ML16340B063
| ML16340B063 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Diablo Canyon  |
| Issue date: | 06/23/1980 |
| From: | Harold Denton Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Miller T AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| References | |
| FOIA-80-276 NUDOCS 8007140021 | |
| Download: ML16340B063 (4) | |
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UNITED STATES NUCLEAR $FQULATORY COMMISSION gg%'lJN 23 1980 Mr. Tom Miller 23005 Dolorosa Street Woodland Hills, California 91367
Dear Mr. Miller:
This is in reply to your letter of May 8, 1980, to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Your request under the Freedom of Information Act for an NRC inspection report is being handled by the NRC Division of Rules and Records.
You asked for comments on several matters.
As to health effects of the Three Mile Island accident, the report in October 1979 by the President's Commission on that accident stated:
"On the basis of present scientific knowledge, the radiation doses received by the general population as a
result of exposure to the radioactivity released during the accident were so small that there will be no detectable additional cases of cancer, developmental abnormalities, or genetic ill-health as a consequence of the accident at TMI."
The enclosed memorandum of February 28, 1980, on "Neonatal Hypothyroidism in Southeastern Pennsylvania" by Dr. Gary F. Stein of the Cancer Branch and Dr. Frank Greenberg of the Birth Defects Branch of the Chronic Diseases Division, Bureau of Epidemiology, Center for Disease Control, U.S. Public Health Service, concluded as.follows:
"In summary, based on data from Dr. Evelyn Bodin of the
" Pennsylvania Department of Health, dosimetry data from Robert Goldsmith, Ph.D.
(NRC) and our own clinical assessment of the genetics, the supporting evidence for radiation-induced hypothyroidism is lacking."
As to emergency
- plans, the NRC has endorsed the use of Emergency Planning Zones having a radius around a nuclear power plant of about 10 miles for airborne exposure and about 50 miles for contaminated food.
Studies have indicated that, if emergency actions such as sheltering or evacuation were taken, within about 10 miles of a nuclear power plant, there would be sig-nificant savings of early injuries or deaths from the most severe atmospheric releases of radioactive material.
In the case of such a release, radioactivity deposited on the ground could enter the food chain and be ingested; the down-wind range within which significant contamination could occur would generally be limited to about 50 miles Vrom the power plant.
With regard to the possibility of a criticality accident at the Canoga Park facilities of Atomics International, the NRC has evaluated the offsite radiological consequences of such an accident and estimated doses to the local population that would be less than 0.03% of the doses received annually 1
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Mr. Tom Miller from natural ambient background.
The probability of such an accident is extremely remote because conditions have been incorporated in the license of the plant which minimize the chance of a criticality accident.
Enclosed is a copy of the NRC Environmental Impact Appraisal of the Commercial Nuclear Fuel Fabrication Facilities of Atomics International at Canoga Park and Chatswor th, California, dated September 1977; Chapter 6 discusses the impact of accidents.
Also enclosed is the Safety Evaluation Report of September 8, 1977.
In response to your question in this connection, I do not know of Dr. Kaku.
With regard to your question about the incidence of leukemia around a
reactor of Atomics International, this presumably refers to the Sodium Reactor Experiment at Santa
- Susana, California, which was put in storage in 1968 awaiting dismantlement.
This is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Energy, and I suggest that you write for information to Mr. Calvin D. Jackson, Director of Environment Safety and Program Support Division, San Francisco Operations Office, Department of Energy, 1333 Broadway, Oakland, California 94612.
As to the status of the proceedings of the application for an operating license for the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Generating Station", supplements to the Safety Evaluation Report are being prepared on issues related to the Three Mile Island accident and on non-TMI issues and are expected to be sent soon to the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, which will then decide whether further public hearings should be held.
Sincerely,
Enclosures:
1.
Memo dtd.
Feb.
28, 1980 by Drs. G.F. Stein/F.
Greenburg 2.
NRC Environmental Impact Appraisal dtd. Sept.
1977
- 3. Safety Evaluation Report dtd.
Sept.
8, 1977 Original Signed by Lg. Benton Harold R. Denton, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation