NextEra’s emergency plan faces some regulatory heat
NRC demands more info
SEABROOK – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission made it clear Tuesday that the emergency plan amendment requested by the owners of the nuclear power plant in Seabrook needs a lot more work before it receives further review by the regulatory agency.
The NRC and NextEra Energy officials met on March 19 to go over all facets of the licensing amendment NextEra requested to update its emergency response operations plan. Those changes, if approved, would impact the emergency plan the company would follow if there were emergency events at any of NextEra's nuclear power plants located in Florida and Wisconsin, as well as Seabrook, New Hampshire.
The amendment proposes changes to some of the staffing requirements and response times for the company's multiple nuclear power plants: Turkey Point, St. Lucie, Point Beach and Seabrook Station. It also would consolidate the company's different nuclear power plant sites' emergency plans into one fleet emergency plan that encompasses all of them.
In January, NRC Region 1 Spokesman Neil Sheehan synopsized NextEra's amendment request as the company proposing to standardize the emergency plans for its various sites, consolidate some emergency personnel positions, and use remote staff to fill some positions. But, Sheehan said, NextEra is not asking to shift Seabrook's Emergency Operations Facility from its current location in Portsmouth to Florida.
NRC staff conducted previous public meetings on this topic in February and May of 2022, receiving NextEra's amendment request application in October 2022. That application was not accepted at that time, and the NRC asked for supplemental information the following month. It was received on December 9, and the application for the license amendment request was accepted on Dec. 22, 2022. The NRC requested additional information in June of 2023, all of which was received by Nov. 28, 2023.
Tuesday's hearing took place at NRC headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, and was an opportunity for NRC staffers to discuss various aspects of the proposed emergency plan amendment with NextEra officials face to face. It was not intended to be a meeting where the regulatory agency either approved or rejected the amendment.
At the meeting, NRC Senior Emergency Plan Specialist Michael Norris, as well as other agency personnel, went through all the factors involved in the amendment with NextEra's Director of Regulatory Affairs Steve Catron.
Catron, who described himself as “the architect” of the emergency plan amendment, responded to questions from Norris and others. Catron admitted during the two-hour discussion that with the proposed changes to current emergency plan protocols NextEra would be “breaking new ground.”
Throughout the discussion, however, Norris and others made it clear to Catron that on nearly every aspect of the multipronged amendment, information was lacking for the NRC to find justification to validate it. The group discussed the amendments proposal to extend from 60 minutes to 90 minutes on-site response time for various emergency staff personnel, such as the emergency response operator, fully qualified radiation protection operators, health physics specialists, repair team responders, etc. They also discussed utilizing remote responders to assist with emergencies and the consolidation of some positions.
On these and every other issue, Norris told Catron NextEra had not documented “sufficient technical justification” for NRC staff to corroborate NextEra's suggested changes.
In essence, Norris said, even with the supplements provided, at this time NextEra's application doesn't provide enough justification to support an NRC finding. Without additional documented “technical justification,” NRC staffers will not move forward with their review of the amendment.
“Currently,” according to the agency, “NRC staff does not see sufficient justification for the discussed issues. NextEra should provide sufficient justification for the discussed issues to allow the NRC staff to continue its review of the application.”
Catron said NextEra will go back, review its proposal, and develop the documentation that will provide evidence to support its proposed amendment.
The timeline on that may not be quick. According to Sheehan, there's a long way to go before the NRC will be able to make a final decision.
The current proposed amendment change has garnered criticism from the Seabrook nuclear power plant watchdog group, C-10 Research and Education Foundation, headquartered in Amesbury, Massachusetts, as well as from Massachusetts U.S. Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren.
New Hampshire's federal legislators – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, as well as U.S. Representatives Chris Pappas and Ann Kuster – also weighed in through a letter to the NRC sent Dec. 5, 2023, requesting additional information.