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POLICY ISSUE SECY-08-0018 February 14, 2008
The purpose of this paper is to inform the Commission of the results of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff's review of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station (OCNGS) license renewal application submitted by AmerGen Energy Company, LLC, (AmerGen); and to request that the Commission authorize the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) to make the appropriate findings and renew the operating license for OCNGS for an additional 20 years. Based on the Commission's direction in the Staff Requirements Memorandum for SECY-02-0088, the Director of NRR is only authorized to renew operating licenses without Commission authorization for uncontested license renewal reviews. Since the Oyster Creek application was contested, the staff now requests Commission approval to issue the renewed license. This paper does not address any new commitments or resource implcations. Following the submittal of AmerGen's license renewal application, the staff completed its safety review of the application and presented its safety evaluation report to the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS). The staff found that there is reasonable assurance that the activities authorized by the renewed license will continue to be conducted in accordance with the current licensing basis for OCNGS. The ACRS concluded that aging management programs provided reasonable assurance that OCNGS could be operated in accordance with its current licensing basis for the period of the extended license without undue risk to the health and safety of the public. The staff performed its environmental review of the OCNGS license renewal application and issued a final supplemental environmental impact statement. The environmental review also considered the National Marine Fisheries Service's Biological Opinion for OCNGS and the State of New Jersey certification of AmerGen's compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Act. The staff has concluded that the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal for OCNGS are not so great that preserving the option of license renewal for energy planning decision-makers would be unreasonable. Contentions were filed by the State of New Jersey and citizens groups requesting hearings on the renewal of the license. Public hearings were conducted by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) and an initial decision was rendered in December 2007, finding that AmerGen had demonstrated that the frequency of its planned ultra-sonic testing measurements, in combination with the other elements of its aging management program, provides reasonable assurance that the sand bed region of the drywell shell will maintain the necessary safety margin during the period of extended operation. An appeal of the ASLB's initial decision is currently pending. Also, New Jersey has appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals the prior Commission denial of their request to intervene as a party. With respect to the license application, the staff's review is completed, and the text of the renewed license is provided as an enclosure By letter dated July 22, 2005, AmerGen submitted its application (Reference 1 Staff Performance of Safety Review The staff performed its safety review of the OCNGS license renewal application in accordance with 10 CFR Part 54, using guidance in NUREG 1800, Rev. 1, "Standard Review Plan for Review of License Renewal Applications for Nuclear Power Plants", September 2005. Following issuance of the Safety Evaluation Report (SER) with open items in August 2006 (Reference 2 Pursuant to 10 CFR 54.29, the staff concluded in its Safety Evaluation that:
The OCNGS renewal application included a supplement to the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR), as required by 10 CFR 54.21(d). Appendix A of the SER contains a listing of the commitments AmerGen made related to Aging Management Programs to manage the aging effects of structures and components during the period of extended operation. AmerGen will incorporate appropriate changes to the next update of the Oyster Creek updated FSAR, which will occur after the issuance of a renewed license. The FSAR will be updated for each item in Appendix A in accordance with the guidance for 10 CFR 50.71(e). Since future changes to the FSAR will be made in accordance with 10 CFR 50.59, the NRC is assured that these programs, maintenance activities, and inspection procedures will be adequately controlled. Until the FSAR update is complete, a condition in the proposed renewed license (Enclosure 1 The listing in Appendix A also identifies future actions. Throughout NUREG-1875, the staff has described various schedules for future actions. The staff has determined that these future actions are not required for operation during the existing license term; however, those commitments which have future actions requiring completion before entering the period of extended operation to effectively manage aging are reflected as license conditions for the renewed license. AmerGen can change the schedules for these actions without prior NRC approval, as long as the actions are completed prior to entering the period of extended operation in accordance with the license condition. To support the review of AmerGen's license renewal application, Region I conducted an inspection at OCNGS with support from NRR. The inspection was conducted in accordance with Inspection Manual Chapter 2516, "Policy and Guidance for the License Renewal Inspection Program"; and Inspection Procedure 71002, "License Renewal Inspection." As described in the Memorandum from Samuel J. Collins, dated May 1, 2007 (Reference 5 The staff and AmerGen briefed the ACRS Subcommittee on Plant License Renewal regarding the staff's safety review on October 3, 2006, and on January 18, 2007. The ACRS Full Committee was briefed on the updated SER on February 1, 2007. On February 8, 2007, the ACRS issued its, "Report on the Safety Aspects of the License Renewal Application for Oyster Creek Generating Station." The ACRS concluded that, on the basis of its review of the AmerGen license renewal application, the updated SER, and subject to successful incorporation of ACRS' recommendations (discussed below), that AmerGen had properly identified the structures, systems, and components (SSCs) that are subject to aging management programs. Furthermore, the ACRS concluded that the programs instituted to manage aging-related degradation of the identified SSCs were appropriate and provided reasonable assurance that OCNGS can be operated in accordance with its current licensing basis for the period of the extended license without undue risk to the health and safety of the public. In its Report, the ACRS provided three recommendations for the staff to incorporate as license conditions, and noted that if the three recommendations are incorporated, "no issues related to the matters described in 10 CFR 54.29(a)(1) and (a)(2) would preclude renewal of the operating license for OCGNS". The ACRS Report is included in Chapter 5 of NUREG-1875 (Reference 4 The ACRS recommendations are as follows:
