ML19029A495

Forwarding Pse&G Letter to NRC for Additional Information in Support of Application to Increase Spent Fuel Storage Capacity

ML19029A495
Person / Time
Site:	Salem   (DPR-070, DPR-075)
Issue date:	01/05/1979
From:	Evans T US Congress
To:	Rowden M Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
Download: ML19029A495 (7)

Text

THOMAS B. EVANS, JR.

DELAWARE COMMITTEES:

BANKING, FINANCE AND URBAN AFFAIRS MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES

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<!ongress of tbe Wniteb $tates

~oust of ~tprtsentatH.lt.5 Miasf.Jington, 119.<!.

20515 January 5, 1979 Honorable Marcus A. Rowden Chairman Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D. C. 20555

Dear Mr. Chairman:

I 113 LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON, D.C.

20515 (202) 225-4165 844 KING STREET Wll.. MINGTON. DELAWARE 19801 (302) 573-61 St I have been contacted by one of my constituents, Mr. Ernie Mabrey of the Delaware Safe Energy Coalition regarding the potential safety hazards posed by the Salem I Nuclear Power Plant.

For your easy reference, I am enclosing a copy of Mr. Mabrey 1s cor-respondence and I would appreciate any comments you would care to make on the questions raised by the Coalition.

With kindest regards,

'.&.~e.,l~

Thomas B. Evans, Jr., M.C.

TBE :j a Enclosure

24, 1978

Dear Congressman Evans:

Enclosed is a copy of the Morning News article of November 21 on the serious safety hazards posed by the Salem I nuclear power plant.

Also enclosed is a copy of our letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission calling on them to shut do~n the Salem plant until a full and open investigation of these safety hazards has been completed.

The Delaware Safe Energy Coalition urges you to contact the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and push for this investigation.

With hundreds of thousands of Delawareans living in a 20-mile radius of the Salem I plant, it is urgent that the question of the safety of these plants be resolved.

We would deeply appreciate any action you take in this matter, and would be more than happy if we could with you or one of your representatives on this matter.

My home telephone number is 731-0675, and my work number is 378-9881.

Thank You,

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Ernie Mabrey

.J Delaware Safe Energy Coalition

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555

Dear Sirs:

~vember 24, 1978 The Delaware Safe Energy Coalition is shocked by the latest news release of the internal memorandum report of the Nuclear Reg-*

ulatory.Commission on the serious safety hazards posed by the Salem I nuclear power plant.

The New Castle County area is the closest heavily populated area to the the plant, with about 450,000 people within *20 miles of the Salem I plant.

In the event of an accident at Salem, these lives would be endangered.

This memorandum, along with the report of the leak of 15,000 galloqs o( radioactive water from the reactor coolant pump at Salem I, requi~es us to request the Nuclear Regrilatory Commission to shut down the Salem I plant until full and open investigation of the safety hazards ~as been:completed.

Too many abnormal occurrences have taken place at Salem I in the past 18 months, and these latest events seem to warrant your fullest attention.

Should the plant not be shut down, we will call upon Governor DuPont of Delaware to take whatever legal action is neces-sary to insure the safety of Delaware citizens.

cc: Senator Joseph R. Eiden Senator William V. Roth Rep. Thomas B. Evans Governor Pierre So DuPont Thank You,

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Ernie M~bt~y- -d Delaware Safe Energy Coalition

By ARTHUR HOWE Nuclear Regulatory Com mis*.

ion staff inspectors believe seri*

111s safety hazards exist at both lw.Salem I (N.J.) and the mas**

1vc Pt!ach Bottom (Pa.) nuclear

>0wcr pl ants.

In.in internal memorandum o*b.

ained from NHC, safety inspec-6rs wt>re most critical of the l*l'ach Bottom II and III nuclear 1.'ilallations, which they liaraelerized as the ".least safe" 1!e in the northeast with the 1poorest management."

"l'l;1nl management," the re*

• 1r! s;1id, "has *appeared incapa*

1.* of correcting increased plant*

1di;llion levels. Man;igement is ow tu responding Lo problems..,

11*r<1t ing s1;1ff presenlly.error*

• ullC.

11 111\\'j*!iligators criticized the

l1*fll plant's central control

• um as "a disaster wailing to 1)11Jl'll."

l'l';1rh Bollom 11 and III arc

• <HJl 30 mill*s nprthwcst of Wil*.

11 1 ~1t111 on the banks of the

,ipa*l1;11111a Hiver. Salem 1 is

.1111 I~ 111il1*s south of Wilrning-1 u11 Artifici;il Island, N.J. About wrn~r1l of each plant is owned I lt*l 111 ;1 rv:i l'ower *1: Light Co.

