January 25, 2001

MEMORANDUM TO: William D. Travers

Executive Director for Operations

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

for Project Licensing and Technical Analysis

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

SUBJECT: DECEMBER REPORT ON THE STATUS OF PUBLIC PETITIONS

UNDER 10 CFR 2.206

The attached monthly report gives the status of 10 CFR 2.206 petitions as of January 11, 2001.

Since the last report, two Director’s Decisions, one on Envirosafe of Idaho (G20000138 and

G20000136) and another on US Department of Defense (G20000345) were issued and the

petitions were closed. Currently, there are two open petitions: one in the Office of Nuclear

Reactor Regulation (NRR), and one in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards

(NMSS).

Attachment 1 provides the detailed status of petitions for NRR and NMSS. Attachment 2

shows the age and staff hours expended on open 2.206 petitions as of December 31, 2000.

Attachment 3 shows the statistics for the 2.206 petitions processed in the past 12 months.

This report and recently issued Director’s Decisions are placed in the Agencywide Document

Access and Management System (ADAMS), and on the NRC’s external home page, making

them readily accessible to the public. The URL address is

http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/PUBLIC/2206/index.html.

Attachments: As stated

CONTACT: Ram Subbaratnam, NRR

415-1478
January 25, 2001

MEMORANDUM TO: William D. Travers

Executive Director for Operations

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

for Project Licensing and Technical Analysis

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

SUBJECT: DECEMBER REPORT ON THE STATUS OF PUBLIC

PETITIONS UNDER 10 CFR 2.206

The attached monthly report gives the status of 10 CFR 2.206 petitions as of January 11, 2001.

Since the last report, two Director’s Decisions, one on Envirosafe of Idaho (G20000138 and

G20000136) and another on US Department of Defense (G20000345) were issued and the

petitions were closed. Currently, there are two open petitions: one in the Office of Nuclear

Reactor Regulation (NRR), and one in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards

(NMSS).

Attachment 1 provides the detailed status of petitions for NRR and NMSS. Attachment 2

shows the age and staff hours expended on open 2.206 petitions as of December 31, 2000.

Attachment 3 shows the statistics for the 2.206 petitions processed in the past 12 months.

This report and recently issued Director’s Decisions are placed in the Agencywide Document

Access and Management System (ADAMS), and on the NRC’s external home page, making

them readily accessible to the public. The URL address is

http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/PUBLIC/2206/index.html.

Attachments: As stated

CONTACT: Ram Subbaratnam, NRR

415-1478

Accession Number ML003777027 DISTRIBUTION: See next page *See previous

concurrence. ** Electronic

Concurrence

OFFICE PM:PDII LA:PDII SC:PDII D:PDII NMSS/IMNS/IMOB DD/D:DLPM ADPT:NRR

NAME RSubbaratnam Dunnington** RCorreia HBerkow PGoldberg* SBlack JZwolinski BSheron

DATE 01/11/01 01/3/01 01/11/01 01/12/01 01/ 5 /01 01/17/01 01/17/01 01/22/01

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
Distribution:

M. Satorius, OEDO

F. Miraglia, DEDR/OEDO

C. Paperillo, DEDMRS/EDO

P. Norry, DEDM/OEDO

J. Craig, AO/EDO

E. Julian, SECY

PDII r/f

S. Collins, NRR

R. Zimmerman, NRR

J. Johnson, NRR

B. Sheron, NRR

E. Baker, OD

R. Subbaratnam, NRR

K. Cyr, OGC

L. Chandler, OGC

F. Cameron, OGC

J. Goldberg, OGC

J. Cordes, Jr., OCAA

R. Borchardt, OE

P. Lohaus, STP

W. Kane, NMSS

P. Goldberg, NMSS

S. Moore, NMSS

P. Anderson, OEDO (E-mail)

E. Dunnington, NRR

B. Boger, NRR

M. Stein, OE

G. Caputo, OI

J. Shea, OEDO

E. Adensam, NRR

J. Zwolinski, NRR

S. Black, NRR

H. Berkow, NRR

D. Skay, NRR

OCA

OPA

Regional Administrators

PUBLIC w/att 1, 2, & 3
Report on Status of Public Petitions Under 10 CFR 2.206

December 31, 2000

(Table of Contents)

Attachment 1

Page

Facility Petitioner/EDO No. No.

