May 2, 2013 

MEMORANDUM TO: Andy Imboden, Chief 

Communications, Planning 

 and Rulemaking Branch 

Waste Confidence Directorate 

Office of Nuclear Material Safety 

 and Safeguards 

FROM: Sarah Lopas, NEPA Communications Project Manager /RA/ 

 Communications, Planning 

 and Rulemaking Branch 

 Waste Confidence Directorate 

 Office of Nuclear Material Safety 

 and Safeguards 

SUBJECT: SUMMARY OF PUBLIC TELECONFERENCE TO DISCUSS STATUS 

 OF WASTE CONFIDENCE GENERIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 

 STATEMENT AND RULEMAKING 

On Wednesday, April 17, 2013, members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 

staff held a Category 3 public teleconference at the NRC headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. 

The purpose of the teleconference was to maintain an open line of communication with the 

public by providing a status update on NRC staff’s progress in developing the Waste 

Confidence draft generic environmental impact statement (GEIS) and Rule. Participants had an 

opportunity to ask questions and comment about the NRC’s process and activities. 

The meeting began at 1:30 p.m. and concluded at 2:30 p.m. EDT and was assisted by an 

operator who captured the name and organization of each participant, and moderated the 

individual phone lines. The NRC staff began the meeting with an overview of the NRC mission, 

a review of the timeline for Directorate activities, and an update regarding the availability of the 

speakers’ presentations from the March 14, 2013, Waste Confidence session at the NRC 

Regulatory Information Conference (RIC) on the RIC website. 

The NRC presentation continued with a discussion of the locations for 10 public meetings during 

the comment period for the Waste Confidence draft GEIS and Rule. These 10 public meetings 

will be held in the vicinity of the following areas: two meetings in the Washington, D.C. 

metropolitan area; one in the Boston, Massachusetts metropolitan area; one in the New York 

City metropolitan area; one in Denver, Colorado; one in Minneapolis, Minnesota; one near San 

Luis Obispo, California; one near San Clemente, California; one in Toledo, Ohio; and one in 

Charlotte, North Carolina. 

CONTACT: Sarah Lopas, WCD/CPRB 

 (301) 492-3425 
A. Imboden - 2 - 

 

The first and last meeting will be held in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area at NRC 

Headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. These two meetings will be nationally webcast and 

accessible by a moderated teleconference line for members of the public who cannot attend one 

of the eight regional meetings. After discussing the meeting locations, the staff opened the 

teleconference for questions. 

There were 72 participants in the teleconference representing members of the public, tribal and 

state governments, industry, public advocacy and environmental interest groups, and the NRC 

and its contractors. A list of meeting attendees is attached. 

There were a variety of concerns, questions, and issues discussed by the public and NRC staff 

during the teleconference that included: when the draft GEIS will be publicly available; the 

desire for more meeting locations, time, and advance notice; the difference between a public 

meeting and a hearing; concern over the level of security for public meetings; the level of NRC’s 

evaluation, concurrence, and availability of the March 5, 2013, Scoping Summary Report; the 

continued licensing of nuclear plants; concern of indefinite storage option and temporary 

storage rule; what is the life of a nuclear plant; how is the NRC going to address the reactors 

that are moving to high-burnup with a large amount of fuel and different cladding materials; and 

concern of hardened on-site storage (HOSS) in dry casks. 

The transcript for this meeting is available in the NRC’s Agencywide Document Management 

and Access System (ADAMS) under Accession No. ML13122A097. Furthermore, the Scoping 

Summary Report, which was discussed during this meeting, can be found under Accession No. 

ML13060A128. The ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room is accessible at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, or 

who encounter problems in accessing documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC’s 

Public Document Room reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, or via email at 

pdr.resource@nrc.gov. For convenience, the transcript is also available on the Waste 

Confidence Directorate’s website at http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/wcd/pubinvolve.html. 

Due to the upcoming move of the Waste Confidence staff to another building in mid-May, the 

next public teleconference to discuss the status of the Waste Confidence GEIS and Rulemaking 

is scheduled for Wednesday, May 29, 2013, at the same time, 1:30 – 2:30 P.M. EDT, with the 

same call-in number. Meeting details are also available on the Waste Confidence Directorate’s 

website at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm. 

Enclosure: 

Meeting Attendees List 

cc: See next page 
A. Imboden - 2 - 

 

The first and last meeting will be held in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area at NRC Headquarters in 

Rockville, Maryland. These two meetings will be nationally webcast and 

accessible by a moderated teleconference line for members of the public who cannot attend one of the 

eight regional meetings. After discussing the meeting locations, the staff opened the teleconference for 

questions. 

There were 72 participants in the teleconference representing members of the public, tribal and state 

governments, industry, public advocacy and environmental interest groups, and the NRC and its 

contractors. A list of meeting attendees is attached. 

There were a variety of concerns, questions, and issues discussed by the public and NRC staff during the 

teleconference that included: when the draft GEIS will be publicly available; the desire for more meeting 

locations, time, and advance notice; the difference between a public meeting and a hearing; concern over 

the level of security for public meetings; the level of NRC’s evaluation, concurrence, and availability of the 

March 5, 2013, Scoping Summary Report; the continued licensing of nuclear plants; concern of indefinite 

storage option and temporary storage rule; what is the life of a nuclear plant; how is the NRC going to 

address the reactors that are moving to high-burnup with a large amount of fuel and different cladding 

materials; and concern of hardened on-site storage (HOSS) in dry casks. 

