage the destructive effects of aging on safety systems and the material reliability of structures and components for the extension

period,” said Paul Gunter, Director of the Reactor Oversight Project with Beyond Nuclear. “This application fails to satisfy NRC regulations that require Peach Bottom to have effective age management programs throughout the next license renewal period,” he said.

Presently, there are as many as 16 known significant age-related degradation mechanisms (i.e. radiation and thermal induced embrittlement, stress corrosion cracking, fatigue) attacking the base metals, welds, concrete and entire systems including more than 1,200 miles of control, instrumentation and power cables at the two-unit reactor site. The industry, the regulator and national laboratories publicly acknowledge an abundance of gaps, deficiencies, and uncertainties in their present understanding of how these aging degradation mechanisms and their synergies destructively impact reactor safety and performance.

Analyzing a sufficient amount of information on the material condition of reactor systems, structures and components collected from reactor operating experience is essential, in fact required, to reasonably project Peach Bottom’s safety performance into the future.
However, reactors in the US are closing due to a variety of economical, technological and political challenges. Several reactors have closed in just the past few years, more upcoming closures have been announced, and others could possibly close before Peach Bottom enters the proposed second license renewal period in 2033 and 2034. As currently trending, the amount of operating experience could be significantly reduced, consequentially reducing age management insights needed for the requested license renewal period.

“Exelon fails to acknowledge just how dependent its age management programs are on evidence gathered internally from Peach Bottom’s operating experience and externally from other reactors of like design and materials,” said Gunter, citing from expert testimony submitted with the legal filing to the NRC.

“Further, the application fails to address when the number of reactor closures and the associated reduction in the amount of external operating experience impairs the effectiveness of its age management programs,” he continued.

“Of more concern, the application is silent on how Exelon would provide the required operating experience gathered from alternate sources including strategic autopsies on the growing number of decommissioning reactors like Exelon’s Oyster Creek plant in New Jersey,” Gunter added.

According to Beyond Nuclear’s expert witness, David Lochbaum, a widely recognized independent nuclear engineer on reactor safety, “In order to comply with NRC relicensing regulations and protect public health and safety, Exelon needs to address several factors. First, how much of Exelon’s age management programs depends on operating experience of other reactors; second, how will Exelon determine what amount of operating experience information is sufficient to assure safety, and finally; how the required operating experience will be augmented if it is found to be insufficient,” Lochbaum said.

Beyond Nuclear concludes that without Exelon first demonstrating how it will reliably manage the increasing effects of aging during the second renewal, Peach Bottom cannot be relicensed.

Additional links:
Beyond Nuclear Request for Public Hearing and Leave to Intervene
Attachments to Hearing Request

Nuclear Regulatory Commission - Press Release

No: 18-059 November 15, 2018

CONTACT: David McIntyre, 301-415-8200

NRC Publishes Agency Financial Report for FY 2018

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has released its Fiscal Year 2018 Agency Financial Report, providing audited financial statements of the agency’s management of resources from Oct. 1, 2017, through Sept. 30, 2018.

The report documents continued reductions in the NRC’s cost of operations through reduced license fees and fees for services, and new efficiencies in its bill paying and collections operations. New information technology for financial management and labor reporting has led to improved data collection, redesigned invoices, and improved communications with licensees and others.

The Agency Financial Report is available on the NRC website.

Peach Bottom: Risk-Informed Categorization & Treatment of Structures, Systems

PEACH BOTTOM ATOMIC POWER STATION, UNITS 2 AND 3 - CORRECTION TO AMENDMENT NOS. 321 AND 324 TO ADOPT 10 CFR 50.69, "RISK-INFORMED CATEGORIZATION AND TREATMENT OF STRUCTURES, SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS FOR NUCLEAR POWER REACTORS" (CAC NOS. MG0181 AND MG0182; EPID L-2017-LLA-0281)

Download ML18302A257

Exelon: Meeting Re: Request to Adopt TSTF-427

Subject: 10/23/2018 Summary of Meeting with Exelon Generation Company, LLC Regarding Planned License Amendment Request to Adopt TSTF-427 (EPID L-2018-LRM-0062).

