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-- - -- - ��- - -- --- -- t 3'� ,, 4 1 has merit. The staff decides whether to accept or reject the comments. If they reject them, an appeal 2 could be made directly to the Commissioners. After that an appeal could be made directiy to the US 3 Court of Appeais. The determination of"No Significant Hazard" is not final until the NRC considers , 4 public comment. � 5 6 The effect of a final determination of"No Significant Hazard"would be that the racking of the pools 7 could occur independent of the hearing. It might be that the hearing would ultimately conclude that 8 the license amendment should not be granted and that the racks should be removed. However, that 9 outcome becomes less likely if the action has occurred because the stakes are raised. 10 ' 11 12 Questions from the Board of Commissioners to Consultants/CP&UOther Interested,Parties 13 14 Commissioner Brown asked for an explanation of the process that CP&L used to make the decision to 15 use the fuel pools. 16 17 Jim Scarola of CP&L stated that the Shearon Harris station was originally planned for four units. The 18 load projections caused the construction of three of the units to be cancelled. However, the decision 19 was made to complete the Spent Fuel building in such a way as to provide space for the original four- 20 pool capacity. CP&L expected that the Department of Energy would begin taking possession of the 21 fuei in 1998. They are at 75% capacity and are exercising the existing plan to put the last two pools 22 into service. It was not a decision that was made recently but was part of their long-term contingency 23 plan. They did look at alternatives to this option. The fuel rods that would be delivered to the plant 24 are now being stored in fuel pools at Robinson and Brunswick. Each of these plants, Robinson, 25 Brunswick and Shearon Harris, are at 75% of storage capacity. This is what is motivating the current 26 expansion plans at Shearon Harris. He felt confident that the Yucca Mountain facility wouid be open 27 sometime in the future to house spent fuel. �� 28 � 29 Commissioner Carey asked for clarification regarding the current license. Mr. Scarola said the license _ 30 currently allows for off-loading from Brunswick and Robinson. The current license amendment is 31 strictly to put the C & D pools into service. 32 33 Citizen Question: I read in a recent issue of the Raleigh News & Observer that the Shearon Harris 34 plant was accidentally shut down recently because a worker left a sheet of paper between a few 35 instruments and a back up system took over. It seems very easy for an accident to happen. What if 36 the back up system does not come on, what will happen? Are arrangements being made to anticipate 37 any Y2K problems? Commissioner Halkiotis added that he saw an add several weeks ago with 38 respect to how CP&L is preparing for Y2K and a representative of CP&L stated information would be 39 coming out in the Spring billing. Also, the advertisement stated that CP&L intends to recommend in 40 the spring billing that citizens stock up on non-perishable food items and batteries. This is 41 disconcerting to hear CP&L suggesting these types of warnings. 42 43 Mr. Scarola stated that nuclear facilities are designed to put themselves in a condition of safe 44 operation. For a nuclear plant that would be a shut-down condition. There are many systems that �� n 45 would shut down the plant if they sense a problem. There was a maintenance error which caused the 46 plant to shut down, however, no back up generators were needed. The plant operated as designed. 47 With regard to the Y2K issue, they have done a detailed review and testing on over 300 software 48 systems. He expressed extreme confidence in the safety of this facility. 49 50 Cornmissioner Brown stated that CP&L have stated that they go above and beyond the NRC 51 requirements. She asked for an explanation of how they are going beyond the requirements with � 52 regard to the pools. Mr. Scarola stated that the design of the pool storage at the Shearon Harris - 53 facility is above the minimum standard required and beyond the standards of other facilities in the 54 United States.