ML19199A538

Transcript of 790427 Press Conference in Middletown,Pa. Pp 1-25

ML19199A538
Person / Time
Site:	Crane
Issue date:	04/27/1979
From:	Stello V Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
To:
References
NUDOCS 7905030212
Download: ML19199A538 (26)

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UNITED S'"ATES OF AliSRICA I

NUCI, EAR REOCI.ATORY CCOLISSICN i

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PRESS CCITIERE::CE t

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g THREI MILE ISLAND 4

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i Middletown, Fennsylvar 13 l l1a AEril 27, 1979 14

.* ISS p.m.

to 5:30 p.m.

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Pages 1 - 2S tg ;

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RAN TRANSC2:2'" -

Ut:COPRECTED 1

i MR. ;waAHA:1:

belier e everybcdy by this ime.

I

, i knows Mr. Stelle who is in charge of UKC operations.

~

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MR. SF ' O :

Thank ycti.

4 As ycu'll rer:all, I think in the past wee) 5 i

ndicatM c. hat oc plans were to de de mactor to 6

i natural circulating ccclin'J mcde Cn May 2nd, I ind:

sted 7

1 at that time that if the instrumentation began to Ice t lite g

E it was beccming unreliable t. hat we would initiate nab tral-s circulation scener.

g In the early morning acurs, about 1:30, tJ kre was 11 !

an indication of erratic behavic c in the pressuri::er Lovel i

instruments and one et the steam generater full-rangi level instruments also becrae erratic.

This suggested tha the-instrumentatica probably would create a problem.

Am early this acrning we started to look at whether it wculd h 16 (nd that appropriate to init:. ate natural circulation today.

17 decision was made early this sc::ning, abcut eight o' L Lech 1

13 l

and preparaticn began to put the plant in a conditicu suit-

.tble or that purpose.

o 1 The actual stepping of the pump cccurred, at

.I seven minutes cast twc tnis afterncen, and the reacet-1:r.e-64 distely started inte a ceas-dcun situatien, ev entuag" 'y 1 sad-l D

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ing to na: ural circulation eccling c: the reac:=r.

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04 being cled by $atural circulation,f, t

i reacter is

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RJG7 TR.WSCRIPT - U23COR:CCTED 1

Before the natural cirx::ulatien reaches the

'tcady 2

sate value we will have to wait,several mere hours, c haps 3

up to ten hcurs.

The reason for wat is the main ci Elating i

pump that was being used for the :cystem was putting het 5

int the water equivalent t dem 6 megawat*..s while

/e 8

1 reacter was at a decay heat leve_

equ va'.ent to about.

A l

I megawatts.

So it will take sc=e time for the reacto to l 3

reachanewsteadystateconditialnequivalent to the

at 2

9 generation rate er the decay heat l of the reacter whic 1

is i 3a 2 =cgawatts rather than the heat load it was seeing b'-Ecre 11 i

which was 8 megawatts.

12 Scme things that were,dene to put the reac

- ar i=,

[

natural circulation, apart frem what :'. said provicust 3 we g

planned.

Our plans were crigina' ly to take the stearJ generater into a water-solid condition which was discused 1s earlier this week.

But rather than do that, we decidM it 17 wculd be much better to clace the reacter into a modes

f 18 I

natural circulation with the stearnine en each of the stens 19 generaters.

j recall]h M

The B steam generatcr.as you might is 21 l

t scme radicactive starial in it.

We've been monitori:t; t':a 1 22 level of that radicactivity to ecnfirm that there is b 23 i

1 ade.itional leakage in the steam generater and indeed h e.e 0

4 N

i ana '.y s e s show that that is -he case.

Mcwever, wnen y. 1:

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'4 1 I RAW TRANSCRIP" - UNCCRREC"'ED f

2 steam generator was placed in service, we did expect Tat,

3 some of the radioactive materis.1 would cece cut, but a did i

not expect to see any significant release in the offs Le :

4 5

envirott: tent.

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I t

6 New the information that I do have is obvi, -: sly.

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not very ccmplete since it is just about th se hcurs Lnce 7

l 8

the plant was placed in natcral c:ircalation and it wi L be 1

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9 scme time before I will have fird infermaticn.