ADAMS Accession No. ML18297A172

Peach Bottom: Risk-Informed Categorization and Treatment of Structures, Systems and Components

Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3 – Issuance of Amendment Nos. 321 and 324 to Adopt 10 CFR 50.69, “Risk-Informed Categorization and Treatment of Structures, Systems and Components for Nuclear Power Reactors”

Download PDF

Pre-Application Meeting with Exelon Generation Company, LLC (Exelon)

This is a Category 1 meeting. The public is invited to observe this meeting and will have one or more opportunities to communicate with the NRC after the business portion of the meeting but before the meeting is adjourned.

Download ML18296A146

Possible Transition from Operating to Decommissioning

Possible Transition from Operating to Decommissioning

Low-Level Waste Advisory Committee Meeting

September 28, 2018

Download PowerPoint

Requirements for Low-Level Radioactive Waste Minimization Plans

Requirements for Low-Level Radioactive
 Waste Minimization Plans

Low-Level Waste Advisory Committee Meeting
September 28, 2018

Download PowerPoint

Appalachian Compact LLRW Disposal Data

Appalachian Compact

LLRW Disposal Data

Calendar Year 2017

Low-Level Waste Advisory Committee Meeting

September 28, 2018

Download PowerPoint 

NRC Reaches Settlement with Company that Imported and Distributed Radioactive Material Without Licenses

October 24, 2018
CONTACT: David McIntyre, 301-415-8200

NRC Reaches Settlement with Company that Imported and Distributed Radioactive Material Without Licenses

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has reached a settlement with Harman International Industries Inc., of Northridge, Calif., in which Harman agrees to implement multiple corrective actions and program enhancements after it imported and distributed products containing radioactive material without proper licenses.
In June, the NRC cited Harman for three violations of agency regulations for importing, possessing and distributing lamps containing krypton-85 without the proper licenses to possess and distribute radioactive materials. Before June 2018, Harman was located in Elkhart, Ind., where the NRC has licensing authority. As a result of the NRC’s investigation, which began in 2016, the company halted the import and distribution of lamps and spare bulbs containing krypton-85. On Dec. 15, 2017, the company was issued a license by California to possess radioactive material and a separate license by the NRC to distribute lamps containing krypton-85.
The agreement, reached through the NRC’s alternative dispute resolution process, was announced Oct. 2 in the Federal Register. In it, Harman agrees to appoint a Compliance Officer to ensure that the company complies with NRC regulations. The Compliance Officer will oversee the company’s new process to ensure that NRC requirements are met when any new products are imported and distributed within the U.S. The company will also conduct training in NRC requirements for senior officials and those involved in the compliance process, conduct program audits, and will inform its foreign suppliers of NRC requirements for exporting radioactive material to U.S. entities.
Information about the NRC’s alternative dispute resolution process is available on the NRC website.

Peach Bottom: License Amendment for TS Changes

Subject: Acceptance Review for Peach Bottom - License Amendment Request for TS Changes related to HPSW System (EPID L-2018-LLA-0265)

ADAMS Accession No. ML18295A260

Peach Bottom: Acceptance Review - License Ammendment

Peach Bottom:  Acceptance Review for Peach Bottom – License Amendment Request for Secondary Containment (EPID L-2018-LLA-0264)

ADAMS Accession No. ML18295A391

Peach Bottom: Audit Re: License Renewal Review

SUBJECT: PEACH BOTTOM ATOMIC POWER STATION, UNITS 2 AND 3 - PLAN FOR THE IN-OFFICE REGULATORY AUDIT REGARDING THE SUBSEQUENT LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION REVIEW (EPID NO. L-2018-RNW-0012)

ADAMS Accession Nos. ML18282A029

NRC Approves Changes to Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant Emergency Planning Requirements

No: 18-048
October 18, 2018
CONTACT: David McIntyre, 301-415-8200

NRC Approves Changes to Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant Emergency Planning Requirements

