Two antinuclear groups this week continued to call for a Nuclear Regulatory Commission hearing concerning power company Entergy’s request for additional time to comply with post-Fukushima safety equipment updates at the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in New York.
The NRC ordered a series of design improvements for American nuclear reactors following the 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, which occurred after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered a 15-meter tsunami. FitzPatrick features the same boiling-water reactor design as the three reactors that melted down at Fukushima.
Entergy has requested extensions on three separate post-Fukushima measures, and the NRC last week approved extensions to June 2017 for two of them: the requirement to install equipment and strategies to cope with significant earthquakes and other disastrous events; and a requirement to install equipment that enables more informative water-level and temperature readings concerning spent fuel pools.
The NRC is still weighing the company’s request for a deadline extension, from January 2017 to June 2018, for installation of a reliable hardened vent for the plant’s wetwell, which is a doughnut-shaped reservoir of water at the base of the reactor containment building.
NRC staff last week recommended the commission deny the request for a hearing on the matter from Beyond Nuclear and the Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE), which had requested the agency deny Entergy’s timeline requests. NRC staff said the groups are not entitled to a hearing under the Atomic Energy Act or agency regulations.
The groups filed their response Monday with the NRC: “Entergy’s request to extend the date by which it must comply with the requirements of (the three orders) are de facto requests to amend its current license and ‘triggers’ Petitioners right to a hearing under Section 189(a) of the Atomic Energy Act.”
The groups argued that the NRC’s findings are clear that continued operation without a reliable hardened containment venting system would not “protect health,” “minimize danger to life or property,” or provide the “reasonable assurance” that the Atomic Energy Act requires.
Citing economic hardship, Entergy had originally planned to shut down FitzPatrick in January 2017. The company has since agreed to a tentative deal to sell the plant to Exelon, following legislative approval of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Clean Energy Standard, which is projected to pay upstate nuclear power plant operators nearly $8 billion in energy subsidies over the program’s lifetime.
Entergy spokeswoman Tammy Holden said by email Wednesday that the requested extensions will allow the company to implement a portion of the post-Fukushima modifications while the plant is shut down during the January 2017 refueling period and the remaining associated work while the plant is online.
“Fukushima modifications provide enhanced protection against events that are exceedingly unlikely to occur,” Holden wrote. “The plant already has some protections against these so-called ‘beyond design basis’ events and will have a fully implemented program by June 2018.”
Public Citizen to Appeal FERC Approval of FitzPatrick Deal
Public Citizen said Monday it will ask the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a rehearing on its decision last week to approve Entergy’s $110 million sale of the FitzPatrick plant to Exelon.
Public Citizen in October asked FERC to reject the application for the sale, claiming it will adversely affect New York’s power market. FERC approved the transaction on Wednesday, saying it would not adversely impact competition. The regulator also said Public Citizen’s focus on Cuomo’s zero-emission-credit (ZEC) program meant the challenge fell outside the scope of the FitzPatrick review.
The transaction requires approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the NYPSC (which approved the sale in November), and the Department of Justice.
Public Citizen Energy Program Director Tyson Slocum said in a phone interview Monday that the zero-emission-credit program is essential to the transaction, which Exelon has stated in the past. Public Citizen has argued that Entergy and Exelon failed to provide adequate impact analysis to FERC for the deal, disregarding the economic impact of the credit on the transaction and the market.
“What they ran was a completely fictitious market analysis,” Slocum said. “The ZEC transforms the market.”
Slocum said Public Citizen will prepare its rehearing request on FERC’s decision in the next few weeks but anticipates a denial, which would allow the group to seek a petition for review in a federal court. The group will also pursue a Federal Power Act Section 206 complaint, a separate challenge arguing that FERC is in conflict with the legislation because it’s not in the public’s interest.
