December 12, 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 NOVEMBER 14 PUBLIC MEETING IN ROCKVILLE, 

MARYLAND, TO RECEIVE COMMENTS ON THE WASTE 

CONFIDENCE DRAFT GENERIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 

STATEMENT AND PROPOSED RULE 

On Tuesday, November 14, 2013, members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 

staff held a Category 3 public meeting at NRC headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. The 

purpose of the meeting was to provide an overview of the Waste Confidence draft generic 

environmental impact statement (DGEIS) and proposed rule, and to accept public comments on 

the documents. Participants also had an opportunity to ask questions about the NRC’s 

environmental review and rulemaking process. The meeting was viewable online via live 

webcast, and a moderated teleconference line was available for remote participants to ask 

questions and present comments. 

The NRC conducted an open house beginning at 1:00 p.m. EST where members of the public 

met informally with NRC staff and asked questions related to the DGEIS and proposed rule. 

The public meeting began at 2:00 p.m. EST and concluded at 4:43 p.m. EST. The meeting 

began with an introduction of NRC staff and a review of meeting ground rules, followed by a 

short presentation on the Waste Confidence DGEIS and proposed rule. The majority of the 

meeting was dedicated to receiving comments from members of the public. 

The staff's slide presentation is available in the NRC's Agencywide Document Management and 

Access System (ADAMS) under Accession No. ML13273A339. The transcript for the meeting is 

available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML13330B840. NRC handouts available at the 

meeting can be accessed at ML13319A111, ML13319A108, and ML13319A110. Posters 

displayed during the open house can be accessed at ML13279A004. 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 

CONTACT: Sarah Lopas, WCD/CPRB 

 (301) 287-0675 
A. Imboden - 2 - 

located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC’s Public Document Room reference staff at 

1-800-397-4209, or via e-mail at pdr@nrc.gov. Video archive of the meeting can be found on 

the NRC's website at http://video.nrc.gov, is dated November 14, 2013, and is titled, "Public 

Meeting to Receive Comments on the Waste Confidence Draft Generic Environmental Impact 

Statement and Proposed Rule." For convenience, web links to the staff’s presentation 

materials, an audio file of the meeting, and the meeting transcript are also available on the 

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

Approximately 107 people participated in the meeting, both in-person and remotely using the 

teleconference line, and 32 provided comments. Meeting attendees included members of the 

public, representatives of the Prairie Island Indian Community and the City of Red Wing, 

Minnesota, a representative from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, a 

representative from the National Conference of State Legislatures, and members of industry 

and public advocacy groups. Commenters called in from Virginia, California, Pennsylvania, 

Illinois, Maryland, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Tennessee, North Carolina, and New York. A list of 

meeting attendees is included as Attachment 1. 

Topics and concerns raised during the public comment portion of the meeting included: general 

opposition to nuclear power; calls to stop making additional nuclear waste; support for 

continuing the moratorium on issuance of licenses for facilities that relied on the Waste 

Confidence Rule; opposition to the Waste Confidence rulemaking and the term “Waste 

Confidence”; calls to withdraw the DGEIS; critique of the DGEIS assumption regarding 

institutional controls; concern about the general safety of dry cask storage and spent fuel pools; 

climate change impacts on the safe storage of spent fuel; accidents caused by natural events 

such as earthquakes and flooding; Fukushima; spent fuel pool fires; support for expedited 

transfer of spent fuel from pools to hardened onsite storage (HOSS); high-burn-up-fuel; issues 

specific to facilities including North Anna, Surry, Calvert Cliffs, Peach Bottom, Limerick, 

Palisades, and San Onofre; the decommissioning of Zion; health effects of radiation; the 

transportation of spent fuel; boraflex; financial qualifications for decommissioning; future costs of 

storing and handling spent fuel; support for nuclear power in light of climate change concerns; 

support for the continued safe storage of spent fuel; support for centralized interim storage and 

a permanent geologic repository; and support for the DGEIS, proposed rule, and the NRC’s 24-

month timeline. 