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted Exelon Generation Company’s request to modify the emergency preparedness plan for the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in Lacey Township, N.J., to reflect the plant’s decommissioning status.
The changes include exemptions from specific NRC requirements that may not be applicable to a plant that has permanently ceased operations. Once the licensee implements the exemptions, state and local governments may rely on comprehensive emergency management (“all hazard”) planning for off- site emergency response to events at Oyster Creek, rather than a dedicated offsite radiological emergency response plan. As a result, there will not be a 10-mile emergency planning zone identified in Oyster Creek’s license. The plant will maintain an onsite emergency plan and response capabilities, including the continued notification of state government officials of an emergency declaration.
Exelon provided analyses to justify the exemptions showing that the risk of an offsite radiological release is significantly lower than an operating power reactor. Also, the types of possible accidents are significantly fewer at a nuclear power reactor that has permanently ceased operations and removed fuel from the reactor vessel.
The NRC staff evaluated and confirmed these analyses and, based on the NRC staff’s evaluation and recommendation, the Commission approved the exemptions July 17. The exemptions were granted and a safety evaluation issued Oct. 16, and license amendments reflecting the exemptions were issued Oct. 17. The exemptions will be published Oct. 22 in the Federal Register. Under the exemptions, Exelon may not implement the changes to its emergency preparedness plans until Sept. 17, 2019, based on the company’s evaluation of applicable accidents.
Oyster Creek, a single boiling-water reactor, began operations in 1969. It ceased operations Sept. 17, 2018. All spent fuel has been permanently moved from the reactor vessel to the spent fuel pool for storage. The exemptions from specific emergency preparedness requirements are part of several changes to the plant’s licensing basis and technical specifications the licensee requested to reflect Oyster Creek’s decommissioning status.

NRC Schedules Meeting to Receive TVA Update on Work Environment Issues

No: II-18-034
October 10, 2018
Contact: Roger Hannah, 404-997-4417
Joey Ledford, 404-997-4416

NRC Schedules Meeting to Receive TVA Update on Work Environment Issues

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a public meeting with Tennessee Valley Authority officials for Oct. 18 to be briefed on the current status and progress of actions to improve the safety conscious work environment at the Watts Bar nuclear plant.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. at the Comfort Inn, 2811 Decatur Pike, Athens, Tenn. The plant is located near Spring City, about 60 miles southwest of Knoxville.
On March 23, 2016, the NRC staff issued a letter to TVA expressing concern that some operations employees may not have felt comfortable raising safety concerns at the plant. After a mediation session in June 2017, the NRC issued a Confirmatory Order to TVA, which agreed to an extensive list of corrective actions to address the safety conscious work environment issues. Although the issues were identified at the Watts Bar plant, TVA also agreed to implement actions at its Browns Ferry and Sequoyah nuclear plants, as well as at its corporate offices.
During the meeting, TVA is expected to provide an update on those corrective actions and NRC officials will likely ask questions and discuss the agency’s continuing oversight regarding the issue.
NRC staff will be available after the business portion of the meeting to answer questions from members of the public and the media. Anyone unable to attend who wishes to listen to the meeting via a toll-free teleconference line should contact the NRC’s Son Ninh by Oct. 15. He can be reached by phone at 404-997-4532 or email at son.ninh@nrc.gov.

NRC Renews Operating Licenses for Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant Units 2 and 3

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed the operating licenses for the Indian Point nuclear power plant, Unit 2 and Unit 3, located in Buchanan, N.Y. The renewed licenses enable the licensee to operate the reactors through April 30, 2024, for Unit 2, and April 30, 2025, for Unit 3.
Entergy Nuclear Operations Inc., applied for renewal of the licenses in April 2007, seeking an additional 20 years of operation beyond the original expiration dates of 2013 and 2015. The units were authorized to continue operating under “timely renewal,” because Entergy submitted its application more than five years prior to the expiration of the original licenses.
On Jan. 8, 2017, Entergy, the state of New York, and the environmental group Riverkeeper, announced an agreement under which Entergy would permanently close the plants no later than 2024 and 2025, respectively. As part of the agreement, Entergy amended its application to seek a shorter renewal term. The NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board issued an Order on March 13, 2017, dismissing remaining contentions and closing the adjudicatory hearing on the renewal.
More information on Indian Point’s license renewal application, including the NRC staff’s safety and environmental reviews, is available on the NRC website.

