December 11, 2002

MEMORANDUM TO: William D. Travers

Executive Director for Operations

FROM: Brian W. Sheron, Associate Director /RA JZwolinski for/

 for Project Licensing and Technical Analysis

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

SUBJECT: NOVEMBER 2002 REPORT ON THE STATUS OF PUBLIC PETITIONS

UNDER 10 CFR 2.206

The attached report gives the status of petitions submitted under 10 CFR 2.206. As of

November 30, 2002, there were two open petitions, which were accepted for review under the

2.206 process. Both are assigned to the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. 

Five final Director’s Decisions (DDs) were issued this month. In addition, five letters were

submitted to the NRC as petitions under 2.206. The staff is reviewing those petitions to

determine if they meet the criteria to be reviewed under 2.206.

Attachment 1 provides a detailed status of the open petitions.

Attachment 2 provides a summary of incoming letters that the staff is still reviewing to

determine if they meet the criteria. 

Attachment 3 shows the age statistics for the open 2.206 petitions as of November 30, 2002.

Attachment 4 shows the age trend of closed petitions for the last 3 years. No proposed DDs

were issued in November 2002. Therefore, there is no data available to measure our progress

against the goal of issuing a proposed DD within 120 days of the acknowledgment letter.

This report and recently issued DDs are placed in the Agencywide Documents Access and

Management System. In making these readily accessible to the public, the staff has identified

another vehicle to address one of our performance goals, i.e., to enhance public confidence.

Attachments: As stated

CONTACT: Donna Skay, NRR

415-1322

December 11, 2002
MEMORANDUM TO: William D. Travers

Executive Director for Operations

FROM: Brian W. Sheron, Associate Director /RA JZwolinski for/

 for Project Licensing and Technical Analysis

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

SUBJECT: NOVEMBER 2002 REPORT ON THE STATUS OF PUBLIC PETITIONS

UNDER 10 CFR 2.206

The attached report gives the status of petitions submitted under 10 CFR 2.206. As of

November 30, 2002, there were two open petitions, which were accepted for review under the

2.206 process. Both are assigned to the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. 

Five final Director’s Decisions (DDs) were issued this month. In addition, five letters were

submitted to the NRC as petitions under 2.206. The staff is reviewing those petitions to

determine if they meet the criteria to be reviewed under 2.206.

Attachment 1 provides a detailed status of the open petitions.

Attachment 2 provides a summary of incoming letters that the staff is still reviewing to

determine if they meet the criteria. 

Attachment 3 shows the age statistics for the open 2.206 petitions as of November 30, 2002.

Attachment 4 shows the age trend of closed petitions for the last 3 years. No proposed DDs

were issued in November 2002. Therefore, there is no data available to measure our progress

against the goal of issuing a proposed DD within 120 days of the acknowledgment letter.

This report and recently issued DDs are placed in the Agencywide Documents Access and

Management System. In making these readily accessible to the public, the staff has identified

another vehicle to address one of our performance goals, i.e., to enhance public confidence.

Attachments: As stated

CONTACT: Donna Skay, NRR

415-1322

DISTRIBUTION: See next page

Accession No.:ML023400233 *See previous concurrence

OFFICE PM:PDI-1 LA:PDI-1 D:PDII D:DLPM NMSS ADPT:NRR

NAME DSkay SLittle* HBerkow* JZwolinski PGoldberg* BSheron

DATE 12/09/02 12/4/02 12/4/02 12/10/02 12/4/02 12/10/02

DISTRIBUTION:

PUBLIC

WKane, DEDR/OEDO
CPaperillo, DEDMRS/EDP

PNorry, DEDM/OEDO

JCraig, AO/OEDO

JShea, ODEO

PAnderson, OEDO

EJulian, SECY

SCollins, NRR

RLaufer, NRR

SRichards, NRR

JJohnson,NRR

RBorchardt, NRR

BSheron, NRR

CMohrwinkel, NRR

KCyr, OGC

LChandler, OGC

JGoldberg, OGC

JCordes, Jr., OCAA

FCongel, OE

PLohause, STP

MVirgilio, NMSS

PGoldberg, NMSS

FBrown, NMSS

BBoger,NRR

MStein, OE

GCaputo,OI

JZwolinski, NRR

TMarsh, NRR

HBerkow, NRR

DSkay, NRR

OCA

OPA

Regional Administrators

PDI-1 Reading 

SLittle, NRR
Report on Status of Public Petitions Under 10 CFR 2.206

November 30, 2002

(Table of Contents)

Attachment 1

Page

Facility Petitioner/EDO No. No.

