 I have a briefing on the status of nuclear power plant decommissioning. The safe and effective regulation of decommissioning nuclear power plants is an important, and I think timely, topic for us here at the NRC, seeing how over the past few years we've had a number of plants announce decommissioning. There are different issues that surround the closure of nuclear reactor plants. These include several license amendment actions to reflect changes in the plant, exemptions needed to multiple emergency planning and security requirements, or requested anyway, a focus on decommissioning and spent fuel management funds, an increased interest in the involvement of communities and states surrounding nuclear power plants that are decommissioning. Many of the regulations that we have in place at the moment are actually designed for operating reactors and don't consider the different nature of the reactor once it goes into permanent shutdown and defueling. So efforts to address these challenges were initiated actually by the commission previously, about 14 years ago, but were delayed due to higher priority work. So today I'm very interested to hear from all our panelists and both the panels that we'll see their views on this topic. So the first panel is an external panel which includes Kathleen Fox, who's Deputy Assistant Administrator for the National Preparedness at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Chris Recchia, Commissioner who is from the Department of Public Service from the State of Vermont, Ralph Anderson, who's the Senior Director for Radiation Safety and Environmental Protection at the Nuclear Energy Institute, Dan Stoddard, who's the Senior Vice President for Nuclear Operations for Dominion Power, Wayne Norton, who is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Yankee Row in Connecticut Yankee, and the Chief Nuclear Officer of Maine Yankee and the Chair of the Decommissioning Plant Coalition, and David Victor, who's the Chairman of the Santa Nofre Community Engagement Panel. After the first panel, we're going to have a short break, and then we'll have a second panel which will be the NRC staff. And I will turn things over to Mark Satorius, our Executive Director of Operations. Good morning Chairman and good morning Commissioners. I know I don't have to swing my head so far for the Commissioners that we have here today. I need that exercise, thank you Commissioner. The staff is here today to brief you on the status of the Power Reactor Decommissioning Processes at the NRC, with a special focus on the four plants that, within the last year or so, have opted to cease operations and move into the decommissioning phase. Next slide please. The decommissioning program at the NRC has a long and successful history. After the 1997 issuance of the Licensed Termination Rule and associated reactor decommissioning regulations, the staff invested a significant amount of time in the late 1990s and the early 2000s, developing improved guidance for implementing the new regulations. The staff's investment produced a more efficient and effective process for both licensees and the NRC, and resulted in significant increase in the number of license terminations and active decommissioning work as shown by this slide. Decommissioning activities involve several NRC offices. The level of involvement depends on the stage of decommissioning and decisions made by the licensees regarding the immediate dismantlement or the entrance into a safe store mode where major decommissioning activities are delayed for some period of time. The decommissioning process will be more fully described later during this meeting by my colleagues here at the table. But efficient interactions among the multiple players during all phases of decommissioning is important to continued success of the program. Slide three. These efficient interactions have never been more important than now. When the staff is being challenged by having four reactors prematurely shut down and a relatively short period of time. To address this, the staff has taken several actions to deal with the current as well as the future potential for additional shutdowns. These actions include consolidating the project management responsibilities for all reactors transitioning to decommission into one branch in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation before being transferred to the Office of Federal and State Materials Environmental Management Programs or FSME. Forming an inter-office decommissioning transition working group to identify and prioritize current and future challenges as well as to improve communications across offices and act as a focal point for decommissioning improvements. Third, developing interim staff guidance in tandem with ongoing licensing reviews for security and emergency preparedness issues. And finally, identifying potential regulatory improvements and past lessons learned that could be implemented in future rulemaking activity or through enhanced guidance documents. This continuing level of effort by the staff should ensure that the four prematurely shutdown units currently transitioning into decommissioning will do so successfully building on the experience of the past using the tools currently available to make the process as straightforward and efficient as possible. Thank you and I look forward to the remainder of the meeting as well as from your questions. I now turn it over to Andrew Prasinko to my far right from the Office of FSME. We will further discuss decommissioning processes and improvements implemented as a result of earlier experience with power reactor decommissioning. Drew? Thank you, Mark. May I have my first slide, please? Okay. Thank you. Good morning, Chairman. Good morning, commissioners. As Mark said, I'm going to be discussing this morning the decommissioning process, some process improvements as a result of earlier reactor decommissionings. And also I will be discussing FSME's role during the transition from an operating reactor to a decommissioning reactor. Next slide. This slide shows the decommissioning process including opportunities for public involvement which is defined in 10 CFR Part 50 and it's further described in several decommissioning procedures. The major steps include the licensee submits two certifications. One certification is a cessation of operations and that has to be done within 30 days of permanent shutdown and a certification that the fuel has been permanently removed from the reactor vessel when that activity is completed. A decommissioning report follows, more formally known as the post shutdown decommissioning activities report, and here's where I'm going to use an acronym, P-S-D-A-R, is required to be submitted within two years following permanent shutdown. As required by regulation, we will have a public meeting near the site normally within 60 days of receipt and the purpose is to discuss the licensee's overall plan for decommissioning. The licensee can commence major decommissioning activities after 90 days after submitting the P-S-D-A-R and the decommissioning must be completed within 60 years. In at least two years before the planned termination of the licensee, the licensee must submit a license termination plan. We will then hold a public meeting, again as required by regulations, and to offer an opportunity for hearing. At the completion of the decontamination, the licensee will conduct final radiological surveys to verify that the facility meets regulatory requirements for release and R-C will perform independent verification surveys to confirm the licensee's results. Finally, we will terminate the license at the completion of the decommissioning process. Staff's levels of effort during the process are influenced by the licensee's decommissioning approach with increased licensing and inspection activities occurring during transition and active decommissioning, as well as when spent fuel is being transferred to dry-cast storage. As already mentioned, the decommissioning process involves several NRC offices and the interactions among the offices is governed by office procedures which dictate the roles of the various offices throughout transition and through the decommissioning process. The decommissioning process also offers opportunities for public involvement and stakeholder interaction. In addition to the required public meetings related to the submittal of the PSDAR and the license termination plan, staff has participated in additional public interactions related to Kiwani, Crystal River, and Songs 2 and 3, which will be discussed a little later. Next slide. The decommissioning process has been used successfully to decommission seven power reactors since the implementation of the license termination rule in 1997 and 10 reactors overall. The decommissioning activities at these facilities included decontamination and dismantlement of radiologically contaminated components or structures and remediation of the surrounding site to levels acceptable to NRC. In some cases where required, licensees also met more restrictive state requirements. All of the facilities were released for unrestricted use according to the license termination rule. In many cases, though not required by NRC, the licensees also removed structures and equipment at the facility. Next slide. As of today, staff is managing 17 permanently shut down power reactor units that are in various stages of decommissioning. Specifically, progress is being made at three reactor units that are actively being decommissioned. These units are Zion 1 and 2 and Humboldt Bay. Ten reactor units are in safe store, not counting the four units that recently shut down. And the four units that recently shut down in 2013 that are transitioning to decommissioning are doing so in a physical configuration as well as through licensing. Crystal River and Kiwani plan to enter safe store according to their PSDARs. While Songs 2 and 3 is not expected to submit their PSDAR until later this summer, so their strategy is still being developed. Vermont Yankee has announced its intention to shut down by the end of 2014, and Oyster Creek has indicated that it will shut down in 2019. In addition to these 17 units, additional permanent shutdowns could be expected over the next five years based on publicly available information, which the staff will then manage as needed. Thanks to the long history of the decommissioning program, staff has implemented several improvements based on experiences during previous decommissioning activities, including several ongoing guidance document updates and implementation of a new rule focused on decommissioning planning during operation. Some highlights of the other lessons learned include operators should work with the stakeholders to establish expectations for the end state use of the site, maintain communications throughout the decommissioning process, keep records of any spills or other contamination during operation, which will improve site characterization upon decommissioning, upon cessation of operations, and include flexibility in the decommissioning plans to allow for changes. These lessons learned have been incorporated into several guidance documents and will be continued to be integrated across the decommissioning process. For the four transitioning sites, previous industry lessons learned were leveraged into the creation of some type of community outreach program to engage locally affected parties throughout the process. The activities range from the formal, as you've heard, the formal community engagement panel at SONGS to the more informal decommissioning open houses hosted by Crystal River. The interactions seek to keep the public engaged and informed throughout the process. Next slide. Until the project management function transfers from NRR to FSME, FSME's main role has been to support communication among the various stakeholders during the decommissioning transition process. As mentioned on the previous slide, today NRC has sponsored several public meetings, including the end of cycle and annual assessment public meetings at Kiwani and Vermont Yankee, PSDAR meetings at Crystal River and Kiwani, and a public meeting at SONGS to discuss the decommissioning process. In addition, during the last year, the staff has supported numerous congressional staff briefings at centered hearings and has met with state and local government officials, as well as with non-governmental organizations to discuss decommissioning issues. Our intent is to make sure that all parties have a clear understanding of the process, are given an opportunity to have their opinions and their heard and their questions answered, and to ensure that a path forward is well established for successful completion of the decommissioning. We feel that the goal is achievable thanks to a decommissioning process that is well-defined and has been successfully used in the past, the dedication of the NRC offices involved in the transition efforts, and the ongoing efforts to engage and interface with the public and other stakeholders throughout the decommissioning.