A Beyond Nuclear Briefing Paper

Beyond Nuclear
6930 Carroll Avenue Suite 400

Takoma Park, MD 20912

Tel. 301-270-2209

www.beyondnuclear.org

A Beyond Nuclear Briefing Paper:

The Subsequent License Renewal of Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station needs to be scientifically informed by an “autopsy” performed on decommissioning nuclear power stations of similar design to “reasonably assurance” material safety margins projected for the second license extension

The Issue

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the lead organization for the U.S. commercial nuclear power industry, envisions the industry’s “Bridge to the Future” through a series of reactor license renewals from the original 40-year operating license; first by a 40 to 60-year extension and then a subsequent 60 to 80-year extension.  Most U.S. reactors are already operating in their first 20-year license extension and the first application for the second 20-year extension (known as the “Subsequent License Renewal”) is before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for review and approval. NEI claims that there are no technical “show stoppers” to these second license renewals. However, as aging nuclear power stations seek to extend their operations longer and longer, there are still many identified knowledge gaps for at least sixteen (16) known age-related material degradation mechanisms (embrittlement, cracking, corrosion, fatigue, etc.) that are attacking irreplaceable safety-related systems including miles of electrical cable, structures such as the concrete containment and components like the large reactor pressure vessel. For example, the national labs have identified that it is not known how radiation damage will interact with thermal aging. Material deterioration has already been responsible for near miss nuclear accidents.  As such, permanently closed and decommissioning nuclear power stations have a unique and increasingly vital role to play in providing the still missing data on the impacts and potential hazards of aging for the future safety of dramatic operating license extensions.

The NRC and national laboratories document that a post-shutdown autopsy of sorts to harvest, archive and test actual aged material samples (metal, concrete, electrical insulation and jacketing, etc.) during decommissioning provides unique and critical access to obtain the scientific data for safety reviews of the requested license extensions.  A Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) 2017 report concludes, post-shutdown autopsies are necessary for “reasonable assurance that systems, structures, and components (SSCs) are able to meet their safety functions. Many of the remaining questions regarding degradation of materials will likely require [emphasis added] a combination of laboratory studies as well as other research conducted on materials sampled from plants (decommissioned or operating).” PNNL reiterates, “Where available, benchmarking can be performed using surveillance specimens. In most cases, however, benchmarking of laboratory tests will require (emphasis added) harvesting materials from reactors.” In the absence of “reasonable assurance,” it is premature for licensees to complete applications without adequate verification and validation of projected safety margins for the 60 to 80-year extension period. 

Decommissioning is not just the process for dismantling nuclear reactors and remediating radioactive contamination for site restoration. Decommissioning has an increasingly important role at the end-of-reactor-life-cycle for the scientific scrutiny of projected safety margins and potential hazards at operating reactors seeking longer and longer license extensions.                       

The Problem

After decades of commercial power operation, the nuclear industry and the NRC have done surprisingly little to strategically harvest, archive and scientifically analyze actual aged materials. Relatively few samples of real time aged materials have been shared with the NRC.  The NRC attributes the present dearth of real time aged samples to “harvesting opportunities have been limited due to few decommissioning plants.” However, ten U.S. reactors have completed decommissioning operations to date and 20 units are in the decommissioning process. More closures are scheduled to begin in Fall 2018.  A closer look raises significant concern that the nuclear industry is reluctant to provide access to decommissioning units for sampling or collectively share this cost of doing business to extend their operating licenses. Key components including severely embrittled reactor pressure vessels were promptly dismantled by utilities and buried whole without autopsy. Many permanently closed reactors have been placed in “SAFSTOR,” defueled and mothballed “cold and dark” for up to 50 years without the material sampling to determine their extent of condition and the impacts of aging. Moreover, the NRC is shying away from taking reasonable regulatory and enforcement action to acquire the requested samples for laboratory analysis after prioritizing the need for a viable license extension safety review prior to approval. Meanwhile, the nuclear industry license extension process is pressing forward. 