Salem Nuclear Generating Station, 

Unit Nos. 1 and 2, Hope Creek 

Generating Station, and Oyster Creek 

Nuclear Generating Station Norm Cohen/Unplug Salem

Campaign/G20010389....................................1

All 103 Operating Nuclear Power

Plants in the U. S. M. Kohn/National Whistleblower

Center/G20010485.........................................3

Indian Point Nuclear Generating, Alex Matthiessen/Karl Coplan/Pace 

Unit Nos. 2 and 3 Environmental Litigation Clinic, Inc., 

Riverkeeper, Inc., et al./G20010508, 

G20010556, G20010567, G20020034,

G20020051, G20020064, G20020073,

G20020085, G20020092, G20020095,

G20020096, G20020097, and 

G20020098.....................................................5

Carolina Power & Light (CP&L)/

Progress Energy Jim Warren of North Carolina Waste 

Awareness and Reduction Network 

(NC WARN)/GT200100461............................8

All 103 Operating Nuclear Power

Plants in the U. S. D. Lochbaum/Union of Concerned 

Scientists, et al./G20020142.........................10

Oyster Creek Generating Station Edith Gbur for Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch/

G20020385...................................................12

Waltz Mill Pennsylvania Site Viacom, Inc. / G20020629.............................13
Attachment 1

Report on Status of Public Petitions Under 10 CFR 2.206

Facilities: Salem Nuclear Generating Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2

Hope Creek Generating Station

Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station

Petitioner: Norm Cohen, Unplug Salem Campaign 

Date of Petition: 9/17/2001

Director’s Decision To Be Issued by: NRR

Date Referred to Review Organization: 9/19/2001

EDO Number: G20010389

Proposed DD issuance: May 16, 2002

Completion Date: 9/24/02 11/01/02 complete

Last Contact with Petitioners: 11/01/02

Petition Manager: R. Fretz

Case Attorney: J. Goldberg

Issues/Action Requested:

The petitioner requested that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) order either the

closure of, or an immediate security upgrade at, the Salem Nuclear Generating Station, Unit

Nos. 1 and 2, Hope Creek Generating Station, and Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station. 

In addition, the petitioner requested that: (1) the plants’ defenses be upgraded to withstand a

jet crash similar to that which occurred at the World Trade Center (WTC) on September 11,

2001; (2) all the spent fuel pools be brought into the containment buildings until a new jet

bomber-proofed containment is built for them; (3) the NRC triple the number of Operational

Safeguards Response Evaluation (OSRE) security inspections; and (4) the NRC cancel

proposals to allow nuclear power plants to conduct their own security inspections.

Background:

The events of September 11, 2001, were cited as the basis for the request, with the petitioner

stating that the four New Jersey nuclear power plants are vulnerable to terrorist threats,

including a suicide airplane attack similar to that experienced at the WTC. 

Two closed Petition Review Board (PRB) meetings were conducted on November 19, 2001, 

and November 29, 2001, to consider the merits of the requested actions. The PRB concluded

that the petition met the threshold for processing under 10 CFR 2.206, and that the details

provided in the petitioner’s request were found sufficient to warrant further inquiry (Part III of

Management Directive (MD) 8.11). An acknowledgment letter and a single Federal Register

notice common to this and two other similar petitions (see pages 4 and 6) were issued on

December 20, 2001.

The petitioner was contacted on December 7, 2001, and was informed that the NRC had

advised all NRC licensees, after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the WTC, to go to

the highest level of alert, which they promptly did. Since there were no credible threats, there

was no need to order the plants to shut down. However, the petitioner's immediate action

requests were, in effect, partially granted in that the NRC had taken actions in response to the

September 11, 2001, event by issuing many safeguards and threat advisories to the industry. 

The petitioner was informed that the NRC will follow the 10 CFR 2.206 petition process as

explained in MD 8.11 to the extent possible without compromising sensitive information.

The petitioner was contacted again on January 9, 2002, and informed of the progress on this
- 2 -

petition and the scheduled completion date of April 30, 2002. Orders were sent to all licensees

on February 25, 2002, to formalize the heightened security measures and to require certain

additional enhancements. A PRB meeting was held on February 28, 2002, to determine the

staff actions on this petition in light of the Orders. The PRB recommended that the petition

managers issue separate Director’s Decisions (DDs) for each of the security-related petitions

discussed on pages 2, 4, and 6 rather than one combined DD.

The petitioner was contacted on March 7, 2002, and informed of the status of the staff’s 

review. On March 18, 2002, the PRB met with representatives of the Reactor Safeguards,

Radiation Safety, and Emergency Preparedness Branch of the Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation (NRR), and the Office of the Executive Director for Operations to re-consider the

policy of withholding security-related petitions from the public in light of new guidance on

releasing documents. The PRB, with the agreement of NRR’s Executive Team and

representatives of the offices listed above, decided to make this petition, and the other 

security-related petitions, public.

