E&E TV Clean Water Rule


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CLEAN WATER RULE:
Former Obama EPA counsel Shenkman talks WOTUS repeal
OnPoint: Friday, June 30, 2017
This week, the Trump administration released a proposed rule that would repeal the Clean Water Rule, known as WOTUS. What are the next steps that this proposal triggers, and how is the legal landscape for the rule shaping up? During today's OnPoint, Ethan Shenkman — a partner at Arnold & Porter, the former deputy general counsel at U.S. EPA and, prior to that, deputy assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division — explains how EPA might handle a new rule and what the repeal means for the business community.
WATCH VIDEO READ TRANSCRIPT
RELATED VIDEOS
CLIMATE:
Former EPA official McCabe talks Trump moves on budget, power plan, ozone and Paris
OnPoint: Wednesday, June 14, 2017
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SUPREME COURT:
Dawson & Associates' Liebesman says WOTUS move could have big impacts on Trump agenda
OnPoint: Wednesday, April 5, 2017
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PARIS AGREEMENT:
Former EPA official Perciasepe talks 'We Are Still In' coalition, business response to Paris exit
OnPoint: Tuesday, June 6, 2017
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ANS Nuclear Policy Wire: Making Nuclear Great Again

ANS Nuclear Policy Wire
June 30, 2017

News
Making Nuclear Great Again
 
President Trump capped off Energy Week yesterday with a shout-out to nuclear power, announcing a study of U.S. nuclear energy policy that "will help us find new ways to revitalize this crucial energy resource." The study is the first of six policy initiatives meant to create a "new era of American energy dominance."
 
Speaking of energy dominance, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources yesterday also introduced S. 1460, the Energy and Natural Resources Act of 2017. Building on the Energy Policy Modernization Act from the 114th Congress, this wide-ranging bill includes previous bipartisan legislative provisions encouraging the development of advanced reactors.
 

NRC: Mitigation of Beyond-Design-Basis Events Proposed Rule issued for Public Comment

 

Mitigation of Beyond-Design-Basis Events
Proposed Rule issued for Public Comment

Quick Links:
  • How do I comment?
  • What’s included in the rule?
  • How does this relate to Fukushima Daiichi?
  • What is the NRC’s rulemaking process?
  • What else is the NRC doing to address the lessons-learned?
  • Enhancements Under the Proposed Mitigation Strategies Rule
    The March 11, 2011, accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan was caused by an earthquake and tsunami that significantly exceeded the design basis of the facility.  The tsunami flooded important safety systems at the plant, resulting in an extended loss of electrical power.  This loss of electrical power prevented operators from adequately cooling the reactor cores, which led to overheating, core damage, and the release of radioactive materials to the environment.
    The NRC took a number of actions following the accident to strengthen the protection of U.S. nuclear plants against events that could exceed a plant’s design basis.  These included issuing orders and requiring licensees to conduct several evaluations. Now the NRC is moving forward in making permanent some of the lessons we've learned from the Fukushima nuclear accident through the development of a new regulation.  The Commission has directed the staff to seek public comments on a proposed rule for mitigating "beyond design basis events," which can be stronger than a plant's current design. The Commission made a few changes to the proposed rule, which consolidates several of the most safety significant recommendations of the NRC's task force report from shortly after the events at Fukushima.
    The public can comment on the proposed rule until February 11, 2016. To view the proposed rule or submit comments, go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0240. You may also e-mail comments to Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov. The staff is also planning a public meeting during the comment period, and we'll post the meeting notice on our public website.
    The staff will consider the public's comments on the proposed rule and expects to provide a final rule to the Commission for its consideration in December 2016. The NRC staff expects the rule, if approved, would require plants to fully comply within approximately two years (2019-2020), with the exact date varying from plant to plant. Although that seems far away, much of the safety benefit from the rule is already achieved by two orders that are discussed below. Nearly all U.S. plants will comply with those orders by the end of 2016. Safety is being enhanced well before the final rule.
    This proposed rule would apply the requirements of two existing orders, Mitigating Strategies (EA-12-049) and Spent Fuel Pool Instrumentation (EA-12-051), to any operating or future U.S. nuclear power plant. The Mitigating Strategies Order ensures that a plant will have sufficient procedures, strategies, and equipment to indefinitely cool the reactor core and spent fuel, as well as protect the reactor's containment, if it loses power. The Spent Fuel Pool Instrumentation Order requires that the plants ensure they can monitor spent fuel pool water levels. These two orders are already being implemented across the nuclear fleet.
    The proposed rule also incorporates many other task force recommendations. It also address the concerns of several Fukushima-related petitions that were submitted by members of the public to change the NRC's regulations. These additional issues include:
  • Mitigating Strategies (Recommendation 4) and Spent Fuel Pool Instrumentation (Recommendation 7):
The previously-issued orders would be written into the NRC's permanent rules, so that their requirements would apply to any future reactors.
  • Onsite Emergency Response Capabilities (Recommendation 8):
Plants have a variety of response guidelines (FLEX support guidelines, emergency operating procedures, etc.), each of which would be used by licensees depending on the specific situation. The proposed rule would ensure plants can smoothly transition between the different types of response guidelines.
  • Emergency Plans to Address prolonged Station Blackout and Multiunit Events (part of Recommendation 9):
The proposed rule clarifies requirements for plants to be able to monitor and assess potential radiation doses from events involving more than one reactor or spent fuel pool at once. Plants are currently implementing this ability through a voluntary initiative. The proposed rule also simplifies technology requirements for the Emergency Response Data System (ERDS), one method for plants to communicate with the NRC during an event. Licensees voluntarily modernized the system (Recommendation 9.4).
  • Command and Control Structure and Qualification (Recommendation 10.2)
The proposed rule ensures plants' decision-makers are properly qualified and have the proper level of authority and oversight.
  • Enhanced Onsite Emergency Response Resources (Recommendation 11.1)
The proposed rule requires plants to have enough onsite resources to address all units at a site during a prolonged station blackout and also that they be able to deliver equipment to the site despite damage to offsite roads, etc., and infrastructure.
  • Petitions for Rulemaking from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) (PRM-50-97, PRM-50-98, PRM-50-101, and PRN-50-102) and Mr. Thomas Popik (PRM-50-96)
Collectively, the NRDC petitions for rulemaking rely solely on Near-Term Task Force Report Recommendations 4, 7, 8, and 9, discussed above. The rulemaking addresses Mr. Popik's petition to the extent that it establishes a means of assuring long-term cooling and unattended water makeup to spent fuel pools. Separate from this rulemaking, the NRC will further consider whether requirements are needed for licensees to address geomagnetic storms, which was another part of Mr. Popik's petition.
Furthermore, the proposed rule incorporates information from the plants' reevaluated earthquake and flooding hazards. Each plant's mitigating strategies, which are used to meet the rule's requirements, must address the reevaluated hazards.
One of the changes the Commission directed the staff to make in the proposed rule involves the treatment of Severe Accident Management Guidelines, or SAMGs, which a plant would use in responding to very unlikely accidents that involve damage to the reactor. The Commission directed that the SAMGs should continue to be implemented voluntarily.  Based on the Commission's direction, the NRC will provide periodic oversight of SAMGs through its Reactor Oversight Process.  Another Commission change to the proposed rule removes proposed design requirements for new reactor applicants.  Instead, the new reactors would be subject to the same performance-based criteria that applies to the currently-licensed fleet.
Process Overview

