ML16091A441
| ML16091A441 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | LaSalle  |
| Issue date: | 03/22/2016 |
| From: | NRC/OCM |
| To: | |
| References | |
| NRC-2254 | |
| Download: ML16091A441 (40) | |
Text
Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Title:
LaSalle County Station Draft Supplemental EIS Docket Number:
(n/a)
Location:
Ottawa, Illinois Date:
Tuesday, March 22, 2016 Work Order No.:
NRC-2254 Pages 1-39 NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC.
Court Reporters and Transcribers 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 234-4433
1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 2
+ + + + +
3 LaSALLE COUNTY STATION 4
DRAFT SUPPLEMENTAL EIS (DSEIS) 5 PUBLIC MEETING 6
+ + + + +
7 TUESDAY 8
MARCH 22, 2016 9
+ + + + +
10 11 12 13 The Public Meeting was convened at the 14 LaSalle County Emergency Management Agency, Emergency 15 Operations Center, 711 East Etna Road, Ottawa, 16 Illinois at 7:00 p.m., David Drucker, Facilitator, 17 presiding.
18 19 PRESENT:
20 DAVID DRUCKER, Facilitator and Presenter 21 22 23 24 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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2 P R O C E E D I N G S 1
MR. DRUCKER: Good evening. Thanks for 2
coming out tonight. Im David Drucker with the U.S.
3 Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Im --
4 THE OPERATOR: Mr. Drucker, I have to join 5
you to the main conference. Im sorry. One moment.
6 MR. DRUCKER: Sure.
7 THE OPERATOR: Welcome, and thank you for 8
standing by. At this time, all participants are on 9
listening mode. During our Q&A session, you may press 10
- 1 on your touch tone phone if you would like to ask 11 a question. Todays conference is being recorded. If 12 you have any objections, you may disconnect at this 13 time. Now Id like to turn the meeting over to Mr.
14 David Drucker, so you may begin.
15 16 17 18 19 20 MR. DRUCKER: Thank you, India. This is David Drucker. Im work for Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Im the project manager for the environmental review of the LaSalle County Station license renewal application. Hereafter, I will refer to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as the NRC.
21 There are two primary purposes for this 22 meeting. The first purpose is to discuss the contents 23 of this document that Im holding up, the draft 24 supplemental environmental impact statement for 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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3 license renewal of LaSalle County Station. Hereafter, 1
I will refer to this document as the draft SEIS. SEIS 2
stands for Supplemental Environmental Impact 3
Statement.
4 The second purpose of this meeting is to 5
obtain comments on the draft SEIS. This meeting is 6
available by teleconference and, India, I just want to 7
make sure. Can you ask the folks on the line, or 8
actually, folks on the line, can you hear me? Because 9
Im speaking at a distance from the speakerphone.
10 THE OPERATOR: Everyone, your lines are 11 now open, and you can respond.
12 13 MR. MAHERAS: David, this is Steve Maheras, and I can hear you just fine.
14 15 16 17 18 19 MR. DRUCKER: Okay. Good, if one person can hear me, the rest of you all can hear me.
Before going further, I want to introduce NRC staff here tonight. Stu Sheldon is an NRC Region III license renewal inspector, and Robert Ruiz is the senior resident at the plant.
20 21 22 23 24 Id also like to point out that on the phone we have or will have a few NRC staff folks. My supervisor, Jim Danna is the chief of the environmental review and project management branch.
Michele Moser is the technical reviewer for aquatic 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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4 resources.
1 2
3 4
5 Kevin Folk is the technical reviewer for service water resources. Bill Ford is the technical reviewer for ground water. And you hear earlier Steve Maharris is the consultant from Pacific Northwest Laboratories for the high burn-up fuel section.
6 Next, Id like to cover a few details 7
about this meeting. Exelon applied to the NRC to 8
renew the operating licenses for LaSalle County 9
Station units one and two for an additional 20 years.
10 The NRC is reviewing that application, and will use 11 the results of that review to decide whether to renew 12 the licenses.
13 Tonight I will tell you the preliminary 14 results of the environmental review. These results 15 are documented in the draft SEIS. And I will also ask 16 for your comments on the draft SEIS. The meeting 17 tonight will, essentially, have four parts. The 18 introduction is the part that were doing now.
19 20 21 22 23 In the second part I will discuss the review process and the preliminary findings of the review. Copies of this presentation are on the table by the door and Stu Sheldon, it looks like he handed out copies to everyone here.
24 The next portion will be an opportunity to 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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5 ask questions about the material presented, and I will 1
answer those questions. And finally, the NRC staff 2
will listen to your comments about the draft SEIS.
3 Note that the NRC will listen during this time. We 4
generally wont respond to what youre saying here in 5
the meeting. Instead, we will prepare written 6
responses to your comments that will be published as 7
a part of the final SEIS.
8 Please note that this meeting is being 9
recorded,; a transcribers sitting right up here in 10 front. And hes doing that to produce a written 11 record of whats said at this meeting. In order for 12 the transcript to be accurate, please comply with the 13 following.
14 First, please silence your phones and any 15 other personal electronics you have with you. If you 16 must accept a call during this meeting, please step 17 outside into the lobby so the other meeting 18 participants can hear the proceedings and so your 19 phone ringing, nor your conversation is recorded.
20 When you speak, please use a microphone.
21 And Ill bring it around for the question and answer 22 period to you guys. Thats how we will ensure that 23 what you say is recorded. When you speak, identify 24 who you are and, if you represent a group, what group 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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6 you represent. Also, if you have an uncommon name or 1
if your name has an unusual spelling, please spell 2
your name. And to ensure the recording is clear, 3
please dont hold side conversations, and do not 4
interrupt the speaker. Thank you.
5 6
7 8
9 10 When you signed in tonight, you may have noted yellow cards, like the one Im holding up, on the table. Several of you have already filled them out, and thats to be a speaker. So if you want to speak, let me know. Ill bring a card around to you, and you can fill that out now.
11 When we get to the public comment portion 12 of this evening, I will give each public commenter 13 three minutes to speak. And then, after everyones 14 had a chance to speak, we can, if you havent finished 15 your comments, you can certainly have more time. So 16 far I only have four folks who are signed up to speak.
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Also on the table outside is a stack of public meeting feedback forms. Please fill one out and provide it to me or leave it on the table, or you can drop it in the mail; its postage free. Your assessment of this meeting tonight will help improve future meetings.
24 And finally, for those who dont know, the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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7 restrooms are out the hallway to the left. Emergency 1
exit is out the hallway to the right. And security is 2
located at the LaSalle County Sheriffs Office. Its 3
just across the parking lot, if we should need 4
security.
5 6
7 8
Okay, do you have any questions on this brief introduction before I go any further, and start discussing the environmental review?
No - ok then.
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Im going to start discussing the environmental review and preliminary results from the draft SEIS. First, I would like to emphasize that the environmental review is not yet complete. I hope the information provided in this presentation will help you understand what weve done so far, and the role you can play in helping to make sure that the final environmental impact statement is accurate and complete.
18 Id like to start off by briefly going 19 over the agenda for this portion of my speech. First 20 of all, Ill comment on the NRCs regulatory role, 21 then Ill provide the preliminary findings of our 22 environmental review, and then I will present the 23 current schedule for the remainder of the 24 environmental review, and tell you how you can submit 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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8 comments outside of this meeting.
1 At the end of the presentation, there will 2
be time for questions and answers on the comments of 3
my briefing and, most importantly, time for you to 4
present your comments on the draft SEIS.
5 The NRC was established to regulate 6
civilian use of nuclear materials, including 7
facilities producing electric power. The NRC conducts 8
license renewal reviews for plants whose owners wish 9
to operate them beyond their initial license period.
10 11 NRC license renewal reviews address safety 12 issues related to managing the affects of aging and 13 environmental issues related to an additional 20 years 14 of operation. In all aspects of the NRC regulation, 15 our mission is three-fold. To ensure adequate 16 protection of the public health and safety, to promote 17 common defense and security, and to protect the 18 environment.
19 20 21 22 23 24 Our environmental review looks at the potential site-specific impacts of license renewal of the LaSalle County Stations Units 1 and 2. A generic environmental impact statement, or GEIS, examines the possible environmental impacts that could occur as a result of renewing licenses of individual 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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9 nuclear power plants.
1 2
3 4
5 6
The GEIS describes the significance of these potential impacts. The analysis in the GEIS pertains to operating power reactors. For each type or environmental
- impact, the GEIS establishes generic findings, covering as many plants as possible.
7 8
9 10 11 12 13 For some environmental issues, the GEIS found that a generic evaluation was not sufficient, and that a plant-specific analysis was required. The 2013 revision to the GEIS is sitting here on the table; these three volumes. The GEIS was originally done in 1996. It contains more information than these three volumes, and there was an addendum in 14 1999.
15 16 17 18 19 This gives you an idea of the effort that went in to looking at nuclear power plants across the
- country, and determining which
- impacts, environmental impacts, were generic, and which require site-specific analysis.
20 The site-specific findings for the LaSalle 21 County Station are contained in the draft SEIS 22 published in February, 2016. This document contains 23 analyses of all possible site-specific issues, as well 24 as a review of issues covered by the GEIS, to 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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1 10 determine whether the conclusions in the GEIS are valid for LaSalle County Station.
2 3
4 5
6 7
In this process, the NRC staff also reviews environmental impacts of potential power generation alternatives to license renewal.
Finally, I want to mention that on March 10th of last year, March 10th of last year, I was here conducting the environmental scoping meetings.
8 9
10 11 12 During those meetings and the scoping period, the NRC collected comments that informed the scope of the environmental review. Those comments, and the NRC responses to those comments, are found in the scoping summary report.
13 14 15 16 17 Hard copies and CDs of the scoping summary report are available on the table by the door. And also, that same CD that has the scoping summary report contains a copy of the draft SEIS. Please feel free to take a copy of the CD.
