Is this NRC OIG evaluation fair about the NRC's internet social media presence?

So Booz Hamilton is actively soliciting the extreme 'Yes Vermont Yankee' blog participants for the agency's evaluation on the NRC's social media. We know many of these players are paid to pump the extreme pro nuclear side. I suspect they are paid by the nuclear utilities.

Most of the nuclear industry's employees are contractually prevented from talking about their plants and the industry...so it is hard to get these employees to speak anything nuclear because they are playing it safe. So that is why Booze is soliciting to these intimidated employees to comment about the NRC's social media...it's hard to get a comment from them?

Yes Vermont Yankee blog:

"A consultant for the NRC contacted me a few weeks ago and asked me for my opinion of the NRC's social media outreach efforts, such as the NRC blog, YouTube channel and twitter feed. I obliged by giving them a phone interview. I don't know how they picked people to interview, but I think that my blog was part of the selection process. 

Two days ago, they asked me if I could publicize their wider efforts to gather opinions of NRC's social media outreach. Specifically, they asked me to publicize a link to an opinion-survey form."   

Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Use of Social Media

"Booz Allen Hamilton is conducting an independent evaluation on behalf of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Office of Inspector General. As part of our research, we would like to provide the public with an opportunity to share their feedback, thoughts, and ideas regarding NRC’s use of its official social media channels which include the NRC Blog, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr sites. Links to all the NRC social media sites can be found on the NRC’s homepage at http://www.nrc.gov/. NOTE: Comments will not be attributed to individuals or organizations. They will be reviewed by Booz Allen Hamilton and considered as part of its research efforts for their final evaluation report which will be presented to NRC and made publicly available. Additionally, this is an open forum and all feedback is welcome. Comments will not receive a response from Booz Allen Hamilton or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Thank you for your time and participation.  

If you follow, read, subscribe to, or engage with NRC via any of these channels, please share your feedback on how efficiently and effectively the NRC is currently using these sites and provide any recommendations on areas for improvement. *"

...This is what I submitted to him:

I think the NRC's social media is a typical corporatese public relation pumping operation. It is not about the employees of the NRC creating a open conversation with the public. Mostly, comments contrary to the agencies ideology-philosophy is censored out of the social media. The gate keepers of the social media leans towards the extreme pro nuclear attitude...we don't have sympathetic gate keepers on all sides. 

You submit a comment....the comment takes forever for it to get on the site, if at all. It is not like the typical social media where you comment is added without censure or delay. 

I am completely turned off with the NRC'S total control of their George Orwell's  social media sites....

Basically the NRC is keenly managing the look of their social media presence by controlling content...it is not a peoples totally organic site.

My Blog

I am surprised the OIG contractor is only interviewing the extreme wing of the pro nuclear side, not the regular people, the safety advocates and the antis. 

If you behave in a way that projects to the NRC the agency is not up to the job of regulating the nuclear plants or controlling the bad plants ...they won't allow you to participate.  

My email: Mike Mulligan steamshovel2002@yahoo.com  

Bottom line, they are extremely controversy adverse. They are creating a huge hurdle to participate.  

Is Booz cherry picking the extreme pro nuclear wing side of the equation for interviews who advocate for much less NRC oversight and regulations...?

And we know the NRC OIG is under the total control of the mad dog House Republican extreme wing of the pro nuclear extremist...zero regulations of the nuclear plants!

Palisades Nuclear Plant Restarts

At least they waited till my 2.206 yesterday before starting up. The region III officials were missing from my prehearing...that was really abnormal. I knew something was up. I rather have them watching the start-up preparations. 

What is always missing, there was no information of what broke and why on the CRDM casing to the public before the start-up...  

18 days for this outage, plus 28 day for the SIRWT, it gives us a total of 46 outage days since last outage...  

I bet you it is the worst post outage capacity record ever...

So that is a 58% capacity factor...

Will they even cobble together another month of operation... 

Palisades nuclear plant returned to service

Published : Thursday, 30 Aug 2012, 8:21 AM EDTCOVERT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The Palisades nuclear plant in southwestern Michigan has been returned to service following a shutdown that began earlier this month because of a minor steam leak.

Spokesman Mark Savage says in an email that the plant in Van Buren County's Covert Township will be returned to full power over the next several days. It was returned to service Thursday morning following repairs.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been investigating. The agency said the leak was coming from a control rod drive, which is part of the mechanism for shutting down the reactor. It said steam was confined to the building that houses the reactor, and no radiation escaped into the environment. 

The plant owned by New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. was shut down starting Aug. 12.

3:30 pm Aug 30: 

So the NRC says Palisades can’t be trusted...once again they can’t operate in a sustaining “self directed" manner. The NRC has to hold their hands. The NRC had to raise questions like they had over and over again at this plant...

I just find is suspicious the NRC had to keep this secret until after the startup...

Palisades nuclear plant returned toservice

AP Aug. 30, 2012, 12:11 p.m. CDT
The NRC has been investigating the leak as well as looking at the plant's safety culture. The agency said the leak was coming from a control rod drive, which is part of the mechanism for shutting down the reactor. It said steam was confined to the building that houses the reactor, and no radiation escaped into the environment. 

Inspectors raised a number of questions about some of the inspections and analysis performed by the plant, NRC spokeswoman Viktoria Mitlyng said, and the plant performed additional work to ensure the plant was safe to restart. The agency it will review plans for inspections going forward. 

“The NRC provided strong oversight of analysis, repairs and testing," Mitlyng said.

Heat Sink Temperature NOED and License Amendment Request Were Unforeseeable

From: "Stuchell, Sheldon"
To: "steamshovel2002@yahoo.com"  
Cc: "Bahadur, Sher" ; "Burnell, Scott" ; "Wertz, Trent"  
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2012 5:10 PM

Subject: EMAIL DATED JULY 14, 2012, REGARDING U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (NRC) ISSUANCE OF WEATHER RELATED NOTICES OF ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION (NOEDS)

Dear Mr. Mulligan:

This e-mail is in response to the concerns you brought to the attention of the NRC on July 14, 2012, regarding an increasing trend in the issuance of weather-related NOEDs. Specifically, you were concerned about the larger implications of the NOED request concerning a potential industry trend in plant operational challenges due to environmental issues, whether the NRC was reviewing this trend, and what actions were being considered around the country with regard to licensee’s increasing their UHS capacity to address hot weather conditions. Because your concern contained possible safety issues with NRC-regulated activity, your emails were forwarded to my office for review.