Related Documents:

Learn more about the NRC's rulemaking process.
  •  

https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ops-experience/japan-dashboard/emergency-procedures.html?source=govdelivery&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Nuclear Roundup June 30, 2017

Nuclear Roundup
June 30, 2017
A compilation of quality nuclear policy news published on the Web, around the world.

North Korea

Trump team sanctions Chinese bank for helping North Korea nuclear program

www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/06/29/trump-team-sanctions-chinese-bank-helping-north-korea-nuclear-program/440029001/

North Korea is nearing its goal: a thermonuclear bomb that can hit the US

http://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-thermonuclear-hydrogen-bomb-icbm-soon-2017-6

Go back to the drawing board: Current North Korea plan is broken

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/foreign-policy/340032-back-to-the-drawing-board-current-north-korea-plan-is

Commentary: How to stop Kim Jong Un using his nukes

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ramberg-nkorea-commentary-idUSKBN19K1WC

United States

NASA Revives Plan to Put Nuclear Reactors on Mars

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/nasa-revives-plan-put-nuclear-reactors-mars-ncna778536

Safety problems at a Los Alamos laboratory delay U.S. nuclear warhead testing and production

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/06/safety-problems-los-alamos-laboratory-delay-us-nuclear-warhead-testing-and-production

Carbon-Free Nuclear Fusion Is Coming, if It Survives Trump’s Budget Cuts

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-29/carbon-free-nuclear-fusion-is-coming-if-it-survives-trump-s-budget-cuts

International

UN and EU praise Iran over nuclear deal but US is critical

http://www.startribune.com/un-and-eu-praise-iran-over-nuclear-deal-but-us-is-critical/431633283/

U.S., allies disagree about Iran's nuke deal compliance

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-nuclear-deal-compliance-europe-un-nikki-haley-trump-administration/

IAEA: Iran Complying with Nuclear Deal

https://www.voanews.com/a/iaea-iran-complying-nuclear-deal/3922446.html

Fukushima nuclear disaster: Tepco executives on trial

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40453383

Nuclear waste-carrying ship sails for first time on German river

http://www.dw.com/en/nuclear-waste-carrying-ship-sails-for-first-time-on-german-river/a-39455815

Ukrainian Firefighters Battle Forest Fire Near Chernobyl Nuclear Plant

https://www.rferl.org/a/firefighters-battle-forest-fire-near-chernobyl/28588006.html

At Vienna forum, young people raise their voices for world free of nuclear weapons

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=57088#.WVZfx_nytrQ


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Thursday, June 29, 2017

Are Canadian fish being poisoned by radiation from Japan?