The proposed DD was forwarded to the petitioner and licensees on May 16, 2002. The NRC

staff requested comments by June 21, 2002. On June 5, 2002, Michael Kohn of the National

Whistleblower Center requested that the comment period for a similar petition be extended to

August 10, 2002. Since Mr. Kohn’s comments might affect the UNPLUG Salem petition, the

staff offered to grant a similar extension to Norm Cohen. Mr. Cohen accepted the staff’s offer 

to extend the comment period to August 10, 2002. Comments were received on August 10,

2002.

Current Status:

The staff addressed the comments that were received and the final DD (DD-02-03) was issued

on November 1, 2002.

The Commission partially granted the petition to the extent that many of the requests are

included within the scope of Orders issued to all nuclear power plants on February 25, 2002, or

are a part of the NRC staff’s comprehensive review to evaluate the agency’s security and

safeguards programs. The remainder of the requests were denied.
- 3 -

Facility: All Operating Nuclear Power

Plants (103) in the U. S.

Petitioner(s): Michael D. Kohn, National Whistleblower Center

Date of Petition and Supplement: 10/24/2001 and 1/16/2002

Director’s Decision To Be Issued by: NRR

Date Referred to Review Organization: 10/26/2001

EDO Number: G20010485

Proposed DD issuance: 05/16/2002

Completion Date: 9/24/02 11/01/2002 complete

Last Contact with Petitioners: 11/01/02

Petition Manager: G. Shukla/ D. Skay

Case Attorney: J. Goldberg

Issues/Action Requested:

The petitioner requested that the NRC take immediate short-term and long-term corrective

actions to protect the public against the possibility of terrorists seizing control of a large

commercial jetliner and crashing it into a nuclear power plant in the United States. The

petitioner also requested that the NRC staff take certain specified compensatory measures to

protect the public and the environment from the catastrophic impact of a terrorist attack on a

nuclear power plant or a spent fuel pool.

Background:

As a basis for the above requests, the petitioner states that no commercial nuclear power plant

located within the United States was designed to withstand the impact of a large commercial

airliner. The petitioner cites the plants’ inability to be protected against terrorist attacks,

including a suicide airplane attack similar to the attack on the World Trade Center (WTC). The

petitioner discusses NRC’s failure to adequately assess risk of malevolent airborne attacks,

failure to adequately assess the risk of terrorist attacks at spent fuel storage facilities, and 

failure to adequately protect nuclear power plants from terrorist attacks.

There are two other petitions with similar requests concerning the security of nuclear power

plants in the U.S. subsequent to the terrorist attacks on the WTC on September 11, 2001. 

(See pages 2 and 6 for the current status of these petitions).

The petitioner was contacted on December 7 and 20, 2001, and informed of the staff’s 

progress to date. The petitioner was informed that the NRC had advised all NRC licensees,

after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the WTC, to go to the highest level of alert,

which they promptly did. Since there were no credible threats, there was no need to order the

plants to shut down. However, the petitioner's immediate action requests were, in effect,

partially granted in that the NRC had taken actions in response to the September 11, 2001,

event by issuing many safeguards and threat advisories to the industry. Furthermore, Orders

were sent to all licensees on February 25, 2002, to formalize the heightened security 

measures and to require certain additional enhancements. The petitioner was informed that 

the NRC will follow the 10 CFR 2.206 petition process as explained in Management Directive

8.11 to the extent possible without compromising sensitive information. An acknowledgment

letter and a single Federal Register notice common to this and two other similar petitions (see

pages 2 and 6) were issued on December 20, 2001. By letter dated January 16, 2002, 

Winston & Strawn provided comments on the petition on behalf of several licensees, in 
- 4 -

support of the NRC acknowledgment letter to Michael D. Kohn dated December 20, 2001. 

These comments were considered in preparing the proposed Director’s Decision (DD).

A Petition Review Board (PRB) meeting was held on February 28, 2002, to determine the staff

actions on this petition in light of the Orders. The PRB recommended that the petition 

managers issue separate DDs for each of the security-related petitions discussed on pages 2, 

4, and 6 rather than one combined DD.

The petition manager contacted Michael Kohn on March 15, 2002, and informed him of the

progress of his petition and issuance of Security Orders on February 25, 2002. On March 18,

2002, the PRB met with representatives of the Reactor Safeguards, Radiation Safety, and

Emergency Preparedness Branch of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR), and the

Office of the Executive Director for Operations to re-consider the policy of withholding 

security-related petitions from the public in light of new guidance on releasing documents. The

PRB, with the agreement of NRR’s Executive Team and representatives of the offices listed

above, decided to make this petition, and the other security-related petitions, public.