The NRC expects all nuclear power plant licensees to operate their facilities safely and in compliance with NRC regulations, the plant license, including technical specifications (TS), and other requirements. Nevertheless, circumstances may occur in which explicit compliance with an NRC requirement could result in an unnecessary plant transient or unnecessary delays in plant startup, or the performance of a test, inspection, or system realignment that is inappropriate for the prevailing plant conditions. 

There are two types of NOEDs: (1) “regular” NOEDs and (2) “severe weather or other natural phenomena-related” NOEDs (severe-weather NOEDs). Requests for “regular” NOEDs involve consideration of the radiological health and safety of the public. Requests for “severe-weather” NOEDs involve not only the consideration of the radiological health and safety of the public, but may also consider the potential impact on public health and safety because of power delivery challenges.

On July 7, 2012, the NRC considered and approved a request for a weather related NOED. The evaluation of this request was performed by NRC staff from various technical specialties to ensure the radiological safety of continued operation. This request for a NOED was approved. 

This was the first weather related NOED request in 2012, and the first in the past 10-years based on a search of NRC records. The NRC takes public health and safety very seriously and will only approve a NOED request if the NRC staff finds continued operation of a nuclear power plant safe.

The NRC reviews all granted NOEDs to ensure that the NOED process is completed in accordance with the NRC Enforcement Policy and to determine if adverse trends are noted. At this time, we do not find it necessary to initiate any further actions.

Concerning other licensee-specific issues you raised in your e-mails, specific questions concerning licensees are the responsibilities of the regions and, if appropriate, the regions will provide a response.

Thank you for informing us of your concerns. Should you have any additional questions concerning NOEDs, or if we can be of further assistance to you, please contact me at (800) 368-5642.

Sincerely,
Sheldon Stuchell
Sheldon D. Stuchell, Acting Chief
Licensing Processes Branch
Division of Policy and Rulemaking
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Mr. Stuchell,

And you call yourselves a scientific based organization and scientist?

The NOEDs don't require a nuclear plant to submit heat sink temperatures trends over a long period of time. The NRC doesn't make them admit our heat sink temperatures have been increasing for years and we aren't required to admit we seen the train coming while we were on the tracks and we were too stupid to move out of the way so it hit us. 

The NRC is using stupid selective information to reject my allegation...

You are defending the agency actions with inaccurate and incomplete information...

Millstone and NRC falsify's documents in order to keep plant at power

Millstone looking to adjust operation to warmer wate 

By Judy Benson
Temperature data collected by environmental scientists at Millstone shows average temperatures of the waters around the plant have risen by 0.67 degrees per decade since 1976, Holt said. In 1976, the annual mean temperature was 51.6 degrees, compared to 53.4 degrees in 2009. 

...WATER TEMPERATURE, THEN AND NOW
Temperature data collected by environmental scientists at Millstone shows average temperatures of the waters around the plant have risen by .67 degrees per decade since 1976, Holt said. In 1976, the annual mean temperature was 51.6 degrees, compared to 53.4 degrees in 2009. The mean temperature in August 1976 was 67.3 degrees, compared to 69.8 degrees in August 2009. The next year, the temperature went still higher in August. In a 2010 annual environmental report, Millstone scientists noted that April and May of that year had the warmest temperatures on record, and that the mean August temperature was 70.3 degrees.
Last year, the mean August temperature was slightly lower, 69.9 degrees, while the annual mean for 2011 was 53.8 degrees.

Impacts of Climate Change on Chicago Expected to Increase in Coming Decades( Sept 18, 2008)

Already, emissions of heat-trapping gasses have changed Chicago’s climate. The city’s temperatures have risen by 2.6 degrees Fahrenheit since 1980, 4 degrees in winter. In 15 of the last 20 years, meteorologists have seen above-average annual temperatures. Many of the defining characteristics of the city are being altered, including more frequent heat waves, warmer winters and a doubling in the amount of heavy rainfall events

Great Lakes water temperatures at record levels
July 24th, 2012

Data shows a long-term warming trend throughout the Great Lakes, which may be related to manmade climate change. According to George Leskevich, a physical research scientist with the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich., there is also a long-term downward trend in Great Lakes wintertime ice cover, although there is considerable year-to-year variability. 

The all-time daily average high temperature record for Lake Superior is 71°F, which was recorded in mid-August 2010. With a few more weeks of warming left, that record is in jeopardy. 

“The season hasn’t played itself out yet and we’re already within 3 degrees of the all-time daily record surface temperature,” Austin said

Of course, the climate around Millstone wasn't the hottest since 1895...it was just the 9th hottest summer this July. 

I just want everyone to stick to the facts and be truthful, not play pretend to keep you out of trouble and no one has accountability...

If everyone plays pretend, then one day a lot of Exelon's nuclear power plant's end up sitting on the edge of shutting down during a heat emergency and the fossil plant's discharge damaging amounts of heat to the waterways as we climb up the results of climate change. Just like we did this year. 

And I will make the case if you start fudging 8ths of a degree temperature of heat sink water to keep a plant up at power in heat wave...the end result of the lying and cheating will damage the safety culture of a plant (and NRC) and that will be the reason why the plant gets into a lot of trouble not related to the heat sink temperatures ("frog boiling"). 

You are giving these utilities under false pretenses unjustified NOEDs and licensing amendments request...it is illegal to submit the falsified documents. You haven't done your jobs through the years with alerting the American public that heat sink temperatures, low flows and levels are becoming a direct threat to our nation...we better act before we all get into trouble! Here are our emerging problems and we better fix them as a nation.

Braidwood and Millstone should have been prepared for this summer and they should have had lots of excess cooling capacity. That would be a great government agency preparing us for this day and you failed miserably! 

And don't get me talking about lying green energy and their electricity... 

You are lying and giving false testimony to the American people through playing word games and rules gaming! You are not helping the American people to deal the with creeping temperatures and thus setting up a future crisis.

You should have told Braidwood and Millstone to drop dead...you guys should have seen this coming. You should have given this signal to the rest of the plants...we won't bail out your stupidity and negligence...we wouldn't tolerate you not protecting and covering your communities... 

Thanks, 
Mike Mulligan 
Hinsdale, NH

...Of course, the climate around Millstone wasn't the hottest since 1895...it was just the 9th hottest summer this July.