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 For each environmental issue identified an impact level is assigned. The NRCs standard of significance for impacts was established using the White House counsel on environmental quality terminology for significant. The NRC established three levels of significance for potential impacts, small, moderate and large, as defined on the slide.
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11 For a small impact, the effects are not 1
detectible or are so minor that they will neither 2
destabilize nor noticeable alter any important 3
attribute of the resource. For a moderate impact, the 4
effects are sufficient to alter noticeably, but not 5
destabilize important attributes of the resource. And 6
for a large impact, the effects are clearly noticeable 7
and are sufficient to destabilize important 8
attributes of the resource.
9 While these impact level designations are 10 used for most of the resource areas that we looked at 11 in the draft SEIS, there are three areas that have 12 their own impact level designations. And these are 13 discussed on the next slide.
14 So for special status species, the impact 15 significance determination language comes from the 16 Endangered Species Act. And choices to describe the 17 impacts are no effect, may affect but not likely to 18 adversely affect, and may affect and is likely to 19 adversely affect.
20 For cultural and historic resources, the 21 National Historic Preservation Act requires Federal 22 agencies to consider the effects of their undertakings 23 on historic properties. And for environmental 24 justice, under Executive Order 12898, Federal agencies 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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12 are responsible for identifying and addressing 1
disproportionately high and adverse human health and 2
environmental impacts on minority and low-income 3
populations.
4 This slide lists the issues the NRC 5
reviewed for the continued operation of the LaSalle 6
County Station during the proposed license renewal 7
period. So in this one slide, this is basically a 8
very quick summary of what you would find in that 9
larger document, the draft SEIS.
10 For all issues, except aquatic resources, 11 the impacts of license renewal were found to be small, 12 which means the effects are not detectible, or are so 13 minor that they will neither destabilize nor 14 noticeably alter any important attribute of the 15 resource.
16 Thermal impacts would be small for aquatic 17 resources in the Illinois River, and small for aquatic 18 resources in the cooling pond, except for gizzard and 19 threadfin shad. Gizzard and threadfin shad would 20 experience moderate thermal impacts in the cooling 21 pond.
22 The NRC staff also considered cumulative 23 impacts. Cumulative impacts are the effects on the 24 environment from other past, present and reasonably 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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13 foreseeable future human actions, other than LaSalle 1
County Station. The effects not only included 2
operation of LaSalle County Station, but also impacts 3
unrelated to LaSalle, such as future urbanization, 4
other energy producing facilities in the area and 5
climate change.
6 The analysis considers potential impacts 7
through the end of the current license term, as well 8
as the 20-year license renewal term. The NRC staff 9
determined that most cumulative impacts would be 10 small, and the analysis is provided in section 4.16 of 11 the draft SEIS.
12 The National Environmental Policy Act 13 mandates that each environmental impact statement 14 consider alternatives to any proposed major Federal 15 action. A major step for determining whether license 16 renewal is reasonable or not is comparing the likely 17 impacts of continued operation of a nuclear plant with 18 the likely impacts of alternatives means of power 19 generation.
20 Alternatives must provide an option that 21 allows for power generation capability beyond the term 22 of the current nuclear power plant operating license 23 to meet future system generation needs. In the draft 24 SEIS, NRC staff initially considered 17 different 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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14 alternatives, and then we narrowed those 17 down to 1
five, and looked at those five in detail.
2 Additionally, the NRC staff considered 3
what would happen if no action is taken and LaSalle 4
shuts down at the end of its current licenses without 5
a specific replacement alternative. This alternative 6
would not provide power generation capacity nor would 7
it meet the needs currently met by LaSalle.
8 The NRCs preliminary conclusion is that 9
the environmental impacts of renewal of the operating 10 licenses for LaSalle would be smaller than those 11 feasible and commercially viable alternatives.
12 Continued operation would have smaller environmental 13 impacts in almost all areas. The staff concluded that 14 continued operation of the existing LaSalle County 15 Station is the environmentally preferred alternative.
16 17 Based on review of likely environmental 18 impacts from license renewal, as well as potential 19 environmental impacts of alternatives to license 20 renewal, the NRC staffs preliminary recommendation in 21 the draft SEIS is that the adverse environmental 22 impacts of license renewal for LaSalle County Station 23 are not great enough to deny the option of license 24 renewal for energy planning decision makers. And that 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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15 preliminary conclusion shows up several places in the 1
draft SEIS, but chapter five is the conclusion 2
chapter.
3 I would like to re-emphasize that the 4
environmental review is not yet complete. Your 5
comments tonight, and all written comments received by 6
the end of the comment period on April 4th, will be 7
considered by the NRC staff as we develop the final 8
SEIS, which we currently plan to issue in August of 9
2016.
10 Those comments that are within the scope 11 of the environmental review and provide new and 12 significant information can help change the staffs 13 findings. The final SEIS will contain the staffs 14 final recommendation on the acceptability of license 15 renewal based on the work weve already performed and 16 any new and significant information we receive in the 17 form of comments during the comment period. I just 18 want to emphasize that the comment period closes on 19 April 4th, the second to the last line here on this 20 slide.
21 22 23 24 As many of you
- know, I
am the primary contact for the environmental
- review, and Jeff Mitchell is the primary contact for the safety review, and our information is on the handouts that I provided 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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16 you tonight, our contact information. Copies of the 1
draft SEIS are available on CD on the table near the 2
door. In addition, the library shown on this slide 3
has a copy available, current copy available for 4
review.
5 You can also find electronic copies of the 6
draft SEIS, along with other information about the 7
LaSalle County Station license renewal review online 8
at the website shown. And finally, additional 9
information can also be obtained by contacting the 10 representatives of NRCs Region III office of public 11 affairs, as shown on the slide.
12 NRC staff will address written comments in 13 the same way we address spoken comments received 14 today. You can submit written comments either online 15 or via conventional manner. To submit written 16 comments online, visit the website regulations.gov and 17 search for docket ID NRC-2014-0268. If you have 18 written comments today, you may give them to me or any 19 other member of the NRC staff.
20 Please note that if you provide verbal 21 comments tonight, you dont need to submit them in 22 writing since your verbal comments are part of the 23 transcribed record, and they will be responded to. So 24 this concludes my formal presentation.
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17 1
2 3
4 5
So now we enter the question and answer portion of our meeting. This portion is distinct from the comment portion. I will now answer questions specific to the material that I presented here tonight. I'd like to begin with questions those on the phone. Operator?
6 THE OPERATOR: Yes.
7 MR. DRUCKER: If theres anyone on the 8
phone that has questions about the material I 9
presented, can you please go ahead and let them ask 10 their questions one at a time, and Ill do my best to 11 answer them.
12 THE OPERATOR: Certainly. If you would 13 like to as a question on the phone line, please press 14
- 1 and record your name when prompted. Please make 15 sure your phone is not muted when you record your 16 name. Once again, thats *1 and record your name.
17 One moment for our first question. And no questions 18 have come in.
19 20 21 22 23 24 MR. DRUCKER: Okay Operator, thank you.
Most of the folks here in the room have been a part of the license renewal process. Theyre familiar with the scoping process we did last year. But I just want to emphasize, for anyone whos listening, that you know, this is not a hearing. This is a public 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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18 meeting.
1 2
3 4
5 6
And the goal of this meeting is two-way communication; for me to provide information about the environmental impact statement that weve been working on and have developed, and then to receive comment on that document. So I am looking for questions on the material I presented.
7 With that, Im going to go to questions.
8 Does anyone have any questions about the material I 9
presented here in the room? If there are no 10 questions, I just want to --
11 12 13 MS. SNYDER: I have a question.
MR. DRUCKER: Gail, go ahead.
MS. SNYDER: My first question is you said 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 this is a public meeting. Theres not really many members of the public here, so Im just wondering what does the NRC do to promote this? I find it hard to believe in an area where theres thousands of people who could be impacted by this decision that nobodys shown up, no elected officials, unless theres something here I dont know about. Im just wondering, you know, why theres such a poor turnout.
MR. DRUCKER: Good question. Certainly, certainly, let me answer that first; your first part of the question was how do we advertise, basically, 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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1 2
3 19 this public. This meeting is advertised through many means. The first place that its advertised is we put out a Federal Register notice, the NRC does, announcing the meeting.
4 5
6 7
8 9
And then the Environmental Protection Agency, it publishes a Federal Register notice that announces the release of the draft SEIS, and then how to contact me if youre interested in learning more about that. So theres two Federal Register notices that go out.
10 The Nuclear Regulatory Commissions 11 website also has actually several places where we talk 12 about the meeting. We have a public meeting web page 13 that speaks to all the meetings that we have. We have 14 a license renewal web page that talks about this 15 meeting. Theres also the regular LaSalle operating 16 license web page, which also points to my license 17 renewal web page. So theres those web pages.
18 19 20 21 22 23 We also have advertisements in local newspapers. I can get those for you if youre interested. But we did advertise in the local newspapers, announcing this meeting. I also reached out to everyone who attended the scoping meetings last year through e-mail and or letter.
24 I either sent them a hard copy of the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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20 draft SEIS, along with a copy of the Federal Register 1
notice, which provided the information on when and 2
where this meeting would be held. Either hard copy, 3
or I provided them a CD of the draft SEIS.
4 Off the top of my head, I actually used to 5
carry a list of all different ways that we advertised 6
the meetings; off the top of my head, thats how we do 7
it. There were e-mails, too. For example, e-mail 8
reminders I sent out to the EPA via Region V folks so 9
they may be on the phone tonight.
10 11 12 13 14 15 So those are the basic ways. If I missed anything, and my boss is listening feel free to chime in, Jim, and let me know what I missed. But those are the major ways. Oh, another way; the fliers. I asked the resident inspector to post fliers locally around.
16 Good question and, yeah, sometimes we get 17 a big turnout at these meetings, and sometimes we 18 dont. Personally, I was at one down in Mississippi, 19 Grand Gulf. There were a few flakes of snow, and the 20 Governor basically told everyone to stay in. And I 21 flew own with my boss at the time, and we had no 22 trouble. There was no snow on the roads; didnt 23 understand what the problem was. But it was a local 24 thing.