The proposed DD on the petition was issued on May 16, 2002. The NRC staff requested

comments by June 21, 2002. The petitioner requested an extension of the comment period 

until August 10, 2002. Both the petitioner and the licensee were granted an extension until

August 10, 2002. Comments were received on August 10.

Current Status:

The staff addressed the comments that were received and the final DD (DD-02-0) was issued 

on November 1, 2002.

The Commission partially granted the petition to the extent that many of the requests are

included within the scope of Orders issued to all nuclear power plants on February 25, 2002, or

are a part of the NRC staff’s comprehensive review to evaluate the agency’s security and

safeguards programs. The remainder of the requests were denied.
- 5 -

Facility: Indian Point Units 2 and 3

Petitioner(s): Alex Matthiessen/Karl Coplan/Pace Environmental

Litigation Clinic, Inc., Riverkeeper, Inc., et al. 

Date of Petition: 11/8/2001, plus several supplements

Director’s Decision To Be Issued by: NRR

Date Referred to Review Organization: 11/9/2001

EDO Numbers: G20010508, G20010556, G20010567, G20020034, 

G20020051, G20020064, G20020073, G20020085,

G20020092, G20020095, G20020096, G20020097,

G20020098, and G20020378

Proposed DD issuance: 05/16/2002

Final DD issued: 11/18/02 complete

Last Contact with Petitioners: 11/18/02

Petition Manager: P. Milano

Case Attorney: J. Goldberg

Issues/Action Requested:

The petitioners request that: (1) the NRC issue an order to the Indian Point 2 and 3 licensee 

for a temporary shutdown to conduct a full review of vulnerabilities, security measures, and

evacuation plans; (2) the NRC require the licensee to provide sufficient information about

security for NRC to determine their ability to meet realistically expected threats and 

contemplate making the measures permanent; (3) the NRC mandate specifically listed

measures to set up and protect a permanent no-fly zone and a defensive system to protect the

“entire facility”; and (4) a revision be made to the emergency planning to include terrorists risks

and multiple attacks on the infrastructure used in an evacuation. Finally, the petitioner

requested that the NRC shut down the Indian Point facility permanently if security cannot be

sufficiently ensured, and order the immediate conversion from spent fuel storage pools to a dry

cask system.

Background:

As a basis for the above requests, the petitioners state that no commercial nuclear power plant

located within the United States was designed to withstand the impact of a large commercial

airliner. The petitioners cite the plant’s inability to be protected against terrorist attacks,

including a suicide airplane attack similar to the attack on the World Trade Center (WTC).

On November 21, 2001, the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, submitted its Board of

Trustees’ resolution calling for action very similar to that of the above petitioner and citing the

same bases. The Village Clerk was contacted on December 27, 2001, to explain the petition

process and discuss the existing petition. The Village Clerk asked to have this resolution

treated as a supplement to the existing petition. A response letter was sent to Hastings-onHudson on January 29, 2002.

On November 26, 2001, the Village of Croton-on-Hudson, New York, in accordance with its

Board of Trustees Resolution, requested that they too join the Riverkeeper, Inc., et al. as a

co-petitioner. The PRB acceded to the request and recommended that they be included and 

acknowledged along with the rest of the petitioners. A response letter was sent on 

December 20, 2001.

Mr. Matthiessen was contacted on December 20 and 27, 2001, and informed of the staff’s
- 6 -

progress to date. An acknowledgment letter and a single Federal Register notice common to

this and the two other similar petitions (see pages 2 and 4) were issued on December 20, 

2001. The petitioners were informed that the NRC had advised all NRC licensees, after the

September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, to go to the highest level of alert, which they promptly 

did. Since there were no credible threats, there was no need to order the plants to shut down. 

However, the petitioner’s immediate action requests were, in effect, partially granted in that the

NRC had taken actions in response to the September 11, 2001, event by issuing many

safeguards and threat advisories to the industry. Furthermore, Orders were sent to all 

licensees on February 25, 2002, to formalize the heightened security measures and to require

certain additional enhancements. The petitioners were informed that the NRC will follow the 

10 CFR 2.206 petition process as explained in Management Directive 8.11 to the extent

possible without compromising sensitive information.

The NRC received letters from the Town of Stony Point, dated December 12, 2001, and the

Bedford Central School District, dated December 13, 2001. Also included as part of this 

petition are letters received from Nyack Public Schools, the Peace and Community Action

Committee, the Village of Dobbsferry, the Town of Newcastle, and the Hastings-on-Hudson

school district in February 2002. These letters make identical requests to the Riverkeeper

petition and the petitions from the Villages of Hastings and Croton-on-Hudson. The staff will

treat these as co-petitioners, and their letters as supplements to the petition.

