ML11272A032
| ML11272A032 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Diablo Canyon  |
| Issue date: | 09/20/2011 |
| From: | Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel |
| To: | |
| SECY RAS | |
| References | |
| 50-275-LR, 50-323-LR, ASLBP 10-900-01-LR-BD01, NRC-1164, RAS QQ-10 | |
| Download: ML11272A032 (36) | |
Text
- 5 14 f"Official Transcript of Proceedings
)
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Title:
Pacific Gas and Electric Company Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant Docket Number:
50-275-LR and 50-323-LR DOCKETED September 20, 2011 (2:00 p.m.)
OFFICE OF SECRETARY RULEMAKINGS AND ADJUDICATIONS STAFF ASLBP Number:
Location:
Date:
10-900-01 -LR-BDO1 (teleconference)
Tuesday, September 20, 2011 Work Order No.:
NRC-1 164 Pages 488-522 NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC.
Court Reporters and Transcribers 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 234-4433 TE
ý4 PEAT-z YECIV-'ý-')3 )ý 69S 6
488 1
2 3
4 5
6 7
8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD PANEL PRE-HEARING CONFERENCE x
IN THE MATTER OF:
PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC COMPANY (Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant Units 1 & 2):
Docket Nos.
50-275-LR 50-323-LR ASLBP No.
10-900-01-LR-BD01 x
Tuesday, September 20, 2011 Teleconference The above-entitled matter came on for prehearing conference, pursuant to notice, at 2:00 p.m.
BEFORE:
ALEX S.
KARLIN NICHOLAS G. TRIKOUROS PAUL B.
ABRAMSON Chairman Administrative Judge Administrative Judge NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 www.nealrgross.com
489 1
APPEARANCES:
2 On Behalf of ASLBP:
3 JONATHAN ESER, ESQ.
4 of:
Atomic Safety and Licensing 5
Board Panel 6
Mail Stop: T-3F23 7
Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 8
OCAA Mail Center 9
10 LLOYD SUBIN, ESQ.
11 SUSAN UTTAL, ESQ.
12 MAXWELL SMITH, ESQ.
13 LAUREN WOODALL 14 of:
Office of the General Counsel 15 Mail Stop -
0-15 D21 16 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 17 Washington, DC 20555-001 18 19 On Behalf of Pacific Gas and Electric Company:
20 DAVID A.
- REPKA, ESQ.
21 TYSON SMITH, ESQ.
22 JENNIFER POST, ESQ.
23 of:
Winston & Strawn, LLP 24 101 California Street 25 San Francisco, California 94111-5802 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 490 On Behalf of San Luis Obispo Mothers For Peace:
DIANE CURRAN, ESQ.
of:
1726 M Street, N.W.
Suite 600 Washington, D.C. 20036 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
491 1
P R O C E E D I N G S 2
(2:00:50 p.m.)
3 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay.
Hello, this is Alex 4
Karlin. I'm on the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board 5
for the Pacific Gas & Electric Diablo Canyon matter.
6 This is an adjudicatory proceeding 7
involving a challenge to PG&E's application to renew 8
its licenses for two nuclear power plants located in 9
San Luis Obispo County, California.
10 For the record, the docket number of this 11 proceeding is 50-275LR and 50-323LR, and it's Atomic 12 Safety and Licensing Board number 10-890-01-LR-DB0l.
13 This conference call is being held with 14 the parties pursuant to a notice that we issued on 15 August 3 1 st of this year.
The date today is September 16 2 0 th, and this conference call pre-hearing 17 conference call is being conducted telephonically.
18 And there are two types of telephone lines here, and 19 hopefully they will work correctly. One type of line 20 is for the parties, the lawyers for the parties who 21 can speak, and who will talk and ask questions, and 22 discuss certain pre-hearing issues.
And a second type 23 of line is for members of the public, and the media, 24 and interested persons who want to listen in.
So, 25 we're conducting this as if it was a
courtroom NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
492 1
proceeding where the lawyers and the parties speak, 2
and the members of the public can attend, and listen 3
and watch.
4 With that said, I think we ought to go 5
through the introductions. The Board is
-- consists of 6
myself, Alex Karlin, Dr. Paul Abramson is also on the 7
line.
Dr. Abramson, are you there?
8 ADMIN.
JUDGE ABRAMSON:
I am.
9 CHAIR KARLIN: Very good.
Nick Trikouros 10 is also here with us in Rockville.
And John Eser is 11 our lawyer and law clerk who is helping us on this 12 case.
13 Could we ask --
I want to ask at this 14 point for the parties -- counsel for the parties to 15 identify themselves and any of their clients who are 16 on the line.
Let's start with the San Luis Obispo 17 Mothers for Peace.
Ms.
Curran?
18 MS.
CURRAN: This is Diane Curran.
Good 19 afternoon.