Atlas Corporation Dagget, et al./G19990011....................................2

Envirosafe of Idaho Envirocare and Snake River Alliance

/G20000138, G20000136....................................4

US Department of Defense and all

services/users of depleted uranium D. Rokke/G20000345..........................................5

Haddam Neck Nuclear Generating Station R. Bassilakis/CAN/G20000462............................6
2

Attachment 1

Report on Status of Public Petitions Under 10 CFR 2.206

Facility: Moab site of Atlas Corporation (Present

Licensee, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP,

Trustee)

Petitioner: Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund

Date of Petition: 1/11/99

Director's Decision To Be Issued by: NMSS

Date Referred to Review Organization: 1/12/99

EDO Number: G19990011

OGC Number: P-99-02

Scheduled Completion Date: TBD*

Last Contact with Petitioner: 11/17/2000

Petition Manager: Myron Fliegel

Case Attorney: J. Goldberg

Issues/Action Requested:

The petitioner requests NRC to take six immediate actions to halt impacts to and to ensure the

conservation of the endangered species of fish in the Colorado River near the Atlas site.

Background:

On August 2, 1988, Atlas submitted an application for a license amendment to revise its site

reclamation plan for uranium mill tailings at its no longer operating site near Moab, Utah. On

March 30, 1994, a notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement was published

in the Federal Register. In January 1996, the Draft Environmental Impact Statement was

published for public comment. On July 29, 1998, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), in

accordance with Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), issued a final biological

opinion for impacts to federally listed endangered species from the reclamation of the Atlas mill

tailings site. On October 12, 1998, and November 13, 1998, the petitioner notified NRC of its

intent to sue under the ESA. On December 16, 1998, the petitioner filed a Motion for Preliminary

Injunction against NRC in the U.S. District Court, District of Utah.

A petition was filed on January 11, 1999, requesting the NRC to take six immediate actions

related to potential impact on endangered fish in the Colorado River due to contaminants from

the Atlas uranium mill tailings pile. A Petition Review Board (PRB) meeting was held on

January 26, 1999, and the petitioner’s requests for immediate action were denied by a letter of

that date. In the letter, it was noted that none of the six items identified in the petition addresses

a health, safety, or environmental concern that requires emergency steps before a complete

review as provided for in 10 CFR 2.206. An acknowledgment letter for this petition was

published in the Federal Register on February 12, 1999. On May 13, 1999, the staff received a

supplement to the 2.206 petition requesting immediate action on several items: (1) to suspend

the issuance of the license amendment to permit reclamation; (2) to initiate a supplemental

National Environmental Policy Act process; and (3) to reinitiate consultation with FWS under the

ESA.

Earthjustice had, on January 27, 1999, petitioned the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB)

to intervene on the Atlas Corporation’s proposal to reclaim the Moab mill tailings and on the

cleanup of contaminated groundwater, citing the impacts to the endangered fish in the Colorado

* Schedule for completion will be set following the filing of Earthjustice’s motion withdrawing its

petition.
3

River and its belief that the biological opinion was erroneous. On May 27, 1999, the NRC wrote

to the petitioner, acknowledging receipt of the supplement, denying immediate action, and

notifying the petitioner that NRC was deferring action on the 2.206 petition, pending a decision

by the ASLB on the petitioner’s request for a hearing on similar issues.

On September 17, 1999, the staff filed responses to the ASLB presiding officers’ questions of

July 30, 1999. On September 29, 1999, the staff provided the ASLB with a copy of its

September 29, 1999, letter to Dames & Moore, notifying that organization that it had been

selected to become the Trustee for the Atlas Moab site, since the Atlas Corporation is in

bankruptcy. Copies of both filings were sent to the petitioner. Dames & Moore subsequently

withdrew as trustee and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP was chosen to be the trustee.

On October 18, 1999, Earthjustice filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th

Circuit, arguing that the May 27, 1999, letter and a May 28, 1999, license amendment constitute

final agency action and a de facto denial of the 2.206 petition. On November 3, 1999, OGC filed

a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. A copy of the

motion was sent to the petitioner. On November 23, 1999, the petitioner filed a response to the

NRC motion to dismiss, arguing that the rejection of its request for immediate action and

subsequent lack of action on the part of the NRC in issuing a final Director’s Decision constitutes

a final agency action. NRC filed its reply with the court to the petitioner’s response on

December 2, 1999.