I just want everyone to stick to the facts and be truthful, not play pretend to keep you out of trouble and no one has accountability...

You are lying and giving false testimony to the American people through playing word games and rules gaming!

...So this what is going on around the Braidwood plant and I am sure if you cared to look the same thing would be seen on the plant's environmental and heat sink summertime temperatures.

I think all LARs and NOEDs should be completely truthful and complete in all aspects...Braidwood and Millstone should have admitted in their government documents the day of reckoning was knowingly being approached. Exceeding the limits was completely foreseen and knowable....and they failed to act placing them in this completely preventable operational emergency. The NRC should have rejected the LAR and the NOED as being incomplete.

So it is the agency's ethical policy that NOEDs and emergency LARs need only contain incomplete information, which only bolsters the utilities and NRC's actions.

I think the NOED and emergency LAR rules and procedures were intentionally misused on the NRC's and nuclear plant documents!

How you play altruism in the NOEDs and the Emergency LAR is a moral hazard of extreme potency...

"but may also consider the potential impact on public health and safety because of power delivery challenges."

You don't create societal safety by violating important engineering principles and telling half lies in order to prevent power delivery challenges.

Societal safety and security is much broader issue....credibility and nuclear safety is only obtainable if the NRC and utility tells the whole truth of why you want to diverge from tech specs and plant licencing. If  you are covering up why you really need a NOED or emergency LAR...then how can we trust you when you say a plant is safe and this problem is no big deal. Lying and telling only the half truths over a plant event even if technically safe, lends you into destroying the culture of trust and valuable in relationships between humans. I think the culture of trust and relationships...communications...is much more important than all the nuclear emergency diesel generators and emergency core cooling systems. That is the engineer's centric ideation that gadgets are more important  than humans...cheapshakism...I say human relationships, communications, integrity, intelligence and trust are far more important than any gadget.  

 The NRC takes public health and safety very seriously and will only approve a NOED request if the NRC staff finds continued operation of a nuclear power plant safe.

I don't think it is safe for us to have a enormous amouns of electric capacity sitting on the edge of a shutdown in climate change because of inadequate plant investments and insufficient cooling capacity...even if nuclear wise, we are safe. I think it is the NRC's job to help us see this problem.   

...And the highest existential order...I will have faith in government in a national crisis. That I will have a reservoir of a relationship with my government...that I will trust what the government says in a national crisis. If I can't trust my government over talking about nuclear plant issues...how could I trust them in a bigger crisis...

ASME Corporate Facism and Palisades

Aug 31:


...Basically the ASME code failed to make them check in the right place...

Based on the location of the fault and destructive analysis of CRDM 24, the licensee concluded that CRDM 24 experienced a failure due to TGSCC. The licensee described the extent of condition examination. The licensee reported that the ASME Code In Service Inspection (ISI) requirements did not apply in this case as the weld in question (weld no. 5) was not a pressure retaining weld addressed by the Code. This weld was an overlay located inside the housing. However, they applied the guidance in the ASME Code to inspect 10 percent of the CRDM housings. They stated that although less than five CRDMs (10 percent) were required to be inspected per the ASME Code, they were conservative in selecting eight peripheral CRDMs for additional inspections. Based on their knowledge of the history related to previous CRDM failures (most failures in both the upper housing and seal housing occurred on the peripheral), they selected CRDM 25 (which experienced a seal housing leak), CRDM 22 (which experienced a seal housing crack), CRDM 21 (which experienced the upper housing crack in 2001), CRDM 2 and 26 (which experienced a seal housing leak) and CRDMs 23, 27, and 28...

....Basically they are all guessing where the next crack will show up...they replaced the housing with a different metal in 2001 and its cracking faster than the first metal type...

 CONTROL ROD DRIVE MECHANISM (CRDM) 24

The licensee shut down the plant on August 12, 2012, due to unidentified leakage exceeding 0.3 gallons per minute. After the shut down, the licensee identified the CRDM 24 upper housing as the source of the leakage with a pinhole leak of 1/8”x1/16” rough dimensions and located approximately 2 feet above the reactor head.

Based on the location of the fault and destructive analysis of CRDM 24, the licensee concluded that CRDM 24 experienced a failure due to TGSCC. The licensee described the extent of condition examination. The licensee reported that the ASME Code In Service Inspection (ISI) requirements did not apply in this case as the weld in question (weld no. 5) was not a pressure retaining weld addressed by the Code. This weld was an overlay located inside the housing. However, they applied the guidance in the ASME Code to inspect 10 percent of the CRDM housings. They stated that although less than five CRDMs (10 percent) were required to be inspected per the ASME Code, they were conservative in selecting eight peripheral CRDMs for additional inspections. Based on their knowledge of the history related to previous CRDM failures (most failures in both the upper housing and seal housing occurred on the peripheral), they selected CRDM 25 (which experienced a seal housing leak), CRDM 22 (which experienced a seal housing crack), CRDM 21 (which experienced the upper housing crack in 2001), CRDM 2 and 26 (which experienced a seal housing leak) and CRDMs 23, 27, and 28.



Palisades from the May 12 outage start-up to now has a horrendous capacity factor of 59%...they were only operating 59% of the time since the last outage...

American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Code Case N-705

Code Case N-705 “Evaluation Criteria for Temporary Acceptance of Degradation in Moderate Energy Class 2 or 3 Vessels and Tanks” and defer repair of this flaw until the next refueling outage.

Class 1 primary system
Class 2 Components (III, Subsection NC) Those components that are part of various important to safety emergency core cooling systems
Class 3 Components (III, Subsection ND)Those components that are part of the various systems needed for plant operation

You get that engineer's word smith corporatese engineer under ethical obligations...moderate energy...there is no distinction between class 2 and 3?  Is the SIRWT a class 2 or 3, or does it matter. Don't we got a new plain language NRC chairwomen...

In order to apply the provision of the ASME Code Case N-705 for a tank leak from a hidden flaw and allow plant start-up with the leak, conservative assumptions regarding flaw characteristics and locations were made. Engineering calculation documents a critical flaw size of 1.2 inches and an allowable flaw size of 0.33 inches.

So why couldn't the agency link the N-705 directly to the actual code?

I get this right off the bat in a meeting with four NRC official...Mike, the codes are propriety to the ASME. We can't send then to you. He goes on saying you can purchase the code off ASME for $81.00 or something.