It j' st 10 takes time cc make measurements, take them to the lab, ratory and count them.

11 i

Based on the infer =atibn I new have, it ap=car s:

i that. there was no measurable incrx2ase in the iodine c Esite 13 r

throughcut the trancient.

The =cniter in the si.ack v Leh g

l discharges radicactive material did not have any chani 2

15 there was!

a significant c.han' 3 im which would suggest that g

the release rate for iodine.

g Ecwever, the xenen which dces ccme out of ic 18 water festar tends to act as a pudf release and there' ca s g

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in fact a puff observed.

The puff was at its peak inl de l

plume Over the stack observed by helicepters which hai been 21 g

conicering it to be abcut.5 mr mer hcur.

Thus far,

e 22 i

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highest reading that we have ceed acle to take anywne<

Off-l I

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s.te en the grcund, in the plate,jat the highest po in.A the j

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'. y cencentraticn is abcut.04 tr per F.ccr, W.7tcn is a

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q u4 oerrw c m ece.3r=<tv wa s e.maTo,.. a.c.1aoor.

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small cnange frc= what we have been seeing in the past, Tne ner=al backgrcund is en the Orcer of about. 02 mr per - :ur.

3, So that these numbers are not fairly inconsistent with 4

4 offsite releases, althcugh thely were larger by a t cec 5

the f 2 can de bac.kgrcund.

S I

It appears frc= conditJ,ons in the plant now that 7

I we don't see any more releases equivalent to the n"- "er g

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that I am providing ycu with.

• dewever, again, when thj

- puff' g

t cccurred there was a concern ever the eersonnel who ve:

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10 Jrcl-werking in the turbine building and who were in the ccr i

11 recm at the time, as to whether er net this activity be,ng 12

=easured could be icdine.

The kinds of instruments t's t

13 are used f er that purpose, to go ard =cnitcr what is gc

- ng 14 i on, are not accurate and cannet detect what these iner ses; are.

There is what is called the S,Ni tube used f or tf t 1C purpose, and it indicated that the levels of gas night he

-3 in the crder cf 1G microcuries per c.c.

That was laii 18 l

checked by taking the cartridge, reducing the measurema at, taking it to a lateratcry, and the amcunt of icdine th.

20 indicated was essentially near; the MDL, the

.ini=u:1.,

was

'1 6

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detectable levels, ofcccut on the crder of 13 nicros - ries 6.

i per c.c.

fcr the type of measurecen- -"'

was ~.ade.

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l wasi we concluded there was no substantial changes, and the d i

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really

.c need der anyonc to have c.ut on resc.irstcr ecw..a. nen t.

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cz. h ce at c, canter:.

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RAN *RAMSCRI?T -

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Bu t everycne in the control recm wa:s provided with res;O r

a-t 3

ters, and scme did put them on.

4 There was nc threat to any personnel in the:

5 centrol recm, and there was no need for any cencern.

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The measurements have new confirmed that indeed that ic 5

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7 the case.

The plant conditions aten:w being monitcre6 S

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pretty carefully to observe the fui,1 changes of temperc Wures t

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la in the system.

I'm very happy to Tepcrt that scme oa:L er l

state:nents I made on hcw high the

cmperature in the h test 33 ther=cccu=le might go -- I think I indicated it m;.ght w se 12 several hundred degrees.

The maxir.um increase we've sa i n, 13 h

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the hettest thelaccouple at the tiste the transient stam ;ed u

was abcut 311*.

The present max um ther=cccuple rea Lng i

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M U E#8Y C=8 * # '

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16 which was 342: that is, the thermcccuples in the core < re g

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new en a transient where thev. are,eccline..

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The temperatures meast ed with in-ccre insb:,

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I ments sre ncu decreasing w' ~k

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t 20 3efere I left the control ccm I censuled with t.

21 I mentioned wculd be there to Ocni:c cr the task feree that g

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-hc transiant that would be initiated by secpcing the l g=p.

.I These ::cresentatives enthe task fcrce are a team 0: ;

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specialists that :ne ".icensee is 1s;ng tc evalcate whr J,

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RAW TRANSCRIPT - UNCORRECTID i

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action G.culd be taken at the reacter and varicus ethi i

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3 activities at the sito.

