February 23, 2001

MEMORANDUM TO: William D. Travers

Executive Director for Operations

FROM: Brian W. Sheron, Associate Director/RA by J. Zwolinski for/

 for Project Licensing and Technical Analysis

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

SUBJECT: JANUARY 2001 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 31, 2001.

During the month, two new petitions on Indian Point Unit 2 (G20010020 and G20000568) were

received. Currently, there are four open petitions: three 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 January 31, 2001. 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
Report on Status of Public Petitions Under 10 CFR 2.206

January 31, 2001

(Table of Contents)

Attachment 1

Page

Facility Petitioner/EDO No. No.

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

US Department of Defense and all 

services/users of depleted uranium D. Rokke/G20000345..........................................4

Haddam Neck Nuclear Generating Station R. Bassilakis/CAN/G20000462............................5

Indian Point Unit 2 J. Riccio/Public Citizen/G20010020.....................6

Indian Point Unit 2 D. Katz/ CAN/G20000568....................................7
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:
4

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 January.

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
5

or safety concerns or significant violations of NRC requirements. After the 25-day Commission review, the

DD became a final agency action on February 5, 2001.

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: 1/4/2001

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. 

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, and the staff, in consultation with the Region, is in the process of

resolving the comments raised by the petitioners.
6

Facility: Indian Point, Unit 2

Petitioner: James P. Riccio, et al. (Public Citizen)

Date of Petition: 1/11/2001

Director's Decision To Be Issued by: NRR

Date Referred to Review Organization: 1/17/01

EDO Number: G20010020

Scheduled Completion Date: 2/23/2001

Last Contact with Petitioners: 1/30/2001

Petition Manager: R. Clark

Case Attorney: J. Goldberg

Issues/Action Requested:

The petitioners request that the licensee, Con Edison, have its license to operate Indian Point

Unit 2 (IP2) suspended or revoked until there has been a full-participation biennial emergency

planning exercise required by 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E. The petitioners also requested that if

Con Edison’s license to operate IP2 is not suspended or revoked, it be fined $110,000 for each

day it is not in compliance with the regulatory requirements specified in 10 CFR Part 50,

Appendix E.

Background:

This is a new petition. A PRB meeting on the petition was held on January 30, 2001. The

petitioners were provided with an opportunity to address the PRB in an open session, and did so

with the licensee present. 

Current Status:

The PRB concluded that the petition did not meet the threshold for processing under 10 CFR

2.206 [Part III of Management Directive 8.11, pages 11 and 12] because the petitioner raises no

new issues or safety concerns. However, the staff has acknowledged that ambiguities exist in

the regulations regarding the frequency and level of exercise participation required between colocated licensees and offsite authorities. This issue has been reviewed and evaluated by the

staff and is documented in the Commission Information Paper (SECY-00-0238) dated

December 26, 2000. In that paper, the staff concluded that the licensee’s practice of alternating

participation in the biennial full-participation exercises, with the current level of interactions

between the licensees and offsite authorities during the “off biennial” years, is acceptable, and

that there is reasonable assurance that appropriate measures could be taken to protect the

health and safety of the public in the event of a radiological emergency. Thus, IP2 is not required

to conduct another full-participation exercise with offsite authorities until 2002. The

acknowledgment letter addressing the petitioner’s request will be issued by March 9, 2001. The

petitioner will be offered an opportunity to address the PRB.
7

Facility: Indian Point, Unit 2

Petitioner: Deborah Katz, et al. (CAN)

Date of Petition: 12/4/2000

Director's Decision To Be Issued by: NRR

Date Referred to Review Organization: 12/11/2000

EDO Number: G20000568

Scheduled Completion Date: 7/9/2001

Last Contact with Petitioners: 1/24/2001

Petition Manager: C. Gratton

Case Attorney: J. Goldberg

Issues/Action Requested:

(1) That the licensee, ConEd, have its license suspended for the Indian Point Unit 2 (IP2) facility

due to persistent and pervasive negligent management, which has endangered the public health

and safety and the environment due to significant safety problems existent at the site for

decades. (2) Specifically, that NRC investigate the apparent misrepresentation of material fact

by the utility to determine whether the significantly insufficient engineering calculations relied on

to ensure adequacy of design of key systems, including the steam generator (SG) analysis and

the electric bus analysis at the IP2 reactor, were due to a lack of rigor and thoroughness or a

result of deliberately misleading information. (3) Should the investigation determine that ConEd

deliberately provided insufficient and false information, the petitioners specifically request that

ConEd’s operating license be revoked for its IP2 reactor. (4) Should NRC not revoke the

license, and the IP2 reactor returns to operation, the petitioners specifically request that it remain

on the list of agency focus reactors to oversee the operation of the reactor until such time as its

management demonstrates that it can fulfill its regulatory requirements and commitments. (5)

No license transfer requests should be approved for IP2 until such time that its management can

demonstrate that the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR) backlog and the

maintenance requirements are up-to-date and workers have been retrained to the complete and

revised UFSAR. (6) NRC should keep IP2 off-line until the fundamental breakdown in

management is analyzed and corrected.

Background:

This is a new petition. The petitioners were, in accordance with Management Directive (MD)

8.11, offered an opportunity to address the Petition Review Board (PRB) in an open meeting.

This meeting was conducted on January 24, 2001, in NRC headquarters.

Current Status:

With the SG replacement having been completed at IP2, and the licensee in the process of

restart, on December 20, 2000, the PRB convened a meeting to consider the Immediate Action

request related to plant restart (item 6). The PRB concluded that there was insufficient

information provided and that the petitioners did not substantiate any safety concerns to justify

delaying unit restart. Region I staff, who participated in the PRB meeting, said that the regional

staff was satisfied with the SG replacement efforts thus far completed at IP2, and that plant

restart activities have been moving satisfactorily. A PRB meeting to consider the remainder of

the petitioners’ issues (items 1 thru 5) was held on February 7, 2001. The PRB recommended 

accepting the petition, and issuing a partial Director’s Decision to address the transfer issue

(item 5) by May 2001.
1

Attachment 2

AGE AND RESOURCE EXPENDITURES FOR AGENCY 2.206 OPEN PETITIONS

As of January 31, 2001

ASSIG

NED

ACTIO

N 

OFFICE

PETITION

NUMBER

FACILITY AGE

(month

s)*

Schedule

d

Completi

on Date

Resourc

es

Expend

ed by

Action

Office

(HOUR

S)

1

Resourc

es

Expende

d by

OGC

(HOURS

)

1

Comments if not meeting

the Agency’s 

120-day Completion Goal

NMSS G19990011 ATLAS CORPORATION 3** TBD2 5 70 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.

NRR G20000462 Haddam Neck 3 3/9/2001 124 4 Proposed DD issued and

comments have been received

from petitioners.

NRR G20010020 Indian Point Unit 2 - 2/23/2001 10 |

NRR G20000568 Indian Point Unit 2 - 7/9/2001 164 13 |

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

Months

Petition Number Assigned Facility Petition DD Age Comments

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 Partly Granted

G19990465 NRR Indian Point Unit 2 9/15/99 4/13/2000 6 Denied

G20000062 NRR Indian Point Unit 3 2/10/2000 7/26/2000 4 Partly Granted

G20000133 NRR Indian Point Unit 2 3/14/2000 10/6/2000 6 Partly Granted

G20000232 NRR Hatch Units 1 & 2 5/3/2000 10/18/200 4 Denied

G20000138,136 NMSS Envirosafe, Idaho 3/13/2000 12/13/2000 8 Denied 

G20000345 NMSS US Department of Defense 6/1/2000 1/9/2001 3 Deni

ed 

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.