I tell them these are the kind of sickening codes that drives the organization mad. The good guys know this is wrong and management comes back saying the codes allow us to do this. This is corporate insiders going behind closed door making engineering codes...they are paying ASME to administer a private corporate engineering code system.

The NRC told me, well mike, this is a low pressure system. I asked them how long does the codes allow a unknown flaw to be in a reactor cooling system. They say the codes allow 26 months of operation like this. I ask, from when the leak begins or when it is discovered. They discover it in 2011 something. So Palisades gets to start the clock in a outage at there connivance...they can carry a unknown leak though two or more outages without knowing why the core cooling system is leaking or repairing it. This is object insanity!

You know, is ASME god...it is to them.

I mean, did high level engineers writing this code envision their codes could be twisted in such a manner?

How does this private code authority enforce their codes?

The NRC says they got a got a NRC official on their board of directors or something...

You got a highly secretive private corporate code authority overseeing the standards of this nuclear industry...utterly disconnected from participating in our democratic transparency and our Constitution Ideals. You got a bunch of arrogant senior engineers who hates government and our Democracy running this show...

And i will tell you what, nothing in the world drives good employees into the safety culture ditch, as crazy rules built on leveraging corporate profits...

And if a plant gets into bad trouble as a meltdown....we will be talking about the fascist corporate ASME engineering codes...

Standard can be defined as a set of technical definitions and guidelines that function as instructions for designers, manufacturers, operators, or users of equipment. 

A standard becomes a Code when it has been adopted by one or more governmental bodies and is enforceable by law, or when it has been incorporated into a business contract

The largest ASME standard, both in size and in the number of volunteers involved in its preparation, is the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC).

You know, if you don't pay a employee and he doesn't works for the ideals of his organization...then who does he really serve?

I'll bet you they got a exemption from a legal suit?


I 'll give you the straight skinny, the corporations get to write their/our engineering codes and laws, while the congressionally dis-empowered "independent" NRC enforces the weak or non existent corporate rules. Does anyone wonder why all these employees are disillusioned with the world?

Yep, there has been a lot of talk about making the NRC a private corporate regulator...


I 'll give you the straight skinny, the corporations get to write their/our codes and laws, while the congressionally disempowered NRC enforces the weak or non existent corporate rules. Does anyone wonder why all these employees are disillusioned with the world?

I would call it my polite meeting with these NRC officials as the hour of Palisades-Entergy cheerleading section...not a tell me all the vulnerabilities of the NRC and Palisades hour so I could effectively interact with the 2.206 process. I just never can get a cold blooded independent and objective evaluation of what is going on at Palisades and the NRC...it all ends up about protecting self interest. 

Illinois Grid (electricity) not adequately designed for our climate?

Aug 28: Has the cheap natural gas caused Exelon not to be able to support maintenance and sufficient plant cooling capacity on their fleet of nuclear and fossil plants, then support their stock prices and bloated executive compensation...?

Exelon drops new Texas nuke plans, cites cheap natgas

Exelon Corp (EXC.N) will halt efforts to gain regulatory approval to build a new nuclear plant in southeast Texas, the company said on Tuesday.

"The action is in response to low natural gas prices and economic and market conditions that have made construction of new merchant nuclear power plants in competitive markets uneconomical now and for the foreseeable future," said Charles Pardee, Exelon Generation's chief operating officer."

July 24: It is interesting, did Obama and Exelon compromise the Illinois environmentalist...

Seems the nukes were the sentinel...their reportability requirements cued you  into troubles on our waterways even other than the nukes. Generally it is shameful how little transparency their has become in the utility industry. It has become a undemocratic institution!  


...Braidwood cooling tower from NYT

Robert Ray/Associated Press

Exelon doesn't want anymore wind subsidies because it undermines their nuclear program. A marginal quantity of a highly subsidized electricity can  undermine the majority of electricity or a lesser subsidized electricity. And this mandated green electricity is a worst poison to the system than one can imagine.

This kind of political ties always undermines the employees and the vulnerable public. I wouldn't mine it so much if the lesser players without as much money had equivalent reach to the  president powers. I just want the power of transparency!

Our family is still voting for you! There is still time for a redemption. It is mindbogglingly to think how much the Obama administration is advocating global warming is here and it is a direct threat to you, and they are at the same time are undermining the cooling capabilities of power plants to the biggest owner of nuclear plants in the USA. It is mindbogglingly...      

Ties to Obama Aided in Access for Big Utility

WASHINGTON — Early in the Obama administration, a lobbyist for the Illinois-based energy producer Exelon Corporation proudly called it “the president’s utility.” And it was not just because it delivers power to Barack Obama’s Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago... 

Me a month ago: "All the big dogs in the NRC, Exelon and big power companies, the Illinois state grid regulators...they are pissing their pants over what August might bring Illinois and they don't want the story out."

Right, big picture, I have made my statement and it got plenty of print...the majority of my conscience is now clear.

 Me July 18:

"...Pathetic, you people think a drought just uncovers the low rocky shoals and sand bars of our baking steams, river and waterways. I know a drought mostly uncovers a staggering build up and amount of fraud and corruption in our society. A 50 and 100 year drought of staggering dimensions is really a amazing transparency device or tool..." 

"At the same time, Exelon was working with other power companies to block or weaken a provision of proposed clean water regulations that were also under review. The E.P.A., aiming to prevent water intakes at power plants from killing fish and other aquatic life, was proposing regulations that the companies feared would require extensive renovations.

Exelon lobbyists and their allies, over the last year, have again secured unusual access to White House meetings, pressing for dozens of changes, even proposing how to redraft entire sections of the regulation, according to its written presentations to the E.P.A.
Days after a March 2011 meeting with Exelon executives, a White House official instructed the E.P.A. official in charge of drafting the water intake rule to rewrite major portions, according to White House e-mail records.

The E.P.A. official, Mary T. Smith, was called to a meeting shortly after lobbyists for Exelon and industry associations appealed for changes, and told to rewrite the regulation, agency e-mails show.

“You are disappointed, but you can’t work at the agency without understanding you are not the decision maker,” Ms. Smith, who retired from the agency this year, said in an interview.

The rewrite effectively narrowed the circumstances under which nuclear plants would be required to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to eliminate the hazard for aquatic life." 