On October 28, 1999, the ASLB presiding officer found the Earthjustice petition of January 27,

1999, to be timely, and entertained further argument on the issue of petitioner’s standing. On

November 16, 1999, Earthjustice requested the presiding officer to rule on whether the ASLB

has jurisdiction with respect to determining whether NRC has complied with the ESA. On

December 6, 1999, the staff filed a response arguing that the ASLB should deny the petitioner’s

November 16, 1999, motion.

On December 27, 1999, an Order transferring source material license SUA-917 from Atlas

Corporation to the Maob Mill Reclamation Trust was signed. The Order transfers the license to

the Trust and orders the Trust and the Trustee (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP) to perform

reclamation of the uranium mill tailings site in accordance with the terms and conditions of the

license. The terms and conditions of the license include reasonable and prudent measures in

the U.S. FWS final biological opinion, as well as mitigative measures developed by the NRC

staff. The Order was effective December 30, 1999, and was published in the Federal Register

on January 3, 2000.

On January 13, 2000, the petitioner filed a reply with the ASLB in support of its motion originally

filed on November 16, 1999, for a preliminary ruling on jurisdiction. On February 17, 2000, the

ASLB granted the petitioner’s request for hearing. The PRB, in consultation with the Office of

the General Counsel (OGC), deferred action on this 2.206 petition pending resolution of the

litigation before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and of the petition before the ASLB.

On June 22, 2000, the petitioner wrote to NRC requesting it to reinitiate consultation with FWS

on two additional issues. On July 21, 2000, NRC wrote to the petitioner stating that it will

consider the June 22, 2000, letter as a second supplement to the original petition, which is being

held in abeyance, pending the hearing before the ASLB. On October 30, 2000, the President

signed the Floyd B. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001. Section

3405 of that legislation transfers the Atlas site to the Department of Energy (DOE) with the

stipulation that DOE remove the tailings from the Moab site. The legislation also terminates the

NRC license no later than October 30, 2001.

Current Status:

On November 17, 2000, all parties to the ASLB hearing agreed to terminate the proceeding.

Earthjustice agreed to file a motion withdrawing its petition to intervene. There is no change in

status for the month of December.
4

Facility: Envirosafe of Idaho

Petitioner: Envirocare and Snake River Alliance

Date of Petition: 3/13/2000

Director's Decision To Be Issued by: NMSS

Date Referred to Review Organization: 3/16/2000

EDO Number: G20000138, G20000136

OGC Number: -

Scheduled Completion Date: 12/13/2000

Last Contact with Petitioners: 11/16/2000

Petition Manager: J. Lusher

Case Attorney: J. Goldberg

Issues/Action Requested:

Snake River Alliance is requesting that the NRC: (1) take jurisdiction of 11e.(2) material; (2) take action to

ensure the workers and the public are fully protected from radiation exposure; and (3) enforce the Atomic

Energy Act of 1954 and NRC’s regulation governing disposal of mill tailings byproduct material as defined in

section 11e.(2) of Uranium Mill Tailing Radiation Control Act of 1978 (UMTRCA). Envirocare contends that

the Commission’s current interpretation of UMTRCA is erroneous and that it should be revised as soon as

possible. It also requests that the NRC recognize its authority over all section 11.e.(2) material, and should

take appropriate enforcement action to ensure that all such material is disposed of at section 11e.(2)-

licensed facilities.

Background:

The Executive Director for Operations has agreed in principle that the petitions from Snake River Alliance

and Envirocare can be consolidated and handled as one petition because the requested actions are similar

per Management Directive (MD) 8.11, Page 9. This was finalized in the Petition Review Board (PRB)

meeting held on April 11, 2000. The petitioners, in accordance with MD 8.11, were provided with an

opportunity to address the PRB in an open session to articulate the petition, with the owners of the facility

present.

A PRB meeting on the petitions was held on April 11, 2000. The Petition Manager advised the petitioners by

phone on April 12, 2000, that the petitions have been consolidated and accepted as a single petition for

review under the 10 CFR 2.206 process. The acknowledgment letters and the Federal Register Notice on

the petitions were issued on April 25, 2000.

On October 5, 2000, the Petition Manager was informed by Mr. Bickwit, representing Envirocare, that a

response was filed with the Document Control Desk on August 30, 2000, on behalf of Envirocare of Utah to

reply to: (1) the joint supplemental response filed by Envirosafe Services of Idaho, Inc. and the

Environmental Technology Council; and (2) the letter response filed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,

both submitted in opposition to petitions filed under 10 CFR 2.206 by the Snake River Alliance and

Envirocare relating to the Commission’s interpretation of the UMTRCA.