Representing San Luis Obispo Mothers for 20 Peace.
And there's no one in my office on the line 21 with me.
I believe that some members of Mothers for 22 Peace may be listening.
23 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay, great.
Thank you, Ms.
24 Curran.
For the Applicant, Pacific Gas
& Electric 25 Company, Mr.
Repka, could you introduce yourself and NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
493 1
the other members of your team.
2 MR.
REPKA:
- Yes, Judge Karlin.
This is 3
David Repka and I represent Pacific Gas & Electric.
4 And I'm on the line from Washington.
I also expect on 5
the line for PG&E counsel would be my associate, Tyson 6
Smith and Jennifer Post, counsel for PG&E.
They are 7
both at a separate location in San Francisco, and I'll 8
just ask them to confirm that they are on the line.
9 MS.
POST: Yes, Jennifer Post is on the 10 line.
11 MR.
SMITH: And Tyson Smith is on the line, 12 as well.
Thank you.
13 CHAIR KARLIN: Great.
Thank you.
And for 14 the Staff, Ms.
Uttal or Mr.
Subin, are you on the 15 line?
16 MR.
SUBIN: Yes, I have myself here, Lloyd 17 Subin, Maxwell Smith and Lauren Woodall for the Staff.
18 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay. Lauren Woodall, very 19 good.
20 Is there anyone else on the line with a 21 speaking line? There probably shouldn't be, but okay.
22 I
just thought I
would check.
- Woodall, Lauren 23 Woodall.
Okay.
24 A little bit of background.
This is a six 25 month status conference call that we like to hold to NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
494 1
sort of keep abreast of what's going on and manage 2
this case efficiently.
I'll review the background, 3
relative immediate background of the case, and then 4
we'll proceed to talk about what's on the --
what we 5
have for items to talk about on the agenda.
6 As a background matter, more than a year 7
ago, on August 4 th, 2010, this Board issued a decision 8
admitting four contentions proffered by the San Luis 9
Obispo Mothers for Peace, three contentions, and one 10 of them where we found a prima facie case in favor of 11 a
- variance, and indicated that that should be 12 considered by the Commission.
13 That decision has been appealed by the 14 Staff and the Applicant, different parts of that 15 decision, to the Commission and the Commission has yet 16 to rule on any of those appeal issues.
17 We had our last conference call, status 18 conference on February 2 3 rd of this year, so it's 19 about six months.
Nothing quite exact about this is 20 necessary.
And since then, of course, on March
- 3rd, 21 2011 I
- mean, March
- iith, 2011, the Fukushima 22 Daiichi earthquake and tsunami occurred.
23 Subsequent to that, on April l 0 th, PG&E 24 sent a letter to NRC Staff or Commissioners requesting 25 a deferral of certain aspects of the licensing NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
495 1
proceeding until certain 3D seismic studies could be 2
completed.
On April 1 4 th, a petition was filed to 3
suspend all
-- before the Commission, not before us, 4
to suspend all of the adjudicatory licensing 5
proceedings.
And then later on May 3 1 st, NRC issued 6
a response to PG&E, essentially saying that they would 7
delay Final Safety and Environmental Reviews until the 8
completion of PG&E's 3D seismic studies.
9 Based on those activities, on June 7 th 10 this Board issued a notice that the adjudicatory 11 proceeding would be delayed by 52 months was our 12 approximation, although we may actually beat that and 13 do better than that if the Applicant and the Staff are 14 able to fulfill their schedules as they've indicated 15 they hope to.
And we also asked at that order for 16 PG&E to submit monthly status reports to us on the 17 status of their 3D studies, seismic studies.
And PG&E 18 has, indeed, been doing that and so we've gotten their 19 status reports, the first one being on July 1 2th.
20 Also on July 1 2th, the NRC's Task Force, 21 Fukushima Task Force issued its 90-day report, and 30 22 days thereafter San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace 23 filed a
new proposed motion to file a
new 24 contention, what I will call the Fukushima contention 25 in this matter.
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
496 1
Answers were filed to that Fukushima 2
contention on September 6 th On September 9 th, three 3
days later, the Commission issued a ruling, CLI-II-4 5 denying the petition to suspend all the proceedings.
5 On September 1 3 th, the Interveners filed a reply.
And 6
on September 1 4 th, there was a joint motion filed by 7
all the parties to amend the deadline for certain of 8
the mandatory disclosure.
9 And I think that pretty much covers the 10 background, except to say we also did note, and we 11 want to ask just a question or two about the fact that 12 over the summer it appears that the Applicant is 13 requesting to change its safe shutdown earthquake for 14 the Diablo Canyon facilities from its current status 15 to a different safe shutdown earthquake.
And I just 16 want to find out if that's relevant to this case or 17 not.
18 So, with that said, our current status is 19 we have to wait until the Final Environmental Impact 20 Statement is issued before we can conduct the 21 evidentiary hearing in this matter.
