. *, .- . . Ut41TED STATES

2 oNUCLEAR tifi' REGULATORY-COMMISSION.

Xgw's WASHINGTON. DC. 205SS-0001

____ %~,,*,,++ December 2, 1996

Curtis Campbell, Sr., President

Prairie Island Indian Community

' 5636 Sturgeon Lake Road

Welch, Minnesota. 550B9

Dear Mr. Campbell:

On April 4, 1995, representatives.from.the Prairle Island:Dakota'Indian Community

(Community) met with staff fromnthe'U.S. -Nuclear Regulatory Com'mssion. (NRC).' The

purpose, of this meeting was to discuss the C-romunity's proposed multi-agency.' * -memorandum of .understanding (MOl) concernin'g the. Pririe lsland Nuclea' Pow'er'Plant

and the NRC's March:27,.1995 letter In which-the NRC staffndeclined tosign the proposed MOU.' In the course of discussions at the -April4 meeting, Comm'unity representatives

asked'two questions which posed 'sig'nificant policy issues requinrig Commission

consideration. The Commr'ission has carefully considered these questions and.:has recently

provided its direction to the NAC staff.

The first question was whether, inlieu .of signing the multlagency MOU proposed by the

Community, NRCw'ould consider entering -intoa wo-party general MOU with'theo'

Comrunity for the purpose of enumerating NRC's responsibilities relative to regulation of.

the Prairie lsland iplarit in light of .the he'alth 'a'nd safety concerns ::of the 'PiairieJ'lsland

Dakota Indian Comnmunity. ln addition, the general.MOU would.-describe 'how-the two * parties comnmunicate. and shsare information. - *

The Commission'has directed the'staff to'continue.to implement.the spirit and lett'er.¢of

President Clinton's'April"29, -1994 executive memorandum to ensure that the rights of

sovereign Tribal governments are.fully'respectdd and -to operite 'within a'o'gverrn!ment-togovernmnent relationship with Federally-recognized Native.AmericanTribes:.-As 'you know,

* the .NRC staff has met with representatives from the' Community, including members of

the Tribal Council, on several occasions on Issues'such as the status of dry .caskstorage

activities at the Prairie Island plant. Points of contact have been established-between the

Community and the'NRt staff for Information exchange. In additlon, 'he Tribal Council

has beon.placed on standard.distribution for-the Pralrie Island dockets for the 'plant, the

onsite independent sp'ent fuel storage facility' and tho propose'd Goodhue.County of Isite

independent' spent lfuel storage Installationr(ISFSI). -'As such, the Corriunity.,has been

* provided with the -Prairie Island plant' nspectior and-effluent reports, meeting notices,

general corresponden'ce .and enforceneent'n'otificatior)s, asIwell as all communications

associated with the-proposed offsite 'ISFSI.' The Commission .believes that the-.current

mechanisms in:place for staff 'interactlons with .the'Community are appropriate, and does

not desire' to n'egotiateta two-party.generial:MOU at this time. However, this letter will

serve as an additional commitment that the NRC will continue the cooperative relationship'

which has been established with the Comm'unity. -
C. Campbell, Sr. -2-

The second policy issue raised at theBmeeting waswhether.;the NRC:would be willing to

extend the Commisslon's"Policy on Cooperration With States t at C'mercil Nuclear.

* Power Plants 'and Other Utilization'and Production 'Facilities" to representatives of. th

Prairie Island Dakota Community. This'policy'setsiout thegeneral framework iQr

cooperating 'with Sta'tes concerning NRC-license'd productionf'a'nd .'utilizationi*facilities by routinely providing information to the'.Governor-ap'pointed Stat'e Liais'on Officer arnd

responding to requests from States in a tirnely manner. ln 'addition, .the policy establ~ishas

*procedures for' ualified State to'observe-NRC;inspectonsard .the-jneral .guidance for negotiating an NOU whlcti would allolw quaiified host States to perlorm inspections for and on behalf of the'NRC. ';.-host State is'defirie'd in',the policy statement

as a Stato in Which the NR'C-licensed'facllit'y;.is'locate'd. IUnrd rAthe policy, adjacerStiiates

are given the opportunity to observe NRC inspzetions. An adjacent State is de'fined'as'a

neighboring State locatedwithin the 10-mile emergency plannirng.zone of a,plant.

The Commissionr in'dicated that representatives frodm the Community,'..similar.to an adjacent State. can observe :NRC inspe'ctions.a't the PrairieIsland Nuclear Power'Plantprovided'that

the Cornmunit-y rne"'tsj he same NRC requiremen"saas an.a'djacent'State. Urider the .'

Cormmnission's policy, a State :must'satisfy certainriequiremrrents to observeRC

inspections and/or inspection entrance and'exit meetings.' The State' representative must

be knowledgeable .in radiological health and safety matters and, among other things, have.

made advance arrangements with the licensee 'for site access training a nd badging.-and must satisfy escort an'd Sconfidentiality requirements. Enclosed.for your consideratior is a

protocol for State.6bservation which.can serve'as a model for Tribal observation. The

same protocols for a host State'apply to 'an adjacent Sta'te .(or'in your. case; Tribal) observer.. A request for observation should ibe subrmitted to'A. S.-Beach, Reglon ll

Administrator. If the ho'st:State and the Commdunity. request observation of' the-same

inspection. tihe Regional Administrator will make the final determination on the number of

.*observears who mray accompany the insppaction. James' Lynch,' Region Ill State Lia'ison

Officer, will provide. you with further details regarding obse'rvatiors of NRC inspections.

NRC Chairman Shirley Ann Jacksornis'available to meet with you to discuss the

Commission's decision.. The NRC Iooks forward to continuing the positive dialogue which

has been established. If you.have any questions, please callRMr.'Lynch at

(630);829-9661.

Sincerely,

* M. T , ~~~ ~or /,ecutive .D~ctdr

for Operations Enclosure:

As stated

cc: Ada E. Deer. Assistant Secretary-lndian Affairs, DOI

Larry Morrin, Acting' Area.Director,.IA-Minneapolls

Roger Anderson, Northern States.Power Co.

Heather Westra. Community Environmental Services, PIIC

Krista Sanda, Minnesota 'Department of Public Service