Current Status:

The Director’s Decision (DD-00-06) on the petition was issued on December 13, 2000. The DD denied the

petition and stated that, the NRC does not have authority over pre-UMTRCA mill tailings from Formerly

Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) sites. The agency believes that the Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and state-permitted facilities that the Corps is using for disposal of

that material, provided sufficient health and safety protection for both workers and the public. The NRC will

continue to refrain from imposing disposal requirements for the mill tailings generated at FUSRAP sites

because this material is outside of the agency’s jurisdiction. However, if Congress determines that the

disposal of such material warrants NRC oversight, the NRC stands ready to implement new legislative

directives in that regard. The Commission, by an order dated January 5, 2001, extended its period for review

of the DD to January 12, 2001. The decision after Commission review became a final agency action on

January 12, 2001.
5

Facility: US Department of Defense and all services/users of

depleted uranium (DU)

Petitioner: Doug Rokke

Date of Petition: 6/1/00

Director's Decision To Be Issued by: NMSS

Date Referred to Review Organization: 7/18/00

EDO Number: G20000345

OGC Number: ---

Scheduled Completion Date: 1/9/2001

Last Contact with Petitioner: 1/9/2001

Petition Manager: Roberto J. Torres

Case Attorney: J. Goldberg

Issues/Action Requested:

The petitioner requested a formal NRC hearing to consider: (1) the revocation of the master DU

license for the US Department of Defense (DOD) and all services; (2) implementation of fines and

consideration of personal criminal liability; (3) formal protection under the whistleblower statutes for him

and all others who are trying to obtain medical care for all DU casualties; and (4) completion of

environmental remediation of all DU contamination.

Background:

The petitioner served as a health physicist for the depleted uranium team in Operation Desert Storm

(i.e., Gulf War), and after the Gulf War served as the DOD/Army Depleted Uranium Project Director.

The petitioner alleges that he became sick from DU exposure and subsequently was denied medical

care. The US Navy has a master material license issued by NRC Region II. On February 19, 1999,

during a training exercise, DU ammunition was expended on the Live Impact Area of the Vieques Naval

Range, on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. The NRC was notified of the incident by the Naval Radiation

Safety Committee (NRSC) Executive Secretary on March 5, 1999. The NRSC identified the issuance

of the DU ammunition and the subsequent firing of it as a Severity Level IV violation of the Navy’s

Master Material License (MML); specifically, a violation of Naval Radioactive Material Permit Number

13-00164-L1NP.

A team of Navy Health Physicists was deployed to Vieques between March 10 and 19, 1999. The team

performed visual and radiological surveys and recovered a total of 57 DU ammunition penetrators.

NRC conducted an inspection on March 22-23, 2000, of the NRSC actions as a result of this incident.

Based on the results of this inspection, the NRC determined that the NRSC properly identified a

Severity Level IV violation and appropriately issued a Notice of Violation to the responsible command.

NRC Inspection Manual Chapter 2810, “Master Material License Inspection Program,” states that the

NRC will not take any further enforcement action, to cite or to pursue escalation for Severity Level IV

violations by permittees that have already been identified and adequately corrected by the MML’s

Radiation Safety Committee. The petitioner was contacted on July 25, 2000, and was informed of the

10 CFR 2.206 process. Subsequent attempted contacts, including a letter dated August 8, 2000,

offering him an opportunity for a presentation to the PRB, received no response.

The PRB met on August 29, 2000, and accepted the petition. An acknowledgment letter and a Federal

Register notice on the petition were issued on September 8, 2000.

Current Status:

The Director’s decision(DD-01-01) on this petition was issued on January 9, 2001. The NRC staff has

considered the issues raised by the petitioner, and has determined that a significant portion of those

issues fall outside NRC-regulated activities because they relate to military activities outside U.S.

territories. With respect to the issues that fall within NRC jurisdiction, the Petitioner did not substantiate

any significant health or safety concerns or significant violations of NRC requirements. The DD is

currently with the Commission for review, and if the Commission does not act within 25 days of the date

of issuance of the DD, it will become a final agency action.
6

Facility: Haddam Neck Nuclear Generating Station

Petitioner: R. Bassilakis, et al. (CAN)