The regs say so, 22 10 CFR 2.332(d),
so we're in a waiting mode a bit, and 23 our --
the best we want to do is try to manage things 24 and prepare for the hearing so that when the trigger 25 events occur we will be prepared, all the parties will NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
497 1
be prepared to conduct the hearing expeditiously and 2
- fairly, and fully.
3 So, for today here's what the Board has 4
thought would be useful to cover.
- One, first, we're 5
going to just ask --
review PG&E's schedule regarding 6
the 3D seismic studies.
- Two, review the Staff's 7
schedule for issuing the FEIS and FSER.
Three, we're 8
going to rule on the joint motion to amend the 9
deadline for the mandatory disclosures.
Four, we're 10 going to ask the relevance of PG&E's plan to request 11 a change in its safe shutdown earthquake.
12 What we're not going to cover and I 13 think that's probably about it.
What we're not going 14 to cover is the Fukushima contention.
We're not going 15 to hear oral arguments on that today, except perhaps 16 to ask about the idea of a surreply that was suggested 17 in the reply.
18 We're not going to talk about a site visit 19 or a limited appearance statement session.
We still 20
- the majority of the Board still thinks those would 21 be a good idea, but it's just not the time or moment 22 to actually sort of sit down and schedule anything.
23 There's a lot of time yet to come in this case, it 24 seems, so there's no urgent need to set either a site 25 visit or a limited appearance statement session now.
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
498 1
We're not going to talk about another 2
- issue, which is Contention
- EC4, which involves a
3 terrorist attack on the facility.
As we said at our 4
last conference call, that contention will entail --
5 may entail safeguards information, may entail even 6
classified information.
I don't know.
And in the 7
mandatory disclosures, and in the conduct of that 8
hearing for that contention we will need to be 9
prepared to handle that information appropriately and 10 carefully.
But since the Commission hasn't ruled on 11 that contention, we thought it would be better to just 12 wait a bit before we get into the meat of those 13 issues, because they're going to require some time and 14 attention from us all to make sure we manage, and have 15 a protective order that deals with the SGI and the 16 other confidential information appropriately.
17 With that, those four items on the agenda, 18 is there anything else that anyone else thinks we need 19 to cover, or want us to cover today now?
20 MR.
REPKA: Nothing from PG&E.
21 CHAIR KARLIN:
Okay.
Then we'll just 22 proceed as laid out. Is there anything else that Judge 23 Trikouros or Judge Abramson would like to say at this 24 point, jump in.
25 (No response.)
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
499 1
CHAIR KARLIN: No?
Hearing none.
2 Review of the PG&E Schedule, Agenda Item 3
- 1. On September 1 3 th, PG&E submitted its most recent 4
schedule for the performance and completion, I guess, 5
of the --
what I'll just call the 3D seismic studies.
6 It seems --
it was very helpful.
I think the Board 7
thinks that this is a helpful thing for us to have and 8
to see. And I'm not sure whether we have any specific 9
questions on that.
Judge Trikouros or Abramson, some?
10 One of the questions I guess I had was, if 11 you could attend to them, Mr. Repka and Mr. Smith, the 12 3D high-energy marine
- studies, the filing was 13 September 1 3 th, but the little attachment is dated 14 September 1 st.
So, in any event, it talks about the 15 3D high-energy marine studies.
And you contemplate 16 that the permits will be issued for that, estimated 17 August of 2012.
Right?
Are you with me there?
18 MR.
REPKA: Yes, I see that.
19 CHAIR KARLIN: I guess that entails getting 20 some environmental permits for discharging or making -
21 for doing this.
Is that a --
how firm is that date?
22 Does that look pretty good, or is that problematic, or 23 you're not sure of that?
24 MR.
REPKA:
- Well, I'll address this 25 briefly, and then Ms.
Post is probably closer to it, NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
500 1
and she can amplify, if necessary.
2
- Yes, there's environmental permitting 3
associated with the high-energy marine studies.
And 4
that is I would describe it as a fairly significant 5
permitting process in which there are potential 6
environmental impacts related to the noises and the 7
other issues associated with those studies.
And those 8
need to be addressed, and that process is going to 9
take some time.
10 So, as to how firm it is, I think that's 11 our best estimate.
I wouldn't characterize it as a 12 firm date.
And there's also certainly no guarantee 13 that the studies would even be permitted, in which 14 case they won't be done.
15 CHAIR KARLIN: Right, good point. Ms. Post, 16 anything to add on that?
17 MS.
POST:
I would only say that I agree 18 with what Mr. Repka said in terms of characterization.
19 And what we are really going to try to do, Judge 20
- Karlin, is as we have more information that 21 potentially has that date slipping either forward or 22 backward, because we'd like to get these studies done 23 as soon as we can, and we're making great efforts to 24 do that.