Enclosure: Meeting Attendees List 

cc: See next page 
A. Imboden - 2 - 

located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC’s Public Document Room reference staff at 

1-800-397-4209, or via e-mail at pdr@nrc.gov. Video archive of the meeting can be found on the NRC's 

website at http://video.nrc.gov, is dated November 15, 2013, and is titled, "Public Meeting to Receive 

Comments on the Waste Confidence Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement and Proposed 

Rule." For convenience, web links to the staff’s presentation materials, an audio file of the meeting, and 

the meeting transcript are also available on the Waste Confidence Directorate’s website at 

http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/wcd/pub-involve.html. 

Approximately 107 people participated in the meeting, both in-person and remotely using the 

teleconference line, and 32 provided comments. Meeting attendees included members of the public, 

representatives of the Prairie Island Indian Community and the City of Red Wing, Minnesota, a 

representative from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, a representative from the National 

Conference of State Legislatures, and members of industry and public advocacy groups. Commenters 

called in from Virginia, California, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Maryland, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Tennessee, 

North Carolina, and New York. A list of meeting attendees is included as Attachment 1. 

Topics and concerns raised during the public comment portion of the meeting included: general 

opposition to nuclear power; calls to stop making additional nuclear waste; support for continuing the 

moratorium on issuance of licenses for facilities that relied on the Waste Confidence Rule; opposition to 

the Waste Confidence rulemaking and the term “Waste Confidence”; calls to withdraw the DGEIS; critique 

of the DGEIS assumption regarding institutional controls; concern about the general safety of dry cask 

storage and spent fuel pools; climate change impacts on the safe storage of spent fuel; accidents caused 

by natural events such as earthquakes and flooding; Fukushima; spent fuel pool fires; support for 

expedited transfer of spent fuel from pools to hardened onsite storage (HOSS); high-burn-up-fuel; issues 

specific to facilities including North Anna, Surry, Calvert Cliffs, Peach Bottom, Limerick, Palisades, and 

San Onofre; the decommissioning of Zion; health effects of radiation; the transportation of spent fuel; 

boraflex; financial qualifications for decommissioning; future costs of storing and handling spent fuel; 

support for nuclear power in light of climate change concerns; support for the continued safe storage of 

spent fuel; support for centralized interim storage and a permanent geologic repository; and support for 

the DGEIS, proposed rule, and the NRC’s 24-month timeline. 

Enclosure: Meeting Attendees List 

DISTRIBUTION:

PUBLIC 

NMSS_WCD_Distribution 

TCampbell (OGC) 

LLondon (OGC) 

Miriam Juckett (mjuckett@swri.org) 

 

