ML16340B673
| ML16340B673 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Diablo Canyon  |
| Issue date: | 08/19/1976 |
| From: | Gossick L NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | Lagomarsino R HOUSE OF REP. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML16340B670 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8105040470 | |
| Download: ML16340B673 (6) | |
Text
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unhero m'ass NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMM!SSlON WASHINGTON, O C 20555 August 19, 1976 g
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The Honorable Robert J.
Lagomarsino United States House of Representatives Mashir eton, D.C.
20515 Dear Congressman Lagomarsino:
Your letter of July 1, 1976 addressed to Carlton Kamarer, Director of our Office of Congressional Affairs, has been referred to me for reply-Your letter forwarded a copy of a letter dated June 2, 1976 from Dr.
Richard J. Krejsa, Yice Chairman and Supervisor, 5th District, San Lu'is Obispo County, addressed to the Board of Supervisors, County of San Lu s Obispo.
Attached to Dr. Krejsa's letter is a report prepared by Or.
K (based on student surveys) w'Rich deals with the status of emergency plan-ning in San Luis Obispo County relative to the Diablo Canyon nuclear power facility.
The repol t. by Dr. Krejsa paints a rather bleak picture of emergency pre-paredness capabilities in San Luis Obispo County and, if the situ-ion is as Dr. Krejsa indicates, we believe that more support should be given to the proper local governlIant authorities responsible for emergency pre-paredness.
The level of preparedness actually achieved by a local govern-ln'nt is both a function of its comrftment to a viable emergency planning and response program and a function of its resources.
These are matters I
ly* t 11dhy'I 1B t
d,
.,hy h
Fd 1
or State governments where Federal or Sta'te funding or resources are sup-plied to augment those of local government.
Me encourage resolution of these problems at the local level.
Although we have no personal knowledge of. how the loca'i people answered the questions posed to them, we have several docunants on file which seem to indicate that the emergency preparedness capabilities are better than indicated although they may be in need of iayrovement in certain areas.
Emergency planning for potential accidents at nuclear po.ver plants is one of the requireln nts which the HRC imposes upon applicants for licenses to construct and operate nuclear power plants.
These requirements, in general
- tems, are given in 10 CFR 50, Appendix E (Enclosure 1).
Specifically related to this concern isSection IV.D which states that the applicant must make arrangements with local officials and agencies for any help that may be needed in an emergency.
Before an applicant is given a license to operate his facility, he must determine that he has met the require-ments-In the case of Diablo Canyon, the NRC's Safety Evaluation Report
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I;,~.'-.'~.;archie Ro ert D. La
,.-rsino 1t is =iso 'our belief that J;e Sar. Luis Ci. '~ I', ori ies n r reluct=-n to approve additional funds for pl';-.-ina around -i D -';
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~nyon sacility because of the low population surrounding it.
~ie area encompassed by a six mile raaius srom the plant, there is a
otal population of only about 18 people.
The county authorities may believe that their limited funds could best be spent elsewhere.
efore concludina, we also wish to cont on the role of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
Item 7 on page 5 of the report is not entirely correct when it states that the responsibilitv of PGGE is confined to the area within the plant aates (otherwise known as the exclusion area).
p a 's ~authorit is confined to the exclusion area, but their responsi-
~bilit extends beyond that
.For ex ivple, all nuclear gower plants have an area bevond the exclusion area called tne 1c
< oooul ation zone
- LPZ,
,t;e size of which.is det rmi, the Iicans-aooli cant but is such i tl at sz must rreet carta> n dose raze imitat-'ors.
one rater~ f t rator~
o ne facility must ¹sicSn and o~oer the.=acilitv such tea the dose~~~s in the LPZ in the event of an accid=ntal radiological release ax~ belza the defined values.
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In addition, the last sentence of Item 7 on page 5 of the report appears to be misleading when it states that PGEE's responsibility would be dis-charged once it notified the laluclear Regulatory Conmission and the Sheriff's ffice.
The regulations (10 CFR 50, Appendix E) clearly state that tne initial accident assessriint is the responsibility of the licensee, and hat
..h 1',censee's errargency planning will include provisions for determi-~-
ing the magnitude of the release including criteria for determining the re "
fo d
or notification and participation of local and State agenci s
d t
or eterminina when protective measures should be considered.
ln c~oncluss n, the NRC z~ satisfied that the Oiablo Canvon facilit amer er:"
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I z li gati has said that it has the cape s ity to responccs necessary and we have provi ed additional training for this purpose.
Ve believe that the county should have a radiological emergency response plan and should test this
~ plan to see if there are weaI'nesses.
Unfortunately, we do not have a copy "
i of any county plan, other than the Sheriff's Department Evacuation Plan L
iien vacuai:ion an.
