Nuclear COVID: Three Mile Island & elimination of emergency planning & license transfer to LLC from Utah; Peach Bottom & out of state refueling workers during a pandemic
Folks:
The enclosed notice from the NRC serves to close out the TMI-1 LAR case eliminating off site evacuation equipment, funding to local communities, KI distribution, and radiation
monitoring. Off site emergency planning at Three Mile Island will disappear in January, 2021.Neither Dauphin County or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania opposed the phase out of emergency planning or elimination of funding.
The TMI-2 license transfer case is active, but there has been no action by theNuclear Regulatory Commission.If the NRC rules against TMIA's Petition, we have ten days to Appeal to the NRC. If an Appeal is necessary, but unsuccessful, an Appeal can be filed in federal court. TMI-Alert is prepared to file Appeals.
The NRC staff is not a party in the TMI-2 case, but reserved the right to file comments. The case pits TMI-Alert, founded in 1977 and based in Harrisburg, vs. TMI-2 Solutions, a newly-minyed LLC based in Utah and incorporated in Delaware.Though the transfer of $890 million in rate payers funds is being contemplated, the PA PUC had declined to advocate on behalf of Pennsylvania ratepayers.
The DEP has dropped out of the case.The parameters of the proposed "advisory panel" negotiated between the DEP, and the Utah-based company have not been publicly distributed or vetted. In essence, the public has been excluded from a discussion on the creation a "public panel."
Peach Bottom's refueling, despite COVID, will begin in mid-October, and bring well over 1,000 people from out of state into southern York County. Governor Wolf and Secretary Levine have not opposed the aggregation of out of state workers in a confined nuclear power plant. The NRC will "monitor" refueling from "remote locations"
in Bethesda and Washington.
TMIA's comments, along with 85 safe-energy organizations to Vice President Pence relating to COVID and refueling are enclosed. Please refer to the problems at Limerick in Pennsylvania in the spring, pp.3-4.
Be well and stay safe,
Eric Epstein, Chairman
Three Mile Island Alert, Inc.
717-979-8767
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Hello Mr. Epstein,
Jennifer Borges conveyed to me your question about whether the public will be given the opportunity to request a hearing on the recent environmental assessment for the TMI emergency planning exemptions that NRC published in the Federal Register on Sept. 22, 2020. The answer is that the public has previously been given notice and opportunity to request a hearing on the license amendment request associated with these emergency planning exemptions. The earlier Federal Register notice, published on Sept. 10, 2019, can be found at 84 Fed. Reg. 47,542.
If you would like to discuss this further, I am working from home and I can be reached either via email or on my cell phone at 202-743-2586.
Stay safe,
Kayla Gamin
Acting Deputy Assistant General Counsel for New Reactor Programs, OGC/NRC
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