ML11223A372
| ML11223A372 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Seabrook  |
| Issue date: | 08/11/2011 |
| From: | Bogen D, Ehrenberg K, Gunter P Beyond Nuclear, Seacoast Anti-Pollution League, Sierra Club, New Hampshire Chapter |
| To: | Annette Vietti-Cook Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, NRC/SECY/RAS |
| SECY RAS | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML11223A371 | List: |
| References | |
| RAS 20731, 50-443-LR, ASLBP 10-906-02-LR-BD01, PRM-51-20 | |
| Download: ML11223A372 (5) | |
Text
Beyond Nuclear 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 400, Takoma Park, MD 20912 Tel: 301.270.2209 Fax: 301.270.4000 Email: paul@beyondnuclear.org Web: www.beyondnuclear.org August 11, 2011 Annette L. Vietti-Cook, Secretary of the Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications staff By E-mail: rulemaking.comments@nrc.gov Petition for Rulemaking Pursuant to 10 CFR § 2.802; RULEMAKING PETITION TO RESCIND PROHIBITION AGAINST CONSIDERATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF SEVERE REACTOR AND SPENT FUEL POOL ACCIDENTS AND REQUEST TO SUSPEND LICENSING DECISION Madame Secretary:
Attached please find a copy of a joint petition being filed by Beyond Nuclear for rulemaking pertaining to all new licensing and relicensing actions including the captioned Seabrook relicensing hearing now before the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission as regards issues arising post-Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster.
Thank you,
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Paul Gunter Doug Bogen Kurt Ehrenberg Beyond Nuclear Seacoast Anti-Pollution League Sierra Club of NH Attachments:
- 1) Joint Petition for Rulemaking, August 11, 2011
- 2) Contention of Joint Petitioners in the matter of DOCKET NO. 50-443-LR ASLBP No. 10-906-02LR, August 11, 2011
- 3) Declaration of Dr. Arjun Makhijani, IEER, August 8, 2011
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY In the Matter of ) PETITION FOR RULEMAKING NextEra Seabrook Nuclear )
)
)
Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant ) Docket Nos. 50-443 Unit 1 )
)
RULEMAKING PETITION TO RESCIND PROHIBITION AGAINST CONSIDERATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF SEVERE REACTOR AND SPENT FUEL POOL ACCIDENTS AND REQUEST TO SUSPEND LICENSING DECISION I. INTRODUCTION Pursuant to 10 C.F.R. § 2.802, Beyond Nuclear, Seacoast Anti-Pollution League and Sierra Club of New Hampshire (collectively Petitioners) petition the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to rescind regulations in 10 C.F.R. Part 51 that make generic conclusions about the environmental impacts of severe reactor and spent fuel pool accidents and that preclude consideration of those issues in individual licensing proceedings. This petition also requests the NRC to suspend the above-captioned licensing proceeding while the NRC considers this petition and the environmental issues raised in the attached Contention Regarding NEPA Requirement to Address Safety and Environmental Implications of the Fukushima Task Force Report (Contention).
This petition is captioned in both the rulemaking docket and the docket for the Seabrook nuclear power plant relicensing proceeding because it seeks relief that is both generic and applicable to the individual proceeding. The rulemaking petition is also being filed by other organizations and individuals who have submitted contentions
regarding the safety and environmental implications of the NRCs report entitled Recommendations for Enhancing Reactor Safety in the 21st Century: The Near-Term Task Force Review of Insights from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Accident at 20-21 (July 12, 2011) (Task Force Report).
II. DISCUSSION A. General Solution The general solution sought by is to rescind all regulations in 10 C.F.R. Part 51 which reach generic conclusions about the environmental impacts of severe reactor and/or spent fuel pool accidents and therefore prohibit consideration of those impacts in reactor licensing proceedings. These regulations include 10 C.F.R. Part 51, Appendix B; 10 C.F.R. §§ 51.45, 51.53, and 51.95.
B. Petitioners Grounds for and Interest in the Action Requested.
The Petitioners Beyond Nuclear, Seacoast Anti-Pollution League and Sierra Club of New Hampshire seek rescission of any NRC regulations that would prevent the NRC from complying with its obligation under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and NRC implementing regulations to consider, in the license renewal proceeding for the Seabrook nuclear power plant the environmental implications of new and significant information discussed in the Task Force Report regarding the regulatory implications of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident. Our legal and technical grounds for seeking consideration of new and significant information in the Task Force Report are discussed at length in the attached Contention, which is attached and incorporated herein by reference.
C. Support for Petition This petition for rulemaking is supported by the Task Force Report and also by the attached Declaration of Dr. Arjun Makhijani (August 8, 2011). As demonstrated in both of those documents, the Fukushima accident has significant regulatory implications with respect to both severe reactor accidents and spent fuel pool accidents, because the Task Force Report recommends that mitigative measures for both of these types of accidents, which are not currently included in the design basis for nuclear reactors, should be added to the design basis and subject to mandatory safety regulation.
D. Request for Suspension of Licensing Proceeding As discussed in the attached Contention, NEPA requires that agencies consider the environmental impacts of their actions before they are taken, in order to ensure that important effects [of the licensing decision] will not be overlooked or underestimated only to be discovered after resources have been committed or the die otherwise cast.
Robertson, 490 U.S. 332, 349 (1989). See also 40 C.F.R. §§ 1500.1(c), 1502.1, 1502.14. The NRCs obligation to comply with NEPA in this respect is independent of and in addition to the NRCs responsibilities under the Atomic Energy Act, and must be enforced to the fullest extent possible. Calvert Cliffs Coordinating Committee, 449 F.2d at 1115. See also Limerick Ecology Action v. NRC, 869 F.2d 719, 729 (3rd Cir.
1989) (citing Public Service Co. of New Hampshire v. NRC, 582 F.2d 77, 86 (1st Cir.
1978)). The NRCs obligation to delay licensing decisions until after it has considered the environmental impacts of those decisions is also nondiscretionary. Silva v.
Romney, 473 F.2d 287, 292 (1st Cir. 1973). Therefore the NRC has a non-discretionary duty to suspend the relicensing proceeding while it considers the environmental impacts
of that decision, including the environmental implications of the Task Force Report with respect to severe reactor and spent fuel pool accidents.
III. CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, the Commission should grant this rulemaking petition.
Respectfully submitted this 11th day of August 2011.
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Paul Gunter Beyond Nuclear 6930 Carroll Avenue Suite 400 Takoma Park, MD 20912 Email: paul@beyondnuclear.org Tel. 301.270.2209 x3
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Doug Bogen Executive Director Seacoast Anti-Pollution League PO Box 1136 Portsmouth, NH 03802 E-mail: bogen@metrocast.net Tel: 603.431.5089
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Kurt Ehrenberg Sierra Club of New Hampshire 40 N. Main Street Concord, NH 03870 E-mail: kurtehrenberg@gmail.com Tel: 603.498.2275 August 11, 2011