The transcript for this meeting is available in the NRC’s Agencywide Document Management and Access 

System (ADAMS) under Accession No. ML13122A097. Furthermore, the Scoping Summary Report, 

which was discussed during this meeting, can be found under Accession No. ML13060A128. The 

ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room is accessible at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. 

Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, or who encounter problems in accessing documents located 

in ADAMS, should contact the NRC’s Public Document Room reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, or via 

email at pdr.resource@nrc.gov. For convenience, the transcript is also available on the Waste 

Confidence Directorate’s website at http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/wcd/pub-involve.html. 

Due to the upcoming move of the Waste Confidence staff to another building in mid-May, the next public 

teleconference to discuss the status of the Waste Confidence GEIS and Rulemaking is scheduled for 

Wednesday, May 29, 2013, at the same time, 1:30 – 2:30 P.M. EDT, with the same call-in number. 

Meeting details are also available on the Waste Confidence Directorate’s website at 

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm. 

Enclosure: 

Meeting Attendees List 

cc: See next page 

DISTRIBUTION:

PUBLIC 

NMSS_WCD_Distribution 

TCampbell, LLondon, EHouseman, OGC 

Miriam Juckett (mjuckett@swri.org) 

 

ADAMS Accession No.: ML13122A097 

OFFICE PM: CPRB/WCD/NMSS OGC BC: CPRB/WCD/NMSS 

NAME SLopas TCampbell(nlo) AImboden 

DATE 4/29/2013 4/29/2013 4/26/2013 

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
 Enclosure 

NRC Teleconference Attendees 

Status of Waste Confidence GEIS and Rulemaking 

Apr 17 2013 1:30 – 2:30 PM ET 

 First Name Last Name Organization 

1 Leslie Allen Balch & Bingham 

2 Dean Baker Tennessee Valley Authority 

3 Jane Beetem MO Dept of Natural Resources 

4 Jana Bergman Scientech 

5 Jerry Bonanno Nuclear Energy Institute 

6 Rita Bowser Westinghouse 

7 Michael Brandon DTE Energy 

8 Dan Breig ASME Congressional Fellow/Congr. Nunes (CA) 

9 Marlena Brewer Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation 

10 Matt Brock MA Attorney Generals Office 

11 Pamela Cowan Exelon 

12 Tom Daley South TX Project Nuclear Operating Co 

13 Diane D'Arrigo Nuclear Information and Resource Service 

14 Janice Dean NY State 

15 Patrick Dostie State of Maine 

16 Kayla Gamin Court Reporter 

17 Ellen Ginsberg Nuclear Energy Institute 

18 Peter Glass Xcel Energy 

19 Paula Gotsch Grammes 

20 Christine Greene UX Consulting 

21 Steven Hamrick Next Era 

22 Eric Howes Main Yankee Atomic Power Company 

23 Tom Iaccarino Spectrum Environmental Sciences 

24 Lisa Jones Alta 

25 Miriam Juckett Southwest Research Institute 

26 Jeff Keenan PSEG Nuclear 

27 Julius Kerr Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League 

28 Sandra Kurtz Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League 

29 Kyle 

LandisMarinello VT Attorney General's Office 

30 Rod McCullum Nuclear Energy Institute 

31 Alfred Meyer Physicians for Social Responsibility 

32 Steven Nesbit Duke Energy 

33 Mary Olson Nuclear Information and Resource Service 

34 Tony Roisman State of Vermont 

35 Don Safer TN Environmental Council 

36 Larry Shepard Environmental Protection Agency in Kansas City 

37 Beverly Silverberg Consultant 

38 John Sipos NY State 
2

First Name Last Name Organization 

39 Andrew Smith Individual 

40 David Snellings AR Dept of Health 

41 Bob Snook CT Attorney General's Office 

42 Ken Taplett STP Nuclear Operating Company 

43 Brittany Thegis Whittlaw 

45 Ruth Thomas Environmentalist Inc 

46 Tom Tramm Certrec 

47 Judy Treichel Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force 

48 Michael Wegner Kansas Corporation Commission 

49 Konnie Wescott Argonne National Lab 

50 Heather Westra Prairie Island Indian Community 

51 Ron Zak NJ Dept of Environment Development & Engineering 

52 Louis Zeller Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League 

53 Joe Ziegler Citizen 

54 Tison Campbell NRC/OGC 

55 Russell Chazell NRC/NRO 

56 Yen Chen NRC/EDO 

57 Cathy Haney NRC/NMSS 

58 Merri Horn NRC/NMSS 

59 Esther Houseman NRC/OGC 

60 Andy Imboden NRC/NMSS 

61 Lisa London NRC/OGC 

62 Sarah Lopas NRC/NMSS 

63 Timothy McCartin NRC/NMSS 

64 Keith McConnell NRC/NMSS 

65 Paul Michalak NRC/NMSS 

66 Alicia Mullins NRC/NMSS 

67 Christine Pineda NRC/NMSS 

68 TR Rowe NRC/NMSS 

69 Carrie Safford NRC/NMSS 

70 Michael Weber NRC/EDO 

71 Susan Wittick NRC/NMSS 

72 Thomas Young NRC/FSME