There were specialists in th.

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control reem who had expert kncwledge of the behavicr f

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the reacter under these conditions, and there was cemp

- sta t f

cobed a

agreement among everycnc that the reactor how is being 1

t 7

by natural circulation, and no onel has any question as. -c S

whether that is indeed the case.

9 All cd the indicators for natural circulat On 4

t to indicate we have achieved natural'circulatica at this imej t

The transient, hcwev er.;, is net aver.

And l<e'12 11 f

be :.cnitcring for the next, perhaps up to ten hcurs, t 12 i

13 watch t*:e final respense of the sfsten as the a= cunt c

' heat f

1.s in the system is reduced to the docay heat level.

i l

That concludes the sta tement I had.

15 I

CUISTION:

IIcw long will it take?

16 l

MR. STI*LC:

I indicated it cculd take up

o 17 1

as long as ten hcurs befcre the reacter would stabili a ta I

the le <er temperatures approprkate to the decreasec is at heat level.

g CUCSTIC

i:

After ten F. cur s i.s it pessible

then, 21 1

I tha t ycc will say that it is safel,y shut dcwn?

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l MR. 5""ILI 0 :

I.hink :.

is saf aly shut del a 3

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new.

It is en natural circulm.:icn.

h'e need to nonitd r y6 I,

t the tra.nsient Oc see whenner any-hing else need ce dce :.

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1 RAW TRANSCRIPT - UNCCRRECTID 2

I need te have the next ten hours t.c see what happens t 3

finally conclude what conditions will evolvo.

At that l

4 time, in ten hours, I'll be prepared to say Yes, we art: how' l

i 5

s--%ilt.:cd iii the natural circulation ecoling mcde.

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CUESTICN:

You did say that you are safely

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7 shut down ncw, but then ycu said you have to wait ten 'frurs i

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to =ake that final decision?

)

9 MR. STELLO:

I have no question abcut the fety 10 of the reacter now.

It is safely shut down.

Maybe we':e not ecm:zanJ.cating.

it I

Shut down in what sense?

12 t

CUESTION:

Ecwever ycu want to define it 13 i

t MR. STILLO:

Criticali t.y?

There's absclu <tly 34 nc question.

And it has been shut. dcwn since the acci tnt.

15

.al With respect to long tar = equilibrated nati 16 I

l circulation ccnditions, wc'll have to wait until this 17 satura '.

temt:erature reaches its new ccnditien to cenclude that.

18 circulation is in its proper =cde.

19 CUESTOM:

How are ycu going te announce th,. :?

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Are ycu going te have a press confhrr nce at 2:00 a.m. ? '

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MR. ABRA!!AM :

If we're previded tha: inf =r:j.,atien i

e wc3 ' ll Oake sCOe ~'.CCnanism te get t cut.

I dCn't knc%1 Lf 5.t,

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I 12 argent te de i.: a: 2 : 0c a.-.

mt we would ce at;e Q --

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You knew, if ther e wer e sc=e surp :ise we ' d ce ab:.e c

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,5 444 pe rr n fte C.A emt STw s rf F# A S946Pe GTQ Pt. 3.C.

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RAW TRADSCRIPT - UI;CORRICTED i

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the information cut quickly.

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CUESTION: At what point do ycu reach tempp a-3 I

l 4

4 i tures, the temperature ycu cculd categorize as cold sF t-5 down?

5 MR. STELLO:

" ell I struggled with this 7

definition of

• cold shu tdown. "

Is terms of te=peratu:

- s 3 l I den't believo it is apprcpriate to speak of tempera

_ res' i

ai for cold shutdown.

In ans<er to the earlier questien.

When i

I I

to '

is the transient stabili:ed a.t natural circulation % th

{

l its final temperatures? these temperatures may be abov 33 i

i 212*.

I don't knew what the final tc=cerature is-I hink 1,.

it would likely be somewhere around 300*.

The bulk tc rpera-33 turo of the cold leg which we have been hearing much cr eut.

y I

will pr bably be en the crder 160 cr 170'.

I think at tha.