>le are sorry we cannot be more definite in our response to your letter but we hope we have shed more light on the concerns raised b
Dr.
K
'k'e encoura e and a
g pplaud his efiorts to improve the emergency planning and preparedness situation in San Luis Obispo County.
CQ Sincere ly, Pr, P c(szjc rI
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11 e4 ee V. Gossick Executive Director for Ope'rations
1 A
,.~.~ <<cn in!o t!ic ni"!:I ha<J been dcalth with in their pl"nning.
Thc l:caring was conducted by the California Energy Resources Coi.scr;ation and Dcvelopmcnt Cominission.
Cc;.rnissioners on hand with members of their stafl were Alan Fas!ernak ano Ronald Doctor. The
~ co<mrnission is to decide if San Luis
. Obispo County's emergency response and evacuation plans for
!he Diablo plant are adequate.
~
Periodically throughout the hear-
. ing, Pasternak and Doctor clashed.
. Pasternak accused Doctor
- chairman of the hearing of being
. responsible for "an inbalance" in
, testimony critical of nuclear plants.
Doctor charged that Pasternak's
'erception was "narrow" and said
'asternak's statements bordered on "paranoid" and were "unbecoming
~ of your office."
Doctor'was responsible for having a conference telephone set up at the
(:a!ian0 for addi!ion;<! ic 'nno <y t!iat was critical of nuc!car p!ant safety planning werc Dr. Roland Fiaston, health phvsicist from S!an-ford University and Dale Bridcn.
bough, nuclear engineer who former-ly v orkcd for General Electric and represented Mothers fro Peace, Dr. %i!liam J. Lindbald, PGE;E project engineer at Diablo.
said almost everything Bridcnbough ad.
vocated was already a part of the planning at Diablo Canyon. Bridcn-bough said in his testimony that he was not lamiliar with the engineer-ing for Diablo Canyon.
"At times we thought he (Briden-bough) was testifying for us," said Dr. Lindbald.
Dr.
Vf!I!Iam Brunot, PGhE nuclear engineer.
charged Dr.
Finston's testimony contained "some inaccurate statements."
He said Finston "misused the data."
Finston painted a frightening pic-ture of what he said might be an ex-pected outcome to a major disaster A!oap with Deyca and Kcndal! he called for "site specific studies" to help dctcrminc <<hat could happen.
Dr. Bruno'aid Dr. Finston's acci-dent was not "most likely" and labeled it "nonsense."
He said the rc)<'ort cited by the Stanford proles-sor actually figured out to bc a one in I.million thcoreticai possibility.
"It would be the least likely ac-cident..." he said.
"The risk of public exposure would be very small" at Diablo, said Dr.
Brunot.
He said safety and "the-prcvcntion of accidents is a major concern" for PG
!I<, E.
Dr. Brunot stressed the "out-standing record" of safety in the nuclear energy industry. He said the risk from accidents was "much smaller" in the nuclear energy in-dustry than in other industries.
He said that extensive site specific studies have been done.
He added that "public risk at
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boucle Safeiy C<<ntinu< rl fr<<nl pajg Diablo is lower than at other nuclear plant
- sites, and there are fewer people" in the plant area..
Dr. Richard Krejsa. member of
~
the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors, criticized his county's
'ace'and level of expenditures in '.
preparing plans involving evacuatio(i
.:'rocedures and other salety con-l cerns relating to the Diablo plant.
He raised several critical points, I
Including the charge that PGLE has; no formal agreement for medical:,
care from nuclear accidents with any hospital in the county, only with some doctors.
PGEcE disputed the contention and said they do have a formal agree-ment with Sierra Vista Hospital lor i tr tment.
~ (Glenn Carlson, administrator at Sierra Vista Hospital, told The Timey by telephone that the hospital
, does not have a binding agreement, or any kind ol agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric. He said there has been contact between the two, including a
- letter, but "no a
cement.)
Doctor called Kresja's charge "astounding.-
Burt Townsend, staff member with the SLO County Health Agency:
'ony Morris, licensed medical technician at SLO County Hospital and Dr. David Lenderts, engaged in
~ emergency medicine in San Luis..
Obispo, all raised concerns about medical staff willingness to treat victims of nuclear accidents.
They also said there has been inadequate training for such treatment.
James Haywood, regional Office
'of Emergency
- Services, said the commission could obtain studies that showed such fears were probably un-founded.
George Silva, civil disaster coor-dinator lor San Luis Obispo County, outlined the county's plans for evacuation ifit were ever necessary.
He said agreements have not been made with incorporated cities, but suggested an accord could be reached.
.'umerous witnesses raised con-cerns about safety planning and the adequacy of the county's evacuation
- planning.
-~>.Jam s Shifler,'GGE nuclear
-; ~<engIn r, said Diablo's emergency plans w e predicated "on any ac-cident-tha inight occur.