Power Plants Releasing Hotter Water

***struggling because of "stubbornly low electricity prices"...

***"may be forced to seek bankruptcy protection 

By Erin Meyer and Julie Wernau, Chicago Tribune reporters
August 20, 2012 

As fish die in record numbers across Illinois this summer because of the intense heat and drought, state officials are granting power plants special exemptions to flush massive amounts of hot water into already stressed lakes and rivers.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is allowing power plants to dump hundreds of millions of gallons of water per day at temperatures approaching 100 degrees into the state's waterways, the Tribune has learned.

Temperature-sensitive fish already have been swimming deeper to find cooler water or have been abandoning environmentally inhospitable areas during the heat and drought. But with power plant operators dumping hot water at record amounts, environmentalists say the fish, along with the rivers and lakes they live in, could face increased risk.

Regulators and power plant operators say the waivers to release water hotter than normal are necessary so they can continue providing adequate power in August, following the warmest July in U.S. history when energy demand from air conditioners was soaring...

***Do you want people to start dying, or do you want to save some fish?" said Julia Wozniak, of Midwest Generation, whose job is to make sure the plants remain in compliance with thermal emission limitations.

***In issuing the variances to four coal-fired plants and four nuclear plants, the IEPA has largely relied on power plant and grid operators to say whether shutting down any individual facility would lead to widespread power outages.

***Plant operators — struggling because of stubbornly low electricity prices — have a financial incentive to keep plants running rather than power down. Analysts say that for every day that a power plant shuts down, its owner loses hundreds of thousands of dollars. And Midwest Generation, which operates six coal-fired plants in Illinois, is struggling and may be forced to seek bankruptcy protection along with its parent company, executives said this month.

***Henry Henderson, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's Midwest office in Chicago, said state officials are making a mistake by granting variances to power companies to exceed hot water thresholds. Instead, power plants should power down, he said. 

***Callaway added that he has never seen a more uncertain time for the power supply in 40 years working in environmental compliance.

 First published July 15, 012

I'd like to talk about your drought...what it is doing to the electric grid and power system. Last week the two nuclear plants in the Braidwood facility (near Chicago) nearly had to power down because their cooling lake had overheated. This really isn't a nuclear safety or an environmental story. It asks us is the Braidwood nuclear plant and our power and electricity system adequately designed for the current and projected climate? It asks us if this drought worsens through August what kind of condition could the Illinois grid/electrical system be in? By fall, how many power plants nationwide will get knocked off the grid? This is a national story and you could be the first to get it out right? 

All the big dogs in the NRC, Exelon and big power companies, the Illinois state grid regulators, They are pissing their pants over what August might bring Illinois and they don't want the story out.  

We are in a humongous emergency! 

Lets talk! Mike Mulligan 1 603 336 8320 

Check this Newspaper article out about the Braidwood nuclear plant in 1988...your last big drought...how will we look this Aug 10?

Braidwood in 2001 got a 10% power up uprate into their cooling lake and thus drove the grid toward fagility in droughts and heat waves. This is the best from our best and brightest engineers! Need i talk about temperature records and all the once every 100 year weather event we have broken in the last few years? The power up rate caused the lake to heat up more and produce more algae, darkened the waters, thus sunlight is massively heating up the lake too. So the power uprate and sunlight are heating up the water more...and lake evaporation challenging the make up capability ?  

I think this 1988 newspaper reporter is amazing how he captured this for us!!! Don't forget to watch the Newsroom on HBO tonight?   

Edison To Tap Lakes To Keep Plant Running

August 10, 1988|By Michael Arndt. 

A variance in March...these guys got to be screwed? FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 23, 2012 Illinois EPA grants Exelon Braidwood Station Provisional Variance from Discharge Requirements Springfield—The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) has granted the Exelon Generation’s Braidwood Station a provisional variance from the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) water discharge permitted temperature limits, due to recent unseasonably warm weather conditions. Braidwood Station is a nuclear-fueled steam electric generating facility located approximately five miles from the Kankakee River at Braceville. Circulating water used to cool and condense steam from the generating process is ultimately discharged into a cooling pond, then to the Kankakee River. It does not come into contact with any radioactive components and does not have any impact on radiation risk. Exelon’s NPDES permit places limits the temperature of the effluent versus the temperature of the river water during a given season, and gives Braidwood an allowance of excursion hours it can use if its discharge exceeds the temperature. Because of recent record breaking warm weather, the river temperature at the intake has exceeded temperature standards; therefore the capacity of the river to dissipate heat has been reduced, causing the facility to exhaust the permitted excursion hours. During the variance period, Braidwood Station must continuously monitor both discharge and receiving water temperatures and must visually inspect all discharge areas at least three times each day to assess the impact on aquatic life. It must also notify the Illinois EPA and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources if aquatic life is shown to be affected. If the increased discharge temperature results in adverse environmental impact, appropriate reparations must be conducted. Exelon Generation’s Braidwood Station must continue to meet all other effluent conditions in its NPDES permitalong with additional conditions contained in the provisional variance but not expressly listed above. The Illinois EPA has determined that any environmental impact from the variance would be closely monitored, and the Agency will be notified immediately of any adverse impacts; no reasonable alternative appears to be available; no public water supplies will be affected; no federal regulations would prohibit granting the request; and the facility would face an arbitrary and unreasonable hardship if the IEPA did not grant the requested variance. The provisional variance will be in effect no later than March 31, 2012. All other NPDES permit requirements will remain in effect.

From: Michael Mulligan
To: "allegation@nrc.gov"
Sent: Saturday, July 14, 2012 1:26 PM
Subject: Re: Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn: "Pray for rain" and Braidwood nuclear plant

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/il/nwis/uv?site_no=05520500

The 1906 low flow record is 360 cubic feet per second...it is now 424 cfs. It's 64 cfs from the 1906 low flow record. The mean is 1500 cfs...This is the guy who feeds the Braidwood lake. How long will they be allowed to withdrawal from this river and who does it impact downstream?

Kankakee River

From: Michael Mulligan
To: "allegation@nrc.gov"
Sent: Saturday, July 14, 2012 1:01 PM
Subject: Re: Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn: "Pray for rain" and Braidwood nuclear plant

"Meents, the site superintendent for Mazonia/Braidwood State Fish and Wildlife Area, said there were some dead floaters at Braidwood, the cooling lake in the southwest corner of Will County, but nothing major. It was mainly threadfin and gizzard shad. On Monday, there was still 100-degree water on the south end."

Yea, because they been already been dead for years because the algae bloom driven by elevated water temps from the power up-rate sucked the oxygen out of the water!

From: Michael Mulligan
To: "allegation@nrc.gov"
Sent: Saturday, July 14, 2012 12:49 PM
Subject: Re: Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn: "Pray for rain" and Braidwood nuclear plant

What is the water level in the Braidwood lake?

That really bad marker 1988 drought I was talking about yesterday is being mention all over the press today. Already many outlets say this drought and record heat is worst than 1988. The difference between 1988 and 2012 is in 1985 and 1986 they had more than average precipitation. Illinois now is in drought conditions in 2011 and through this winter and fall. And we had the warmest winter on record! We been breaking temperatures records for as far as the eyes can see.

You catch the date of this article, Aug 10, 1988...how will Braidwood be on Aug 10, 2012? Will it be a worst repeat of 1988?

You see all the other power plants throughout our nation who are in trouble by Aug 10...

We in the beginning of national emergency of historic proportions...

I can hear the NRC saying because there is no evidence of a worst than 1988 drought, thus a worst than 1988 drought is impossible. 

Edison To Tap Lakes To Keep Plant Running

August 10, 1988|By Michael Arndt.

New

Commonwealth Edison Co., which has said low water levels could force it to reduce output of its Braidwood nuclear station, signed an agreement Tuesday that should allow the power plant to run at capacity into autumn.

Meanwhile, rains across the state allowed Edison`s Quad Cities nuclear station on the Mississippi River to generate more electricity Tuesday, though it remained far below capacity.

Like several other Midwestern utilities, Edison has had to curb production at several power plants because this summer`s drought has diminished water supplies needed to cool the generators.

At the current rate of evaporation, which lowers Braidwood`s lake level by a half-inch a day, Edison has said it would be forced to slow the atomic

power plant`s production within days and suspend operations by the end of August.

The loss of the 2,240-megawatt facility would cut the utility`s capacity by more than 10 percent.

But Edison spokesmen said Tuesday that the utility has found a way to extend full-capacity operations by the twin-unit facility for at least another two weeks, even if it doesn`t rain for the rest of the month.

After meeting with local and state officials in Will County, Edison officials got tentative permission to enlarge a roadway ditch to feed the facility`s cooling lake with water from four nearby lakes formed by strip mines.

On most days, the strip-mine lake water will make up all the water that evaporates from the cooling lake-estimated to be 20,000 to 30,000 gallons a minute-and keep the cooling lake level above the mouths of the plant's intake pumps.

Under the tentative agreement, Edison can remove up to half the water in the four lakes, all within a mile of the twin-unit nuclear station and owned by Edison. Pumping is expected to begin next week.

In addition, Edison said it will drill wells to make sure that by draining the lakes, the company isn`t lowering the underground water table and jeopardizing well-water supplies for nearby farms and residents.

The move by Edison is similar to steps recently taken by Decatur-based Illinois Power Co.

That utility has been pumping 3,700 gallons of water a minute from a strip-mine lake into a cooling pond of a 165-megawatt coal-fired power plant outside Danville. The level of the cooling lake is 7 feet below normal.

Other utilities also are working to counter the effects of the drought, which has dropped the levels of rivers and lakes to record lows, forcing utilities to curtail power production from Arkansas to Minnesota.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, for instance, has built a dike across a channel on the Mississippi River to create a reservoir for a 990-megawatt coal-fired station.

Rain, howewer, is the best solution, utility spokesmen agree.

Thunderstorms late Monday and early Tuesday raised the level of the Mississippi and lowered its water temperature enough to allow Edison`s 789-megawatt Quad Cities I nuclear unit to raise its output to 500 megawatts from 400 megawtts.

Edison also said the rains should soon allow the twin-unit Dresden nuclear station, near Morris, to increase generation to more than 50 percent of capacity.

From: Michael Mulligan
To: "allegation@nrc.gov"
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2012 9:01 PM
Subject: Re: Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn: "Pray for rain" and Braidwood nuclear plant

I just proved to you this NOED should have anticipated and the NOED is so engineering justification wise shallow and unsafe..it constitutes NRC and public falsification...

Did you see all the NRC officials involved in this meeting...

Nobody wants to admit the facility isn't designed as a public utility and power source...isn't adequately designed for the current and anticipated climate. It is a cover-up! And the outcome of all of this is it drives Exelon to unnecessarily over and over again to challenge safety and tech spec limits...

I have no needs of confidentiality or anonymity...

Mike

BRAIDWOOD LAKE FISHERIES FACT SHEET

Dec 8, 2011...

http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/parks/r2/MZB/Braidwood_FishFactSheet.pdf

"Further increases in electrical output at the generating station have resulted in even warmer water temperatures during the past summers."

"Once supporting a variety of rooted and emergent aquatic plant species, Braidwood Lake is now dominated by an almost year ‘round phytoplankton bloom. In an excellent example of cooperation between corporate partners, constituents and the IDNR, a fish habitat enhancement project which was initiated in 2007 has continued on an annual basis."

This state document is post 2007...

So the phytoplankton bloom darkened the color of the lake, the elevated pond temperature drastically changed the population of the fish...and this darkened coloration and phytoplankton bloom is further capturing solar radiation and increasing the temperatures of the lake.

As air temperatures increases does phytoplankton bloom increase...

From: Michael Mulligan
To: "allegation@nrc.gov"
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2012 4:02 PM
Subject: Re: Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn: "Pray for rain" and Braidwood nuclear plant

Is Browns Ferry next? But they got $250 million dollar upgrade to their cooling system and a new cooling towers after massive capacity losses due to their heat sink problems last year.

Who has the mega picture with heat sink problems and climate in the NRC?

I'd have to look at the Braidwood heat sink summer time temperature trends, maybe the peak heat sink temperatures over the last decade...were they trending up over years? Was it an inevitability years ago the limit wound be broken?

What is going on nationally with our heat sinks?

So why wasn't the agency in there years ago, hey buddy...you are going to have to start building cooling towers to stay running in the summers. When the day comes to beg for a NOED it ain't going to be to coming from us. That is what a real friend does. Sounds like this lake is private property.

Get, Alabama enforced their environmental laws causing a Browns Ferry prolonged down power and construction program last year...while the NRC says to Braidwood be stupid and don't worry about the future, we will always give you a free go pass go card when you violate our rules.