We would let you know in our monthly update 25 reports.
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
501 1
CHAIR KARLIN: Okay, good.
That would be 2
helpful.
I think that seems to be an important date 3
that may not be entirely within your control.
I mean, 4
you've applied for the permits, but some do you 5
have to get a permit from, what agency is that? State 6
- agencies, I presume, or --
7 MS.
POST:
We need a permit from the 8
California State Lands Commission, and we also need a 9
permit from the California Coastal Commission.
It's 10 the California State Lands Commission that will be 11 performing the Environmental Impact Report associated 12 with the permit.
13 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay.
14 MS.
POST: And they have already started 15 that process.
There has been a public meeting on the 16 Environmental Impact Report.
They've got a consultant 17 on board during the work, and that consultant is 18 working very quickly at our request and encouragement, 19 as well as the Agency's request and encouragement, 20 obviously.
But as you said, we don't, necessarily, 21 have control over that process in terms of any sort of 22 slippage or delay.
23 My experience, not necessarily with this 24 specific
- process, but with Environmental Impact 25 Reports generally, is that they do get delayed and are NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
502 1
issued, typically, at least a month if not a little 2
bit longer after expected.
We're trying to make sure 3
that doesn't happen in this instance, but we will 4
certainly provide notice to you and to the parties if 5
that does occur.
6 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay, great.
Thank you.
7 Another question I think we had --
I had, 8
and I think we wanted to ask this of the Staff, as 9
- well, when we get to their report.
But right now, 10 perhaps Mr.
Repka, you could help us.
11 We ask --
I mean, our notice, our request 12 asked for you to also give us information about the 13 Coastal Zone Management Act, process, and permit, and 14 consistency, so you have reflected that at the bottom 15 of that chart.
16 Are they part of the critical path of you 17 completing the 3D studies, or are they a separate 18 thing?
19 MR.
REPKA: They are separate from the 3D 20 studies, but I believe that they are going to look and 21 consider the 3D studies, but I'll ask Ms.
Post to 22 clarify.
23 MS.
POST: Right now we are thinking of 24 those permitting processes as separate, but I believe 25 we are hopeful that the seismic data collected in NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
503 1
performing the 3D seismic studies will be helpful to 2
the Coastal Commission in its analysis and 3
consideration of coastal consistency under the CZMA.
4 The Coastal Commission had previously 5
taken the position in response to our coastal 6
consistency showing in the environmental report that 7
the 3D studies were necessary to their making their 8
consistency determination.
So, we are hopeful that 9
there is also --
the results of the studies will be 10 important to their consistency determination, but they 11 are two separate coastal issues.
In other words, we 12 need a coastal development permit in order to perform 13 the seismic
- studies, in addition to the coastal 14 consistency determination that we need in the context 15 of license renewal.
16 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay, thank you.
17 JUDGE TRIKOUROS:
- Yes, this is Judge 18 Trikouros.
I just want to get one confirmation.
The 19 final seismic report is currently scheduled for August 20 2013. That date is the date that's the trigger date is 21 looks like for the separate report we got on the SEIS 22 and the SER filings by the Staff.
So, do I take it 23 then that the -- any delays or any problems associated 24 with the Coastal Zone Management Act permit are 25 independent of the SEIS/SER filings?
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
504 1
CHAIR KARLIN: That question would probably 2
more to --
you're directing that to the Staff?
3 JUDGE TRIKOUROS: I'm actually directing it 4
to the Staff, specifically, but to anyone who can 5
answer.
6 MR.
REPKA: Judge Karlin, I'm happy to take 7
a first shot at it.
8 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay.
9 MR.
REPKA: Certainly, they are --
10 CHAIR KARLIN: This is Mr. Repka speaking.
11 MR.
REPKA:
- Yes, it is.
They're two 12 separate things.
I think that the seismic report is 13 something that the Staff is looking for as a basis for 14 issuing the SEIS to determine if there's any new and 15 significant information, would be my assumption, which 16 would then be the trigger under the schedule for the 17 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.
18 The coastal consistency determination is 19 just something that needs to be completed in order for 20 the NRC to issue the renewed license, so that's not 21 something that needs to be completed prior to moving 22 forward with the Staff's review.
23 CHAIR KARLIN: Mr. Subin, would you care to 24 comment on that?
As I understand it, it's kind of --
25 is the --
what's the connection --
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
505 1
MR.
SUBIN:
We have to have that 2
determination to complete the SEIS.
3 CHAIR KARLIN:
You have to have what 4
determination?
5 MR.
SUBIN: The CZMA.
6 JUDGE TRIKOUROS: This is Judge Trikouros 7
again. You need it for the final license issuance, as 8
Mr.
Repka said, or do you need it for the SEIS/SER?
9 MR.
SUBIN: Well, in 51.49 it requires the 10 status of the compliance, 51.49 what is it 45, 11 excuse me, (d),
Status of Compliance.
