MEETING MINUTES
Yankee Rowe Community
Advisory Board
July 23, 1998
The third meeting of the Yankee Rowe Community Advisory Board was called to order by Chairman Brad Councilman at 7:20 p.m. on July 23, 1998. The meeting was held at the Williamstown Inn in Williamstown, Ma. Only six voting members and one nonvoting member attended this meeting, which did not constitute a quorum. Chairman Councilman advised those present that no votes would be taken.
CAB ATTENDEES
Carol Angelo
Anita Barker
Brad Councilman
Robert Gallaghar
Doris Lewis
Anne Skinner
Allan Twitchell
ACCEPTANCE OF MEETING MINUTES
The June 25, 1998 meeting minutes were not accepted due to the lack of a quorum.
PRESENTATIONS
High Level Waste
Robert Capstick, Yankee Atomic Government Affairs, provided the CAB members with an update on the High-Level Waste legislation, including a history of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act and key provisions of the legislation. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act was enacted to provide a permanent solution for the disposal of the nation's commercial used nuclear fuel. The Nuclear Waste Fund was also established to finance the siting of a permanent repository. To date, more than $14 billion has been paid into the fund -$600,000,000 from Massachusetts's consumers - but the project is years behind schedule. Each year, only about one-third of the fund goes to siting a repository, and about two-thirds is diverted to offset the national deficit.
Mr. Capstick pointed out that the problem is compounded for shutdown plants like Yankee Rowe. Consumers are paying twice to store Yankee's used fuel (formerly as an operating plant into the Nuclear Waste Fund and now through costs related to storage during the decommissioning phase). Yankee has been working to garner support for legislation that would allow the DOE to build an interim storage facility near the site of the potential permanent disposal facility in Yucca Mountain, Nevada (background on the legislation can be found in the CAB binder issued at the first meeting). Yankee Atomic has also filed a $70 million damage suit against the DOE in the US Court of Federal Claims. The suit contends that DOE has defaulted on a binding contract with Yankee to begin taking its fuel in January 1998 and that consumers are not responsible for the Doe's failure to meet its legal obligation.
The legislation supporting interim storage was stalled this year and will have to be reintroduced next year. Both the House and the Senate voted favorably for the legislation in 1998. Seven of the twelve New England senators voted for the bill. Eleven of the twenty-three New England Congressmen voted for the bill.
A question was asked about Greater Than Class C Waste (GTCC waste). What is it? Does Yankee have GTCC waste, and if so, how will it be disposed of? Bob responded that Yankee does have GTCC waste, which is more radioactive than low-level waste that can be shipped to the Barnwell disposal facility, but less radioactive than used nuclear fuel. He also noted that Yankee has worked to make sure that language exists in the pending legislation that provides for the storage of GTCC waste. This would allow Yankee to remove all nuclear wastes from the site and meet its "green field" commitment.
Non-Radiological Characterization of the Yankee Rowe Site
Ken Heider, Yankee Rowe Site Manager, gave a presentation on non-radiological hazardous materials at the Yankee Rowe plant site. 'According to Ken, many of these materials, such as asbestos and lead, were standard construction materials in the 1950's when the plant was built.
As part of decommissioning, Yankee must identify and remove hazardous and toxic materials. Yankee performed an historical site assessment to help identify the type and location of these materials. The Assessment, which was similar to the Radiological Site Characterization, included reviewing inspection reports, records and permits, as well as interviewing former employees. In addition, groundwater's, soil, paint chips and building material samples have been and continue to be collected. The samples are tested, the result evaluated, and plans developed to remove, and remediate, if necessary. Some activities, such as the $4.5 million asbestos removal project have been completed. The US Environmental Protection Agency, The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission oversee these activities.
A question was asked about the possibility of some of these wastes also being radioactive and if so, how are they disposed of? Ken responded that that type of waste is called mixed waste. Some vendors are beginning to accept mixed wastes, but there are still some materials that don't "have a home." As decommissioning becomes more commonplace, more vendors will develop processing, storage and disposal options.
NEW BUSINESS
Members agreed to hold the next CAB meeting at the Rowe Town Hall, but
were unable to vote on the decision because of the lack of a quorum. Brad
Councilman discussed the letter from the chairman of the Connecticut Yankee
advisory board inviting CAB members to a meeting about dry cask storage.
Brad mentioned that he had not sensed a strong interest among members
to go and that the Connecticut board's meetings are available on videotape.
Brad also informed the members that Marvin Resnikoff and Ivan Stewart had agreed to make presentations on dry cask to the Yankee Rowe CAB. He suggested that each be given 20 minutes for their presentations and 20 minutes allotted for questions and answers.
The meeting was unofficially adjourned at 8:52 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Doris Lewis
Secretary