January 17, 2003

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 2002 REPORT ON THE STATUS OF PUBLIC PETITIONS

UNDER 10 CFR 2.206

The attached report gives the status of petitions submitted under 10 CFR 2.206. As of

December 31, 2002, there were two open petitions which were accepted for review under the

2.206 process, both in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. One proposed

Director’s Decision (DD) was issued this month. 

Attachment 1 provides a detailed status of the open petitions.

Attachment 2 provides the status of incoming letters that the staff has been reviewing to

determine if they meet the criteria for review under the 2.206 process. 

Attachment 3 shows the age statistics for the open 2.206 petitions as of December 31, 2002.

Attachment 4 shows the age trend of closed petitions for the last 3 years. 

This report, DDs, and other 2.206-related documents are placed in the Agencywide

Documents Access and Management System. In making these readily accessible to the

public, the staff has identified another vehicle to address one of our performance goals, i.e., to

enhance public confidence.

Attachments: As stated

CONTACT: Donna Skay, NRR

415-1322
January 17, 2003

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 2002 REPORT ON THE STATUS OF PUBLIC PETITIONS

UNDER 10 CFR 2.206

The attached report gives the status of petitions submitted under 10 CFR 2.206. As of

December 31, 2002, there were two open petitions which were accepted for review under the

2.206 process, both in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. One proposed

Director’s Decision (DD) was issued this month. 

Attachment 1 provides a detailed status of the open petitions.

Attachment 2 provides the status of incoming letters that the staff has been reviewing to

determine if they meet the criteria for review under the 2.206 process. 

Attachment 3 shows the age statistics for the open 2.206 petitions as of December 31, 2002.

Attachment 4 shows the age trend of closed petitions for the last 3 years. 

This report, DDs, and other 2.206-related documents are placed in the Agencywide

Documents Access and Management System. In making these readily accessible to the

public, the staff has identified another vehicle to address one of our performance goals, i.e., to

enhance public confidence.

Attachments: As stated

CONTACT: Donna Skay, NRR

415-1322

DISTRIBUTION: See next page

Accession No.:ML030150893 *See previous concurrence

OFFICE PM:PDI-1 LA:PDI-1 D:PDII D:DLPM NMSS ADPT:NRR

NAME DSkay SLittle* HBerkow* JZwolinski* PGoldberg* BSheron

DATE 1/15/03 1/09/03 1/09/03 1/15/03 1/09/03 1/16/03
DISTRIBUTION:

PUBLIC

W. Kane, DEDR/OEDO

C. Paperillo, DEDMRS/EDP

P. Norry, DEDM/OEDO

J. Craig, AO/OEDO

J. Shea, ODEO

P. Anderson, OEDO

E. Julian

S. Collins, NRR

R. Laufer

S. Richards

R. Borchardt, NRR

B. Sheron, NRR

C. Mohrwinkel, NRR

K. Cyr, OGC

L. Chandler, OGC

J. Goldberg, OGC

J. Cordes, Jr., OCAA

F. Congel, OE

P. Lohaus, STP

M. Virgilio, NMSS

P. Goldberg, NMSS

F. Brown, NMSS

B. Boger,NRR

M. Stein, OE

G. Caputo,OI

J. Zwolinski, NRR

T. Marsh, NRR

H. Berkow, NRR

D. Skay, NRR

OCA

OPA

Regional Administrators

PDI-1 Reading 

S. Little

D. Widmayer
Attachment 1

Status of Open Petitions

Page

Facility Petitioner/EDO No. No.

Oyster Creek Generating Station Edith Gbur for Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch/

G20020385................................................... 1

Waltz Mill Pennsylvania Site Viacom, Inc. / G20020629............................. 2
Attachment 1

Report on Status of Public Petitions Under 10 CFR 2.206

Facility: Oyster Creek Generating Station

Petitioner: Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch

Date of Letter: 6/21/2002, as supplemented on July 18, 2002

Director’s Decision to Be Issued by: NMSS

EDO Number: G20020385

Proposed DD issuance: 12/10/2002

Last Contact with Petitioner: 12/20/2002

Petition Manager: Steve O’Conner

Case Attorney: Jack Goldberg

Issues/Actions requested:

The petitioner requests that the NRC issue an order to the licensee, suspending the dry cask

storage program at Oyster Creek. 