Are Canadian fish being poisoned by radiation from Japan?


In 2015, a single salmon caught in Osoyoos Lake in British Columbia was found to contain very low levels of a radioactive isotope called caesium-134. 


https://cosmosmagazine.com/chemistry/are-canadian-fish-being-poisoned-by-radiation-from-japan

Fukushima Update 6/29/17

Fukushima Update 6/29/17

Tepco applies to the NRA for permission to freeze the last section of their ice wall… IRID is developing a way to stop leaks in the PCVs… The giant cover for F. Daiichi unit #3 is delivered by sea… All electric utility minority shareowner’s antinuclear proposals are summarily rejected… Shizuoka’s governor restates he will not approve restart for Hamaoka station.

http://www.hiroshimasyndrome.com/fukushima-accident-updates.html

ANS Nuclear Policy Wire June 29, 2017 Onwards and Upwards

ANS Nuclear Policy Wire
June 29, 2017

News
Onwards and Upwards
 
The House Energy and Commerce Committee yesterday advanced H.R. 3053, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017, out of committee by a 49-4 vote. Next up is a vote on the House floor. 
 
Among other priorities, the bill would reform the Nuclear Waste Fund by ceasing fee collection until a decision on Yucca authorization has been issued by the NRC. The bill also makes funding available from the NWF to the Secretary of Energy without further appropriation beginning on the date that Yucca recieves its first shipment of high-level waste or spent fuel, and for 25 years after, to assist in construction and operating costs, to make payments to the State of Nevada, and for eventual decommissioning costs. 
 
The bill would also: 
  • Appoint a five-year fixed-term program director at DOE to ensure program continuity
  • Authorize DOE to contract with a non-federal entity for interm spent fuel storage
  • Authorize "land withdrawal" for a permanent repository at Yucca Mountain
  • Direct DOE to take ownership of spent nuclear fuel when accepted for transport to an interim storage facility. 

Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Nuclear Roundup June 29, 2017

Nuclear Roundup
June 29, 2017
A compilation of quality nuclear policy news published on the Web, around the world.

North Korea

US military updates Trump’s North Korea options

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/28/politics/north-korea-trump-military-options/index.html

North Korea vows to expand nuclear arsenal in defiance of US warnings

http://www.dw.com/en/north-korea-vows-to-expand-nuclear-arsenal-in-defiance-of-us-warnings/a-39466960?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf

As the world focuses on its nuclear ambitions, North Korea deploys another weapon: Drones

http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-north-korea-drone-2017-story.html

A nuclear trip wire for North Korea

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jun/28/north-korea-nuclear-aggression-requires-clear-us-l/

Trump orders ‘new approach with military option’ to resolve North Korea nuclear crisis

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2100572/trump-orders-new-approach-military-option-resolve-north

AMERICA’S NEW PROBLEM? RUSSIA WANTS TO SOLVE THE NORTH KOREA CRISIS

http://www.newsweek.com/america-new-problem-russia-solve-north-korea-crisis-629836

United States

SASC COMPLETES MARKUP OF NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018

https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/press-releases/sasc-completes-markup-of-national-defense-authorization-act-for-fiscal-year-2018

Summary:

https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FY18%20NDAA%20summary2.pdf

MOX funding still mixed in Washington

http://www.aikenstandard.com/news/mox-funding-still-mixed-in-washington/article_1f39cfde-5c13-11e7-8088-635f48be0f49.html

Feinstein: President’s budget request could lead to 1,600 layoffs at ORNL

http://oakridgetoday.com/tag/energy-and-water-appropriations-subcommittee/

International

A Clash in Syria Could Jeopardize the Iran Nuclear Deal and More

https://www.justsecurity.org/42651/clash-syria-jeopardize-iran-nuclear-deal/

The Iran Nuclear Deal Faces ‘Death by a Thousand Cuts’

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-28/after-surviving-trump-day-one-iran-deal-risks-a-lingering-death

Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Officials Start Trial For 2011 Disaster

http://www.ibtimes.com/fukushima-nuclear-power-plant-officials-start-trial-2011-disaster-2558627

U.S. and Poland host international nonproliferation workshop for law enforcement personnel

https://nnsa.energy.gov/blog/u.s.-and-poland-host-international-nonproliferation-workshop-law-enforcement-personnel

India-Israel Nuclear Cooperation: It’s A Radical Idea But One That’s Worth Exploring

https://swarajyamag.com/world/india-israel-nuclear-cooperation-its-a-radically-idea-but-one-thats-worth-exploring

General Interest

SECOND TIME IS NOT A CHARM FOR THE NUCLEAR BAN TREATY

http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/1203455/second-time-is-not-a-charm-for-the-nuclear-ban-treaty/


Send Jodi Lieberman items of interest for the Nuclear Roundup at brodnica67@gmail.com. Receive this message as a forward? Subscribe to the Nuclear Roundup here.