On March 8, 2007, the Executive Director for Operations responded to and agreed with the ACRS' recommendations. The staff agreed to impose a license condition to require AmerGen to increase the frequency of the drywell inspections and to monitor the two drywell trenches to ensure that the sources of water are identified and eliminated. In addition, the staff agreed to ensure that the applicant fulfills its commitment to: (a) perform an engineering study prior to the period of extended operation to identify options to eliminate or reduce the leakage in the OCGS refueling cavity liner; and (b) perform a 3-D finite element analysis of the drywell shell prior to entering the period of extended operation. Accordingly, the staff finds that there is reasonable assurance that the activities authorized by the renewed license will continue to be conducted in accordance with the current licensing basis for OCNGS. Staff Performance of Environmental Review The staff performed its environmental review of the OCNGS license renewal application in accordance with 10 CFR Part 51, using the guidelines described in NUREG-1555, "Standard Review Plans for Environmental Reviews for Nuclear Power Plants," issued February 2000 and its Supplement 1, "Operating License Renewal." On September 16, 2005, the staff published a Notice of Intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) and conduct scoping, initiating a 60-day scoping period. The SEIS, prepared by the staff for the plant-specific review, is a supplement to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS), NUREG-1437, that was codified in 10 CFR Part 51 for license renewal. The SEIS for OCGNS is Supplement 28 to the GEIS. The staff visited the OCNGS site in October 2005, and then held two public scoping meetings on November 1, 2005, in Toms River, New Jersey. The Staff reviewed the comments received during scoping, reviewed related documents, and consulted with Federal, State, and local agencies. On June 23, 2006, the staff issued a draft of the SEIS (Supplement 28 to NUREG-1437), which contained the preliminary results of the staff's evaluation and recommendation. With the publication of the Environmental Protection Agency Notice of Filing of the draft SEIS, the NRC initiated a 75-day public comment period on the preliminary results of the staff's review. During this comment period, two public meetings were held in Toms River, New Jersey on July 12, 2006. In these meetings, the staff described the approach and results of the NRC environmental review and answered questions from the public. The comment period for the draft SEIS ended on September 8, 2006. The staff evaluated the comments received on the draft SEIS and completed its analysis, considering and weighing the environmental effects of the proposed action, the environmental impacts of alternatives to the proposed action, and the alternatives available for reducing or avoiding adverse effects. The final version of the SEIS for OCNGS was issued on January 19, 2007 (Reference 6 Disposition of the comments from members of the public are addressed in the SEIS. As discussed in Section 9.3 of the SEIS, the NRC staffs preliminary recommendation was that the Commission determine that the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal of OCNGS are not so great that preserving the option of license renewal for energy-planning decision makers would be unreasonable. This was determined on the basis of: (a) the analysis and findings in the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Power Plants, NUREG-1437; (b) the Environmental Report submitted by AmerGen (AmerGen2005b); (c) consultation with other Federal, State, and local agencies; (d) its own independent review; and (e) its consideration of public comments received; The National Marine Fisheries Service's Biological Opinion, dated November 21, 2006, states that the continued operation of this plant may adversely affect, but is not likely to jeopardize, three threatened or endangered species of sea turtle. Take limits are specified in the Incidental Take Statement, which includes reasonable and prudent measures as well as terms and conditions, that must be followed by the licensee to prevent and minimize the effects of operation on these species. A license condition has been added to the renewed license which states:
Under the authority of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), on January 3, 2008, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) provided AmerGen a letter dated December 28, 2007, that certifies that continued operation of the Oyster Creek plant beyond 2009 was consistent with New Jersey's Coastal Management Program. This certification is required for approval of the renewed license. Considering the information provided in the SEIS, the additional license condition concerning the biological opinion and the NJDEP consistency determination for CZMA, the staff has concluded that:
Hearings and Petitions Two Requests for Hearing and Petitions to Intervene were filed on November 14, 2005. One Petition was filed by the NJDEP and the other Petition was filed by a group of six organizations collectively referred to as "Citizens", requesting a hearing and petitioning for leave to intervene in the proceeding on AmerGen's license renewal application. On February 27, 2006, the ASLB issued a Memorandum (LBP-06-07) and Order in which it: (1) denied New Jersey's Request for Hearing and Petition to Intervene; and (2) granted Citizens' Request for Hearing and Petition to Intervene. New Jersey appealed the ASLB decision to the Commission, which denied the appeal (CLI-07-08). An appeal of the Commission's denial is pending before the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The ASLB concluded that Citizens' contention was admissible to the extent it challenged AmerGen's aging management program for measuring corrosion in the sand bed region of the drywell liner. On September 24-25, 2007, the ASLB held an evidentiary hearing in Toms River, New Jersey. The ASLB initial decision was released on December 18, 2007 (LBP-07-17), resulting in the contention filed by Citizens being resolved in favor of AmerGen. As the result of the ASLB hearing, AmerGen has committed to the following changes to their Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR):
On January 14, 2008, the Petitioners appealed the initial decision. The NRC is not compelled to await exhaustion of administrative or judicial appeals before renewing an operating license for Oyster Creek for up to an additional 20 years (56 FR 64943). In accordance with 10 CFR § 54.31(c), if the renewed license is subsequently set aside on appeal, the previous operating license would be reinstated. Standard Indemnity Agreement In accordance with 10 CFR 54.19(b), license renewal applications include "conforming changes to the standard indemnity agreement, 10 CFR 140.92, Appendix B, to account for the expiration term of the proposed renewed license." AmerGen stated in its renewal application that:
The staff notes that the current indemnity agreement for OCNGS states in Article VII that the agreement shall terminate at the time of expiration of that license specified in Item 3 of the Enclosure Conclusion Based on the results of the staff's review of AmerGen's license renewal application, the staff recommends that the Commission authorize the Director of NRR to make the appropriate findings; and once the Director has made those findings, to issue the renewed operating license for the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station for an additional 20 years of operation in accordance with the enclosed text of the renewed license (Enclosure 1 That the Commission authorize the Director of NRR to renew the operating license for the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station upon making the appropriate findings on safety and environmental matters. The Office of the General Counsel has reviewed this paper and has no legal objections.
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