Date of Petition: 9/26/2000

Director's Decision To Be Issued by: NRR

Date Referred to Review Organization: 9/29/2000

EDO Number: G20000462

OGC Number: -

Scheduled Completion Date: 3/9/2001

Last Contact with Petitioners: 12/19/2000

Petition Manager: E. Pogue

Case Attorney: J. Goldberg

Issues/Action Requested:

(1) A full investigation of Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company’s (CYAPCO’s) protective

clothing laundering practices and specifically of the September 20, 2000, incident at a public laundry

facility in which petitioners contend that the licensee may have been laundering radioactively

contaminated clothing. (2) That NRC revoke CYAPCO’s license or suspend it until such time that an

investigation is completed and any contamination found at the public laundry facility as a result of the

incident is remediated. (3) That “this violation of regulation should be referred to the Department of

Justice for investigation.” (4) That an informal hearing be conducted. (5) The petitioners also claim

that the radiological control and protection program and procedures at Haddam Neck lacked defensein-depth, and cite three specific instances: not posting a “High Radiation Area” sign at the workers’

entrance, an unplanned worker exposure at a High Integrity Container, and contamination outside of a

Radiological Controlled Area. (Upon further review, the staff notes the Item (5) examples are in the

petition to characterize the licensee's performance history and are not a part of any of the actions

requested by the petition. Also, all three examples cited in Item (5) were problems that have been

inspected by the NRC staff and addressed in an inspection report which concluded the licensee's

corrective actions were satisfactory. As a result, Item (5) will be deleted from future updates.)

Background:

A PRB meeting on the petition was held on October 10, 2000. The petitioners were provided with an

opportunity to address the PRB in an open session, and did so with the licensee present.

The PRB concluded that the petition meets the threshold for processing under 10 CFR 2.206 and also

concluded that the details provided in the petitioners’ request were sufficient to warrant further inquiry.

The acknowledgment letter and the Federal Register Notice on the petition were issued on November

9, 2000.

Current Status:

A proposed Director's Decision (DD) was issued on December 19, 2000. The proposed DD is based

primarily on the findings of an NRC inspection of the licensee's garment laundering practices

conducted in response to the petition. The NRC inspector concluded that adequate controls were in

place to assure that CYAPCO training materials did not become contaminated, and that CYAPCO's

garment laundering practices are in compliance with NRC regulations and do not endanger the health

and safety of the public. A copy of the proposed DD was provided to both the petitioner and the

licensee. On January 4, 2001, the petitioners provided comments on the proposed DD which are

currently under review with the staff.
7

Attachment 2

AGE AND RESOURCE EXPENDITURES FOR AGENCY 2.206 OPEN PETITIONS

As of December 31, 2000

ASSIGNEDACTIONOFFICE

PETITIONNUMBER

FACILITY AGE

(months)

*

Scheduled

Completion

Date

Resources

Expended

by Action

Office

(HOURS)1

Resources

Expended

by OGC

(HOURS)1

Comme

120-d

NMSS G19990011 ATLAS CORPORATION 3** TBD2 5 66 On Nove

parties tagreed tproceedagreed twithdrawinterven

NRR G20000462 Haddam Neck 2 3/9/2001 124 4 Proposed 

commentfrom peti

1 Staff professional time only; does not include management or administrative time.2 See Attachment 1 for explanation.

*Age calculated from the date of the acknowledgment letter.** The clock on this petition stopped as of May 27, 1999.
1

Attachment 3

Table on Status of Public Petitions

Under 10 CFR 2.206 for DDs Issued and/or Closed During the Last 12 M

Petition Number Assigned Facility Petition DD Age 

Action Date Date at Closure1,2

Office (Months)

GT96919 NRR Millstone 1, 2 & 3 11/25/96, as

amended 12/23/96 2/16/2000 37 

G19990465 NRR Indian Point Unit 2 9/15/99 4/13/2000 6 G20000062 NRR Indian Point Unit 3 2/10/2000 7/26/2000 4 G20000133 NRR Indian Point Unit 2 3/14/2000 10/6/2000 6 G20000232 NRR Hatch Units 1 & 2 5/3/2000 10/18/200 4 G20000138,136 NMSS Envirosafe, Idaho 3/13/2000 12/13/2000 8 G20000345 NMSS US Department of Defense 6/1/2000 1/9/2001 3 1) Age calculated from the date of the acknowledgment letter.2) Goals: Acknowledgment letter issued within 5 weeks from date of receipt; DD issued within 4 months of acknowledgment letter.