ML092570151

G20090512/LTR-09-0446/EDATS: SECY-2009-0438 - Ltr. Representative Dennis J. Kucinich Re Expresses That NRC Maintain Independent and Intensified Scrutiny Over Firstenergy'S Management of Davis-Besse

ML092570151
Person / Time
Site:	Davis Besse
Issue date:	09/10/2009
From:	Kucinich D US HR (House of Representatives)
To:	Jaczko G NRC/Chairman
References
CORR-09-0080, G20090512, LTR-09-0446, SECY-2009-0438
Download: ML092570151 (5)

Text

EDO Principal Correspondence Control FROM: DUE: 09/29/09 EDO CONTROL: G20090512 DOC DT: 09/10/09 FINAL REPLY:

Representative Dennis J. Kucinich TO:

Chairman Jaczko FOR SIGNATURE OF : ** PRI ** CRC NO: 09-0446 Chairman Jaczko DESC: ROUTING:

FirstEnergy's Management of Davis-Besse Borchardt (EDATS: SECY-2009-0407) Virgilio Mallett Ash Ordaz Burns/Gray DATE: 09/11/09 Satorius, RIII Burns, OGC ASSIGNED TO: CONTACT: Schmidt, OCA Orders, OEDO NRR Leeds SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS OR REMARKS:

Coordinate with Region III and OGC, as appropriate.

Please prepare response in accordance with OEDO Notice 2009-0441-01 (ML090490315) . You may also refer to the ADAMS Congressional Correspondence Folder to help in preparing response.

7erpoW. CY-~ &IP-1 b S I'ýýELVb I

EDATS Number: SECY-2009-0407 Source: SECY Geea Ifraio Assigned To: NRR OEDO Due Date: 9/29/2009 Other Assignees: SECY Due Date: 10/1/2009

Subject:

FirstEnergy's Management of Davis-Besse

==

Description:==

CC Routing: NONE ADAMS Accession Numbers - Incoming: NONE Response/Package: NONE Othe Infrmaion Cross Reference Number: G20090512, LTR-09-0446 Staff Initiated: NO Related Task: Recurring Item: NO File Routing: EDATS Agency Lesson Learned: NO OEDO Monthly Report Item: NO Prcs Inoraion Action Type: Letter Priority: Medium Sensitivity: None Signature Level: Chairman Jaczko Urgency: NC)

OEDO Concurrence: YES OCM Concurrence: NO OCA Concurrence: NO Special Instructions: Coordinate with Region Ill and OGC, as appropriate. Please prepare response in accordance with OEDO Notice 2009-0441-01 (ML090490315). You may also refer to the ADAMS Congressional Correspondence Folder to help in preparing response.

Docmen Infomaion Originator Name: Representative Dennis J. Kucinich Date of Incoming: 9/10/2009 Originating Organization: Congress Document Received by SECY Date: 9/11/2009 Addressee: Chairman Jaczko Date Response Requested by Originator: NONE Incoming Task Received: Letter Page 1 of I

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY CORRESPONDENCE CONTROL TICKET Date Printed:Sep 11, 2009 09:06 PAPER NUMBER: LTR-09-0446 LOGGING DATE: 09/11/2009 ACTION OFFICE: EDO AUTHOR: REP Dennis Kucinich AFFILIATION: CONG ADDRESSEE: CHRM Gregory Jaczko

SUBJECT:

Expresses that NRC maintain independent and intensified scrutiny over FirstEnergy's management of Davis-Besse ACTION: Signature of Chairman DISTRIBUTION: OCQtEAk RF LETTER DATE: 09/10/2009 ACKNOWLEDGED No SPECIAL HANDLING:

NOTES:

FILE LOCATION: ADAMS DATE DUE: 10/01/2009 DATE SIGNED:

EDO -- G20090512

` DENNIS J. KUCINICH CHAIRMAN.

