The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a request to effectively suspend the requirement that the Indian Point Energy Center in New York state complete fresh assessments of earthquake and flooding risks.
The regulator in 2012 required that all holders of nuclear power reactor licenses and construction permits conduct the evaluations in the wake of the devastation inflicted the year before by a tsunami and earthquake on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan. NRC staff would use the reports to identify the need for possible regulatory action.
Entergy Nuclear Operations started work on the assessments at Indian Point. However, the company in January announced it would shut down the plant’s two remaining operational reactors: Indian Point Unit 2 by April 30, 2020; and Indian Point Unit 3 by April 30, 2021. Management, in letters sent to the NRC in May and July, asked for deferrals on the completion dates for the seismic hazard re-evaluations and flooding integrated assessments for both reactors until after their closure.
NRC staff, in a letter to Entergy dated Oct. 4, approved the requests. The decision was based on a number of points, according to NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan, including: post-Fukushima measures already implemented at Indian Point, including enhanced spent fuel pool instrumentation and portable pumps and generators that could be used in the event of a loss of power; the plant’s existing spent fuel seismic capacity; and the limited period of operations remaining.
This essentially eliminates the requirement for Entergy to continue conducting this work, Sheehan acknowledged.
“Indian Point has completed a significant amount of work on both the seismic and flooding fronts,” he said by email. “Also, Indian Point has already made some physical modifications to the site, including the raising of certain manholes, to address flooding concerns and the Unit 1 emissions stack was removed in response to seismic assessments.”
AECOM on Monday announced promotions for three of its executives, saying the moves were effective immediately.
Fred Werner is now AECOM’s president of major pursuits where he will focus on “large, complex bids,” AECOM said in a press release. Werner has about 40 years of industry experience, most recently as group president of AECOM’s design and consulting services in the Americas. He has held a number management posts within AECOM, including a stint as the head of its U.S. infrastructure group.
Werner’s latest post is a newly created position.
Steve Morriss was named to fill the post of group president, design and consulting services. Previously, Morriss was chief executive AECOM’s Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa (EMIA) region. He joined AECOM in 2011 from Mouchel PLC.
Lara Poloni will succeed Morriss as chief executive for EMIA. Poloni had been chief executive for AECOM’s interests in Australia and New Zealand.
None of the promotions announced Monday will have a direct, regular role with AECOM’S environmental management contracts with the U.S. Energy Department, nor its other nuclear-related businesses, a company spokesman said.
From The Wires
From the San Diego Union-Tribune: California Coastal Commission stands by permit for on-site waste storage at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