As the NRC inspector said to me this morning, we got to be thinking holistically. Is it in the interest of the Chicago grid region and populous, to keep giving Exelon a free go pass go card with their heat sinks...or should the agency force or coerce them for the greater good of the Chicago region to purchase cooling towers!

Maybe shutdown for the approaching heat waves to keep their cooling pond cool...then power up when the grid is fragile and staving for electricity...that way they will use their precious cooling pond for the most good. Cause the way it works now, you allow Braidwood ponds to heat up to the worst of a heat wave grid criticality...then force a shutdown at the worst possible time. How long we going to trade off nuclear safety for regional grid and public safety, when we know the cooling towers wouldn't cause Chicagoans to play Russian roulette.

Believe me i get it the finances of Exelon are weak and getting weaker...but closing our eyes and keep digging that hole deeper and deeper, is that strategy really good for the Chicago metropolitan area?

From: Michael Mulligan
To: "allegation@nrc.gov"
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2012 2:07 PM
Subject: Re: Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn: "Pray for rain" and Braidwood nuclear plant
 

Coal City Ill:

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/il/nwis/rt

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/il/nwis/uv?site_no=05542000

The 70 year medium cubic feet per second river flow is 50 cfp...it is flowing now at .78 cfp 4 miles from the plant. The 30 year low flow happen in 1988 at 07 cfp. How did the plant work back then? Has the plant had a uprate...

This is a indicator of climate?

so two 5% uprates in 2001 for a total of 10% more heat load into the cooling pond...

The 2001 uprates drove the regional grid to be more fragile during droughts and high temperature events...

The facility is not designed for the current climate.

From: Michael Mulligan
To: "allegation@nrc.gov"
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2012 12:57 PM
Subject: Re: Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn: "Pray for rain" and Braidwood nuclear plant
 This is called engineering analysis stove piping. You focus on a correct artificially narrow evaluation...leading to basing the outcome on an incorrect set of facts. You base the NOED outcome on a meaningless temporary weather forecast while ignoring the repetitive nature of looking at this through the eyes of a spreading drought and record historic temperatures...repetitively entering a NOED. It is engineered falsification and lying to the public. I don't care if the rules allow lying and creating an official falsification.

From Briadwood NOED:

"At the time, you asserted that weather forecasts and lake temperature modeling indicated that the UHS temperature excursion above 100ºF would end prior to midnight Saturday, July 7, 2012, due primarily to environmental temperature moderating to the mid 80ºF range and an increase in local wind."

From: Michael Mulligan
To: "allegation@nrc.gov"
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2012 12:33 PM
Subject: Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn: "Pray for rain" and Braidwood nuclear plant

This is to support my allegation by telephone of a few hours ago...

I request to talk to Washington DC NRC officials who are knowledgeable of the situation?

I left a phone message with Gary Shear, Acting Director Division of Reactor Projects, Region III to discuss his NORD. It should be noted when I got to the Region III phone system asking me to spell out the the last name of the one I wanted to talk to....SPEAR...the system wouldn't accept my correct spell out and dropped me to have call back to region III. Maybe the computer couldn't understand my New England accent. This part of the phone system requesting the person to spell out "the one who he wants to talk to" is broken and not working.

"Pray for rain," Gov. Pat Quinn said this week. "It's a good thing to do."

Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/weather/stories/Pray-For-Rain-Drought-Illinois-162341306.html#ixzz20WDld9Ue

With all of Illinois and much of the surrounding region in the throes of drought, state climatologist Jim Angel said there is no easy soluti

...The problem I had with the NRC was that that the NRC wasn't “thinking big “ and far sighted. He didn't even mention to me Illinois was in a spreading drought. He was comforted with a certainty of a "weather front" was approaching to bring the Lake temperature down, but he had no fear of our uncertain summer. Certainty/uncertainty gaming.

There was almost certain knowledge that entering the NOED might be repetitive in nature...he and the NRC was only considering it was a "one off".

We are in an unprecedented weather/drought national emerging emergency...

I request the NRC form an emergency panel of "big thinking" top agency experts on and to monitor the 2012 summer drought situation and how the nuclear plants respond to this crisis.

I suspect the NRC is going to be confronted with a pan on the stove of popping popcorn amount of NOEDs at many plants before the summer is over.

All I can think of is in the drought of 1998 thru 200, the massive amounts of paper whipping NOEDs and tech spec changes that occurred back then. Braidwood did it.

The inspector justified to be me this was a once in a hundred year temperature event...I thought that kind of thinking was unsat. We are riddled in past years with many once in a hundred years weather events and i would consider every 100 year weather event to be normalized now. A once “in a hundred year event” weather event is not a rational justification to do nothing and just turn your head away from confronting problems.

I thought the inspector and the NRC was grossly situationally, environmentally and historically unaware with the conditions of drought conditions around his plant.

He mentioned temperature conditions around safety equipment in his plant was banging around upper limits. I reminded him most safety systems and components aren’t tested in the worst case and with an adequate safety margin at the upper temperature limits.    

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/13/us/midwest-drought/index.html

...(CNN) -- Authorities have declared more than 1,000 counties as natural disaster areas as the worst drought in a quarter-century spreads across the United States this summer.

Is the drought hitting your area? Let us know how you're coping on CNN iReport.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/weather/stories/Pray-For-Rain-Drought-Illinois-162341306.html

"Pray For Rain:" Quinn

The entire state has been declared in some stage of drought as another heat wave aims for Chicago

Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/weather/stories/Pray-For-Rain-Drought-Illinois-162341306.html#ixzz20WDTu1LW

http://www.wbez.org/news/quinn-plans-unveil-drought-plan-100870

Quinn plans to unveil drought plan

July 13, 2012

Associated Press

All of Illinois is now officially in a drought, and Gov. Pat Quinn plans a trip to southern Illinois on Monday to discuss the state's plans for responding to dry conditions.

Officials at the National Drought Mitigation Center in Nebraska say Cook County is fully in a moderate drought for the first time this year. But that isn't the worst of it. Far southern Illinois is designated as being in an exceptional drought, which is the most serious classification.

State Climatologist Jim Angel says Illinois needs several good-sized rains to turn things around.

Quinn on Thursday urged Illinoisans to pray for rain. And a Quinn spokeswoman says the governor's office is working on a variety of plans to provide relief to farmers and Illinois communities.

