ML18059B185
| ML18059B185 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Palisades  |
| Issue date: | 08/22/1994 |
| From: | Fenech R CONSUMERS ENERGY CO. (FORMERLY CONSUMERS POWER CO.) |
| To: | Martin J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML18059B186 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9409150016 | |
| Download: ML18059B185 (1) | |
Text
- AUG. -22' 94 (MON). 11: 48
- ~
lW P.-~ 1994 5711 Summerset Dr.
Cf Midland, Ml 48640 August 12, 1994 Dr. Ross L~ndsman Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region 3 801 Warrenville Rd.
Lisle, IL 60532
Dear Dr. Landsman:
P. 002 ln my view. the mMt important point that you m<ttle co Dr. Ivan Selin in your note to him on the Palisades site: was that "NMSS doesn't realize the cata,trophic conseque111.;es of their continued reliance on their current ideology."
This observation was apparently based on th~ fact tha:tt you recognized that site studies that had been done for the Palisades n-plant which was constructt.d on bedrock could not be applied with any validity to. casks which sit on a concrete slab on i.and dun~s tiiat could be unst~hte_
- We have been questioning thi~ approach by the NRC for some time.
Your r.;commcndation that site specific studies be made of the cask storage site is aho wllat we have been asking for.
These data lf~veloped for the n-plant site nave been used by the NRC (NMSS) to reach their conc;Jusion tha~ there was no signif,cant environmental impact, and.: th*~refore., no need for a ~ite specific environmental impact statement and public heating in the licensing of dry cask storage at reactor sites.
I hope that your ol>servation will change this policy.
Your request. th:n sei$mic studi~s b-;: performed was justified because small earthquakes can a:-:d nave causl!J seiches ( huge sudden waves) on Lake
- Michigan, ond should nc..r be ignored.
However. I have been more con~ernc:d about the fact that no one--neithe.r the-NRC nor Consumers Power Co.,--was
- paying attention to the mor~ immediate and compe-!Jing fact that both the Anny
- Corps of Eneineers and the Micl1ig'1n Oepartment of Natural Re~ources have designated this a~.:" a) a "high n.sk c;osion area*. There are other stud,es which indicate thit.t it is nor a suiteiole site. for nuclr:.a.r waste dispo~al,a}so--especially,.;*
- since. the. casks,,are Jicen~ed for "sforagc only",* with no known method of offsite transportation, and since this cask. des\\gn has never bl!en fully field tested.
Knowing of your concern abour seismic activity at nuclear plant sites which can become sites fo: surrlc:e dry ca!;k ~tcr~gc of nuclear Wl'Ste, I have located a map of the ~eismic activity in the '<'lCinjty of southeasti:m Michigan which would affect the Fermi 112 timl the Davis-Besse. n-p!ants.
They b~ar out your com:cr*'
ihat si.e specific se.ismic studies should to be milde in these areas for dry ca.sh.
storage of nuclear wastr. ( Copy enclos~) Their above ground placement on concrete ~labs makes th~m far more vulr.erable to seismic acti\\'ity. than the n-
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