Mr. Matthiessen was contacted on January 7, 2002. He requested a meeting with the Petition

Review Board (PRB). The PRB decided at its meeting on January 24, 2002, that such a

meeting was unnecessary because the petitioners did not indicate that they had additional

information to provide to the staff. A PRB meeting was held on February 28, 2002, to 

determine the staff actions on this petition in light of the Orders. The PRB recommended that

the petition managers issue separate Director’s Decisions (DDs) for each of the securityrelated petitions discussed on pages 2, 4, and 6 rather than one combined DD.

A letter was sent to Mr. Matthiessen on March 13, 2002, informing him of the staff’s decisions

related to his requests for a meeting and specific documents, which he made in the January 7,

2002, phone call.

On March 18, 2002, the PRB met with representatives of the Reactor Safeguards, Radiation

Safety, and Emergency Preparedness Branch of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

(NRR), and the Office of the Executive Director for Operations to re-consider the policy of

withholding security-related petitions from the public in light of new guidance on releasing

documents. The PRB, with the agreement of NRR’s Executive Team and representatives of

the offices listed above, decided to make this petition, and the other security-related petitions,

public.

The proposed DD was forwarded to the petitioner and licensees on May 16, 2002. The NRC

staff requested comments by June 21, 2002. On June 5, 2002, Michael Kohn of the National

Whistleblower Center requested that the comment period for a similar petition be extended to

August 10, 2002. Since Mr. Kohn’s comments might affect the UNPLUG Salem petition, the

staff offered to grant a similar extension to Norm Cohen. Mr. Cohen accepted the staff’s offer 

to extend the comment period to August 10, 2002.

On June 6, 2002, Brian M. O’Hare, a citizen from New York City, New York, submitted a 

petition calling for action very similar to that of the other co-petitioners and citing the same
- 7 -

bases. Mr. O’Hare called for the NRC to adopt the resolution in the Riverkeeper petition. The

PRB met on June 27, 2002, and recommended that, since the requested enforcement actions

and bases were similar, it met the threshold for processing under 10 CFR 2.206. The PRB

decided that Mr. O’Hare will be added to the list of petitioners. The petition manager provided

Mr. O’Hare with a copy of the proposed DD of May 16, 2002.

Comments were received on the proposed DD on August 10, 2002.

Current Status:

The staff addressed the comments that were received and the final DD (DD-02-06) was issued

on November 18, 2002.

The Commission partially granted the petition to the extent that many of the requests are

included within the scope of Orders issued to all nuclear power plants on February 25, 2002, or

are a part of the NRC staff’s comprehensive review to evaluate the agency’s security and

safeguards programs. The remainder of the requests were denied.
- 8 -

Utility Carolina Power & Light (CP&L)/Progress Energy

Petitioner: Jim Warren of North Carolina Waste Awareness and

Reduction Network (NC WARN)

Date of Petition and supplement: November 5, 2001, and February 12, 2002

Director’s Decision to Be Issued by: NMSS

Date Referred to Review Organization: 12/11/2001

EDO Number: G200100461

Proposed DD issuance (completed): 8/29/2002

Final DD issuance: 10/29/02 11/12/02 completed

Last Contact with Petitioner: 5/30/2002 7/17/2002 8/29/02 11/12/02

Petition Manager: David Pstrak

Case Attorney: Jack Goldberg

Issues/Action Requested:

The petitioner requests that NRC require CP&L to halt rail shipments of spent nuclear fuel. 

The petitioner stated that the Department of Energy (DOE) suspended a shipment of fuel

assemblies due to the threat of terrorist attacks on the shipment during transport. The 

petitioner believes the NRC should also require CP&L to suspend rail shipments of irradiated

fuel indefinitely to ensure the safety of the citizens in North Carolina.

Background:

The petitioner states that DOE suspended a shipment of spent fuel assemblies following the

terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, because of the potential for a terrorist attack on the

shipment. The petitioner requests that NRC require indefinite postponement of all spent fuel

shipments within the CP&L system. The petitioner states that failure to do so would indicate a

conflict between DOE and NRC positions on the safety of rail shipments of spent fuel.

The Petition Review Board (PRB) met on January 16, 2002, and agreed that the incoming

petition meets the criteria to be considered under the 2.206 process. The PRB decided not to

grant the part of the petition that requested immediate action to halt the rail shipments of spent

fuel within the CP&L system. The PRB determined it was appropriate to send an

acknowledgment letter to Mr. Warren, and it was issued on January 31, 2002.

The petitioner sent the NRC Chairman another letter dated February 12, 2002, in which he

requested once again that NRC halt the shipments of spent fuel by CP&L to the Harris Plant. 