15 point I cetSider the reacter in a lcng term Shutdcwn 16 COUditiOU*

AUd I refrain fre" U#iUY Eh8 "C#d "C01d*

17 because " cold" typicalli is meant 'tu mean all the te=g ra-ig tures in the reacter ar e essentially belcw 212*.

Ihat may l

,l 39 some.idditicnal time befcre Ell te=peratura eved wher e take o

t in the eacter are helcw 212.

But f or the conditic'n is j

,1 4

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reacter is 1..

that s net a verv LT.ccrtant cenrider aten.

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cur 5TIO:::

Mhat's the!leng tern scenario-3 1

l MR. A3RA2.AM :

Could we givo sc=ebcdy c13e '

24 i

j chance to ask a questicn, and T.ay5e we can ccme back i you.

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CUCSTICN:

Why did the ins tr.:ments begin meir l

3 randen behavicr, give randem readings?

Were there in dica-I tiens of other instrn=ents acprea'ching randc= behavic.J 4

1 l

5

12. STELLO:

The instru::er.ts we've been :1 at i e

concerned about are those instru.m ents fer which the f

i 7

transmitters - that is, the thing that sends the sig

- 21 k

a i dicating what level the particular parameter is at are s'

iccated icw in the reacter build 2ng and have been su ected ec -- prehably have been ccvered with water; that thcl tcxes la that they came in have been under water for seme tim n

l They also have been subjectcc to radicac:pve 12 1

13 materials, whien may have also caused them to degrade

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It's believed that tne cause of the failt

e of 14 I

tne instr :ments is due to the f act that they were ungr 15 i

16 water, and that some of the water eventually got intd.the r

sealed centainers and caused the instruaents to f a?.1 17 I

of particular interest were tne instrume:tra la i

l enat were used to moniter the pressuricer level, so sat l

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39 when natural circulation was to be initiated we knew C or 23 t

certain where the natural circulatien wculd start wi.

4 21 1

t i

respect to pressurizer level.

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3 l

Intheearly=crning)the last re.=caining s s t u-J 3

ments were measurcd.

The pressuriser level was star,

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I to beccme erratic.

It failed, ch, I guess it was at p bcut j

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2 ninc c' clock thit scrning, and then later it came bachl,cn.

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i 3

As ycu recall, scr:e of these level instru=cnts have de e 4

that: they've indicated f ailure and then they've ecme

-ack!

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5 en.

I wouldn' t be the least bit surprised if, when I. : et S

bach, that there are readings aga..n.

The important ce q l

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7 sideration being, wo want the maximum amount of plant i'

8 instrunentation available to follow the transient.

u)n- ;

9 At this point in time there is little ins I

1 to '

mentation that is needed to fcilcw the p1. ant conditica f

l 11 ;

while you're en natural circulation.

So the need for 1

12 '

inst amentation now is not nearly as impcrtant as it 1

,s 13 prier.

14 CUESTICN:

Ycu plan to go solid with the g

secena, y system Sunday cr tienday,I believe.

Are yeu 15 i

still going to do that?

te l

MR. S"'ELLO :

We had planned to go water 1 > lid.

17 I

b cn these days cric: tc gcing en natural circulation.

j!?e 18 4

e 19 will now, in the next several dayG' leck at what is t(

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} est approach to take tne system water sclia.

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If veu'll reca'1, there are ssecial syste.

1

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being designed which will be csed! to replice the hea a l

rer.cval sv. stem: -J.at is, the ccedenser.

Ar.-i we ' :.1 be< Leob J

s

- at when ncse systems will be available and trvi.a.l inc to i

decide wnether it would be appre;:riate te 2ke them syZer

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• TAN TRANSCRIPT - UNCORRICTr.D i

i 2 i solid new or wait.

And that decision has not yet beeri made.

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3 CUESTICN:

If you go. rater solid and ycu h y pass i

i 4

the cendenscrs, then yeu're going to have to ecol it u

_ th be!

5 river water.

If it works the way it is nov wculdn't -

l better just to leave it that way and not use the rive; 6

i i

7 water?

1 MR. STELLC:

I think it would be better td g

- ; he

)

I able to be in a closed ccoling water system.

