Opinion ID: 555042
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Low Power Licensing Proceedings

Text: 34 A low power license permits an applicant to initiate fuel loading and low-level testing before ascension to full power operation. Because certain requirements for full power licensing, such as adequate offsite emergency plans, are not relevant to low power operation, the NRC may, upon motion by the applicant, issue a low power testing license prior to the authorization of a full power license, provided that all contested issues material to low power operations have been resolved in the applicant's favor. See 10 C.F.R. Sec. 50.57(c). The Licensing Board assigned the adjudication of Seabrook's licensing issues to two panels; one of them held hearings on the offsite emergency planning contentions discussed above, and the second adjudicated all contentions relevant to low power licensing, including all onsite safety and emergency planning issues. See LBP-87-10, 25 N.R.C. 177, 181 (1987). Petitioners seek review of the NRC's action concerning two issues raised in the low power proceedings. 35 In June 1982, petitioner NECNP submitted a contention suggesting that Seabrook's ocean-water cooling system could fail because of the accumulation of mollusks, other aquatic organisms, and debris. JA, No. 89-1306, at 1. As its basis for the contention, NECNP pointed to an NRC notice in the Federal Register discussing the problem of cooling system blockage from sea animals like clams and mussels. Id. at 2-3; see 47 Fed.Reg. 21,653 (1982). The Licensing Board refused to admit the contention. Several years later, however, the Appeal Board reversed and remanded the contention. ALAB-875, 26 N.R.C. 251, 261-63 (1987). 36 During the course of subsequent proceedings, NECNP sought to compel discovery of Seabrook's ability to detect and control microbiologically induced corrosion in its cooling system. The Licensing Board denied NECNP's motion to compel, ruling that NECNP's cooling system contention was limited to the accumulation of marine organisms and debris and did not encompass the side-effects of microbiological activity. JA, No. 89-1306, at 472-79. NECNP sought reconsideration, submitting an expert affidavit expressing the view that microbiologically induced corrosion was within the scope of the 1982 contention. Id. at 90. The Licensing Board denied the motion to reconsider on the ground that expert opinions were not relevant to the question. Id. at 491-96. NECNP thereafter informed the Board that it no longer wished to litigate the issue of blockage by macro-organisms, id. at 158-59, and the contention was subsequently dismissed as abandoned, id. at 499-501. 37 The Appeal Board accepted an untimely appeal of the Licensing Board's ruling on the scope of the cooling system contention, ALAB-894, 27 N.R.C. 632 (1988), and later affirmed the ruling, ALAB-899, 28 N.R.C. 93 (1988). Based on the terms and the stated basis of the contention, the Appeal Board concluded that the contention addressed blockage of coolant flow to safety-related systems, not leakage caused by corrosion. 28 N.R.C. at 96-99. The Appeal Board observed that instead of raising this new issue within the terms of the old contention, NECNP should have proffered a late-filed contention. Id. at 99. The Commission denied review, and the Appeal Board's decision became final agency action. 38 The second low power issue raised by petitioners relates to the June 1988 full participation exercise of Seabrook's emergency plans. The NRC inspection team overseeing the onsite portion of the exercise issued a report on July 6, 1988, which concluded that [n]o violations were identified during the drill and that the response actions were adequate to provide protective measures for the health and safety of the public. JA, No. 89-1306, at 220. The report detailed various strengths observed in the exercise and also discussed some weaknesses, including certain actions of onsite plant personnel. Id. at 223-24. In the opinion of the inspection team, five weaknesses indicated that the plant's Technical Support Center (TSC) and Emergency Operations Facility (EOF) staffs displayed questionable engineering judgment or failed to recognize or address technical concerns: 39 - Neither the EOF [n]or TSC staff questioned a release of greater than 7000 curies per second with only clad damage and no core uncovery; 40 - Efforts continued to restore the Emergency Feedwater Pump after a large break LOCA [Loss of Coolant Accident]; 41 - A questionable fix for the Containment Building Spray system; 42 - A lack of effort to locate and isolate the release path; and 43 - No effort was noted to blowdown Steam Generators to lessen the heat load in containment. 44 Id. at 224. 45 On September 16, 1988, petitioners filed a motion requesting that the Board admit a new contention, or in the alternative reopen the record, based on their allegation that the June exercise had revealed fundamental deficiencies in the onsite emergency plan. Id. at 241. On September 28, the NRC staff issued a follow-up inspection report based on further investigation, which concluded that the actions of the plant personnel had been acceptable after all and that the matter of the weaknesses was considered closed. Id. at 274, 286-88. 46 The Licensing Board denied petitioners' motion on the grounds that petitioners had failed to satisfy the requirements for a late-filed contention, set forth in 10 C.F.R. Sec. 2.714(a)(1), and that the motion did not meet the criteria for reopening a closed hearing record, id. Sec. 2.734. LBP-89-4, 29 N.R.C. 62, 68-86 (1989). The Appeal Board affirmed, first, on the ground that the Licensing Board did not abuse its discretion in determining that the motion failed to meet the late-filed contention requirements; and, second, on the independent basis that even if the motion met those criteria, the proposed exercise contention must be rejected under Commission case law because it did not involve a fundamental flaw in the emergency plan. ALAB-918, 29 N.R.C. 473, 480-86 (1989). The Appeal Board did not reach the issue of whether the motion satisfied the criteria for reopening a closed record. Id. at 485. The Commission declined further review; thus the Appeal Board's ruling became final agency action. 47 After various delays, the Commission ultimately granted a low power testing license for Seabrook in December 1988, with two conditions: The applicants had to provide reasonable assurance that sufficient funds would be available to cover the costs of decommissioning the plant should a full power license be denied, and petitioners' then-pending motion to litigate the onsite exercise contention had to be resolved. See CLI-88-10, 28 N.R.C. 573 (1988). With the fulfillment of these conditions, the Commission lifted its stay of the license in May 1989. CLI-89-8, 29 N.R.C. 399 (1989). After this court refused petitioners' subsequent request for a stay, Seabrook began low power operations.