This letter is being treated as a supplement to the original petition. A Director’s Decision (DD)

is being developed and will be structured around the interim compensatory measures (ICMs) 

for transportation of spent fuel. The petitioner was informed that his letter of February 12, 

2002, is currently in review and will be considered along with the previous letter (November 5,

2001) in the 2.206 process.

On May 30, 2002, the staff informed the petitioner that it would not meet the goal of issuing the

proposed DD within 120 days while they awaited Commission guidance on the draft ICMs.

The staff received a Staff Requirements Memorandum (SRM) on the Transportation ICMs on

June 28, 2002, which provided additional guidance and direction to move forward with

addressing the ICMs with industry and stakeholders. A meeting was held on 7/30/02 with state
- 9 -

and industry representatives to discuss the details of the ICMs and to gain an understanding of

their impact. Many comments were received.

The staff determined that the ICMs should be issued prior to sending the draft Director’s

Decision to the petitioner and licensee for comment. Therefore, the staff requested and

received an extension until August 29, 2002, to issue the proposed Director’s Decision. On 

July 17, 2002, the petition manager called Jim Warren of NC WARN to apprise him of the 

status of NRC’s response to his petition and inform him of the extension that was granted and

the reason for the extension.

A decision was made to issue the proposed Director’s Decision without the benefit of the ICMs

being finalized since issuance of the ICMs was imminent. The proposed DD was sent to the

petitioner and licensee on August 29, 2002.

Current Status:

The staff addressed the comments that were received and the final DD (DD-02-05) was issued

on November 12, 2002.

The NRC denied the petitioner’s request to halt rail shipments of spent nuclear fuel. NRC

continues to believe that the established system of regulations coupled with the added physical

security measures adequately protect the transportation of spent nuclear fuel.
- 10 -

Facility: All Operating Nuclear Power

Plants (103) in the U. S.

Petitioner(s): David Lochbaum, Union of Concerned Scientists, 

Date of Petition and supplements: 3/11/2002, 3/21/2002, and 3/22/2002

Director’s Decision To Be Issued by: NRR

EDO Number: G20020142

Proposed DD issuance (completed): 9/05/2002

Final DD issued: 11/15/2002 complete

Last Contact with Petitioners: 9/05/2002 11/15/02

Petition Manager: D. Jaffe

Case Attorney: J. Goldberg

Issues/Action Requested:

The petitioner is requesting that the NRC order the licensees of all operating nuclear power

plants to take measures that will reduce the risk from sabotage of irradiated fuel. Specifically,

those measures are:

(1) to impose a 72-hour limit for operation when the number of emergency diesel generators

(EDGs) is one less than the number in the Technical Specifications Limiting Condition for

Operation whenever the reactor is in any mode of operation other than hot shutdown, cold

shutdown, refueling, or defueled, and

(2) to impose a requirement that the time it would take the spent fuel pool water to boil after

forced circulation stops must be at least 24 hours.

Background:

As the basis for the first requested action, the petitioner stated that the transmission lines and

substations constituting the electrical grid are virtually unprotected targets for terrorists. 

Likewise, the switchyard at the typical nuclear power plant is outside the security perimeter

fences. The likelihood that a successful terrorist attack against the electrical grid could 

cascade into a station blackout and result in reactor core damage increases the longer the

EDGs are out of service.

As the basis for the second requested action, the petitioner stated that terrorists could

successfully attack the offsite power transmission lines and/or the water intake system for

cooling water and cause spent fuel pool cooling to be stopped. Restricting the time-to-boil to a

minimum of 24 hours reduces the likelihood that any such terrorist actions would result in

damage to the irradiated fuel in the spent fuel pool because plant workers would have more 

time to restore the normal cooling system or provide a backup system.

The petitioner was contacted on March 20, 2002. He requested a teleconference with the

Petition Review Board (PRB), which was held on March 26, 2002. The petitioner submitted

supplements to his petition on March 21 and 22, 2002. The supplements list other groups who

wish to be added as co-petitioners. Following the teleconference with the petitioner, the PRB

met on March 26, 2002, and agreed that the incoming letter meets the criteria to be considered

under the 2.206 process. However, the PRB decided not to grant the part of the petition that

requested immediate action pending further evaluation. An acknowledgment letter and a

Federal Register notice on this petition were issued on May 8, 2002. The petition manager

contacted the petitioner on June 6, 2002, to inform him of the status of the review.

The PRB met on July 18, 2002, to discuss the status of the technical branches’ review and the 
- 11 -

content of the proposed Director’s Decision. 

The proposed DD was sent to the petitioners on September 5, 2002. Comments were 

received on September 23, 2002, and were addressed by the staff

Current Status:

The staff addressed the comments that were received and the final DD (DD-02-07) was issued on

November 15, 2002.