When ye g

i use the river water it will be t,o heat exchangers ren vedf 10 frem the steam generater.

Ycu will not need to be at 11 n

f concerned with the potential for radioactive material et-12 I

i ting cut into the environment, since it will be a clot d la.

system.

When you're using the nain condenser the rac,- o-g l

l' I

active materical, if it comes cut 6f the water, gces ir c 15 i

i

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16 that system is net closed.

So it would be preferable i o

t, 1

,8

-clace the plant into a solid water condition.

i j

New hcw, and when, is scmething that will ne ig I

decided in the next sever:1 days.

j to l

What's the pro' ability of dang =

CUESTION:

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,1

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inside the centrol recm frca a leak?

l to coeraters 64 MR. STILLO:

I was there.

I didn't feel -

ty danger.

Iney can put on respirator s, and with the ret,irateds i

I

, 4

nerc :.3 no hacard even if ycu did have the release t1' 4 : wa s '

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1 RAU TRANSC3:20 - Ut:CCRR20 ID 2

indicated; which turned cut not to be the case at all.

3 CUISTICti:

I happened to observe en the wa;

- cut l

4 tcday that it seemed,to me at least, that there was =cea f

i 1

5 vapor activity, er more visibin vacer at the top of thp 1

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s ecoling tower than I've noticed in recent days.

Is th l

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7 scmehcw related to what went en there today? And, if sI i

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ir there any radicactive centent in that vaper?

I

}

9 MR. STELLO:

No.

That's the cooling

=w

< :s.

ticN 10 And the change in vapor in the ccoling tcwers is a fun :

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i 11 of the metecrolegical conditions r.ather than what's gc

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1 in the plant.

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13 In reality, the amountf cf heat being re.cv -1, i

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l 14 which is what causes the vaper, was just decreased by 15 six megawatts wher. the pump was stopped:

so here's f

i is ac tually, in princ; ple,less vapor cc=ing cut :.cv than 1:r.er e i;

was in the past.

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g qu2STIC

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tihere did the pump release of snen

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s cc=e frem?

Was that cut of the cdndenser?

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of 9.e D steam generaterf I

MR. STILI.C :

Cut

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which was put into service prior to initiating natura' p

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circulation.

We knew :na t a c tiv ety wa s in there, we r.ew

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4 new much it was, and we evaluated 'whether or nct therd i

sa s 3

l going to be an off site problem.

3ct there preved to da 3

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ne significant ine: cases.

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CU::STICN:

Oces that vent directly to the 3

environmen

1 It Lees through the nai,l_

4

c.. STE1.I.0 :

Mc.

5 condenser, which is processed by Etir ejecters thrcugh t

5 !

filtering system.

That filtering system in turn is d l 7

charged into ancther filtering system, and then into le

,i a

e.vironment.

Ecwever there are possible paths which 9

haven't been fully evaluated as toi whether there c=uld' 1 ave:

0 to been leakage frem some of the sealls that are usel te sal i

the condenser.

11 12 CUISTIO:h At a meetirs last night in ' ewh berytnwr J

I I

! :ident, 13 an official stated that there had been an incident, a!

i i

14 cr event of some kind en Wednesd er night at about ten 15 six, which apparently had some danger involved.

l

.1 1e Are you aware of anything like that?

Tha' veuld 17 bc this past Wednesday n?.ght.

(.I

'8

G. ST 2 0:

No.

I dbn' e recali anythingf :han j

was significanc in terns of any 9tencial danger.

.ii j

3 l

o There have been time,when-Well, fcr elh=ple,

+

1 21 when the pritaary ccolant sample is taken there are se4 :f I

22 increaces in the level in the ar et where the sampla is e

t a

1 23 taken.

But it's nce.casurable cff site.

y

{

! l I

I' n r.c t aw:1r a ci any even: which I wculd F:r. sider 4

F P 1 tc De a danger 4: 311 during the Weei..

c t

{

r b

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c-tc:- Je c:a( r;.g,coert::, Onc t

is r

v O,' n I

.u =c m cumi.j sta s ar 4

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ae a e==sseovore. 2.c. ! xm i

t I

ll '

I

....~

i, 14 1

4 i i RAtt TRANSCRIPT - WCORRICTED I

l v a

2 CUESTION:

You're gci5.g to wait ten hoursu.c a,

t g.

