Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff on Monday recommended the agency deny two antinuclear groups’ request for a hearing concerning Entergy’s request to extend compliance deadlines for post-Fukushima safety upgrades at the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in upstate New York.
Beyond Nuclear and the Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE) in a Nov. 10 filing requested a hearing before the NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel. Specifically, the groups opposed requests to relax Entergy’s requirements to comply with new rules for beyond-design-basis external events and reliable spent fuel pool instrumentation by June 2017. They argued that Entergy’s filing represents a licensing amendment request, not a “relaxation” request, as the NRC has termed it, and therefore allows for a public hearing. One item in question is the requirement that Entergy install a hardened containment venting system (HCVS) for FitzPatrick’s reactor containment buildings.
The NRC on Friday approved two of Entergy’s three requests for additional time to comply with post-Fukushima safety rules at the New York plant, but is still evaluating the extension on Entergy’s requirement to install the HCVS.
The agency enforced the implementation of a series of design improvements for American nuclear reactors following the 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, which occurred after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered a 15-meter tsunami.
NRC staff recommended denial because the groups are not entitled to a hearing under the Atomic Energy Act or agency regulations. Additionally, NRC staff argued that the petitioners have not established standing for a hearing, nor have they submitted an admissible contention. The staff in its response, which was made public Tuesday, advised against turning the licensing proceeding into an “amorphous public extravaganza.”
