A Nuclear Regulatory Commission manager said Thursday that the regulatory exemption process for decommissioning power plants doesn’t deprive the public of any “awareness,” though the agency wants to remove the need for such exemptions in its 2019 decommissioning rulemaking.
The commission in 2014 directed its staff to complete by 2019 the decommissioning rulemaking, which is the agency’s attempt to reduce the number of unnecessary licensing actions when a plant shuts down and moves from operation to decommissioning. NRC regulations do not currently reflect the fact that decommissioning plants pose lower security and safety threats than operating plants. Instead, decommissioning plants rely on a license amendment exemption process, which has proven timely and costly for both utilities and NRC.
Exemptions do not require public comment, or the ability to request a hearing, an aspect that has drawn criticism from the public. On Thursday, during a decommissioning rulemaking panel at the NRC’s annual Regulatory Information Conference in Bethesda, Md., an official was asked if NRC is depriving the public the right to comment on specifics.
William Huffman, project manager for NRC’s Division of Operation Reactor Licensing, said “the entire reason that we’re here today is to pursue a rulemaking that removes the need to do regulatory exemptions.”
“However, that being said, the exemption process is prescribed in our regulations,” Huffman continued. “It’s a process that has worked well over time. Although it doesn’t allow opportunity to comment, it is a prescribed process. Hopefully the rulemaking will reduce that need for regulatory exemption, but we really don’t feel that we’re depriving the public the awareness of what we’re doing in the decommissioning process.”
In December NRC granted Entergy a safety exemption, allowing the plant’s 10-mile emergency planning zone to shrink to within the site’s boundaries starting in April. With the exemption, Entergy is no longer required to pay millions to surrounding jurisdictions for emergency planning and groundwater monitoring. The state of Vermont in March challenged the NRC, arguing that commissioners passed the exemption without allowing public input.
The public will have until March 18 to file comments regarding the proposed rulemaking. Vermont Assistant Attorney General Kyle Landis-Marinello said this week that the state will be submitting comment on the rulemaking. Vice president of Nuclear Decommissioning at Entergy, Steven Scheurich, said last week that the organization is working with the Nuclear Energy Institute in providing comment.
So far the agency has received 27 comments, according to the latest information on regulations.gov. The agency had initially set a Jan. 4 deadline for the public comments, but extended the timeline, partly in response to a request from members of the Vermont congressional delegation.
Jason Carneal, project manager for NRC’s Division of Policy and Rulemaking, said during Thursday’s panel that the agency is on track to issue its rulemaking in 2019, but there are two scenarios that could alter that timeline. He said if additional nuclear power plants shut down, NRC resources will be stretched.
Currently, 14 plants have entered into or are planning to enter into permanent shutdown. The most recent unplanned shutdowns, according to NRC data, were Florida’s Crystal River Unit 3 in 2013; Wisconsin’s Kewaunee Power Station in 2013; California’s San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Units 2 and 3 in 2013; and Vermont Yankee in 2014. Future planned reactor unit shutdowns include: New York’s James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in late 2016 or early 2017; Massachusetts’ Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in 2019; and New Jersey’s Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in late 2019.
Carneal said another factor is the potential for significant public comment, which he noted is the reason they issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking.
“As it stands right now, we are on schedule,” Corneal said. “If there are any changes in the schedule we are going to provide an update to the commission.”
