TMI Update: Jan 14, 2024

Dear Pennsylvania wind stakeholder:

According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Pennsylvania has deployed 1,340 megawatts of wind energy, resulting in an estimated $1.5 billion of economic development over 20 years. But that’s less than 20% of Pennsylvania’s wind potential!

To explore the future of Pennsylvania’s wind energy opportunities and challenges, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), in collaboration with the Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Coalition, will host a Pennsylvania State Wind Energy Forum on October 14 in Harrisburg. You are cordially invited to attend. The program will:

• Address a wide variety of Pennsylvania wind stakeholders’ questions about the current status of wind energy technology, markets, and impacts, as well as opportunities for future development
• Include perspectives from utilities, wind developers, advocacy groups, wildlife specialists, researchers, and government officials
• Allow attendees to engage with topical experts during a lunchtime session of 20 table topics and in-depth Q&A.

The agenda will feature:

    John Hanger, Pennsylvania Secretary of Planning and Policy
    Larry Schweiger, CEO, Penn Future
    Gladys Brown, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Chair
    Rob Gramlich, AWEA VP of Policy
    Brent Alderfer, CEO and co-founder of Community Energy
    Shawn Garvin, EPA Regional Administrator (invited)
    A host of other Pennsylvania and regional leaders.

The panelists will address national and regional markets, the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, wind-natural gas integration, Pennsylvania wind project case studies, and wind developer perspectives. Attendees will wrap up the day by discussing Pennsylvania’s wind futures.

Please go to www.awea.org/pennsylvania to see the agenda details and register for the Forum (which includes lunch and an evening reception). We look forward to seeing you at Penn State’s Harrisburg campus on October 14.

Larry Flowers
AWEA State Wind Forums facilitator

Work To Extinguish Mine Fire In Carbon County Continues To Progress

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is continuing drilling work to map the limits of the Jeansville mine fire in Banks Township, Carbon County.

“DEP’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation is continuing to monitor the progress of efforts to extinguish this mine fire,” said John Stefanko, deputy secretary for Office of Active and Abandoned Mine Operations. “We are working with the contractor to complete the exploratory drilling work as fast as is safely possible.”

Minichi Inc., of Dupont, Luzerne County has drilled 38 of the proposed 51 holes. Drilling activity is expected to finish by the end of August, but could be extended if additional drilling is needed to accurately define the limits of the fire.

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Commission Denies Pepco/Exelon Merger Application

(Washington, D.C.) Today, the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia (“Commission”) voted to deny an application for acquisition of Pepco Holdings, Inc. (PHI) by Exelon Corporation as not being in the public interest. In determining whether the Proposed Merger is in the public interest pursuant to D.C. Code §§ 34-504 and 34-1001, the Commission first considered the effect of the Proposed Merger transaction on each of the seven public interest factors. This included the effects of the transaction on ratepayers and shareholders, on competition in the local retail and wholesale markets and on conservation of natural resources and preservation of environmental quality. In doing so, the Commission identified how the effects of the Proposed Merger on each of the seven public interest factors would benefit or harm the public (including Pepco, District ratepayers, and the District community). The Commission then used its findings to assess the transaction as a whole. The Commission concluded that, taken as a whole, the transaction as proposed by Exelon and Pepco is not in the public interest. In a separate opinion, Commissioner Phillips concurred in part and dissented in part.

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Join Us at Three Mile Island for Community Information Night!

Three Mile Island invites you and your family to join us on Thursday, September 10, 2015 at our Community Information Night.

Open House: September 10, 2015 5 to 8 p.m. at the TMI Training Center
The training center is located on Rt. 441 at 1009 Pecks Road, across the street from TMI.

Download Invitation

Markey: Filtered Vent Vote Adds to Litany of NRC Post-Fukushima Safety Failures

Boston (August 21, 2015) – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) yesterday announced by a vote of 3-1 that it will not even put out for public comment the question of whether to upgrade America’s Fukushima-style reactors with a commonsense safety measure to prevent radiation exposure when vents are used to prevent hydrogen explosions during a meltdown. Commissioner Jeff Baran was the dissenting vote. In 2013, then-Rep. Markey and a group of House committee leaders called on the NRC to require that all U.S. nuclear reactors of the same design as the ones that melted down at the Japanese Fukushima nuclear facility install such vents in order to reduce exposure to radiation when the vents are used. Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Massachusetts has a reactor design that would utilize a filtered vent.

Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement:

“Yet again, the NRC has missed another opportunity to take the lessons learned from the Fukushima disaster and upgrade America’s nuclear fleet to make it safer in the face of a severe nuclear accident. The NRC has yet to require the nuclear industry complete implementation of a single Fukushima Task Force recommendation. It’s irresponsible, inexplicable and an abdication of NRC’s duty to protect public safety. Instead of following its top experts’ safety recommendations, the NRC chose to do nothing, leaving the people who live around these vulnerable nuclear facilities without an important protection. ”

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NRC to Hold Public Meetings in Maryland and Nevada on Yucca Mountain Environmental Report Supplement

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold a series of public meetings at agency headquarters in Rockville, Md., and in Nevada to seek public comment on a supplement to the Department of Energy’s Environmental Impact Statement for a proposed geologic high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

The draft supplement, which evaluates the proposed repository’s potential impacts on groundwater and from surface discharges of groundwater, was released on Aug. 13. The public comment period begins today, with publication of a notice in the Federal Register and ends Oct. 20. The NRC staff will hold a public conference call Aug. 26 from 2-3 p.m. Eastern Time to explain how to submit comments. Call-in information is available on the NRC website. Procedures for submitting comments are also explained in today’s Federal Register notice.

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State Challenges NRC In Federal Court Over Yankee Decommissioning Funds

The state of Vermont has gone to court to fight a decision by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission that could affect the decommissioning of the now-closed Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.

The NRC ruled recently that Vermont Yankee can dip into its decommissioning fund and use some of the money to handle spent nuclear fuel.

On Thursday, the state challenged the NRC in the U. S Court of Appeals in Washington. Public Service Commissioner Christopher Recchia -- whose department represents ratepayers -- said that NRC rules are clear that decommissioning funds can only be used for decommissioning.

“It’s got to be used for, I think the NRC terms are, ‘activities that reduce the radiological exposure at the site.’ So yes, decommissioning,” Recchia said.

The NRC in June granted Yankee an exemption and allowed it to spent about $225 million of the roughly $660 million fund for spent nuclear fuel. Recchia is concerned that diverting some of the money from the decommissioning fund could slow the timetable for dismantling the plant.

The state was joined in its legal challenge by two utilities that collected the decommissioning fund from ratepayers. Recchia said Green Mountain Power and the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. have a clear stake in how the decommissioning money is spent.

“They are the ones that have an interest in this fund. And we obviously want to support the ratepayers but they have a more direct claim to it. So we thought it would be useful, and they agreed, to join the suit,” he said.

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THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR STATION, UNIT 1 - STAFF ASSESSMENT OF INFORMATION PROVIDED PURSUANT TO TITLE 10 OF THE CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS PART 50, SECTION 50.54(f), SEISMIC HAZARD REEVALUATIONS FOR RECOMMENDATION 2.1 OF THE NEAR-TERM TASK FORCE REVIEW OF INSIGHTS FROM THE FUKUSHIMA DAl-ICHI ACCIDENT (TAC NO. MF3905)

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Decommissioning Funding (Reissued with larger conference room, gotomeeting and conference information)
FORTHCOMING MEETING WITH THE NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE (NEI) TO DISCUSS ITS PROPOSAL TO DEVELOP INDUSTRY GUIDANCE FOR DECOMMISSIONING FUNDING

Tuesday, August 25, 2015 8:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. EST   5:30am-8:30am PDT

http://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/view?AccessionNumber=ML15225A138

LOCATION: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) ACRS Conference Room, T-2B3 11545 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852 PURPOSE: NEI to present its proposal for developing an industry guidance document on decommissioning funding, as stated in the April 17, 2015, NEI letter to the NRC (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System Accession No. ML15209A887).

Below is the information for registering with go to meeting and the conference line.
 
Tue, Aug 25, 2015 8:30 AM - 11:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/560693837
 
Join the conference call.
Call in: 888-609-9306 Passcode: 69221

NRC Approves Changes to Petition-for-Rulemaking Process

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today approved a final rule that will streamline and clarify its process for addressing petitions for rulemaking. The new rule will be published shortly in the Federal Register.

Any member of the public can petition the NRC to issue a new regulation or amend an existing one. The final rule marks the first comprehensive update to the NRC’s process for considering rulemaking petitions since the process was established in 1979. The NRC published proposed changes for comment in May 2013, and considered the comments received in finalizing the rule.

The revisions will clarify the NRC’s policies and practices at each stage of the petition-for- rulemaking process, including how the staff evaluates petitions and how it communicates information about both the status of petitions and rulemaking activities that address them. It also improves the process for resolving a rulemaking petition and for closing the petition docket, which would occur after the NRC denies a petition or initiates a rulemaking to address a petitioner’s concerns. The changes are intended to enhance the consistency, timeliness and transparency of the process and improve its efficiency.

More information about the petition-for-rulemaking process can be found on the NRC’s website.

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