Hiring freeze won’t affect VY security

Even though Entergy Corp. has enacted a company-wide hiring freeze, that freeze doesn’t affect "business critical positions" at Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, according to an Entergy spokesman in New Orleans.

"Entergy Nuclear is hiring where it deems it necessary to ensure its fleet remains safe and reliable and productive," said Rob Williams, spokesman for Vermont Yankee.

Brattleboro Reformer

NRC's new regulations allow plants like Oyster Creek to beef up security

NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said the rules will address requirements for firearms background checks, weapons training, periodic weapons inventories and weapons safety assessments.

Plant operators now need approval from the NRC and ATF (U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives) to obtain and use these enhanced weapons. "These weapons will provide an important new capability in protecting nuclear facilities and radioactive materials against terrorists," Sheehan said.

The issue of more firepower for nuclear plant guards was championed after Sept. 11, 2001, by 9th District legislators.

The regulations cover machine guns, short-barreled shotguns and short-barreled rifles. The guidelines were approved by the U.S. Attorney General.

Previously, with limited exceptions, only federal, state or local law enforcement officers could lawfully possess machine guns.

APP.COM

Peach Bottom -- Request for Withholding Information from Public Disclosure

Subsequently, the NRC staff determined that the information in Appendix A of the Northeast Technology Corporation report designated NET-264-02, Rev. 1, does not meet the criteria of 10 CFR 2.390(b)(4)(iv) in that this information has been previously submitted to the NRC as publically available and is presently publically available under ADAMS Accession No. ML081050374. The NRC staff notified Exelon that the document would no longer be withheld from public disclosure and would be placed in ADAMS as publically available. Accordingly, this document is now publically available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML091740446.

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Peach Bottom -- Request for Withholding Information from Public Disclosure

The following documents are being withheld from public disclosure:

"Criticality Analysis of the Peach Bottom Spent Fuel Racks for GNF-2 Fuel with Boraflex Panel Degradation Projected to May 2010," designated as NET-264-02, Rev. 3. "Characterization of Boraflex Panel Degradation in the Peach Bottom Unit 2 Spent Fuel Pool Projected to May 2010," designated as NET-264-03, Rev. 1. "Response for Request for Additional Information -Revision to Technical Specification 4.3.1.1.a Concerning k-infinity, Revision 1," designated as Attachment 5 to Exelon letter dated June 12, 2009, (ADAMS Accession No. ML091740446).

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NRC Schedules Meeting in Newton, MA, on Proposed Changes to Nuclear Plant License Renewal Environmental Regulations

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will conduct a public meeting on Thursday, Sept. 17 in Newton, Mass., to hear comments on proposed changes to environmental regulations related to nuclear power plant license renewal.

The meeting, which will take place at the Boston Marriott Newton, at 2345 Commonwealth Ave. in Newton, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. It will be preceded by an open house scheduled for 5 p.m. at the same location. At the open house, NRC staff will be available to answer questions. During the formal meeting, members of the public will have an opportunity to comment on the proposed revisions.

The proposed changes are contained in the Summary of Findings on National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Issues for License Renewal of Nuclear Power Plants and the draft revision of Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, NUREG-1437. The NRC is also publishing for comment a revised Regulatory Guide 4.2, Supplement 1, Preparation of Environmental Reports for License Renewal Applications, and NUREG-1555, Supplement 1, Standard Review Plans for Environmental Reviews for Nuclear Power Plants.

The proposed rule revisions redefine the number and scope of environmental impact issues that must be addressed in a nuclear power plant license renewal review. The Commission has stated it intends to review the rule every 10 years and update it as necessary.

The GEIS assesses the overall scope and impact of environmental effects associated with license renewal at any nuclear power plant. Plant-specific supplements to the GEIS are prepared for each individual license renewal review. Those who wish to speak during the meetings are encouraged to pre-register and anyone with questions or special needs should contact Jeffrey Rikhoff, Bo Pham or Jason Lising at 1-800-368-5642, extensions 1090, 8450 or 3220 respectively, or by e-mail at LRGEISupdate.Resource@nrc.gov. Meeting transcripts will be posted to NRC’s Web site at www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment.html.

Comments on the proposed rule, draft revised GEIS and associated documents may be submitted over the federal e-Rulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov (Docket I.D. NRC-2008-0608); by e-mail to Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov; by mail to Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff; or by fax to 301-492-3466. Written comments on the draft revised GEIS should be sent to: Chief, Rulemaking, Directives and Editing Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001. The deadline for comments is Oct. 14.

The draft revised GEIS is publicly available at the NRC Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md. 20852, or from the NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm. The number for the draft revised GEIS is ML090220654; the draft Regulatory Guide 4.2 Supplement 1, Rev. 1 is ML091620409 and the Draft NUREG-1555, Supplement 1, Rev. 1 is ML090230497.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

False Alarms At TMI Investigated

Dauphin County officials said that there is an investigation into what caused a false alarm at Three Mile Island. The sirens at TMI sounded twice in Hummelstown Sunday morning. The siren company is looking into it.

WGAL

Event Notification Report for September 15, 2009

MANUAL REACTOR SCRAM DUE TO SHORT PERIOD DURING PLANT SHUTDOWN "During the scheduled shutdown to commence the Peach Bottom Unit 3 refueling outage, Unit 3 was manually shutdown using the mode switch in accordance with GP-3, 'Normal Plant Shutdown,' when reactor period lowered below 50 seconds as indicated on the WRNM [Wide Range Nuclear Monitoring] system. The Feedwater Startup Level Controller was in automatic set at 23" when a small addition of cold water added enough positive reactivity to cause reactor period to be less than 50 seconds. The shortest period observed was 44 seconds. The WRNM system RPS [Reactor Protective System] automatic SCRAM setpoint is 19 seconds." All control rods inserted into the core. Decay heat is being removed by shutdown cooling. The plant is continuing into its scheduled refueling outage. The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission