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Important Dates
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July 12:
State Regional Groups (SRG) Staff Quarterly Conference Call - 10 AM*
July 19:
MRMTC Rail/Routing Conference Call to Review the SCOP - 9 AM*
August 4-9:
August 15:
Transportation Core Group Pre-Meeting SRG Conference
Call - 11 AM*
August 19-22:
August 21-22:
Transportation Core Group Meeting - Washington, D.C.
September 9-13:
November 13-14:
Fall 2019 MRMTC Meeting - Indianapolis, Indiana
May 18-21, 2020:
NTSF 2020 Meeting - Scottsdale, Arizona
*All times are CDT
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Join Our List
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COMMITTEE HAPPENINGS
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Thank you to all who attended the Spring 2019 Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee (MRMTC) Meeting and made it a very successful afternoon! Our committee business session was very productive, with the Regional Tribal Engagement Work Group recommendations, the Decommissioning Guidance for States brochure, and the 2019 updates to the
Planning Guide for Shipments of Radioactive Materials through the Midwestern States
all getting approved.
We are currently looking for high resolution photos of both truck and rail shipments of radioactive materials, perhaps from the 2018 WIPP Roadshow, for the cover of the 2019 Planning Guide. If you have any photos you would like to share, please send them to Mitch Arvidson. The decommissioning brochure an
d
Planning Guide
will be made publicly available later this summer. Both work groups that developed these products will be sun-setting. Additionally, the Regional Outreach Work Group is sun-setting and will regroup in spring to prepare materials for the committee's outreach to incoming state legislators after the 2020 election. Committee members also gave great updates on activities in their respective states and we had great presentations from Reinhard Knerr of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office and Miriam Juckett of the Southwest Research Institute. These presentations and more resources, like action items and final attendance, can be found on the Spring 2019 Meeting's web page. A meeting summary will also be distributed and available on that page very soon.
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| Kevin Leuer, Minnesota |
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In other committee news, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz reappointed Immediate Past Chair of the MRMTC Kevin Leuer to represent the state on the committee. Kevin was first appointed to the MRMTC in 2006 by then Gov. Tim Pawlenty and was the committee's co-chair from 2008-2009 and again from 2017-2018. The Preparedness Branch Director of the Minnesota Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management has brought a wealth of knowledge to the committee and represented it well nationally, including at the recent 2019 National Transportation Stakeholders Forum (NTSF) Meeting. We're happy Kevin will continue to serve on the committee! Looking ahead to fall, committee members and other interested parties should mark their calendars for November 13-14 for the Fall 2019 MRMTC Meeting in [Indianapolis nickname]. Registration will open September 3.
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NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION STAKEHOLDERS FORUM
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The 2019 NTSF Annual Meeting took place last month in Arlington, Virginia. The Tribal Radioactive Materials Transportation Commitee (TRMTC) did a wonderful job of hosting the meeting, with help from staff at the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL). TRMTC and its co-chairs, Richard Arnold of the Pahrump Paiute Tribe and Ron Johnson of the Prairie Island Community, kept the meeting running smoothly and brought humor to the proceedings. The welcome reception featured a powerful cultural performance by the Piscataway Indian Nation Singers and Dancers. Ken Niles, Assistant Director for Nuclear Safety of the Oregon Department of Energy, delivered a keynote presentation that entertainingly explained the history, context, and purpose of the NTSF. MRMTC members Kelly Horn, Kevin Leuer, and Co-Chair Kaci Studer, as well as CSG staffer Lisa Janairo, led or participated in a number of great sessions.
In addition to the breakout and plenary sessions, the NTSF Ad Hoc Working Groups (AHWG) got a chance to meet and advance ongoing efforts. The Rail/Routing AHWG drew a lot of focus and attention to the long-awaited proposed changes to the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) Safety Compliance Oversight Plan (SCOP). There was not enough time to review all of the proposed SCOP changes during the Rail/Routing AHWG Meeting, but possible webinars are in the works that will walk interested parties through the proposed changes.
As the 2019 NTSF Meeting drew to a close, the focus turned to plans for the next Annual NTSF Meeting. Next year's NTSF Meeting will be hosted by the Western Governors' Association (WGA). Western committee member Rich Baker announced the meeting will take place in Scottsdale, Arizona, on May 18-21. Mike Snee and Kaci Studer will represent the Midwest on the NTSF Planning Committee for the next year.
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| FOCUS THIS MONTH |
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States and Tribes Seek Alternatives to Funding for Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) Training and Preparation
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| Right to left: Kaci Studer, Indiana, speaks during an NTSF Plenary Session as Floyd Velasquez, Morongo Band of Mission Indians, and David Pstrak, NRC, look on |
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One of the topics that received the greatest amount of discussion at the NTSF Meeting was what states and Tribes should expect if private, non-DOE shipments of SNF occur in the coming years. This concern stems from Section 180(c) of the
Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA). This section of the NWPA reads, "The Secretary shall provide technical assistance and funds to States for training for public safety officials of appropriate units of local government and Indian tribes through whose jurisdiction the Secretary plans to transport spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste...." Nothing in this section, or any other Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations, would require private shippers to provide this same financial assistance to states and Tribes.
This potential major departure from long-held expectations has weighed heavily on the minds of states and Tribes, so much so that this question was the topic, or a main topic, of two different sessions at the NTSF Meeting. First, Kelly Horn of Illinois moderated a session entitled "NEI Transportation Tabletop Exercise - Lessons Learned," with panelists Ron Johnson, Kevin Leuer, and Mark Richter of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). The NEI exercise hosted at Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant in Minnesota in May has been discussed in this newsletter before. Additionally, Chip Cameron of the Zero Gravity Group moderated a session entitled "Preparing for Future Shipments: Options for Tribes and States," that included MRMTC's Kaci Studer as a panelist. While these presentations applauded the nuclear industry's efforts to open lines of communication, speakers made it clear that states and Tribes must be their own biggest advocates. There were many suggestions made by speakers, such as working with state legislators to pass laws ensuring funds for planning and training SNF and high-level radioactive waste shipments. However, the suggestion that may gain the most traction is the enactment of fees on shippers moving such materials. Several
Midwestern states already have fees on the books. Unfortunately, these shipment fees would not provide any funds until after SNF shipments have begun, leaving a large funding gap for preparedness.
The MRMTC plans to focus a great deal of time and energy on this issue in the coming months and at the Fall 2019 Meeting. In fact, the committee will host a transportation tabletop workshop at the Fall Meeting, similar to NEI's, that will test states on how they plan to prepare for private shipments, should they occur.
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NUCLEAR NEWS
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Holtec and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Spring
In 2014, Holtec International was awarded the second largest tax break in New Jersey history: $260 million to build a new plant in Camden. Holtec is a nuclear industry parts manufacturer, and one of two companies undergoing an NRC licensing process for a private independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI). Five years later, ProPublica and radio station WNYC discovered this tax break was awarded based, in part, on false information. Forms submitted to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) by Holtec CEO Kris Singh were marked "no" when asked if the company had ever been banned from doing business with a government entity. In fact, Holtec had previously paid a $2 million fine to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and was barred from working with any federal agency for 60 days in 2010. This stemmed from a TVA official failing to disclose a payment from a Holtec-linked contractor.
Holtec representatives called Singh's incorrect answer an "oversight" and "inadvertent."
The brewing tax break scandal is not helped by Holtec's connections to the politically active Norcross family from the Camden area. George Norcross is a powerful Democratic Party leader in southern New Jersey and an unpaid member of Holtec's board. His brother Philip is a lawyer for the Parker McCay law firm that represented Holtec in its EDA application. Additionally, another brother, Donald Norcross, is a U.S. Representative who received $18,750 in campaign contributions from Singh. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has created a task force to investigate EDA's tax break programs. The lead investigator has said that the misrepresentation could lead to a cancellation of the award.
If that wasn't enough bad news for the company, newly elected New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham expressed her opposition to Holtec's proposed ISFSI in southeastern New Mexico in a June letter to DOE Secretary Rick Perry and NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki. In the letter, Gov. Grisham cited concerns about the ISFSI's economic impacts on agriculture, oil, and gas industries, the financial burden on maintaining infrastructure and emergency response teams, and the lack of a permanent repository, meaning "any interim storage facility will be an indefinite storage facility."
Shortly after Gov. Grisham sent her letter, New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard also sent a letter to Dr. Singh, Secretary Perry, and Chairman Svinicki. In this letter, Richard claims that Holtec misrepresented the land ownership of the proposed site in its NRC application. Holtec told the NRC that agreements and restrictions about mineral leasing at the state had been made with the State Land Office. Commissioner Garcia said these agreements "do not exist and may very well never ever exist."
Further coverage from New Jersey comes from
ProPublica. New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham's letter can be found
here and Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard's letter can be found
here.
Thanks to Steve Maheras for sharing the New Jersey story and Eletha Trujillo for sharing the New Mexico story!
Ohio Investigating Possible Radioactive Contamination in Pike County
The Buckeye State is dealing with the fallout from a 2017 DOE environmental impact report about the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon. The report states that small amounts of neptunium-237 and americium-241 radiation were detected in the vicinity of a nearby middle school. Two Northern Arizona University researchers followed up on this report with their own saying there was enriched uranium in the middle school. The report also showed that there are no negative health impacts, and that only trace amounts were recorded.
However, the Scioto Valley Local School District still shut down the Zahn's Corner Middle School before the end of the school year, and it will not reopen next year. Over the Memorial Day weekend, DOE sent teams to the site to run further tests. Despite the release numbers being far below hazardous levels and there being no major health concerns, the situation has turned into a public relations disaster. It has resulted in high-level shakeups and departures in the DOE Office of Environmental Management and lawsuits are being filed.
In response, the Pike County General Health District has been working with a third party laboratory to examine area samplings and has begun gathering data on local cancer cases.
Tansey Moore to Staff TRMTC
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has hired a new staff lead for TRMTC! Tansey Moore will be taking over the position formerly held by Tanksi Clairmont. Tansey is a member of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony in Northern Nevada. She is Western Shoshone, Northern Paiute, and Navajo. She received her B.A. in Anthropology from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, and a Master's in Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law School in South Royalton, Vermont. Tansey has approximately 18 years of experience in working with tribal governments in the Western U.S. as well as the Midwest region. She has managed federal grants from various agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and DOE on behalf of tribal programs. Tansey is very excited to be at NCSL and looks forward to working with everyone on tribal nuclear energy and transportation issues. Welcome Tansey!
Johnny G Takes His Leave
In Arlington at the NTSF Annual Meeting, long-time friend of the MRMTC John Giarrusso announced his retirement from state government. Most recently serving as the Planning and Nuclear Section Chief of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), John joined the staff at MEMA in 2005 after 21 years working in various roles at Seabrook Station, New Hampshire's lone nuclear plant. John represented the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on CSG's Northeast High-Level Radioactive Waste Transportation Task Force for well over a decade. In 2008, he was first elected to co-chair the Task Force, a position he continued to hold until his retirement. A frequent speaker at NTSF meetings and active participant in the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy's Transportation Core Group, John contributed significantly to the regional and national work of planning and preparing for shipments. Despite his many professional accomplishments, we will most miss John's perpetual good humor, his passion for Italian cooking, and his sartorial savvy. We wish John many years of making great memories with his wife Ann Marie and their beloved children and grandchildren. Arrivederci, John!
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Thank you for reading. Watch for the next edition to come out on
August 1, 2019
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Missed a newsletter? Past issues are
archived
on the committee's webpage.
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Please do not reproduce or create new content from this material without the prior express written permission of CSG Midwest.
This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy under Award Numbers DE-NE0008604, DE-EM0004869, and DE-EM0005168.
This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.
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