The NRC has partially granted the petitioners' request that action be taken to reduce the risk from

sabotage of irradiated fuel through issuance of Orders on February 25, 2002, concerning on-site

security. The NRC has denied the request to restrict the heat load in the spent fuel pool (SFP) by

establishing a minimum time-to-boil of 24 hours from loss of forced cooling. Should sabotage of

the primary SFP cooling capability occur when there is a high heat load in the SFP, the 

availability of alternate SFP cooling assures protection of irradiated fuel. In addition, the NRC 

has concluded that there is no need to restrict allowed outage times for emergency diesel

generators to 72 hours or desist issuing enforcement discretion to extend the allowed outage time

of emergency diesel generators. 
- 12 -

Facility: Oyster Creek Generating Station

Petitioner: Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch

Date of Letter: 6/21/2002, as supplemented on July 18, 2002

Director’s Decision to Be Issued by: NMSS

EDO Number: G20020385

Proposed DD issuance: 12/10/2002

Last Contact with Petitioner: 11/04/2002

Petition Manager: Steve O’Conner

Case Attorney: Jack Goldberg

Issues/Actions requested:

The petitioner requests that the NRC issue an order to the licensee, suspending the dry cask

storage program at Oyster Creek. 

Background:

As a basis for the above requests, the petitioner raised concerns with: the location of the Oyster

Creek independent spent fuel storage installation relative to local roads and communities; the

ability of the NUHOMS dry spent fuel storage system to survive a sabotage attack; the adequacy 

of Oyster Creek security measures for fuel handling activities; the adequacy of the Oyster Creek

emergency evacuation plan; and the quality of the NUHOMS systems planned for use at Oyster

Creek.

The petitioner participated in a telephone call with the Petition Review Board on July 18, 2002. In

response to the PRB discussion, the petitioner provided additional information on July 18, 2002, 

to supplement the petition request. This information is also being considered in the review of the

petition.

The petitioner’s request for NRC to immediately suspend the license for the NUHOMS dry spent

fuel storage system and halt transfer of spent fuel from wet pool storage to dry storage modules 

at Oyster Creek was denied because the safety concerns were reviewed and determined not to

pose an undue risk to public health and safety. The Commission does not believe that immediate

action is required because the licensee for Oyster Creek is not planning to load additional fuel

canisters until 2003.

An acknowledgment letter and Federal Register notice were issued on August 7, 2002.

On October 30, 2002, a teleconference was held with the petitioner and her counsel regarding 

the status of the proposed Director's Decision. The petitioner asked that we specifically address

certain accident scenarios discussed in the petition in our response. She also asked if there was

any way that the petitioners could get a hearing for the Oyster Creek ISFSI issues.

Current Status:

An additional teleconference with the petitioner was held with a member of OGC present on

November 4, 2002, to further discuss the issue of a hearing . The staff is preparing a proposed

Director's Decision which is scheduled to be sent to the petitioners and the licensee for comment

by December 10, 2002.

- 13-

Facility: Waltz Mill Pennsylvania Site 
Petitioner: Viacom, Inc.

Date of Letter: October 30, 2002 

Director’s Decision to be Issued by: NMSS0

EDO Number: G20020629

Proposed DD issuance: TBD

Last Contact with Petitioner: 11/08/02

Case Attorney: Jack Goldberg

Issues/Actions requested:

That the NRC issue an order to Westinghouse Electric Company LLC, the holder of 

license SNM-770 on the Waltz Mill, Pennsylvania Site, which would require 

Westinghouse’s cooperation in the decommissioning of the Westinghouse Test Reactor

(WTR) license TR-2. In particular, the order would require Westinghouse to:

(1) provide certain radiological survey data to NRC which NRC has requested. The survey

data in question determines what residual radioactivity remains in-situ. 

(2) accept under SNM-770 certain residual byproduct materials now held under Viacom

license TR-2 and located at the WTR.

Background:

Viacom is the the current holder of NRC facility license TR-2 which authorizes possession,

but not operation, of the WTR. To complete the Final Decommissioning Plan, two

provisions still need to be accomplished: (1) determining the residual radioactivity 

remaining in situ, and (2) preparing the necessary amendments for and requesting the

transfer of the remaining residual radioactivity and WTR facilities to the SNM-770 license.

At the time the decommissioning plan was approved, Westinghouse was the NRC 

licensee under both TR-2 and SNM-770, and so the transfer of the residual radioactive

material from one materials license to another, held by the same licensee on the same 

site, was straightforward. Viacom now holds the TR-2 license while Westinghouse holds

the SNM-770 license. Westinghouse’s and Viacom’s decommissioning responsibilities to

each other at the Waltz Mill Site are set forth in an Asset Purchase Agreement. By failing 

to accept the transfer to the SNM-770 license, Viacom alleges that Westinghouse is in

violation of 10 CFR 50.5. 