All of Illinois in a drought

Chicago received only about a quarter of average rainfall for June

July 13, 2012|By Mitch Smith, Chicago Tribune reporter

A patch of greenery persists Tuesday in an expanse of scorched grass along the Midway Plaisance in Chicago. The entire state of Illinois is in a drought. (Nancy…)

After flirting with drought conditions for weeks, the Chicago area is for the first time this year officially dry.

Two-thirds of Illinois is experiencing at least a severe drought, and about 9 percent is in an extreme drought or worse, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center, based at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln

Last month, Chicago got 0.89 inches of precipitation, far below the June average of 3.45 inches, according to Weather.com's totals forO'Hare International Airport. In July the city had only seen 0.28 inches of rain through Wednesday, and the short-term forecast promises little relief

False Ostendorff Senate Confirmation Testimony in 2010

False Ostendorff Confirmation Testimony in 2010

From: "Nieh, Ho"
To: "Steamshovel2002@yahoo.co m"
Sent: Mon, May 10, 2010 5:35:44 PM
Subject: Commissioner Ostendorff's remarks during Senate hearing

Dear Mr. Mulligan,

Thank you for your comment on May 8, 2010, on the OpenNRC website. On May 5, 2010, Commissioner Ostendorff made the following statement during the NRC oversight hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Subcommittee on Clear Air and Nuclear Safety:

"So far, to date, none of the water samples taken at any of the plants have had any groundwater contamination in excess of the 20,000 picocuries per liter."

You are correct in pointing out this misstatement. The Commissioner’s intention was to say that, to date, no local drinking water samples taken near any NRC-licensed nuclear power plant have had tritium levels in excess of the 20,000 picocuries per liter limit set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Commissioner Ostendorff intends to correct this matter for the record of the hearing.

Sincerely,

Ho Nieh
Chief of Staff
Office of Commissioner William C. Ostendorff
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

We had millions of picocuries (4) water in the ground for god know how long and it did leak into the Connecticut river. They killed the nearby well pump and wouldn't allow testing...


William Ostendorff, GOP-Appointed Regulator, Under Investigation For Thwarting Nuclear Safety Probe

Posted: 08/15/2012 1:13 pm Updated: 08/15/2012 3:14 pm
Ryan Grimm

Excerpts:

"While Jaczko was touring the plant on May 31st, according to the sources, a significant leak of potentially radioactive water was pouring into the control room. Less than two weeks later, the plant was shut down to repair the leak. Yet Jaczko was never made aware of the issue while inspecting the plant. He asked the NRC's Office of Investigations to look into why the leak was kept from him.

Commissioner William Ostendorff, however, wanted no such investigation to take place. Shortly after Jaczko ordered it, Ostendorff shouted at the top agency investigator, Cheryl McCrary, in front of several NRC employees. He told her that the inquiry should be halted and that it was a "waste of agency resources," according to the sources, who were briefed on the exchange by witnesses.

The probe into Ostendorff is the latest tussle in an ongoing war inside the agency over how to regulate the industry -- whether to take a trusting, hands-off approach, or to apply the rules in a serious way. It's a battle being fought all across Washington, as longtime advocates of deregulation argue that government bureaucrats are stifling job creation. Inside some industries, deregulation might tilt the balance of power away from consumers and workers, but in the nuclear industry, the consequences involve life and death."


My Palisades 2.206

12) May I please have a meeting with the Palisades inspectors and other inspectors to discuss the conditions of Palisades before the petition board pre-hearing.

2) Heads need to roll in Region III and at headquarters for tolerating and covering up these very serious safety problem at Palisades and throughout the Entergy organization. This all has the potential to gravely damage our nation.  

Right, was this retribution for speaking my mind.

They told me they all discussed this e-mail and they misinterpreted that I wanted the to speak in the PRB.

So why didn’t they answer me this other question:

I mean, is there a 2.206 agency head or somebody in charge of the 2.206 process that i can talk to about my frustration with the 2.206 process?

And I directly answered him:

FROM:
Michael Mulligan
TO:
Thursday, August 9, 2012 4:20 PM
Mr

Please set it up at your convenience...so it will be a teleconference please. If you pay the freight and my accommodations, I could come to Washington to give my plea. Hey, you never know if you don't ask?

As with the recent VY tie issues and the request for the new diesel generator...I find it impossible to have a open and true discussion about the problems in the nuclear industry with the agency. I have very little information and the NRC fails to help educate me on the issues, or provide transparent information surrounding a nuclear plant...as I am not allowed access to a nuclear site. I have to trust the agency to be my eyes and ears to get a fair government process because a utility wouldn't give me a level playing field with gaining the appropriate information. We know your rules don't allow the NRC to give me a level playing field opportunity with all the facts or any facts, with all the information. This limits my effectiveness with engaging the Petition Board. I could make a case there would be a lot less turmoil and accidents in the industry...thus better public credibility of the agency and the nuclear industry...if I had a constitutional-democracy style transparency mandated level playing field with insider information. Fundamentally with the VY Vernon Dam, this make my case I can't trust the agency to have a full and open discussion about my concerns in the 2.206 process. Right, me fighting for a DG over the Vernon tie since 2010, then we discovered new grid vulnerabilities, and the ISO and the NRC forces VY-Entergy to get a DG before the turn of this year. This has nothing to do with Palisades, but it expresses my frustration with the 2.206 process. I am involved with talking to the NRC next week about this issue.

So yes, I would like to speak to the petition review board about Palisades.

I mean, is there a 2.206 agency head or somebody in charge of the 2.206 process that i can talk to about my frustration with the 2.206 process?

I find it beyond gracious of the agency and I am impressed the agency remembered this request...please may i speak to the said officials about Palisades recent problems before the 2.206:

"Additionally, you requested to speak with the NRC Resident and/or Regional inspectors prior to the teleconference. Do you still seek that request?

Mike

He posed the question:

From:
To: 'Michael Mulligan' <steamshovel2002@yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 9, 2012 3:34 PM Subject: RE: Palisades 2.206 Petitions dated June 27, 2012 and June 28, 2012 (G20120443 and G20120492)

Mr. Mulligan

We’ll continue to limit the meeting to one hour, but that’s certainly an admirable attempt.

Please let me know whether you still request to address the PRB. If so, do you require a teleconference or a meeting at Headquarters. The PRB can support a meeting in next couple of weeks.

Additionally, you requested to speak with the NRC Resident and/or Regional inspectors prior to the teleconference. Do you still seek that request?

Thank you.
Sincerely,