KEEA Conference Federal Policy Panel

KEEA ENERGY EFFICIENCY 2014: The Utility of the Future Crowne Plaza Harrisburg Hotel AGENDA: November 13, 2014

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NEC, 17 GROUPS URGE NRC TO HALT LICENSING, RELICENSING OF 23 REACTORS DUE TO FAILURE TO ADDRESS 2012 COURT RULING

Inadequate Response to 2012 "Waste Confidence" Court Action Means Legal Challenge is Inevitable ... Unless NRC Halts Process.

WASHINGTON, D.C.///September 29, 2014///Firing a shot over the bow of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), 17 groups today took a necessary first step to seeking federal court intervention if the NRC does not stop on its own the licensing and relicensing of 23 reactors at 14 sites across the United States.

In urging the NRC to halt its process, the groups note that the federal agency has failed to address a major 2012 court action and longstanding prior decisions requiring the NRC to make "Waste Confidence" findings that the highly radioactive spent reactor fuel used in reactors can be disposed of safely.   In 2012, a federal court vacated NRC's safety and environmental rules regarding spent fuel storage and disposal and remanded them to the agency for an environmental study.  The NRC recently dismissed the notion that it needed to reasonably anticipate a national repository for nuclear reactor waste in order to proceed with reactor licensing and relicensing.

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Download Petition to Suspend FINAL (1)
Download 2014-09-29 Motion to File New Contention
Download NRC Waste Confidence Brief except

Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1 - Acceptance Letter Regarding Relief Request RR-14-01 Concerning Alternative Root Mean Square Depth Sizing Requirements (Tac No. MF4873)

Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1 - Acceptance Letter Regarding Relief Request RR-14-01 Concerning Alternative Root Mean Square Depth Sizing Requirements (Tac No. MF4873)

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Twitter 3 Comments ... Home Exelon Nuclear’s Limerick Generating Station leaks 100 gallons of bleach in to the Schuylkill River

LIMERICK >> A faulty valve at Exelon Nuclear’s Limerick Generating Station caused about 100 gallons of bleach to leak into the Schuylkill River Tuesday night.

The company issued a four-sentence statement announcing the spill Wednesday afternoon.

In an email, Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, wrote that the spill occurred around 9 p.m. and “had no impact on nuclear safety at the plant.”

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NRC Reorganizes Materials and Waste Programs

NRC Reorganizes Materials and Waste Programs

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has combined its two nuclear materials and waste program offices into one, completing a restructuring directed by the Commission in July to help the agency position itself to complete its work most effectively in the materials, waste and environmental areas.

Effective Oct. 5, programs housed in the Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs and the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards are merged. The new office will retain the name of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards or NMSS, an office established by Congress when it created the NRC in 1974. The merger reflects changes in the NRC’s materials and waste management workload and an effort to integrate regulation of the front and back ends of the nuclear fuel cycle, as well as the agency’s goal to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

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Certainty about uncertainty

Good Day:

This morning, my commentary was posted to the UCS blog about decision-making using incomplete and potentially inaccurate information. See http://allthingsnuclear.org/nuclear-risk-assessments-and-regulatory-bias/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+allthingsnuclear%2Ffeed+%28All+Things+Nuclear%29
Bias fills in missing information gaps with rosy or dire projections, clearly affecting decisions made.

Bias had the NRC paint a far more dire picture of the situation at Fukushima than did the Japanese regulator.

Bias had the NRC paint a rosy picture of the current situation at Diablo Canyon. Wonder what the Japanese regulator would recommend about the known earthquake and fire protection shortcomings at this plant? Bet they'd not be as nonchalant as the NRC has been.


Thanks,
Dave Lochbaum
UCS

Publication of Final Rule - Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel

Greetings,

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has published the final rule, “Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel” (RIN 3150-AJ20; NRC-2012-0246).  As discussed in a previous e-mail dated September 10, 2014, the NRC prepared a final generic environmental impact statement that provides a regulatory basis for this final rule: NUREG-2157, “Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel.”

The final rule is available in the NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under Accession No. ML14262A011: http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1426/ML14262A011.pdf.  The final rule is also available on the Federal Register website: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/09/19/2014-22215/continued-storage-of-spent-nuclear-fuel.

NUREG-2157 is also available in ADAMS:
·         NUREG-2157, Vol. 1 (Accession No. ML14196A105)  http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1419/ML14196A105.pdf
·         NUREG-2157, Vol. 2 (Accession No. ML14196A107)  http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1419/ML14196A107.pdf

For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC’s Public Document Room reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, at 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov.

If you have any questions regarding the final rule or NUREG-2157, please contact Sarah Lopas, however, please note that this is the last e-mail notification that will be sent from WCOutreach@nrc.gov.

Thank you,

Staff of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Waste Confidence Directorate