And it's 12 required for that.
13 CHAIR KARLIN:
Yes.
14 MR.
SUBIN: So, there would be no issuance 15 of the license unless we had that coastal consistency.
16 CHAIR KARLIN:
All right.
So, that you 17 agree with Mr.
Repka.
18 MR.
SUBIN:
- Yes, we agree.
There's no 19 disagreement whatsoever.
20 CHAIR KARLIN:
All right.
21 MR.
SUBIN: Go ahead, Max.
22 MR.
MAXWELL SMITH: Judge Karlin?
23 CHAIR KARLIN: Yes?
24 MR.
MAXWELL SMITH:
This is Max Smith on 25 behalf of the Staff.
I'd like to add in, too, as a NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
506 1
practical matter it makes sense to wait on finishing 2
the FSEIS until the CZMA permit is issued, because 3
that way the information in the IS doesn't become 4
stale, and that requires supplementation.
So, the 5
Staff believes it's more efficient to wait longer to 6
issue the IS until after the seismic studies are 7
completed, and the CZMA certifications obtained.
8 JUDGE TRIKOUROS: All right.
Now, that's 9
a significant this is Judge Trikouros again.
10 That's a significant change in the schedule for the 11 issuance of the SEIS.
12 MR.
SUBIN: We were hoping that they would 13 have the coastal consistency sooner, but --
14 CHAIR KARLIN: This is Mr. Subin speaking 15 who started.
If we're going to have --
16 MR.
SUBIN:
We would be able to complete 17 the SEIS but there would be no --
we would not be able 18 to issue the license until we had that, which is the 19 bigger problem.
So,
- yes, we could have our SEIS 20 completed showing that it was pending, but we would 21 not be able to issue the license.
22 CHAIR KARLIN: Right.
So, let 23 MR.
SUBIN: I'm trying not to peg it to the 24 coastal zone consistency, but you did ask me when we 25 would issue a license.
And that was not when it was NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
507 1
requested originally.
2 CHAIR KARLIN: Well, this is Alex Karlin.
3 And let's all try to identify ourselves as we speak, 4
because we're having multiple lawyers from the parties 5
speak, so it's going to be a little more difficult for 6
the court report.
7 But now let us,
- perhaps, turn to the 8
Staff's status report.
And I think we're already kind 9
of halfway there.
Because your report on September 10 1 5 th says, "The Staff expects to finalize it's Safety 11 and Environmental Reviews to include issuance of the 12 Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and 13 any necessary supplements to the Safety 14 Evaluation Report between February 2004 and May 2014.
15 This estimate is based on the Applicant issuing its 16 final report on the 3d seismic studies by August 2013, 17 as stated in PG&E's update."
18 So, that's good, and that's helpful.
So, 19 what you're saying is your completion of the SEIS, 20 Final SEIS and Final SER are keyed to the final report 21 of the 3D
- studies, not keyed to the Coast Zone 22 Management consistency determination.
23 MR.
SUBIN: Correct.
24 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay.
But you then further 25 are saying that the ultimate issuance of the license NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
508 1
would --
you would want to have the --
2 MR.
SUBIN:
- Well, we could not issue it 3
without that.
4 CHAIR KARLIN: Without that.
And why is 5
that, 51.45(b)?
6 MR.
SUBIN: Correct.
7 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay.
- Well, I
that's not 8
the way I okay. That's fine.
Go ahead.
9 JUDGE TRIKOUROS: This is Judge Trikouros.
10 I have another question.
11 The --
your status the Staff's status 12 report of September 1
5 th identifies a date for final 13 documents.
Are there going to be draft documents 14 filed prior to that?
15 MR.
SUBIN: Yes.
There will probably be a 16 draft supplemental SER, if one is necessary.
17 JUDGE TRIKOUROS: Okay.
And does --
18 MR.
SUBIN: And we were hoping to do that 19 within that time frame.
20 JUDGE TRIKOUROS: Oh, within the February--
21 MR. SUBIN: Correct. I've already accounted 22 for that.
23 JUDGE TRIKOUROS:
I see.
24 MR.
SUBIN: Yes.
25 JUDGE TRIKOUROS:
Would you need --
for NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
509 1
the Draft Supplemental EIS, would you need the August 2
2013 final report, or could you move forward with the 3
April 2013 preliminary report?
4 MR.
SUBIN: We would need the final report, 5
is my understanding.
6 CHAIR KARLIN: So, let me jump in then to 7
ask a question.
Your this is a question to the 8
Staff.
This is Alex Karlin, again.
September 1 5 th 9
Staff report, what I'd like -- doesn't say anything 10 about the Draft SEIS.
So, when do you expect to issue 11 the Draft SEIS?
12 MR.
SUBIN: The draft, probably some time 13 about the time that they issue the final seismic 14 report.
15 CHAIR KARLIN:
So, the draft 16 MR.
SUBIN:
Which should give us enough 17 time to get comment, and whatever.
18 CHAIR KARLIN:
So, the draft 19 MR.
SUBIN: That.'s why we have the six to 20 nine months there.
21 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay.
So, the Draft SEIS, 22 the Staff expects to issue it sometime after you get 23 the final 3D seismic report.
24 MR.
SUBIN: Correct.
25 CHAIR KARLIN:
And the final 3D seismic NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
510 1
report is currently estimated to be August 2013.
2 Right?
3 MR.
SUBIN: Correct.
4 CHAIR KARLIN: Therefore, the Draft SEIS is 5
sometime after August 2013.
Right?
6 MR.
SUBIN: Right.
7 CHAIR KARLIN: And before the Final SEIS.
8 MR.
SUBIN: Correct.
9 CHAIR KARLIN:
Okay.
So, in the future 10 could you include, please --
11 MR.
SUBIN: I will put a time line if you 12 need, for the draft.
13 CHAIR KARLIN: Well, just an estimated --
14 MR.
SUBIN: Okay.
15 CHAIR KARLIN:
date for the Draft SEIS.
16 And did you you also referred to a
Draft 17 Supplemental FSER?
18 MR.
SUBIN: It would be with open items, if 19 there was one. Right.
20 CHAIR KARLIN: And if you --
21 MR.
SUBIN: Right.
22 CHAIR KARLIN:
If you have a could you 23 include that in your monthly reports?
24 MR.
SUBIN:
Okay.
If that would be 25 necessary.
- Again, we don't know.
We're not --
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
511 1
CHAIR KARLIN: If necessary. We understand 2
that you may decide it's not necessary.
3 MR.
SUBIN: Correct.
4 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay.
5 JUDGE TRIKOUROS:
Now, that was the other 6
question that I had again. This is Judge Trikouros.
7 So, the need --
this identification of a 8
possible supplement to the SER, is that in any way 9
associated with any of the seismic work going on 10 there?
11 (Off mic comments.)
12 MR.
SUBIN: Again, we're not sure.
We're 13 not anticipating anything at this moment.
14 JUDGE TRIKOUROS: All right.
15 CHAIR KARLIN: Hold on a second, please.
16 I'm going to put you on mute for a moment.
17 (Pause.)
18 CHAIR KARLIN: All right, everyone, are you 19 back on line?
Hello?
20 MR.
REPKA: Yes.
21 MS.
CURRAN: Yes.
22 CHAIR KARLIN: We're back on.
So, I needed 23 that caucus for a moment.
24 All right.
Do we have any more questions, 25 Judge Trikouros or Judge Abramson, about either the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
512 1
PG&E schedule or the Staff's schedule?
2 (No response.)
3 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay.
Nothing further on 4
that.
5 Turning to the third item for the agenda.
6 We've already covered the Staff's schedule and the 7
PG&E schedule.
Is the motion --
the joint motion to 8
amend the deadline.
And we looked at that, and we --
9 the Board agrees and will grant -- that is granted.
10 We will issue a short order to that effect, but you'll 11 consider that granted.
And we that makes sense 12 given the 52 month extension that's been caused by the 13 conduct of the 3D seismic studies.
14 The fourth item on the agenda that we 15 wanted to just ask quickly about was, we noted that on 16 July 2 9 th,
- 2011, NRC issued a memo reflecting that 17 there had been a meeting with the Applicant, PG&E.
18 And PG&E "will be requesting that the current 19 licensing basis be revised so that the Hosgri 20 earthquake, not the double-design earthquake, be 21 equated to the Diablo Canyon safe shutdown 22 earthquake."
And the Staff noted that was a first of 23 a kind request.
24 Can I ask PG&E, has PG&E submitted such a 25 request at this point?
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
513 1
MR.
REPKA: This is Dave Repka.
The answer 2
is no, that license amendment request has not yet been 3
filed.
The memo documenting the meeting that you're 4
referring to was actually I believe the fourth pre-5 application meeting on this topic.
6 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay.
7 MR.
REPKA:
And it
- yes, I
don't think 8
PG&E would agree with the characterization of what was 9
being considered as a change to the licensing basis.
10 I think we believe it's a clarification that the safe 11 shutdown earthquake for Diablo Canyon has been the 12 Hosgri earthquake since the time of initial licensing.
13 But there are several earthquakes in the licensing 14 basis, so it would involve -- potentially, the license 15 amendment would involve a
clarification of the 16 licensing basis documents.
17 So, that has not yet been filed.
Our view 18 is that's a completely separate matter from license 19 renewal.
It's a
current licensing basis issue 20 addressed as part of the ongoing Part 50 licensing 21 process.
- And, of course, would be subject to the 22 hearing process, as appropriate, if in fact PG&E 23 submits a license amendment request.
24 CHAIR KARLIN:
Okay.
So, does the Staff 25 agree that that would be something that, I
- guess, NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
514 1
would be noticed separately in some way and be subject 2
to potential request for a hearing and a separate 3
process or something?
4 MR. SUBIN: Yes, that's correct.
Mr. Repka 5
stated that correct.
6 CHAIR KARLIN:
Okay.
It just seemed I
7 don't know whether --
is it something that is part of 8
the mandatory disclosures being at least relevant to 9
the contentions in this case?
10 MR.
REPKA:
I don't believe it would be 11 relevant to the contentions in this case. I think the 12 seismic contention that we're currently making 13 disclosures on is the SAMA issue, and this really 14 wouldn't affect or relate to the SAMA evaluations for 15 seismic, or any other events.
16 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay.
17 MS.
CURRAN:
Judge Karlin, this is Diane 18 Curran.
Mothers for Peace would disagree with that, 19 because the subject matter is the seismic risk, which 20 is the subject of Contention ECI.
So, I guess we'd 21 like to see that included in the disclosures.
22 CHAIR KARLIN: Well, we're not going to --
23 I don't think we're going to rule on anything like 24 that at this point.
We just want to --
I just noted -
25 we noted that that was going on, and we just NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
515 1
wondered if that was part of this proceeding, or a 2
separate proceeding.
And we're certainly not here to 3
resolve anything like that.
It was just an 4
informational point.
Judge Trikouros?
5 JUDGE TRIKOUROS:
- Yes, I just wanted to 6
clarify that what Mr. Repka said would be true only if 7
the seismic risk basis in the SAMA was, in
- fact, 8
conservative relative to this Hosgri fault?
9 MR.
REPKA:
- Well, the seismic SAMA and 10 seismic hazards analysis in the revised SAMA 11 evaluation is based upon the shoreline fault, provides 12 the most revised seismic hazards.
The original SAMA 13 was based upon the
- Hosgri, and all the other 14 earthquakes in the area as is the revised.
So, 15 seismic hazard information is really independent of 16 the licensing basis safe shutdown earthquake.
And to 17 the extent there is seismic probabilistic hazard 18 information that is subject -- that would be included 19 in our disclosure documents, and has been 20 consistently.
21 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay.
And I would just note 22 for the record that the document we were referring to 23 is in ADAMS at ML111920567.
24 Finally, we'll turn to the thing we're not 25 really going to discuss, which is the Fukushima NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
516 1
contention, we call it, are calling it.
It's the 2
contention --
the motion to file a new contention, the 3
new contention of August 11th, 2011.
This is not the 4
time or place for oral argument on that, but I would 5
like to ask, and I think we want to ask a couple of 6
questions.
7
- First, in the reply that you filed, Ms.
8 Curran, you noted that, in Footnote 2 I think it
- was, 9
that the parties would not object to a response by the 10 Applicant and the Staff regarding the impact of CLI-11 11-5.
That seems fair and logical. Are the Applicant 12 and Staff interested in filing such a s 13 MR.
REPKA: This is Dave Repka for PG&E.
14 PG&E is not requesting the opportunity to file a
15 surreply.
16 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay. Staff?
17 MR.
SUBIN: Staff wouldn't be requesting 18 one either.
19 CHAIR KARLIN: Would not. Okay.
- Well, it 20 seems to me that it could be helpful to the Board for 21 you to tell us what you think, if anything, about the 22 CLI-11-5 as it may or may not apply to this 23 contention.
24 The Commission issued a ruling.
They 25 addressed a number of somewhat related issues, so we NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
517 1
would --
I think we would be interested, not going to 2
require, but we'd be interested in hearing from the 3
Applicant and the Staff on that issue in a short, not 4
to exceed let's say 10 pages from each of you by next 5
in a week.
Let's say next Tuesday, COB September 6
2 7 th.
Again, not required, but we would encourage it, 7
and I'd be interested in seeing what you can help us 8
with on that.
9 Second, Ms. Curran, we have this question.
10 In the reply in Footnote 1, you indicate that this 11
- document, I guess it was prepared by yourself and Ms.
12 Goldstein, and Mr.
- Tultooey, I
guess is how you 13 pronounce it, primarily.
Is that correct?
14 MS.
CURRAN: That's right.
15 CHAIR KARLIN:
Is that also true for the 16 original contention itself, were you the main team 17 working on this?
18 MS.
CURRAN:
Yes.
- Well, I
had their 19 assistance.
The contention is basically my work.
20 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay.
I just wanted to sort 21 of understand that.
22 MS.
CURRAN:
Yes.
There were so many --
23 you know, there were something like 20 cases in which 24 very similar contentions were filed.
And the 25 responses were very similar, so --
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
518 1
CHAIR KARLIN: Okay.
Yes, but the original 2
contention, as well as the reply were primarily the 3
work product of those three individuals.
4 MS.
CURRAN:
Yes.
5 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay. That's helpful.
6 We're not --
okay, so we're not going to 7
have oral argument on that contention right now. We're 8
going to take it under consideration.
We may decide 9
that we might want to hear oral argument.
I might say 10 that if we decide we would need oral argument, we're 11 probably going to want to do move out pretty 12 crisply on that and quickly, so we're going to ask.the 13 parties to clear the decks and make yourselves 14 available for that, if we decide we're going to ask 15 for it.
16 Are there any other I
think we're 17 pretty much done with the agenda, unless there's 18 anything else.
19 JUDGE TRIKOUROS: Yes, I do have --
20 CHAIR KARLIN: Judge Trikouros, yes.
21 JUDGE TRIKOUROS:
Yes.
This is regarding 22 the status report for the seismic work again. I just 23 want to make sure I understand this schedule.
24 If I read this correctly, we are --
you 25 are currently performing surveys or soon to start NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
519 1
performing surveys for the 2D, 3D low-energy marine, 2
and also the 2D onshore?
3 MR.
REPKA: That is this is Dave Repka.
4 That's correct, as shown in the status report.
5 JUDGE TRIKOUROS:
Right.
And those are 6
scheduled to be completed at the end of this year.
7 So, there will be a preliminary report then on each of 8
those.
9 I don't know what they're likely to not 10 likely to show, but it looks to me as if regardless of 11 what they show, we're moving on to the completion of 12 the 3D in April. And then that final report that is 13 indicated for August
- 2013, that is basically the 14 report that covers all of the work that was done.
15 Right?
Not just the 2D --
the 3D high-energy.
16 MR.
REPKA: That would be my understanding, 17 that that would be a roll-up report.
If Ms.
Post has 18 any other information, I'll just ask that she correct 19 me.
20 JUDGE TRIKOUROS: What I was really looking 21 at was to make sure that I understand where there was 22 a potential for some delays in our proceeding.
The 23 work coming out of the 2D, 3D low-energy or onshore 24 will be available much sooner, so it wasn't clear to 25 me how that information would be utilized, or how NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com v
520 1
likely that was to cause delays.
2 CHAIR KARLIN: Anything else?
3 JUDGE TRIKOUROS: All right.
That's fine.
4 CHAIR KARLIN:
Judge Abramson, anything 5
else from you?
6 ADMIN.
JUDGE ABRAMSON: Nothing else.
7 CHAIR KARLIN: Okay, thank you.
8
- Well, I think, therefore, we've completed 9
our modest
- agenda, and appreciate the time and 10 attention from all the parties, and your responses and 11 answers.
We appreciate the monthly status reports 12 that you give, and we pay attention to them. And we 13 manage our case, and try to plan this on that basis, 14 so it's important for us, and appreciate you giving us 15 your best estimates.
16 In terms of action items coming out of 17 this conference call or pre-hearing, first, the motion 18 to extend the deadline is hereby granted.
We will 19 issue a short maybe one sentence order to that effect 20 probably tomorrow, but in the meantime you can stand 21 down if you were worried about that, and you do not 22 need to file those mandatory disclosures on September 23 3 0 th.
24 Second, the Applicant and the Staff are 25 invited to file surreplies focusing solely on the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
521 1
impact or relevance of CLI-11-5 by close of business 2
September 2 7 th, 2011. And that's pretty much it absent 3
some other event that comes up, or possibly an oral 4
argument on the Fukushima contention.
5 We will plan on having a six-month status 6
conference call in about six months, in maybe March or 7
April of next year.
8 MS.
CURRAN: Judge Karlin, this is Diane 9
Curran.
I just wanted to remind you, I think you 10 requested that in the upcoming status reports the NRC 11 Staff include the date for the --
expected date for 12 the final for the
- draft, excuse me, EIS.
And 13 that's something that's very useful to us.
I wanted 14 to make sure that got remembered.
15 CHAIR KARLIN: Thank you.
That's a good 16 point.
And definitely, that is we're not going to 17 issue an order to that effect but I think we have 18 requested it, and Mr. Subin and the Staff have agreed.
19 So,
- yes, please we'll look for the Draft SEIS 20 estimated date in the monthly report, as well as 21 others.
I'm not trying to limit it, but I'm just 22 saying we -- that is something we want to look at, as 23 well. Thank you, Ms.
Curran.
24 Anything else from Mr.
- Repka, Mr.
- Subin, 25 anyone?
Hearing nothing, I appreciate it.
Thank you NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 522 for being on the call, and we will stand adjourned.
MS.
CURRAN: Bye.
CHAIR KARLIN: Bye.
MS.
POST: Thank you.
(Whereupon, the proceedings went off the record at 2:43 p.m.)
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com