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21 I was paying attention to the news this 1
morning, and I heard the terrible, terrible news of 2
what was going on in Belgium, but I doubt that that 3
somehow would impact people showing up here. I did 4
read the local paper to see there were a couple other 5
meetings.
6 7
8 9
10 11 12 There was a board of education meeting in one of the schools, but I didnt think it would impact attendance at this meeting. And I did work with the folks at the plant, and I worked with our resident inspector trying to pick a night that wasnt busy with other activities. I do believe we have at least one elected official here with us tonight. Mr. Walsh?
13 14 MR. WALSH: Yes, Im a member of the LaSalle County board.
15 16 MR. DRUCKER: OK, thanks.
MR. WALSH: Chair of legislative 17 rules.
18 19 20 MR. DRUCKER: Great.
MR. WALSH: County board member. MR.
DRUCKER: Good question. Any other 21 questions from folks in the room?
22 MS. SNYDER: I have more questions.
23 MR. DRUCKER: Please.
24 MS. SNYDER: Slide number 10, which is 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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22 titled environmental review of LaSalle County Station 1
has the resources areas and the impacts listed. On 2
the bottom it says waste management, and the impact is 3
small. And Im just wondering can you define what 4
waste management is in this?
5 6
7 8
9 10 11 MR.
DRUCKER:
- Yes, thats a
great question. The answer to your question is contained in the draft SEIS that we are discussing this evening.
And theres a
section on waste management. That section is located in Chapter 4.
Bear with me just for a moment, and I will flip to it. Its section 4. --
12 MS. SNYDER: Does it refer to nuclear 13 waste, or is it waste from the plant, other than?
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 MR. DRUCKER: Section 4.13 of the draft SEIS discusses, the spent fuel produced by the plant, both onsite storage and offsite radiological impacts.
This section also discusses low level waste storage and disposal, mixed waste storage, and non-radioactive waste storage. So this is the section that does cover the spent nuclear fuel.
21 22 23 24 So theres a total of five issues that are looked at in this section. In a different section, Section 4.15.1, that section discusses issues related to the uranium fuel cycle. But spent 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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23 is at the plant is talked about in Section 4.13.
1 MS. SNYDER: And when you say the impact 2
is small, do you mean that its small in comparison to 3
whats already there, or that 20 years of additional 4
waste will have a small impact?
5 MR. DRUCKER: Yeah, this is, this section 6
is talking to 20 years of additional operation.
7 MS. SNYDER: The small impact.
8 MR. DRUCKER: Yes.
9 MS. SNYDER: I have another question.
10 MR. DRUCKER: Please.
11 MS. SNYDER: I dont want to hog the 12 questions. Slide number 12, alternatives; and youre 13 talking about citing alternatives and the criteria 14 required to replace the energy. If you nuclear plant 15 had shut down, you said something about what would 16 happen if the nuclear plant shut down, and you found 17 that there wouldnt be an alternative power source 18 that would replace that power.
19 And I was just wondering if you had, or 20 the committee had, whoever drafted this, whatever 21 group drafted it had looked at the report from the 22 State of Illinois? There were a number of agencies; 23 there was a bill, HR, a resolution, HR1146, which was 24 looking at nuclear power in the state.
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24 And state agencies drafted a report, and 1
they came out with the opposite finding of what youre 2
saying. So maybe we will e-mail that report to you.
3 I think that would be informative to what their 4
position is, is not the same as your conclusion.
5 MR. DRUCKER: OK, thank you.
6 MS. SNYDER: And thats a state study by 7
state agencies.
8 MR. DRUCKER: All right. I appreciate 9
that very much. Thanks, Gail. Okay, if there are no 10 other questions, then were going to move right along 11 to the comment portion of tonights meeting. And as 12 I stated at the beginning, primarily the NRC staff 13 will be listening, and we will respond to any comments 14 in written form in the final SEIS.
15 So let me go to the operator. India, is 16 there anyone on the phone that wants to provide a 17 comment?
18 THE OPERATOR: If you do have comments, 19 please press *1 and record your name when prompted.
20 Once again, thats *1 -- and no comments have come in 21 over the phone.
22 MR. DRUCKER: Thank you. Thank you, very 23 much.
24 THE OPERATOR: Youre welcome.
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25 1
2 3
4 5
MR. DRUCKER: Okay, I have yellow cards from three, from four folks. Ill shuffle them and pull them out randomly. I hope it does not matter to any of you. I would appreciate, would the speakers come up to the front here, and you can use this microphone. Gail, are you available first?
6 MS. SNYDER: Sure.
7 MR. DRUCKER: And the next speaker will be 8
Doug OBrien, so Doug if you want to prepare yourself 9
and move up to the front to save some time. In fact, 10 theres only four of you. Itll be Gail, Doug, Steve 11 and Tom.
12 MS. SNYDER: I dont know if this makes 13 your life easier.
14 AUDIENCE MEMBER: Oh great, thank you.
15 MS. SNYDER: Good evening. My name is 16 Gail Snyder, and Im here representing Nuclear Energy 17 Information Service. I serve as the president of the 18 board. Our comments tonight are really directed, 19 maybe, not specifically at environmental issues, but 20 the licensing renewal.
21 And one of our first comments is that the 22 analysis of socioeconomic impacts are incomplete. No 23 analysis of impacts for early or unexpected closures 24 were considered or provided. The Exelon safety 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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26 evaluation report documents a significant tax impact 1
for the presence of the LaSalle County Station, yet 2
only addresses the positive impacts.
3 No mention or analysis of negative impacts 4
resulting from a abrupt planned or unexpected early 5
closure of LaSalle is presented. This is a 6
significant omission, particularly in light of Exelon 7
Corporations threat of two years ago to close 8
reactors in Illinois on economic grounds.
9 According to the Exelon SER, LaSalle 10 represents a sizeable portion of the county total tax 11 base. It also accounts for large portions of the 12 school districts adjusted property tax levy. These 13 are not insignificant amounts.
Their abrupt 14 disappearance would wreak economic havoc on the 15 affected governmental and essential service entities 16 ability to operate, just as Exelons predecessor, 17 ComEd, did to the community of Zion in 1997, when they 18 unilaterally closed the Zion reactors.
19 The SER either fails to recognize or 20 mention at all some of the possible events that could 21 result in such a closure situation, such as an 22 unexpected major accident resulting in immediate and, 23 presumably, premature closing, NRC-ordered shutdown, 24 Exelon unilateral decision to close the plant on 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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27 economic or other grounds, as it did in Zion, 1
resulting in an immediate loss of about 55 percent of 2
Zions tax base.
3 Devaluation through sale has occurred at 4
the Clinton Station, resulting in enormous loss of the 5
tax base, eventual old age, license expiration 6
closure, which is the outcome of -- and I would add, 7
in light of whats happening in Brussels today, and 8
the fact that theyve shut down their nuclear reactors 9
and cant provide security, terrorism is also a 10 possible way that a nuclear reactor could shut down 11 unexpectedly.
12 Exelons being a business will certainly 13 make the calculations it made when it closed Zion and 14 decided that LaSalle should continue to operate. In 15 this omission, the SER makes the same mistake the U.S.
16 Government made when it invaded Iraq. No exit 17 strategy.
To simply assume that the only 18 socioeconomic effects of LaSalles presence will be 19 positive ones is simply irrational.
20 Our recommendation: Planning for some 21 kind of eventual closure must be made long before it 22 happens to minimize economic and service disruptions 23 to the entities whose tax bases will be affected.
24 Debate about the license extension serves as a good 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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28 reminder of this fact, and an opportunity to take 1
action.
2 We recommend that dependent government and 3
tax entities begin formal negotiations with Exelon to 4
establish an escrow of mitigation funds based on some 5
mutually agreeable assessment and payment structure so 6
that dependent entities will have some kind of 7
temporary funds available to soften the economic blow 8
or closure and not radically disrupt essential 9
services.
10 Our second comment, which is shorter, is 11 the inadequate attention paid to water availability at 12 the LaSalle Nuclear Power Plant under potential future 13 climate disruption conditions. Historically, LaSalle 14 Nuclear Power Plant has been one of the Illinois 15 reactor sites most sensitive to water availability 16 under severe drought conditions; for example, 1998, 17 2005, 2006.
18 Its siting on a portion of the Illinois 19 River network that is shallower than other parts has 20 brought the reactors close to mandatory shutdowns to 21 stay within EPA regulatory limits for thermal 22 pollution during extreme droughts on more than one 23 occasion over the past two decades.
24 Forecast for the future of Illinoiss 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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29 climate over the next few decades indicate it 1
approaching that of current day west Texas. This will 2
have severe impacts on the aquatic system in the area, 3
and on the availability of water for intake and 4
discharge at LaSalle.
5 A
more thorough re-examination of 6
LaSalles ability to safely operate, obtain sufficient 7
cooling water, and not thermally and radiologically 8
damage the local aquatic ecosystem is in order in this 9
re-licensing proceeding. Thank you.
10 MR. DRUCKER: The next speaker is Doug 11 OBrien from the Illinois Clean Energy Coalition.
12 MR. OBRIEN: Thank you. My name is Doug 13 OBrien. Im with the Illinois Clean Energy 14 Coalition, and this is another one in a long number of 15 these hearings or events that Ive been to, talking 16 about a lot of the positive impacts that Illinoiss 17 nuclear generating stations have had on the economy.
18 19 Its ironic that Im following somebody 20 who came up and posited these impacts, these 21 beneficial impacts and somehow turned them into a 22 negative. And I think that its also a little bit 23 insulting to the intelligence of local officials here 24 and around Illinois to assume that they dont have the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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30 sense to plan for the future. And I know that many 1
local governments do just that. They do it 2
vigilantly, and they do it effectively.
3 But I wanted to talk a little bit about 4
the environmental impacts, the positive environmental 5
impacts of the plant. As the initial NRC reports 6
shows, the overall impacts when it comes to energy 7
generation are positive. That the alternative sources 8
for energy generation in Illinois would create more 9
negative impacts environmentally, particularly in the 10 area of CO2 emissions, as its critically important 11 that we always consider the beneficial impact of 12 Illinoiss nuclear fleet on CO2 emissions here in 13 Illinois.
14 The Illinois Clean Energy Coalitions 15 study in 2014 showed that Illinoiss nuclear fleet 16 prevents the emission of over 92 million tons of CO2 17 annually. Now this is a significant contributor to 18 global climate change, and something that we can do in 19 preserving and protecting our nuclear fleet that will 20 have a real, immediate, ongoing positive impact on our 21 environment.
22 Now, other sources of clean energy are 23 vital to our future, as well. But the simple truth is 24 we cannot quickly or easily replace nuclear generation 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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31 with other clean sources. And a nuclear plant like 1
LaSalle would require, for example, thousands of new 2
wind turbines to replace its electricity generation.
3 4
And we still cant rely on wind 24/7, nor 5
on solar 24/7. And the process of siting these wind 6
farms, the capital and the permitting that is needed 7
to begin operating them is daunting. So losing any of 8
Illinoiss nuclear plants would leave us with no 9
short-term alternative but to increase our use of 10 fossil fuels and move us in the wrong direction.
11 Additionally, I think its important to 12 note that its vital for the NRC and our national 13 government to continue to push forward with practical 14 waste storage solutions that will allow for the 15 continued safe and secure storage of spent fuel, while 16 we wait for the Federal government to put aside 17 politics and live up to the commitment it made years 18 ago to establish a nationwide solution for spent fuel 19 storage.
20 In the meantime, plants like LaSalles 21 spent fuel is expertly handled, never having produced 22 any impact to the surrounding ecosystem. And while 23 the plants and the NRC have managed a laudable short-24 term solution, we have to continue to push for the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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32 permanent solution promised by our government.
1 So I think, in conclusion, the Illinois 2
Clean Energy Coalition applauds the NRC and its 3
findings. We believe that its accurate in showing 4
the LaSalle Station, like other stations across the 5
state, has a positive impact on the environment moving 6
forward here in Illinois. Thank you.
7 MR. DRUCKER: Steve Buck is next.
8 MR. BUCK: Good evening. Im Steve Buck.
9 Im an engineer at LaSalle Station. I just recently 10 started back in August. I am a resident of Ottawa, 11 Illinois, and Im a former Eagle Scout, originally 12 from Crystal Lake, Illinois. So environmental 13 stewardship is something that is very much a part of 14 my character. Its something that I developed early 15 on in my youth, and I still continue it to this day as 16 an adult.
17 Id like to share a couple key points of 18 how LaSalle Station is trying to be an environmental 19 steward itself through our activities to help conserve 20 the environment and leave the environment at least in 21 the best, the same condition, if not better condition 22 than we came in.
23 We had recently installed, last year, a 24 couple of charging stations for electrical vehicles.
25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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33 So theres four charging ports available, which saved 1
about 1,300 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions for any 2
of our workers who chose to use their electric 3
vehicles instead of a carbon-producing combustion 4
engine vehicle.
5 We have an annual station earth day 6
activity every year. Some of those include electronic 7
waste recycling programs where we collect electronic 8
waste. And we typically give out green gifts to those 9
who participate to bring in their electronics for 10 recycling as a thank you for looking out for that so 11 that we dont throw electronics just simply into 12 landfills.
13 Theres been a big push for LED lighting 14 upgrades, both inside the plant and outside, most 15 noticeably in the parking lot. The LED lights were 16 replaced. They should last about seven to 10 years 17 out in the conditions outside in the parking lot.
18 And were noticing that theres reduced electricity 19 usage for those, longer life span, and weve been 20 doing studies at other places inside the plant where 21 we can utilize LED lighting.
22 We are members of the Wildlife Habitat 23 Council certification.
We have achieved 24 re-certification last year for our efforts. We have 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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34 many projects around the site, such as bat boxes, Uber 1
boxes, and activities with the fish hatchery in the 2
lake.
3 Our North American Young Generation 4
Nuclear, its a youth group primarily of those who are 5
new to the nuclear industry, which I am a site 6
director at LaSalle Station; we have an 7
adopt-a-highway program for about a two-mile stretch 8
near the facility. And during the summer months, the 9
warmer months, we do a highway clean-up where we go 10 both sides of the highway, and just pick up any trash, 11 litter that might be on the side of the road.
12 We have a Gabby Green educational program 13 that goes out to our elementary schools. We discuss 14 energy conservation, resource conservation. We talk 15 about limited use of our water in certain situations, 16 turning the lights off when we go to the rooms. Some 17 very simple concepts for young children to understand 18 so that they can be environmental conscious starting 19 at a young age.
20 We are starting to develop a program with 21 Boy Scouts of America. As I said, Im a Boy Scout, 22 and this is something thats just starting to develop 23 in the last month. Developing programs with the Boy 24 Scouts to help encourage them with their environmental 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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35 practices, some of their merit badges and their rank 1
advancements and helping them live up to that 2
environmental stewardship themselves.
3 We also are firm supporters of the Who 4
Haven, which is wildlife rehabilitation center, 5
primarily for birds of prey, where we collect food for 6
those animals and also participate in bird releases, 7
releasing them back into the environment.
8 MR. DRUCKER: Thanks. The final speaker 9
from the cards, wheres Tom, Tom Jackson?
10 MR. JACKSON: Good evening. My names Tom 11 Jackson. Im site superintendent at Illini State 12 Park, Marseilles fish and wildlife area in LaSalle.
13 I work for the Department of Natural Resources, and 14 the IDNR currently has a lease through 2025 with 15 Exelon to manage the wildlife area and the fishing 16 opportunities.
17 LaSalle Lake is a fish and wildlife area, 18 along with a public fishing area. Were open to the 19 public from March 15th to October 15th every year for 20 fishing, providing many varieties of fish species, 21 including hybrid striped bass, large and small mouth 22 bass, crappie, blue gill and catfish.
23 In the months from October 15th through 24 March 15th of every year, the site is closed to the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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36 public, and provides a wildlife area for waterfowl 1
migrating through the area. IDNR works closely with 2
Exelon to provide a great recreational opportunity to 3
local resident and visitors from throughout the state 4
and even surrounding states.
5 LaSalle Lake provides good wildlife 6
habitat for the waterfowl, as mentioned before, and 7
provides good fishing and outdoor recreation for the 8
community. It also provides good economic benefits, 9
visitors to the area.
10 In my time as site superintendent, Exelon 11 management has made themselves available and 12 supportive in our efforts to provide site visitors 13 with access to the lake, and a rewarding experience 14 while visiting the site. I thank you for the 15 opportunity to speak on behalf of LaSalle Lake fish 16 and wildlife area and the Department of Nature 17 Resources.
18 MR. DRUCKER: Okay, if theres no one else 19 here or on the phone who has comments, and there 20 doesnt appear to be, I want to thank everyone who 21 provided --
22 MS. BOUDART: I have a comment.
23 MR. DRUCKER: Oh.
24 MS. BOUDART: May I make a comment?
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37 MR. DRUCKER: Absolutely.
1 MS. BOUDART: Okay.
2 MR. DRUCKER: Is it easier for me to bring 3
you the microphone there?
4 MS. BOUDART: Well, if you can so I think 5
I can speak loud enough. The person who spoke first, 6
who are you? Either the purple shirt or the white 7
striped shirt. Anyway, let me see --
8 MR. DRUCKER: Can you tell us your name.
9 MS. BOUDART: Oh yeah, my name is Jan 10 Boudart, and Im with the Nuclear Energy Information 11 Service, and somebody, I guess I didnt get, yeah, I 12 asked, Doug OBrien, the Clean Energy Coalition. Is 13 that you?
14 Well, I was very interested in the fact 15 that you said that until our government keeps its 16 promise to take care of the high level nuclear waste, 17 its being handled very efficiently and not being 18 allowed to harm anyone. And, in fact, your statement 19 was never having produced any impact from the high 20 level nuclear waste.
21 And I think this is something that, rather 22 than say that I, well, I personally dont believe 23 that, but I cant prove that its wrong. Also, you 24 cant prove that its right.
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38
- Recently, the Nuclear Regulatory 1
Commission decided not to conduct health studies of 2
the impacts of the power plants around the United 3
States. And without those studies, you cant say that 4
there is no impact, and you cannot say that there is 5
an impact because there is no study.
6 So to come up with the statement that this 7
activity of taking care of the high level nuclear 8
waste never produced any impact is a statement that is 9
not supported. If I were to say well, I know it has 10 produced an impact, that would also be an unsupported 11 statement. There has been no study to find out 12 whether or not there is an impact. And I think that 13 kind of a positive statement really exposes the feet 14 of clay.
15 MR. DRUCKER: Thank you, and Im going to 16 ask you could just fill out a card for me, just with 17 your name and e-mail address. All right, thank you 18 all. Do we have any other comments from anyone on the 19 phone?
20 THE OPERATOR: If you would like to have 21 a comment or question, please press *1 an record your 22 name when prompted. Thank you. No questions or 23 comments have come in.
24 MR. DRUCKER: Okay, thank you. Thanks to 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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39 everyone who provided comments during this meeting, 1
because that information exchange is what this 2
meetings all about. Also, thanks to all of you for 3
giving the speakers your time and attention.
4 And I want to thank Connie Brooks whos 5
actually across the hallway there and Fred Moore who 6
work here for the use of LaSalle County emergency 7
operations center. And finally on the table, if you 8
want to, please pick up a meeting feedback form if you 9
havent already, and either return it to me or any 10 other staff member. Feel free to mail it in. And 11 with that, this meeting is concluded.
12 Im going to stick around. If anyone had 13 any questions and wants to talk to me one-on-one, Im 14 happy to stick around and do that. So thank you all, 15 again, for coming out tonight.
16 THE OPERATOR: This concludes your 17 conference, and you may disconnect. Once again, your 18 conference has ended, and you may disconnect.
19 (Whereupon, at 8:00 p.m., the above-20 mentioned public hearing was concluded.)
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Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Title:
LaSalle County Station Draft Supplemental EIS Docket Number:
(n/a)
Location:
Ottawa, Illinois Date:
Tuesday, March 22, 2016 Work Order No.:
NRC-2254 Pages 1-39 NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC.
Court Reporters and Transcribers 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 234-4433
1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 2
+ + + + +
3 LaSALLE COUNTY STATION 4
DRAFT SUPPLEMENTAL EIS (DSEIS) 5 PUBLIC MEETING 6
+ + + + +
7 TUESDAY 8
MARCH 22, 2016 9
+ + + + +
10 11 12 13 The Public Meeting was convened at the 14 LaSalle County Emergency Management Agency, Emergency 15 Operations Center, 711 East Etna Road, Ottawa, 16 Illinois at 7:00 p.m., David Drucker, Facilitator, 17 presiding.
18 19 PRESENT:
20 DAVID DRUCKER, Facilitator and Presenter 21 22 23 24 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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2 P R O C E E D I N G S 1
MR. DRUCKER: Good evening. Thanks for 2
coming out tonight. Im David Drucker with the U.S.
3 Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Im --
4 THE OPERATOR: Mr. Drucker, I have to join 5
you to the main conference. Im sorry. One moment.
6 MR. DRUCKER: Sure.
7 THE OPERATOR: Welcome, and thank you for 8
standing by. At this time, all participants are on 9
listening mode. During our Q&A session, you may press 10
- 1 on your touch tone phone if you would like to ask 11 a question. Todays conference is being recorded. If 12 you have any objections, you may disconnect at this 13 time. Now Id like to turn the meeting over to Mr.
14 David Drucker, so you may begin.
15 16 17 18 19 20 MR. DRUCKER: Thank you, India. This is David Drucker. Im work for Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Im the project manager for the environmental review of the LaSalle County Station license renewal application. Hereafter, I will refer to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as the NRC.
21 There are two primary purposes for this 22 meeting. The first purpose is to discuss the contents 23 of this document that Im holding up, the draft 24 supplemental environmental impact statement for 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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3 license renewal of LaSalle County Station. Hereafter, 1
I will refer to this document as the draft SEIS. SEIS 2
stands for Supplemental Environmental Impact 3
Statement.
4 The second purpose of this meeting is to 5
obtain comments on the draft SEIS. This meeting is 6
available by teleconference and, India, I just want to 7
make sure. Can you ask the folks on the line, or 8
actually, folks on the line, can you hear me? Because 9
Im speaking at a distance from the speakerphone.
10 THE OPERATOR: Everyone, your lines are 11 now open, and you can respond.
12 13 MR. MAHERAS: David, this is Steve Maheras, and I can hear you just fine.
14 15 16 17 18 19 MR. DRUCKER: Okay. Good, if one person can hear me, the rest of you all can hear me.
Before going further, I want to introduce NRC staff here tonight. Stu Sheldon is an NRC Region III license renewal inspector, and Robert Ruiz is the senior resident at the plant.
20 21 22 23 24 Id also like to point out that on the phone we have or will have a few NRC staff folks. My supervisor, Jim Danna is the chief of the environmental review and project management branch.
Michele Moser is the technical reviewer for aquatic 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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4 resources.
1 2
3 4
5 Kevin Folk is the technical reviewer for service water resources. Bill Ford is the technical reviewer for ground water. And you hear earlier Steve Maharris is the consultant from Pacific Northwest Laboratories for the high burn-up fuel section.
6 Next, Id like to cover a few details 7
about this meeting. Exelon applied to the NRC to 8
renew the operating licenses for LaSalle County 9
Station units one and two for an additional 20 years.
10 The NRC is reviewing that application, and will use 11 the results of that review to decide whether to renew 12 the licenses.
13 Tonight I will tell you the preliminary 14 results of the environmental review. These results 15 are documented in the draft SEIS. And I will also ask 16 for your comments on the draft SEIS. The meeting 17 tonight will, essentially, have four parts. The 18 introduction is the part that were doing now.
19 20 21 22 23 In the second part I will discuss the review process and the preliminary findings of the review. Copies of this presentation are on the table by the door and Stu Sheldon, it looks like he handed out copies to everyone here.
24 The next portion will be an opportunity to 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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5 ask questions about the material presented, and I will 1
answer those questions. And finally, the NRC staff 2
will listen to your comments about the draft SEIS.
3 Note that the NRC will listen during this time. We 4
generally wont respond to what youre saying here in 5
the meeting. Instead, we will prepare written 6
responses to your comments that will be published as 7
a part of the final SEIS.
8 Please note that this meeting is being 9
recorded,; a transcribers sitting right up here in 10 front. And hes doing that to produce a written 11 record of whats said at this meeting. In order for 12 the transcript to be accurate, please comply with the 13 following.
14 First, please silence your phones and any 15 other personal electronics you have with you. If you 16 must accept a call during this meeting, please step 17 outside into the lobby so the other meeting 18 participants can hear the proceedings and so your 19 phone ringing, nor your conversation is recorded.
20 When you speak, please use a microphone.
21 And Ill bring it around for the question and answer 22 period to you guys. Thats how we will ensure that 23 what you say is recorded. When you speak, identify 24 who you are and, if you represent a group, what group 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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6 you represent. Also, if you have an uncommon name or 1
if your name has an unusual spelling, please spell 2
your name. And to ensure the recording is clear, 3
please dont hold side conversations, and do not 4
interrupt the speaker. Thank you.
5 6
7 8
9 10 When you signed in tonight, you may have noted yellow cards, like the one Im holding up, on the table. Several of you have already filled them out, and thats to be a speaker. So if you want to speak, let me know. Ill bring a card around to you, and you can fill that out now.
11 When we get to the public comment portion 12 of this evening, I will give each public commenter 13 three minutes to speak. And then, after everyones 14 had a chance to speak, we can, if you havent finished 15 your comments, you can certainly have more time. So 16 far I only have four folks who are signed up to speak.
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Also on the table outside is a stack of public meeting feedback forms. Please fill one out and provide it to me or leave it on the table, or you can drop it in the mail; its postage free. Your assessment of this meeting tonight will help improve future meetings.
24 And finally, for those who dont know, the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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7 restrooms are out the hallway to the left. Emergency 1
exit is out the hallway to the right. And security is 2
located at the LaSalle County Sheriffs Office. Its 3
just across the parking lot, if we should need 4
security.
5 6
7 8
Okay, do you have any questions on this brief introduction before I go any further, and start discussing the environmental review?
No - ok then.
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Im going to start discussing the environmental review and preliminary results from the draft SEIS. First, I would like to emphasize that the environmental review is not yet complete. I hope the information provided in this presentation will help you understand what weve done so far, and the role you can play in helping to make sure that the final environmental impact statement is accurate and complete.
18 Id like to start off by briefly going 19 over the agenda for this portion of my speech. First 20 of all, Ill comment on the NRCs regulatory role, 21 then Ill provide the preliminary findings of our 22 environmental review, and then I will present the 23 current schedule for the remainder of the 24 environmental review, and tell you how you can submit 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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8 comments outside of this meeting.
1 At the end of the presentation, there will 2
be time for questions and answers on the comments of 3
my briefing and, most importantly, time for you to 4
present your comments on the draft SEIS.
5 The NRC was established to regulate 6
civilian use of nuclear materials, including 7
facilities producing electric power. The NRC conducts 8
license renewal reviews for plants whose owners wish 9
to operate them beyond their initial license period.
10 11 NRC license renewal reviews address safety 12 issues related to managing the affects of aging and 13 environmental issues related to an additional 20 years 14 of operation. In all aspects of the NRC regulation, 15 our mission is three-fold. To ensure adequate 16 protection of the public health and safety, to promote 17 common defense and security, and to protect the 18 environment.
19 20 21 22 23 24 Our environmental review looks at the potential site-specific impacts of license renewal of the LaSalle County Stations Units 1 and 2. A generic environmental impact statement, or GEIS, examines the possible environmental impacts that could occur as a result of renewing licenses of individual 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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9 nuclear power plants.
1 2
3 4
5 6
The GEIS describes the significance of these potential impacts. The analysis in the GEIS pertains to operating power reactors. For each type or environmental
- impact, the GEIS establishes generic findings, covering as many plants as possible.
7 8
9 10 11 12 13 For some environmental issues, the GEIS found that a generic evaluation was not sufficient, and that a plant-specific analysis was required. The 2013 revision to the GEIS is sitting here on the table; these three volumes. The GEIS was originally done in 1996. It contains more information than these three volumes, and there was an addendum in 14 1999.
15 16 17 18 19 This gives you an idea of the effort that went in to looking at nuclear power plants across the
- country, and determining which
- impacts, environmental impacts, were generic, and which require site-specific analysis.
20 The site-specific findings for the LaSalle 21 County Station are contained in the draft SEIS 22 published in February, 2016. This document contains 23 analyses of all possible site-specific issues, as well 24 as a review of issues covered by the GEIS, to 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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1 10 determine whether the conclusions in the GEIS are valid for LaSalle County Station.
2 3
4 5
6 7
In this process, the NRC staff also reviews environmental impacts of potential power generation alternatives to license renewal.
Finally, I want to mention that on March 10th of last year, March 10th of last year, I was here conducting the environmental scoping meetings.
8 9
10 11 12 During those meetings and the scoping period, the NRC collected comments that informed the scope of the environmental review. Those comments, and the NRC responses to those comments, are found in the scoping summary report.
13 14 15 16 17 Hard copies and CDs of the scoping summary report are available on the table by the door. And also, that same CD that has the scoping summary report contains a copy of the draft SEIS. Please feel free to take a copy of the CD.
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 For each environmental issue identified an impact level is assigned. The NRCs standard of significance for impacts was established using the White House counsel on environmental quality terminology for significant. The NRC established three levels of significance for potential impacts, small, moderate and large, as defined on the slide.
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11 For a small impact, the effects are not 1
detectible or are so minor that they will neither 2
destabilize nor noticeable alter any important 3
attribute of the resource. For a moderate impact, the 4
effects are sufficient to alter noticeably, but not 5
destabilize important attributes of the resource. And 6
for a large impact, the effects are clearly noticeable 7
and are sufficient to destabilize important 8
attributes of the resource.
9 While these impact level designations are 10 used for most of the resource areas that we looked at 11 in the draft SEIS, there are three areas that have 12 their own impact level designations. And these are 13 discussed on the next slide.
14 So for special status species, the impact 15 significance determination language comes from the 16 Endangered Species Act. And choices to describe the 17 impacts are no effect, may affect but not likely to 18 adversely affect, and may affect and is likely to 19 adversely affect.
20 For cultural and historic resources, the 21 National Historic Preservation Act requires Federal 22 agencies to consider the effects of their undertakings 23 on historic properties. And for environmental 24 justice, under Executive Order 12898, Federal agencies 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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12 are responsible for identifying and addressing 1
disproportionately high and adverse human health and 2
environmental impacts on minority and low-income 3
populations.
4 This slide lists the issues the NRC 5
reviewed for the continued operation of the LaSalle 6
County Station during the proposed license renewal 7
period. So in this one slide, this is basically a 8
very quick summary of what you would find in that 9
larger document, the draft SEIS.
10 For all issues, except aquatic resources, 11 the impacts of license renewal were found to be small, 12 which means the effects are not detectible, or are so 13 minor that they will neither destabilize nor 14 noticeably alter any important attribute of the 15 resource.
16 Thermal impacts would be small for aquatic 17 resources in the Illinois River, and small for aquatic 18 resources in the cooling pond, except for gizzard and 19 threadfin shad. Gizzard and threadfin shad would 20 experience moderate thermal impacts in the cooling 21 pond.
22 The NRC staff also considered cumulative 23 impacts. Cumulative impacts are the effects on the 24 environment from other past, present and reasonably 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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13 foreseeable future human actions, other than LaSalle 1
County Station. The effects not only included 2
operation of LaSalle County Station, but also impacts 3
unrelated to LaSalle, such as future urbanization, 4
other energy producing facilities in the area and 5
climate change.
6 The analysis considers potential impacts 7
through the end of the current license term, as well 8
as the 20-year license renewal term. The NRC staff 9
determined that most cumulative impacts would be 10 small, and the analysis is provided in section 4.16 of 11 the draft SEIS.
12 The National Environmental Policy Act 13 mandates that each environmental impact statement 14 consider alternatives to any proposed major Federal 15 action. A major step for determining whether license 16 renewal is reasonable or not is comparing the likely 17 impacts of continued operation of a nuclear plant with 18 the likely impacts of alternatives means of power 19 generation.
20 Alternatives must provide an option that 21 allows for power generation capability beyond the term 22 of the current nuclear power plant operating license 23 to meet future system generation needs. In the draft 24 SEIS, NRC staff initially considered 17 different 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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14 alternatives, and then we narrowed those 17 down to 1
five, and looked at those five in detail.
2 Additionally, the NRC staff considered 3
what would happen if no action is taken and LaSalle 4
shuts down at the end of its current licenses without 5
a specific replacement alternative. This alternative 6
would not provide power generation capacity nor would 7
it meet the needs currently met by LaSalle.
8 The NRCs preliminary conclusion is that 9
the environmental impacts of renewal of the operating 10 licenses for LaSalle would be smaller than those 11 feasible and commercially viable alternatives.
12 Continued operation would have smaller environmental 13 impacts in almost all areas. The staff concluded that 14 continued operation of the existing LaSalle County 15 Station is the environmentally preferred alternative.
16 17 Based on review of likely environmental 18 impacts from license renewal, as well as potential 19 environmental impacts of alternatives to license 20 renewal, the NRC staffs preliminary recommendation in 21 the draft SEIS is that the adverse environmental 22 impacts of license renewal for LaSalle County Station 23 are not great enough to deny the option of license 24 renewal for energy planning decision makers. And that 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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15 preliminary conclusion shows up several places in the 1
draft SEIS, but chapter five is the conclusion 2
chapter.
3 I would like to re-emphasize that the 4
environmental review is not yet complete. Your 5
comments tonight, and all written comments received by 6
the end of the comment period on April 4th, will be 7
considered by the NRC staff as we develop the final 8
SEIS, which we currently plan to issue in August of 9
2016.
10 Those comments that are within the scope 11 of the environmental review and provide new and 12 significant information can help change the staffs 13 findings. The final SEIS will contain the staffs 14 final recommendation on the acceptability of license 15 renewal based on the work weve already performed and 16 any new and significant information we receive in the 17 form of comments during the comment period. I just 18 want to emphasize that the comment period closes on 19 April 4th, the second to the last line here on this 20 slide.
21 22 23 24 As many of you
- know, I
am the primary contact for the environmental
- review, and Jeff Mitchell is the primary contact for the safety review, and our information is on the handouts that I provided 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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16 you tonight, our contact information. Copies of the 1
draft SEIS are available on CD on the table near the 2
door. In addition, the library shown on this slide 3
has a copy available, current copy available for 4
review.
5 You can also find electronic copies of the 6
draft SEIS, along with other information about the 7
LaSalle County Station license renewal review online 8
at the website shown. And finally, additional 9
information can also be obtained by contacting the 10 representatives of NRCs Region III office of public 11 affairs, as shown on the slide.
12 NRC staff will address written comments in 13 the same way we address spoken comments received 14 today. You can submit written comments either online 15 or via conventional manner. To submit written 16 comments online, visit the website regulations.gov and 17 search for docket ID NRC-2014-0268. If you have 18 written comments today, you may give them to me or any 19 other member of the NRC staff.
20 Please note that if you provide verbal 21 comments tonight, you dont need to submit them in 22 writing since your verbal comments are part of the 23 transcribed record, and they will be responded to. So 24 this concludes my formal presentation.
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17 1
2 3
4 5
So now we enter the question and answer portion of our meeting. This portion is distinct from the comment portion. I will now answer questions specific to the material that I presented here tonight. I'd like to begin with questions those on the phone. Operator?
6 THE OPERATOR: Yes.
7 MR. DRUCKER: If theres anyone on the 8
phone that has questions about the material I 9
presented, can you please go ahead and let them ask 10 their questions one at a time, and Ill do my best to 11 answer them.
12 THE OPERATOR: Certainly. If you would 13 like to as a question on the phone line, please press 14
- 1 and record your name when prompted. Please make 15 sure your phone is not muted when you record your 16 name. Once again, thats *1 and record your name.
17 One moment for our first question. And no questions 18 have come in.
19 20 21 22 23 24 MR. DRUCKER: Okay Operator, thank you.
Most of the folks here in the room have been a part of the license renewal process. Theyre familiar with the scoping process we did last year. But I just want to emphasize, for anyone whos listening, that you know, this is not a hearing. This is a public 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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18 meeting.
1 2
3 4
5 6
And the goal of this meeting is two-way communication; for me to provide information about the environmental impact statement that weve been working on and have developed, and then to receive comment on that document. So I am looking for questions on the material I presented.
7 With that, Im going to go to questions.
8 Does anyone have any questions about the material I 9
presented here in the room? If there are no 10 questions, I just want to --
11 12 13 MS. SNYDER: I have a question.
MR. DRUCKER: Gail, go ahead.
MS. SNYDER: My first question is you said 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 this is a public meeting. Theres not really many members of the public here, so Im just wondering what does the NRC do to promote this? I find it hard to believe in an area where theres thousands of people who could be impacted by this decision that nobodys shown up, no elected officials, unless theres something here I dont know about. Im just wondering, you know, why theres such a poor turnout.
MR. DRUCKER: Good question. Certainly, certainly, let me answer that first; your first part of the question was how do we advertise, basically, 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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1 2
3 19 this public. This meeting is advertised through many means. The first place that its advertised is we put out a Federal Register notice, the NRC does, announcing the meeting.
4 5
6 7
8 9
And then the Environmental Protection Agency, it publishes a Federal Register notice that announces the release of the draft SEIS, and then how to contact me if youre interested in learning more about that. So theres two Federal Register notices that go out.
10 The Nuclear Regulatory Commissions 11 website also has actually several places where we talk 12 about the meeting. We have a public meeting web page 13 that speaks to all the meetings that we have. We have 14 a license renewal web page that talks about this 15 meeting. Theres also the regular LaSalle operating 16 license web page, which also points to my license 17 renewal web page. So theres those web pages.
18 19 20 21 22 23 We also have advertisements in local newspapers. I can get those for you if youre interested. But we did advertise in the local newspapers, announcing this meeting. I also reached out to everyone who attended the scoping meetings last year through e-mail and or letter.
24 I either sent them a hard copy of the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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20 draft SEIS, along with a copy of the Federal Register 1
notice, which provided the information on when and 2
where this meeting would be held. Either hard copy, 3
or I provided them a CD of the draft SEIS.
4 Off the top of my head, I actually used to 5
carry a list of all different ways that we advertised 6
the meetings; off the top of my head, thats how we do 7
it. There were e-mails, too. For example, e-mail 8
reminders I sent out to the EPA via Region V folks so 9
they may be on the phone tonight.
10 11 12 13 14 15 So those are the basic ways. If I missed anything, and my boss is listening feel free to chime in, Jim, and let me know what I missed. But those are the major ways. Oh, another way; the fliers. I asked the resident inspector to post fliers locally around.
16 Good question and, yeah, sometimes we get 17 a big turnout at these meetings, and sometimes we 18 dont. Personally, I was at one down in Mississippi, 19 Grand Gulf. There were a few flakes of snow, and the 20 Governor basically told everyone to stay in. And I 21 flew own with my boss at the time, and we had no 22 trouble. There was no snow on the roads; didnt 23 understand what the problem was. But it was a local 24 thing.
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21 I was paying attention to the news this 1
morning, and I heard the terrible, terrible news of 2
what was going on in Belgium, but I doubt that that 3
somehow would impact people showing up here. I did 4
read the local paper to see there were a couple other 5
meetings.
6 7
8 9
10 11 12 There was a board of education meeting in one of the schools, but I didnt think it would impact attendance at this meeting. And I did work with the folks at the plant, and I worked with our resident inspector trying to pick a night that wasnt busy with other activities. I do believe we have at least one elected official here with us tonight. Mr. Walsh?
13 14 MR. WALSH: Yes, Im a member of the LaSalle County board.
15 16 MR. DRUCKER: OK, thanks.
MR. WALSH: Chair of legislative 17 rules.
18 19 20 MR. DRUCKER: Great.
MR. WALSH: County board member. MR.
DRUCKER: Good question. Any other 21 questions from folks in the room?
22 MS. SNYDER: I have more questions.
23 MR. DRUCKER: Please.
24 MS. SNYDER: Slide number 10, which is 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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22 titled environmental review of LaSalle County Station 1
has the resources areas and the impacts listed. On 2
the bottom it says waste management, and the impact is 3
small. And Im just wondering can you define what 4
waste management is in this?
5 6
7 8
9 10 11 MR.
DRUCKER:
- Yes, thats a
great question. The answer to your question is contained in the draft SEIS that we are discussing this evening.
And theres a
section on waste management. That section is located in Chapter 4.
Bear with me just for a moment, and I will flip to it. Its section 4. --
12 MS. SNYDER: Does it refer to nuclear 13 waste, or is it waste from the plant, other than?
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 MR. DRUCKER: Section 4.13 of the draft SEIS discusses, the spent fuel produced by the plant, both onsite storage and offsite radiological impacts.
This section also discusses low level waste storage and disposal, mixed waste storage, and non-radioactive waste storage. So this is the section that does cover the spent nuclear fuel.
21 22 23 24 So theres a total of five issues that are looked at in this section. In a different section, Section 4.15.1, that section discusses issues related to the uranium fuel cycle. But spent 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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23 is at the plant is talked about in Section 4.13.
1 MS. SNYDER: And when you say the impact 2
is small, do you mean that its small in comparison to 3
whats already there, or that 20 years of additional 4
waste will have a small impact?
5 MR. DRUCKER: Yeah, this is, this section 6
is talking to 20 years of additional operation.
7 MS. SNYDER: The small impact.
8 MR. DRUCKER: Yes.
9 MS. SNYDER: I have another question.
10 MR. DRUCKER: Please.
11 MS. SNYDER: I dont want to hog the 12 questions. Slide number 12, alternatives; and youre 13 talking about citing alternatives and the criteria 14 required to replace the energy. If you nuclear plant 15 had shut down, you said something about what would 16 happen if the nuclear plant shut down, and you found 17 that there wouldnt be an alternative power source 18 that would replace that power.
19 And I was just wondering if you had, or 20 the committee had, whoever drafted this, whatever 21 group drafted it had looked at the report from the 22 State of Illinois? There were a number of agencies; 23 there was a bill, HR, a resolution, HR1146, which was 24 looking at nuclear power in the state.
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24 And state agencies drafted a report, and 1
they came out with the opposite finding of what youre 2
saying. So maybe we will e-mail that report to you.
3 I think that would be informative to what their 4
position is, is not the same as your conclusion.
5 MR. DRUCKER: OK, thank you.
6 MS. SNYDER: And thats a state study by 7
state agencies.
8 MR. DRUCKER: All right. I appreciate 9
that very much. Thanks, Gail. Okay, if there are no 10 other questions, then were going to move right along 11 to the comment portion of tonights meeting. And as 12 I stated at the beginning, primarily the NRC staff 13 will be listening, and we will respond to any comments 14 in written form in the final SEIS.
15 So let me go to the operator. India, is 16 there anyone on the phone that wants to provide a 17 comment?
18 THE OPERATOR: If you do have comments, 19 please press *1 and record your name when prompted.
20 Once again, thats *1 -- and no comments have come in 21 over the phone.
22 MR. DRUCKER: Thank you. Thank you, very 23 much.
24 THE OPERATOR: Youre welcome.
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25 1
2 3
4 5
MR. DRUCKER: Okay, I have yellow cards from three, from four folks. Ill shuffle them and pull them out randomly. I hope it does not matter to any of you. I would appreciate, would the speakers come up to the front here, and you can use this microphone. Gail, are you available first?
6 MS. SNYDER: Sure.
7 MR. DRUCKER: And the next speaker will be 8
Doug OBrien, so Doug if you want to prepare yourself 9
and move up to the front to save some time. In fact, 10 theres only four of you. Itll be Gail, Doug, Steve 11 and Tom.
12 MS. SNYDER: I dont know if this makes 13 your life easier.
14 AUDIENCE MEMBER: Oh great, thank you.
15 MS. SNYDER: Good evening. My name is 16 Gail Snyder, and Im here representing Nuclear Energy 17 Information Service. I serve as the president of the 18 board. Our comments tonight are really directed, 19 maybe, not specifically at environmental issues, but 20 the licensing renewal.
21 And one of our first comments is that the 22 analysis of socioeconomic impacts are incomplete. No 23 analysis of impacts for early or unexpected closures 24 were considered or provided. The Exelon safety 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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26 evaluation report documents a significant tax impact 1
for the presence of the LaSalle County Station, yet 2
only addresses the positive impacts.
3 No mention or analysis of negative impacts 4
resulting from a abrupt planned or unexpected early 5
closure of LaSalle is presented. This is a 6
significant omission, particularly in light of Exelon 7
Corporations threat of two years ago to close 8
reactors in Illinois on economic grounds.
9 According to the Exelon SER, LaSalle 10 represents a sizeable portion of the county total tax 11 base. It also accounts for large portions of the 12 school districts adjusted property tax levy. These 13 are not insignificant amounts.
Their abrupt 14 disappearance would wreak economic havoc on the 15 affected governmental and essential service entities 16 ability to operate, just as Exelons predecessor, 17 ComEd, did to the community of Zion in 1997, when they 18 unilaterally closed the Zion reactors.
19 The SER either fails to recognize or 20 mention at all some of the possible events that could 21 result in such a closure situation, such as an 22 unexpected major accident resulting in immediate and, 23 presumably, premature closing, NRC-ordered shutdown, 24 Exelon unilateral decision to close the plant on 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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27 economic or other grounds, as it did in Zion, 1
resulting in an immediate loss of about 55 percent of 2
Zions tax base.
3 Devaluation through sale has occurred at 4
the Clinton Station, resulting in enormous loss of the 5
tax base, eventual old age, license expiration 6
closure, which is the outcome of -- and I would add, 7
in light of whats happening in Brussels today, and 8
the fact that theyve shut down their nuclear reactors 9
and cant provide security, terrorism is also a 10 possible way that a nuclear reactor could shut down 11 unexpectedly.
12 Exelons being a business will certainly 13 make the calculations it made when it closed Zion and 14 decided that LaSalle should continue to operate. In 15 this omission, the SER makes the same mistake the U.S.
16 Government made when it invaded Iraq. No exit 17 strategy.
To simply assume that the only 18 socioeconomic effects of LaSalles presence will be 19 positive ones is simply irrational.
20 Our recommendation: Planning for some 21 kind of eventual closure must be made long before it 22 happens to minimize economic and service disruptions 23 to the entities whose tax bases will be affected.
24 Debate about the license extension serves as a good 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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28 reminder of this fact, and an opportunity to take 1
action.
2 We recommend that dependent government and 3
tax entities begin formal negotiations with Exelon to 4
establish an escrow of mitigation funds based on some 5
mutually agreeable assessment and payment structure so 6
that dependent entities will have some kind of 7
temporary funds available to soften the economic blow 8
or closure and not radically disrupt essential 9
services.
10 Our second comment, which is shorter, is 11 the inadequate attention paid to water availability at 12 the LaSalle Nuclear Power Plant under potential future 13 climate disruption conditions. Historically, LaSalle 14 Nuclear Power Plant has been one of the Illinois 15 reactor sites most sensitive to water availability 16 under severe drought conditions; for example, 1998, 17 2005, 2006.
18 Its siting on a portion of the Illinois 19 River network that is shallower than other parts has 20 brought the reactors close to mandatory shutdowns to 21 stay within EPA regulatory limits for thermal 22 pollution during extreme droughts on more than one 23 occasion over the past two decades.
24 Forecast for the future of Illinoiss 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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29 climate over the next few decades indicate it 1
approaching that of current day west Texas. This will 2
have severe impacts on the aquatic system in the area, 3
and on the availability of water for intake and 4
discharge at LaSalle.
5 A
more thorough re-examination of 6
LaSalles ability to safely operate, obtain sufficient 7
cooling water, and not thermally and radiologically 8
damage the local aquatic ecosystem is in order in this 9
re-licensing proceeding. Thank you.
10 MR. DRUCKER: The next speaker is Doug 11 OBrien from the Illinois Clean Energy Coalition.
12 MR. OBRIEN: Thank you. My name is Doug 13 OBrien. Im with the Illinois Clean Energy 14 Coalition, and this is another one in a long number of 15 these hearings or events that Ive been to, talking 16 about a lot of the positive impacts that Illinoiss 17 nuclear generating stations have had on the economy.
18 19 Its ironic that Im following somebody 20 who came up and posited these impacts, these 21 beneficial impacts and somehow turned them into a 22 negative. And I think that its also a little bit 23 insulting to the intelligence of local officials here 24 and around Illinois to assume that they dont have the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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30 sense to plan for the future. And I know that many 1
local governments do just that. They do it 2
vigilantly, and they do it effectively.
3 But I wanted to talk a little bit about 4
the environmental impacts, the positive environmental 5
impacts of the plant. As the initial NRC reports 6
shows, the overall impacts when it comes to energy 7
generation are positive. That the alternative sources 8
for energy generation in Illinois would create more 9
negative impacts environmentally, particularly in the 10 area of CO2 emissions, as its critically important 11 that we always consider the beneficial impact of 12 Illinoiss nuclear fleet on CO2 emissions here in 13 Illinois.