Background:

As a basis for the above requests, the petitioner raised concerns with: the location of the

Oyster Creek independent spent fuel storage installation relative to local roads and

communities; the ability of the NUHOMS dry spent fuel storage system to survive a sabotage

attack; the adequacy of Oyster Creek security measures for fuel handling activities; the

adequacy of the Oyster Creek emergency evacuation plan; and the quality of the NUHOMS

systems planned for use at Oyster Creek.

The petitioner participated in a telephone call with the Petition Review Board on July 18, 2002. 

In response to the PRB discussion, the petitioner provided additional information on July 18,

2002, to supplement the petition request. This information is also being considered in the

review of the petition.

The petitioner’s request for NRC to immediately suspend the license for the NUHOMS dry

spent fuel storage system and halt transfer of spent fuel from wet pool storage to dry storage

modules at Oyster Creek was denied because the safety concerns were reviewed and

determined not to pose an undue risk to public health and safety. The Commission does not

believe that immediate action is required because the licensee for Oyster Creek is not planning

to load additional fuel canisters until 2003.

An acknowledgment letter and Federal Register notice were issued on August 7, 2002.

On October 30, 2002, a teleconference was held with the petitioner and her counsel regarding

the status of the proposed Director's Decision. The petitioner asked that we specifically

address certain accident scenarios discussed in the petition in our response. She also asked if

there was any way that the petitioners could get a hearing for the Oyster Creek ISFSI issues.

Current Status:

An additional teleconference with the petitioner was held with a member of OGC present on

November 4, 2002, to further discuss the issue of a hearing . The staff prepared a proposed

Director's Decision which was sent to the petitioners and the licensee for comment on 

December 10, 2002. Since the petitioner did not receive the proposed DD, it was re-sent on

January 7, 2003, and the comment period extended to February 6, 2003.
- 2-

Facility: Waltz Mill Pennsylvania Site 

Petitioner: Viacom, Inc.

Date of Letter: October 30, 2002 

Director’s Decision to be Issued by: NMSS

EDO Number: G20020629

Proposed DD issuance: TBD

Last Contact with Petitioner: 1/06/03

Petition Manager: Patrick Isaac (NRR) / Derek Widmayer (NMSS)

Case Attorney: Jack Goldberg

Issues/Actions requested:

That the NRC issue an order to Westinghouse Electric Company LLC, the holder of

license SNM-770 on the Waltz Mill, Pennsylvania Site, which would require

Westinghouse’s cooperation in the decommissioning of the Westinghouse Test

Reactor (WTR) license TR-2. In particular, the order would require Westinghouse to:

(1) provide certain radiological survey data to NRC which NRC has requested. The

survey data in question determines what residual radioactivity remains in-situ. 

(2) accept under SNM-770 certain residual byproduct materials now held under Viacom

license TR-2 and located at the WTR.

Background:

Viacom is the current holder of NRC facility license TR-2 which authorizes possession,

but not operation, of the WTR. To complete the Final Decommissioning Plan, two

provisions still need to be accomplished. These are determining the residual

radioactivity remaining in-situ and preparing the necessary amendments for and

requesting the transfer of the remaining residual radioactivity and WTR facilities to the

SNM-770 license.

At the time the decommissioning plan was approved, Westinghouse was the NRC

licensee under both TR-2 and SNM-770, and so the transfer of the residual radioactive

material from one materials license to another, held by the same licensee on the same

site, was straightforward. Viacom now holds the TR-2 license while Westinghouse

holds the SNM-770 license. Westinghouse’s and Viacom’s decommissioning

responsibilities to each other at the Waltz Mill Site are set forth in an Asset Purchase

Agreement. By refusing to accept the transfer to the SNM-770 license, Viacom alleges

that Westinghouse is in violation of 10 CFR 50.5. 

Current Status:

Westinghouse submitted a response to the petition on December 20, 2002, which is

being reviewed by the staff. Viacom has indicated that they will not respond to the

Westinghouse response at this time.
- 3 -

The staff will be contacting the petitioner and licensees to set up a public PRB meeting

after review of Westinghouse’s response. Following the Westinghouse and Viacom

meeting with the PRB, a review schedule will be established. However, it is likely that

this schedule will exceed the 120-day timeliness goal because of the nature of this

petition.
Attachment 2

Status of Potential Petitions Under Consideration

Facility: GE Medical Systems and Adecco, Inc.