3 judge whe her the natural circulation is indeed a sta. e f

4 situa tion; is that correct?

5t MR. STEL*.o :

We're go.ing to wait up to ted ' hcurs untilthenaturalcirculaticaprec(essfinallyreaches

- ts s,

i.

l h

7 steady state condition; that is,u.ntil the additionalerr;y f

i l

s!

that is in the systen because of the operation of the funpi i

I is reccv ed.

9 i i.

to CCESTICN:

Oc ycu have a different scenar:

?

I, What if it doesn't werk?

Mhat will ycu dc?

And if i1' a

33

,1 1 I i hen does wrk, after ten hcurs if youf re satisfied, what 12,

i 13 cenes?

What is down the line?

MR. S*ELLC:

I would say I'm quite deligh1,1 d g :

with that.

If for some reason secething did happen ti1 15 f

16 pu=p that is stauned cculd be started and the clant p( ced l

l in its criginal node.

Mcwever the temperatures are c4 ing 3

devn and responding very nicely.

And when : left the 18 centrol recm a shcrt ti=e ago all of the in-ccre ther-c '-

39 to use b 20 the transient appeared to turn ever,

e

ccuoles, i

j words of the eng 4.neer ; that is, they have attained tho, :

f 9

I peak value and are new decreasing'.

+

l a

t CU23:20N:

So :.5 it aces werk after ten 1m ur s.

J 23 i

l

't ycu're sa tis f ied.

• dhat's the icng term scenaric?

j

iR. STELLO:

The lcng tarn scenaric :.s :

use.

l t

i I

l i

T P I A

f C *tCC-JCdt*QA f t:Ct ?!* f,

!!?C i

n 1

I

/ {J 44d wo,r m CA#*TCt STmEST r

(

l w a e pe M G TO N. 3.4 10001 i '

l3 s

e

,h]

o wnss sas.s,no t

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P yte e

a l'6 i

1 i RAli TRANSCRIPT - CNCORRECTID E

I 2

the systems I've described.

They'll be used to eccl I

3 each cf the steam generaters thrcugh closed ecoling s, stens I

1 4

which are being installed in the plant.

And that wil I ::e 5

its long term ccndition.

8 CUESTION:

Ucw long *.r.'ll that last?

i 7 :

MR. ST7.LLO :

Until wt2're ready to start l l

s restcration, getting ready tc. start treating ene centi _;ina.tec, I

i s,

wate:.

And than we'll be convert:ing to cener systens, fer '

4

)

10 that purpose.

c

!1 CUISTION:

Acd hculceg could that poss:.01 p' taa27 ti B

.W. STEILO:

I con't

~cv.

That's a fave.

Lte 1::

13 questien I've been dealing with for scme time.

l CUISTICN:

Can ycu dedine restoration?"

14

(

MR. STE*LO:

l'11 def'ine the start of res. ara-15 4

I tien That's the peint at which the centaminated wate 16 I

inside the reacter building and the contaminated watej 17 l

l 1

inside the prir.ary system is prccessed to rc=cvc the 38

(

radicactive naterials, to start p4tting the plant int a

to condition where the head ci the re,acter vessel can be

-reved, m

l and the da= aged Ore taken cut.

i I

3 t

CUESTIIN:

We're tal. ting a nini=um cf mam j

I men-ns fcr this process'

{,,

1 MR. STIL~ 0 :

I just dcn't--

! dcn't ev e.5 vant 4

g t

Oc speculate 03 !c hcw icnq it takCs.

i O ' ~)

c-fce.fc e.al CTerette!.f. A,7 I s,

l

.c m m ma,m uv i'

l l u.

u u imo m. a.c. 2coai

i L

e t

17 i

l 1

IMW TRANSCRIPT -+ CNCCRRICTED l

i l

1 I

I CUESTION:

The thing ycu 're going te icok: e f

'l l 3

i.: ten hcu s presu=c is the temperature; is that ri nt?

l 4

M2. S*2ELLO: i:e lock at temperatures.