14 The Illinois Clean Energy Coalitions 15 study in 2014 showed that Illinoiss nuclear fleet 16 prevents the emission of over 92 million tons of CO2 17 annually. Now this is a significant contributor to 18 global climate change, and something that we can do in 19 preserving and protecting our nuclear fleet that will 20 have a real, immediate, ongoing positive impact on our 21 environment.
22 Now, other sources of clean energy are 23 vital to our future, as well. But the simple truth is 24 we cannot quickly or easily replace nuclear generation 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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31 with other clean sources. And a nuclear plant like 1
LaSalle would require, for example, thousands of new 2
wind turbines to replace its electricity generation.
3 4
And we still cant rely on wind 24/7, nor 5
on solar 24/7. And the process of siting these wind 6
farms, the capital and the permitting that is needed 7
to begin operating them is daunting. So losing any of 8
Illinoiss nuclear plants would leave us with no 9
short-term alternative but to increase our use of 10 fossil fuels and move us in the wrong direction.
11 Additionally, I think its important to 12 note that its vital for the NRC and our national 13 government to continue to push forward with practical 14 waste storage solutions that will allow for the 15 continued safe and secure storage of spent fuel, while 16 we wait for the Federal government to put aside 17 politics and live up to the commitment it made years 18 ago to establish a nationwide solution for spent fuel 19 storage.
20 In the meantime, plants like LaSalles 21 spent fuel is expertly handled, never having produced 22 any impact to the surrounding ecosystem. And while 23 the plants and the NRC have managed a laudable short-24 term solution, we have to continue to push for the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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32 permanent solution promised by our government.
1 So I think, in conclusion, the Illinois 2
Clean Energy Coalition applauds the NRC and its 3
findings. We believe that its accurate in showing 4
the LaSalle Station, like other stations across the 5
state, has a positive impact on the environment moving 6
forward here in Illinois. Thank you.
7 MR. DRUCKER: Steve Buck is next.
8 MR. BUCK: Good evening. Im Steve Buck.
9 Im an engineer at LaSalle Station. I just recently 10 started back in August. I am a resident of Ottawa, 11 Illinois, and Im a former Eagle Scout, originally 12 from Crystal Lake, Illinois. So environmental 13 stewardship is something that is very much a part of 14 my character. Its something that I developed early 15 on in my youth, and I still continue it to this day as 16 an adult.
17 Id like to share a couple key points of 18 how LaSalle Station is trying to be an environmental 19 steward itself through our activities to help conserve 20 the environment and leave the environment at least in 21 the best, the same condition, if not better condition 22 than we came in.
23 We had recently installed, last year, a 24 couple of charging stations for electrical vehicles.
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33 So theres four charging ports available, which saved 1
about 1,300 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions for any 2
of our workers who chose to use their electric 3
vehicles instead of a carbon-producing combustion 4
engine vehicle.
5 We have an annual station earth day 6
activity every year. Some of those include electronic 7
waste recycling programs where we collect electronic 8
waste. And we typically give out green gifts to those 9
who participate to bring in their electronics for 10 recycling as a thank you for looking out for that so 11 that we dont throw electronics just simply into 12 landfills.
13 Theres been a big push for LED lighting 14 upgrades, both inside the plant and outside, most 15 noticeably in the parking lot. The LED lights were 16 replaced. They should last about seven to 10 years 17 out in the conditions outside in the parking lot.
18 And were noticing that theres reduced electricity 19 usage for those, longer life span, and weve been 20 doing studies at other places inside the plant where 21 we can utilize LED lighting.
22 We are members of the Wildlife Habitat 23 Council certification.
We have achieved 24 re-certification last year for our efforts. We have 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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34 many projects around the site, such as bat boxes, Uber 1
boxes, and activities with the fish hatchery in the 2
lake.
3 Our North American Young Generation 4
Nuclear, its a youth group primarily of those who are 5
new to the nuclear industry, which I am a site 6
director at LaSalle Station; we have an 7
adopt-a-highway program for about a two-mile stretch 8
near the facility. And during the summer months, the 9
warmer months, we do a highway clean-up where we go 10 both sides of the highway, and just pick up any trash, 11 litter that might be on the side of the road.
12 We have a Gabby Green educational program 13 that goes out to our elementary schools. We discuss 14 energy conservation, resource conservation. We talk 15 about limited use of our water in certain situations, 16 turning the lights off when we go to the rooms. Some 17 very simple concepts for young children to understand 18 so that they can be environmental conscious starting 19 at a young age.
20 We are starting to develop a program with 21 Boy Scouts of America. As I said, Im a Boy Scout, 22 and this is something thats just starting to develop 23 in the last month. Developing programs with the Boy 24 Scouts to help encourage them with their environmental 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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35 practices, some of their merit badges and their rank 1
advancements and helping them live up to that 2
environmental stewardship themselves.
3 We also are firm supporters of the Who 4
Haven, which is wildlife rehabilitation center, 5
primarily for birds of prey, where we collect food for 6
those animals and also participate in bird releases, 7
releasing them back into the environment.
8 MR. DRUCKER: Thanks. The final speaker 9
from the cards, wheres Tom, Tom Jackson?
10 MR. JACKSON: Good evening. My names Tom 11 Jackson. Im site superintendent at Illini State 12 Park, Marseilles fish and wildlife area in LaSalle.
13 I work for the Department of Natural Resources, and 14 the IDNR currently has a lease through 2025 with 15 Exelon to manage the wildlife area and the fishing 16 opportunities.
17 LaSalle Lake is a fish and wildlife area, 18 along with a public fishing area. Were open to the 19 public from March 15th to October 15th every year for 20 fishing, providing many varieties of fish species, 21 including hybrid striped bass, large and small mouth 22 bass, crappie, blue gill and catfish.
23 In the months from October 15th through 24 March 15th of every year, the site is closed to the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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36 public, and provides a wildlife area for waterfowl 1
migrating through the area. IDNR works closely with 2
Exelon to provide a great recreational opportunity to 3
local resident and visitors from throughout the state 4
and even surrounding states.
5 LaSalle Lake provides good wildlife 6
habitat for the waterfowl, as mentioned before, and 7
provides good fishing and outdoor recreation for the 8
community. It also provides good economic benefits, 9
visitors to the area.
10 In my time as site superintendent, Exelon 11 management has made themselves available and 12 supportive in our efforts to provide site visitors 13 with access to the lake, and a rewarding experience 14 while visiting the site. I thank you for the 15 opportunity to speak on behalf of LaSalle Lake fish 16 and wildlife area and the Department of Nature 17 Resources.
18 MR. DRUCKER: Okay, if theres no one else 19 here or on the phone who has comments, and there 20 doesnt appear to be, I want to thank everyone who 21 provided --
22 MS. BOUDART: I have a comment.
23 MR. DRUCKER: Oh.
24 MS. BOUDART: May I make a comment?
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37 MR. DRUCKER: Absolutely.
1 MS. BOUDART: Okay.
2 MR. DRUCKER: Is it easier for me to bring 3
you the microphone there?
4 MS. BOUDART: Well, if you can so I think 5
I can speak loud enough. The person who spoke first, 6
who are you? Either the purple shirt or the white 7
striped shirt. Anyway, let me see --
8 MR. DRUCKER: Can you tell us your name.
9 MS. BOUDART: Oh yeah, my name is Jan 10 Boudart, and Im with the Nuclear Energy Information 11 Service, and somebody, I guess I didnt get, yeah, I 12 asked, Doug OBrien, the Clean Energy Coalition. Is 13 that you?
14 Well, I was very interested in the fact 15 that you said that until our government keeps its 16 promise to take care of the high level nuclear waste, 17 its being handled very efficiently and not being 18 allowed to harm anyone. And, in fact, your statement 19 was never having produced any impact from the high 20 level nuclear waste.
21 And I think this is something that, rather 22 than say that I, well, I personally dont believe 23 that, but I cant prove that its wrong. Also, you 24 cant prove that its right.
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38
- Recently, the Nuclear Regulatory 1
Commission decided not to conduct health studies of 2
the impacts of the power plants around the United 3
States. And without those studies, you cant say that 4
there is no impact, and you cannot say that there is 5
an impact because there is no study.
6 So to come up with the statement that this 7
activity of taking care of the high level nuclear 8
waste never produced any impact is a statement that is 9
not supported. If I were to say well, I know it has 10 produced an impact, that would also be an unsupported 11 statement. There has been no study to find out 12 whether or not there is an impact. And I think that 13 kind of a positive statement really exposes the feet 14 of clay.
15 MR. DRUCKER: Thank you, and Im going to 16 ask you could just fill out a card for me, just with 17 your name and e-mail address. All right, thank you 18 all. Do we have any other comments from anyone on the 19 phone?
20 THE OPERATOR: If you would like to have 21 a comment or question, please press *1 an record your 22 name when prompted. Thank you. No questions or 23 comments have come in.
24 MR. DRUCKER: Okay, thank you. Thanks to 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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39 everyone who provided comments during this meeting, 1
because that information exchange is what this 2
meetings all about. Also, thanks to all of you for 3
giving the speakers your time and attention.
4 And I want to thank Connie Brooks whos 5
actually across the hallway there and Fred Moore who 6
work here for the use of LaSalle County emergency 7
operations center. And finally on the table, if you 8
want to, please pick up a meeting feedback form if you 9
havent already, and either return it to me or any 10 other staff member. Feel free to mail it in. And 11 with that, this meeting is concluded.
12 Im going to stick around. If anyone had 13 any questions and wants to talk to me one-on-one, Im 14 happy to stick around and do that. So thank you all, 15 again, for coming out tonight.
16 THE OPERATOR: This concludes your 17 conference, and you may disconnect. Once again, your 18 conference has ended, and you may disconnect.
19 (Whereupon, at 8:00 p.m., the above-20 mentioned public hearing was concluded.)
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