ADAMS Accession No.: ML13346A905

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

NAME SLopas TCampbell(NLO) AImboden 

DATE 12/11/13 12/12/13 12/11/13 

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
 Enclosure 

List of Attendees 

Public Meeting to Receive Comments on the 

Waste Confidence DGEIS and Proposed Rule 

Rockville, MD - November 14, 2013 - 2:00 – 4:43 PM EST

First Name Last Name Organization or Affiliation 

1 Ein Alexander Hogan Lovells 

2 Paul Arveson USC 

3 Ayesha Athar AREVA 

4 Savannah Bailey CASEnergy Coalition 

5 Nathan D Bennett North American Young Generation in Nuclear (NAYGN) 

6 Jerry Bonanno Nuclear Energy Institute 

7 Jan Boudart Private Citizen 

8 Rick Buckley Entergy Nuclear 

9 Michael Callahan Decommissioning Plant Coalition 

10 Nancy Carpenter Private Citizen 

11 Christopher Charles Nuclear Energy Institute 

12 Jeremy Cohn Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Systems 

13 Diane D'Arrigo Nuclear Information Resource Service 

14 Somenath Dasgupta Jesmin Agricom 

15 Jeremy Dillon Exchange Monitor 

16 Gwen DuBois Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility 

17 Jane Swift Dugdale Private Citizen 

18 Charles Ellis Virginia Dept. of Environmental Quality 

19 Jonas England MPR Associates 

20 Dagmar Fabihn Private Citizen 

21 Allison Fisher Public Citizen 

22 Jennifer Gaegler Public 

23 Diego Garcia AREVA & NAYGN 

24 Doug Gerleman Private Citizen 

25 Ellen Ginsberg Nuclear Energy Institute 

26 Richard Goffi Booz Allen 

27 Erica Gray Private Citizen 

28 Greg Greer Public Citizen 

29 Paul Gunter Beyond Nuclear 

30 Marshall Hallock City of Red Wing, Minnesota, official 

31 Ace Hoffman Nuke Free North County 

32 Ben Husch National Conference of State Legislatures 

33 Bruce Johnson Prairie Island Indian Community 

34 Kevin Kamps Beyond Nuclear 

35 Bradley Karbowsky United Association 

36 Stephen Klementowicz Private Citizen 

37 Melinda Krasting Private Citizen 

38 Evan Lapiska Clean and Safe Energy Coalition 
2

First Name Last Name Organization or Affiliation 

39 Marvin Lewis Private Citizen 

40 Linda Lewison Nuclear Energy Information Service 

41 Mark Leyse Private Citizen 

42 Steven C. Loftus Booz Allen Hamilton 

43 David Martin Martin Images News 

44 Glenn Mathues AREVA 

45 Rod McCullum Nuclear Energy Institute 

46 Chuck McCune Prizm Foundation

47 Katrina McMurrian Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition 

48 Susan Michetti Sierra Club 

49 Regina Minniss Private Citizen 

50 Jennifer Musgrave AREVA 

51 M. (Sami) Nalluswami Private Citizen 

52 Max Obuszewski Crabshell Alliance 

53 Rie Okumura Harvard University 

54 David O'Leary Sierra Club - Maryland Chapter 

55 Mary Olson Nuclear Information Resource Service 

56 

Elizabeth 

M.T. O'Nan Private Citizen 

57 Darani Reddick Winston & Strawn LLP 

58 David Repka Winston & Strawn LLP 

59 John Richter Private Citizen 

60 Lorraine Ruppe Alliance For A Clean Environment 

61 Janice 

SevreDuszynska Crabshell Alliance 

62 Susan Shapiro Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition 

63 Beverly Silverberg Bev R. Silverberg Communications 

64 Gail Snyder Nuclear Energy Information Service

65 Steven Sondheim Sierra Club

66 Gene Soult Office Regulatory Staff 

67 Jutta Splettstoesser Private Citizen 

68 Mary Brooke Sunderland Concerned Citizen 

69 Diane Szczesuil Coalition Against Nukes 

70 Ruth Thomas Environmentalists Inc. 

71 Alex Thrower US Nuclear Infrastructure Council 

72 Jenny Vince Clean and Safe Energy Coalition 

73 Heather Westra Prairie Island Indian Community 

74 Tamara Bloomer Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

75 David Brown Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

76 Francis Cameron Facilitator 

77 Tison Campbell Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

78 Sheldon Clark Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

79 David Cylkowski Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
3

 First Name Last Name Organization or Affiliation 

80 Jennifer Davis Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

81 Kevin Folk Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

82 Greg Greer Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

83 Robert Hoffman Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

84 Andy Imboden Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

85 Rolonda Jackson Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

86 Christian Jacobs Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

87 Miriam Juckett Southwest Research Institute 

88 Kathy Kanatas Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

89 Meena Khanna Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

90 Steve Klementowicz Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

91 Pat LaPlante Southwest Research Institute 

92 Lisa London Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

93 Sarah Lopas Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

94 Jim Maltese Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

95 Timothy McCartin Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

96 Keith McConnell Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

97 Dave McIntyre Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

98 Paul Michalak Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

99 Jessie Muir-Quintero Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

100 Alicia Mullins Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

101 Christine Pineda Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

102 TR Rowe Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

103 Carrie Safford Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

104 Alexa Sieracki Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

105 Andrew Stuyvenberg Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

106 Mike Wentzel Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

107 Susan Wittick Nuclear Regulatory Commission