Current Status:

The NRC staff spoke with petitioner’s attorneys to inform them of receipt of the petition. In

addition, NRC attorneys spoke with attorneys for Viacom and will meet with attorneys for

Westinghouse. Westinghouse is preparing a response to be filed no later than the end of

the first week of December.

The staff will be contacting the petitioner and licensees to set up a public PRB meeting 

after receipt of Westinghouse’s response.
Attachment 2

Potential Petitions Still under Evaluation

Facility: GE Medical Systems and Adecco, Inc.

Petitioner: Thomas Saparito representing the National Environmental Protection Center

Date of Letters: October 1, 2002 (two letters)

Responsible Office: NMSS

Public PRB meeting: By letter dated November 19, 200, the staff issued a letter to the petitioner

informing him of the PRB’s recommendation that the submittals be rejected

as petitions under 2.206. The petitioner declined the offer of a meeting to

comment on the PRB’s recommendations.

Issues/Actions requested:

That the NRC require GE Medical Systems and Adecco, Inc. to affirm that it maintains nonhostile work environments, to provide written documentation detailing employee 

concerns programs, or to implement such a program at all of its facilities licensed by NRC. 

Facility: Palo Verde 

Petitioner: Thomas Saparito representing the National Environmental Protection Center

Date of Letter: October 27, 2002, as supplemented on November 9, 2002

Responsible Office: NRR

Public PRB meeting: petitioner declined

Issues/Actions requested:

That the NRC advise its employees of the right to raise safety and health concerns; that 

the NRC cause an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Arizona Public 

Service Company’s license amendment request and provide the petitioners with a copy of

NRC’s safety evaluation related to the amendment request.

Facility: Sequoyah and San Onofre 

Petitioner: Thomas Saparito representing the National Environmental Protection Center

Date of Letter: November 13, 2002

Responsible Office: NRR

Public PRB meeting: petitioner declined

Issues/Actions requested:

That the NRC revoke a license amendment granted to the Sequoyah nuclear plant

regarding steam generator tube inspection scope and revoke a license amendment 

granted to the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station on steam generator tube

inspections.

Facility: Maine Yankee

Petitioner: Randall Speck, Special Counsel for the State of Maine

Date of Letter: November 15, 2002

Responsible Office: NMSS

PRB meeting: To be scheduled 

Issues/Actions requested: 

That the NRC conduct a hearing on the efficacy of indefinite, long-term spent fuel storage 

at Maine Yankee.
Attachment 3

AGE STATISTICS FOR AGENCY 2.206 PETITIONS

ASSIGNED

ACTION

OFFICE

FACILITY Incoming 

petition

PRB

meeting1

Acknowledgment 

letter / 

days from

incoming2

Proposed DD

issuance

Date/ age3

Scheduled

date for

final DD/

age 4

Comments 

NRR

Salem 1, 2, Hope Creek,Oyster Creek

9/17/01 11/19/01 12/20/2001

93

05/16/02

complete

148

11/01/02

80

complete

Technical staff resonew NSIR and the in issuing proposed 

Significant commenconsistency among issuing final DD.

NRR

All 103 Nuclear PowerPlants in the U.S.

10/26/01 11/19/01 12/20/2001

54

05/16/02

complete

148

11/01/02

80

complete

NRR Indian Point 2, 3 11/08/01 11/19/01 12/20/2001

42

05/16/02

complete

148

11/18/02

94

complete

NMSS Carolina Power &

Light(CP&L)/ ProgressEnergy

11/05/01 1/16/02 01/31/2002

85

8/29/2002

complete

210

11/12/02

46

complete

Issuance of proposCommission's latesshipments.

NRR All 103 Operating

Nuclear Power Plants inthe U.S.

3/11/02 3/26/02 05/08/2002

57

09/05/2002

completed

114

11/15/02

55

complete

Resolution of petitioissuance of final DD 

NMSS Oyster Creek 6/21/02 7/18/02 8/07/02

47

12/10/2002

120

---

NRR Waltz Mill Site 10/30/02 TBD TBD TBD --- Scheduling a public 

acknowledgement and review of a sub

1) Goal is to hold a public PRB meeting, which the petitioner is invited to participate in, within 2 weeks of receipt of petitioof up two weeks from the date that the letter is issued until it is received by the reviewing organization).2) Goal is to issue acknowledgement letter within 5 weeks of the date of incoming petition.3) Goal is to issue proposed DD within 120 days of the acknowledgment letter.4) Goal is to issue final DD within 45 days of the end of the comment period.
Attachment 4

NOTE: Includes both NMSS and NRR petitions