1mTmDimTRICT. OHio $UDCUMMhrTEI'ON DOMESTIC POLuCY COMIVmar/ ON OVflRSsoGrr AND 2445 RAYI)u .NHOUSE OFFICE BUvIDiOc GOV MNR E R.EFO 0rT WA-SH7TON, D.C. 20515 (202) 223587] of the unach Ates CoM ow¶ o PA NoR 14400 1)ETmor AveNUL LAKEWOOo, Omo 44107 iof "~mond1Ues (216) 228-8o50 www.kucinich.house.gov PARN7TOWW MALL 7904 DAY DamvE PARMA, OH 44129 (440) S45-2707 September 10, 2009 The Honorable Gregory B. Jaczko Chairman U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555-0001

Dear Chairman Jaczko:

Thank you for calling me to let me know that you will be relaxing NRC oversight over the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant- While the track record of incompetent and corrupt management of Davis-Besse by the FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FirstEnergy) may seem dismissible because of a few recent consecutive months of compliance with technical performance standards, it actually warrants the perpetuation of increased scrutiny at a minimum, if not the ejection of FirstEnergy from management of Davis-Besse.

In February 2001, the NRC began investigating an aging mechanism that often caused cracking in reactors. As a result of these findings, in late September 2001, the NRC determined that the Davis-Besse plant was at risk and should shut down by December 31, 2001. FirstEnergy resisted the order, claiming that it could stay open without incident, until March 2002. They argued that a shutdown would cause an unnecessary financial burden.

Rather than follow its own safety procedures by shutting down Davis-Besse, the NRC relented and allowed the plant to operate until February 2002. After Davis-Besse had been shut down, workers repairing one of five-cracked control rod nozzles discovered extensive damage to the reactor vessel head. The workers found a large, corroded hole the size of a football in the reactor vessel head next to one of the nozzles.

The NRC later found that the plant might have been as close as 60 days from bursting the slim steel liner that stood in the way of a major release of radioactivity into the environment. It would have jeopardized the immediate and long-term safety of millions of Americans, not to mention the single biggest source of fresh water in the world.

The Government Accountability Office later weighed in on the incident, calling it "the most serious safety issue confronting the nation's commercial nuclear power industry since 'Three Mile Island."' The report also concluded that FirstEnergy should have identified and prevented the hole in the reactor head at the plant.

Page 2 FirstEnergy's insurance company became worried and commissioned an independent study to analyze the data from the incident. The study, which was released in April 2007, painted an even darker picture than the regulatory rebukes that came before it. The report found that corrosion of the steel plate happened at a faster rate than was reported by FirstEnergy, bringing the reactor closer to a catastrophic incident than had previously been reported.

Just a few weeks before that study was released, FirstEnergy asked the NRC to remove the requirement for independent assessments of Davis Besse's operations. At my insistence, FirstEnergy's request was denied, until now.

The NRC's 2004 Confirmatory Order Modifying License lists some of FirstEnergy's malfeasant policies and actions that led to the 2002 incident, providing more evidence that profits were prioritized over safety. It specifically shows that key reasons the leak was allowed to progress were the number of ways in which FirstEnergy's self-policing mechanisms under normal NRC inspection requirements - to which you are now proposing to return - failed. Worse, FirstEnergy tried to convince the NRC that the problems were solved when in fact they were not.

These are only some. of the long list of instances that demonstrate a pattern in which FirstEnergy has put profits over public health and safety at Davis Besse as well as its other nuclear power plants. This pattern raises questions about FirstEnergy's competence to be licensed to operate a nuclear power plant. Instead, you are presiding over a relaxation of their oversight requirements.

Is it responsible, given this history, for NRC to allow FirstEnergy to regress to a level of oversight that has already been proven to be insufficient to protect the health and safety of the American people? In so doing, you are trusting that FirstEnergy will now put safety over profits on their own accord, even though there has been no significant change in incentives for them to do so. Will the NRC give the public an inch of protection from a company that brought America to within a fraction of an inch of disaster? I urge you to maintain independent and intensified scrutiny over FirstEnergy's management of Davis-Besse.

Sincerely, Dennis J. Kucinich Member of Congress