Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
7/11/2014
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has no plans to change its exemption process for decommissioning sites, according to a letter NRC Chair Allison Macfarlane sent to a group of Senators this week. Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) along with four other Senators from states with decommissioning sites, sent a letter in early May to the NRC to attempt to sway the Commission’s decision-making process on exemptions to emergency preparedness and security regulations. Both Markey and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) have made the exemption process a point of criticism in their oversight responsibilities with the NRC, but their criticism seems to have had no effect on the NRC. “I appreciate you sharing your views on this very important topic,” Macfarlane wrote in the letter. “Please be assured that we give them serious consideration. At this time, the NRC believes it is reasonable and appropriate to continue following the regulatory process that allows for site-specific, case-by-case evaluation of [emergency preparedness] and security exemption requests from licensees during the decommissioning process.” Markey’s office did not respond to calls for comment this week.
The exemptions have drawn the ire of Boxer and Markey, who have introduced legislation that would do away with changes to emergency preparedness and security changes at the shutdown plants. Sens. Boxer, Markey, and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have introduced the “Safe and Secure Decommissioning Act of 2014,” which would prohibit the NRC from issuing exemptions from its emergency response or security requirements for spent fuel stored at nuclear reactors that have permanently shut down until all of the spent nuclear fuel stored at the site has been moved into dry casks. Boxer is especially worried about the San Onofre Generating Station in her home state, which she feels hosts an over-crowded spent fuel pool in danger of an accident.
Kewaunee Receives Exemption
Meanwhile, the NRC Staff recommended this week that Dominion’s exemption request for emergency preparedness regulations for the Kewaunee Power Station be granted, according to the Staff’s SECY letter to the Commission. The Staff said in the letter that because the station has been powered down and successfully defueled, it does not need the regulations normally required for an operating reactor due to the decreased risk. “The exemption request is consistent with previously granted exemptions and is commensurate with the risk associated with the facility,” the SECY letter said. “The changes in regulatory requirements are appropriate because the traditional accident sequences that dominate operating reactor risk are no longer applicable. Requiring the licensee to maintain its current level of EP imposes an unnecessary regulatory burden.” The Commission still needs to approve the staff’s recommendation.