'!11* i111'<*~1i1:ators' opinions were I. '

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plmary actio~ against employees"

/ rl'--*-y****,.-*:"(,._ :.-V who make mistakes.

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Grier, however,. acknowledged

• that in the past "frequent person*

nel errors had occurred at Peach Bottom with little indication of ac*

lion being taken by the licensee I Philadelphia Electric Co. which owns controlling inte1*est in the plant]."

Grier said he did not think the control room at the Salem gencr*

a ting plant was "a potential safety problem.".nut he did say that the design of the room was different from the type recommended by the manufacturer of the nucleHr fa.

cility.

It is unclear why Grier's official viewpoint of the two plants is at odds with that of his inspectors.

An NHC spokesman said, "It was a question of judgment, this is his M

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I f Grier'sl judgment. The inspec-ap pinpoin s oca ions o re~ nuc ear power pants 1n the area crted rn tors.responded anonymously. If NRC staff inspectors' report. All three are within 30 miles of Wilmington.

• they had responded othei*wise the compiled a'nonymously and do not reflect the NHC'1s official views. In fact, regional director Boyce I!.

Grier took the position that steady improvements have been mac.le at Peach Bottom.

In a ni'emorandum to the clircc*

tor of the Division of HcaCtor Operation Inspection, Grier said:

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• responses probably wouldn't have "It is our present evaluation that been the s;,ime."

the facility l Peach Bottom) opera* * "All the inspectors did was an*

tors arc competent and profes* swer honestly," said James M.

sional and there does appenr to be Cubie, Washington representative an improvement in employee atli-for the Union of Concerned Scien*'

tudes,"

lists, a national org:111i:a1tion of Sll*11 c'

• f l th 1

scientists and professionals criti-rwr et at the manag_e* c*tl of nuclenr power lf the *in*

ment of Peach Bottom "still nppears disinclined lo talw clisci-Sec PE1\\CH-l' 1""' *~ "'"'

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The Morning News, Wilmington, Dal., Tuesdoy,.NoJ, 21, 1978 mil been cap:ible of handling lhi!

change.

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~~Uv~ U Continued lrom Page One swers weren't anonymous these guys' jobs would be on the line."

• The Union of Concerned Scien-.

tists obtained the NRC's internal documents under the Freedom of

• Inform;ition Act late last week.

Cubie said the federal agency re-fused to release them for almost a*

}*car.

Cubic disparaged the NRC's safety inspections as "biased agairist enforcement, undermined by political considerations and

\\l'l'ak and ineffective."

Jle cited a May 3, 1976, internal*

memorandum from the agency's office of inspection instructing re-*

gional offices lo submit inspec-tor's reports to a regional board of commissioners "for review and approvnl based on general propri-ety, political considerations, etc."

The inspectors' s1.1bjective opin*

ions were part of a* 700-page, four*

pa rt study on the per.form a nee of n lllltlear plants throughout the*

countrv. The anonymous opinions w1*re c;rn1pilcd before April 1978.

Jn another portion of the study, completed in September, 1977, l'l'a('h Bottom Ill received an

";1bove average".

rating and Peach Bottom II an "average" rating for their record of safety

1nd compliance with NHC regula-

\\ ions.

• \\'et another study, completed at till' !><llllC time, gave Peach Bot-.

!dill.ti and Ill a high mark of "A" for th1*ir safety record and a "B" f1ir thl'ir dl'ficiencies." The study *

-.iid not l*lalJurate.

'J'l11;:'::i;ilem plant, which came on Jim* in.lune 19'/7, was included only in tile anonymous opinion

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~n Ailogether 10 inspectors *gave I " the report s11id, "and has the their cvalualion of the l,090 mega-.

p~orest management.

• Qual!ty watt plant. Al least two o( the in-Assurance I safely I an(! secunty speclors rated the radiation con-arc not upgraded lo current stand*

trol and safeguards portion of the ards. Many repeal items of non-inslallations "acceptable" -

or compliilnce."

1 b;trcly safe enough to be permit-Another comment was "I The I led to continue operating, accord-general attitude of plant appea_r~

ing to the study, to be compliance only as rcqutr*

A m11jorily of the inspe~tors, eel "

however, gave the plant ~ sl1ghlly One Peach Bollom inspecto1 less thnn average evaluation.

complained lha~ manager:nenl o:

1 Thc inspectors' comments in-the Philadelphia Electric Co.

eluded: "The planlcontrol room is. *which owns most* of the plant, ha!

vcrv poorly designed. 'I'his is a

• attempted to "control" NRC it1 reliilively new plant with growing spectors' access Lo Lhe plant b},

pains. IL nee~s close inspeclio:i following them around.

attention to as.sure that appropn-Another plant inspector said Peach Bottom is beset witt "careless operations and poor maintenance," one wrote..