David Lochbaum, a recognized nuclear safety engineer in the public interest with the Union of Concerned Scientists, identifies that nuclear research on the impacts and hazards of age degradation in nuclear power stations presently relies heavily on laboratory accelerated aging---often of fresh materials---and computer simulation to predict future aging performance and potential consequences during license extension.  Lochbaum explains that “Nuclear autopsies yield insights that cannot be obtained by other means.” Researchers need to compare the results from their time-compression studies with results from tests on materials actually aged for various time periods to calibrate their analytical models. According to Lochbaum, “Predicting aging effects is like a connect-the-dots drawing. Insights from materials harvested during reactor decommissioning provide many additional dots to the dots provided from accelerated aging studies. As the number of dots increases, the clearer the true picture can be seen. The fewer the dots, the harder it is to see the true picture.”

The Path Forward


1) Congress, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the NRC need to determine the nuclear industry’s fair share of autopsy costs levied through collective licensing fees for strategic harvesting during decommissioning and laboratory analysis of real time aged material samples as intended to benefit the material performance and safety margins of operating reactors seeking license extensions, and;

2) As NRC and the national laboratories define the autopsy’s stated goal as providing “reasonable assurance that systems, structures, and components (SSCs) are able to meet their safety functions” for the relicensing of other reactors, the NRC approval process for Subsequent License Renewal extensions should be held in abeyance pending completion of comprehensive strategic harvesting and conclusive analysis as requested by the agency and national laboratories, and;

3) Civil society can play a more active role in the independent oversight and public transparency of autopsies at decommissioning reactor sites such as through state legislated and authorized nuclear decommissioning citizen advisory panels. 

Link to the Beyond Nuclear Decommissioning Autopsy Whitepaper and documentation

http://www.beyondnuclear.org/nuclear-reactors-whatsnew/2018/7/11/captiol-hill-briefing-paper-on-the-need-for-autopsies-at-dec.html

DEP Announces $469,501 Settlement to Resolve Civil Penalties for United Refining Company Operating Violations

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA 
Dept. of Environmental Protection
Commonwealth News Bureau
Room 308, Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg PA., 17120 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

09/17/2018

CONTACT: 

Melanie Williams, DEP

814-332-6615

DEP Announces $469,501 Settlement to Resolve Civil Penalties for United Refining Company Operating Violations

Meadville, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has agreed to a $469,501 Consent Assessment of Civil Penalty with United Refining Company (URC) for violations of the Air Pollution Control Act and Title V Permit at the URC refinery in the City of Warren, Warren County. 

DEP inspections between September 16, 2014, and December 10, 2015, and continuous emission monitoring data, revealed multiple permit violations at the refinery, including:

• URC failed to inspect and measure primary and secondary seal gaps for several large storage tanks;

• URC failed to repair, empty, or remove from service a large storage tank after a defect had been detected;

• URC failed to conduct particulate testing for several air contamination sources; and

• URC exceeded emissions limits for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and hydrogen sulfide on several occasions for multiple sources from 2010 through 2016.

“DEP is committed to enforcing the conditions of the permits we issue, and keeping Pennsylvania’s air free of excess pollution,” said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell. 

DEP issued Notices of Violation for these permit violations. The violations were corrected by URC prior to the Consent Assessment of Civil Penalty and no further action related to these violations is required by URC.

Peach Bottom: Expanded Actions for LEFM Conditions

Subject:  Acceptance Review for Peach Bottom - License Amendment Request for Expanded Actions for LEFM Conditions (EPID L-2018-LLA-0230)

ADAMS Accession No. ML18254A204

NRC Preparing for Hurricane Florence

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission resident inspectors at nuclear plants in the Carolinas and Virginia are reviewing the plant operators’ preparations in advance of Hurricane Florence, currently projected to make landfall in the Southeast later this week.

The NRC is also sending additional inspectors to those plants and will activate its regional incident response center in Atlanta, to provide around-the-clock staff support during the storm.

Duke Energy’s Brunswick nuclear plant south of Wilmington, N.C., could face hurricane-force winds, major storm surges and heavy rain. Other plants near the storm’s projected path are also taking precautions.

Nuclear plant operators would declare an emergency if conditions are expected that would require that declaration.

Plant procedures require operators to shut down the reactor well before hurricane-force winds arrive on site. In preparing for Hurricane Florence, the staffs at Brunswick, Surry in southeastern Virginia, Harris near Raleigh, N.C., Robinson near Hartsville, S.C., and some other plants are working through their severe weather procedures, including ensuring that all loose debris and equipment have been removed or secured, and conducting walk-down inspections of important systems and equipment.

NRC inspectors are verifying that all preparations have been completed, and the plants’ emergency diesel generators are available with ample fuel if the storm affects off-site power.

The NRC has also been in touch with officials at the Global Nuclear Fuels-America facility near Wilmington, N.C., the research reactor at North Carolina State University in Raleigh and other NRC licensees in the area to verify their preparations for the storm.

From the NRC Region II incident response center in Atlanta, NRC staff members will monitor Hurricane Florence while remaining in contact with plant operators, NRC on-site inspectors, the NRC’s headquarters operations center, and state emergency officials in the Carolinas, Virginia and all potentially affected states.

The additional NRC inspectors will remain at the nuclear plant sites and the incident response center will remain staffed as long as conditions require.

NRC To Hold Meeting Seeking Public Comment on Environmental Review for Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Subsequent License Renewal‌

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet in Delta, Pa., on Sept. 25, to hear the public’s views on environmental issues the agency should consider in review of the Exelon Generation application for an additional 20 years of operation for Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station

Units 2 and 3.

The NRC will hold the meeting at the Peach Bottom Inn, 6085 Delta Road in Delta, from 6-8 p.m. Staff presentations will describe the environmental review process and the proposed review schedule. A formal public comment session will follow the presentations. An NRC open house, from 5-6 p.m., will provide the public an opportunity to speak informally with agency staff.

Those preferring to register in advance to comment during the meetings should contact David Drucker at 301-415-6223 or via e-mail at david.drucker@nrc.gov by Sept. 18. Those choosing to speak may also register in person by 5:45 p.m. Individual comments could be limited based upon the time available and the number of people seeking a speaking role. Individuals with special needs for attending or presenting information at the meetings should notify the NRC by Sept. 18.

NRC staff will also consider written comments on environmental issues until Oct. 10, following the publication of a notice in the Federal Register. Please include Docket ID NRC-2018-0130 with the comment, via theregulations.gov website.

Exelon submitted the Peach Bottom subsequent license renewal application on July 10. The subsequent license renewal process determines whether an operating reactor can extend its license for an additional 20 years. Theapplication, less proprietary details, is available on the NRC website. In addition, the Harford County Public Library, 2407 Whiteford Road in Whiteford, Md., will maintain a copy of the application’s environmental report for public inspection.

NRC Resumes Review of Application for Texas Consolidated Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has resumed its safety and environmental reviews of an application by Interim Storage Partners to construct and operate a consolidated spent nuclear fuel storage facility in Andrews County, Texas.
The application was initially filed by Waste Control Specialists in 2016. The company requested the NRC suspend its review in April 2017, pending the anticipated sale of the company. WCS was sold to J.F. Lehman & Co., in January 2018. In March, WCS and Orano, an international nuclear supplier, formed Interim Storage Partners as a joint venture to take over the spent fuel storage project. The new company submitted a revised application to the NRC in June.
When NRC’s review was suspended last year, the staff was in the process of receiving public comment on the scope of its environmental review and had issued a notice of opportunity for an adjudicatory hearing. Those processes will now resume.
The staff will consider all comments previously received on the scope of the environmental review. In a notice published Sept. 4 in the Federal Register, the NRC requested additional public comment through Oct. 19 on environmental issues to be considered in its environmental impact statement. In a separate notice in the Federal Register, published Aug. 29 and corrected Aug. 31, the NRC announced an opportunity to request a hearing, through Oct. 29. The notices include detailed instructions on how to file a hearing request or submit public comment.
The NRC completed its administrative review of the revised application and informed Interim Storage Partners of its decision to resume the review in a letter dated Aug. 21, 2018. The staff expects to complete its safety, security and environmental reviews in the summer of 2020.