Petitioner: Thomas Saparito representing the National Environmental Protection

Center

Date of Letters: October 1, 2002 (two letters) as supplemented on December 26, 2002

Responsible Office: NMSS

Public PRB meeting: By letter dated November 19, 200, the staff issued a letter to the

petitioner informing him of the PRB’s recommendation that the

submittals be rejected as petitions under 2.206. The petitioner declined

the offer of a meeting to comment on the PRB’s recommendations.

Issues/Actions requested:

That the NRC require GE Medical Systems and Adecco, Inc. to affirm that it maintains

non-hostile work environments, to provide written documentation detailing employee

concerns programs, or to implement such a program at all of its facilities licensed by

NRC. 

Resolution:

By letter dated December 26, 2002, the NMSS staff notified the petitioner that the

request would not be reviewed under 2.206 and addressed the petitioner’s concerns in

this letter. No further action is needed.

Facility: Palo Verde 

Petitioner: Thomas Saparito representing the National Environmental Protection

Center

Date of Letter: October 27, 2002, as supplemented on November 9, 2002

Responsible Office: NRR

Public PRB meeting: petitioner declined

Issues/Actions requested:

That the NRC advise its employees of the right to raise safety and health concerns; that

the NRC cause an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Arizona Public

Service Company’s license amendment request and provide the petitioners with a copy

of NRC’s safety evaluation related to the amendment request.

Resolution:

By letter dated January 2, 2003, the NRR staff notified the petitioner that the request

would not be reviewed under 2.206. The petitioner’s concerns will be addressed as

controlled correspondence. The response is scheduled to be issued by January 17,

2003.

Facility: Sequoyah and San Onofre 

Petitioner: Thomas Saparito representing the National Environmental Protection

Center

Date of Letter: November 13, 2002

Responsible Office: NRR

Public PRB meeting: petitioner declined

Issues/Actions requested:

That the NRC revoke a license amendment granted to the Sequoyah nuclear plant

regarding steam generator tube inspection scope and revoke a license amendment

granted to the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station on steam generator tube
inspections.

- 2 -

Resolution:

By letter dated January 2, 2003, the NRR staff notified the petitioner that the request

would not be reviewed under 2.206. The petitioner’s concerns will be addressed as

controlled correspondence and a combined response with the Palo Verde petition

response is scheduled for issuance by January 17, 2003.

Facility: Maine Yankee

Petitioner: Randall Speck, Special Counsel for the State of Maine

Date of Letter: November 15, 2002

Responsible Office: NMSS

PRB meeting: To be scheduled 

Issues/Actions requested: 

That the NRC conduct a hearing on the efficacy of indefinite, long-term spent fuel

storage at Maine Yankee.

Resolution:

The petitioner has also requested a hearing, pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202, regarding the

October 16, 2002, safeguards order and interim compensatory measures. On

December 10, 2002, the staff sent a letter to the petitioner stating that a decision on the

acceptability of the 2.206 petition will be held in abeyance until the staff makes a

determination on the hearing request. 
Attachment 3

AGE STATISTICS FOR AGENCY 2.206 PETITIONS

ASSIGNED

ACTION

OFFICE

FACILITY Incoming

petition

PRB

meeting1

Acknowledgment 

letter / 

days from

incoming2

Proposed DD

issuance

Date/ age3

Scheduled

date for

final DD/

age 4

Comments if not meeting the Agency’s 

Completion Goals

NMSS Oyster Creek 6/21/02 7/18/02 8/07/02

47

12/10/2002

120

---

NMSS Waltz Mill Site 10/30/02 TBD TBD TBD ---

1) Goal is to hold a PRB meeting, which the petitioner is invited to participate in, within 2 weeks of receipt of petition (there is often a delay of

up two weeks from the date that the letter is issued until it is received by the reviewing organization).

2) Goal is to issue acknowledgement letter within 5 weeks of the date of incoming petition.

3) Goal is to issue proposed DD within 120 days of the acknowledgment letter.

4) Goal is to issue final DD within 45 days of the end of the comment period.
Attachment 4

NOTE: Includes both NMSS and NRR petitions