A. Philadelphia Electric Co.

press release cautioned againsl the inspectors' survey on lh grolmd lha L they arc "collected opinions and as any opinion sur*,

vcys, are subjective and may be

• affected by the makeup of the indi*

vidual."

Freida Berryhill, chairman of the Coalition for Nuclear Power Plant Postponement, said the in-spectors' evaluation.doesn't sur-prise her, * '

• "I've been keeping a chronology of the failures -

all the leaks and I breakdowns," she said. "I have been livi1'1g in mort11l fear since I the day these plants went on line.

Peach llotlom is contaminating the milk and cheese of the area.

Salem is plagued with incurable failures."*'

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• ate improvements ar~ made.

"Plant radiation levels have beer Have had a number of problems in increasing with time. Design anc.

1 start-up phase, which were cor-staffing of plant appear to hav(

reeled by management. Problems with opera Lor controls."*..

At least one inspector criticized*

control. room as being designed "in-house -

il is a disaster wail-ing to happen."

Patrick J. Wheeler, a spokes-

. man for New Jersey's Public Service Electric & Gas Co., which owns a majority interest in Salem,.

1

• confirmed that the control room did not follow Westinghouse Co.'s design but he added that Lhe utili-.

• ty has 1

nol received any indication fi.om the NHC that it posed a safe-...

l~~ hazard.

Nineteen inspectors of the Peach Bottom installations gave the fa-cilities a range of evaluations -

most of them unfavorable. In al-most every category, from emer-gency planning lo overall safety, at* least one inspector character-ized llw plants as marginally safe eno11 11h lo continue operating.

"This i;; the least safe site in Re-...,,."*-'"

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In the Natter of UNITED STATES OF AHERICA NUCLE~~ REGULATORY CO~*E:HSS ION

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PUBLIC SERVICE ELECTRIC AND

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Docket No.(s) :S0'-272 GAS COMPANY (Salem Nuclear Generating Unit 1)

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Station,)

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

• -4. hereby certify that I have this day served the foregoing doctiment{s) *

• upon each person designated on.the official service list compiled by the Office of the Secretary of the CoITimission ~n this proceeding in accordance with the requirements of Section 2.712 of 10 CFR ?art: 2 -*

Rules of Practice, of the Nuclear Regulatory Com.-nissio.n's Rules and Regulations.-

Dated at Washington, y;:D

.. _this 2 I

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___;;CJ'---~-\\--*day. of Vv' 197

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Offi~ of the Secretary of the ComI!liss ion

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UNITED STATES OF A~IBRICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Hatter of.*

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PUBLIC SERVICE ELECTRIC AND GAS

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Docket No. (s)

• 50-272 COMPANY

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(Salem Nuclear Generating Station, )

Unit 1)

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-SERVICE LIST Gary L. Milhollin, Esq.

1815 Jefferson Street Madison, Wisconsin 53711 Mr. Glenn 0. Bright Atomic Stafety and Licensing Board U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C.

20555 Dr. James C. Lamb, III.

313 Woodhaven Road Chapel Hill~ North Carolina 27514 Counsel for NRC Staff U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C.

20555 Troy B. Conner, Jr., Esq.

Conner, Moore and Corber 1747 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C.

20006 Richard M. Hluchan, Esq.

g.6 West Street Trenton, _New_ Jersey 08625 Carl Valore, JR., Esa.

V~lore, McAllister, Aron and Westmoreland, P;A.

535 Tilton Road Northfield, New Jersey 08225 William C. Horner, Esq.

67 Market.Street Salem, New Jersey 08079 R. William Potter, Esq.

Assistant Deputy Public Advocate Department -of *-the Public Advocate P.O. Box 141 Trenton, New Jersey 08601 Mr. Alfred C. Coleman, Jr.

Ms. Eleanor G. ColewBn 35 "K" Drive Pennsville, New Jersey 08070

• Ms. Ruth Fisher

"~he Sun People" Alternate Energy.tklvocates South Dennis, New Jersey 08245

• June D. ?1acArtor, Esq.

Deputy Attorney General P.O. Eox 1401 Dover, Delaware 19901 Richard Fryling, Jr., Esq.

Public Service Electric and Gas Company 80 Park Place Newark, New Jersey 07101 rf

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