Th 're is--

i 4

i I

What are the criteria you're ]g :ing 5

GUF.STION :

a to look at?

Pressure?

Temperature?

Radicactive lel-21?'

l l

l 7

MR. STELLO:

The criteria is that all ofl 'the l

g changes in temperature have stabl!1ized; that is, tha 9

temperatures have eccled of f to t..e point where they 1 sch '

s r

1 to a steady state value which this a:< cess heat is being

~2=cved i!

ll frem the system, ii 33,

il CCESTICOT :

So it is not a question of toEn) i.

ra-1,.

g tures ten hcurs frem new being icwer than new, but it,3 I

t a question of temperatures being 'a certain prcportienyl 3,

i size icwer than it iS?

15 MR. STELLO:

Well they will decrease wit,,:

16 f,,

time.

17 b

,i CUESTCN:

Apparently !ycu have scme figurerg:t in 18 I

h your mind which you think will make you happy ten hett j

a is i

frca new; is that right?

l 3

(

4R. STELLO:

Sc.

Thd final temperatures

}.a t 21 t

are acnieved, as I indica ed, if :tney were several hmired l

4 6

l d2grecs higher :.cn they had been :: the start of th

,u t-2'1.

fcund that unac:cptable p transient, I wc u'.d net have 3

i!

i They' re considerably better tha.- that.

The results de-- The

,5

(

[,'

f.

anc

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P g

c=*ce. Tere::t c&e,rette:1 4

m e

o 444 ** C R W C A mTc t..S Te C ET I

W A S P*l *t G TC N. D.C.,20004 g ', /

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13 1

RAW TRANSCRIPT - UNCORRICT D 2

transient is f011cwing the most optic:istic hopes for col-I l

3 1cwing transient respcnse.

Therol were osti7at:'c that'

'\\

wera f

4 nade that indicated temperatures '=ight be several hur6ced l

j 1

5 )

to a thousand degrees during the t ansient.

They nov c

t 6

got anywhere near that.

They 'rc right now starting a

i 1

cccl down.

Wha *.* we need to do is. wnit until they havt.

8 1

[

9 reached the steady value.

They'::e in a transient neu f

to they're changing with time.

And all of them are ac de-ti creasing at this time.

l CUCSTION:

Are you locking for a steady tmpern-37 ll 13 ture value, or something--

e, M2. 502'.l.C :

If you were making a graph c.

the 9

[

l 1l temperature of the in-core ther.xcuples with ti=e,. vlat 15 to icok like il to fc11cw the trans I ycu war that graph s

2nt; 16 i

uf, that is, there was scme heat in seme ther=ccouples, 37 l

1 to -- I think the ma:cimum change is alcut thirty degrps

,a h

1 frcm the peak of 311 to the peak of 342, and they mig,L': net

g l

.c temperature is,

w even be the same ther=cccupies.

That I

decreasing with time, and it will: sicwly cece dcun tc;1 where, as ycu plot it, it will becc=e essentially 2 t

i l

s raight line.

Tha t ' s the condition you're '.cckinc { pr,

,3 r

j fer the thermeccup:.es to step thei cur se : hat : hey'ra y 4

i

,4 s

w t

and stabillae Oc essent:a 17 a s tr aign:.ane '/alue.

~

f f l) o -

ga R O

m

- r p

n C**CC = Uti,:f*2$ WCCCX?C*S.

• II

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c=w c w res ernsrv g

ve g eteeee4TT9 me. 9 d*

W9

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i 19 1

RAW TRANSCRIPT - UNCCRRICTCU t

2 CUISTICN:

That's whdt you're geing to lca%

1 I

i 3

for?

l i

4 XR. STELI.C : T hat's w: tat we 'll be f ellowid fci t

b l

\\

the next, several hcurs, up to tot hours.

Ccn'e quetm me 5 i I;

l f

6 en ten hours.

t l l

\\

7 I tried to decide what I should say, whem er I f

I a

should say two hcurs, three hcurs, five.

And I censd ted; 9

with the grcup and tried to get & judgment.

A.nd the,i i=es f

Io ranged. And I decided I would pick the longest point l

I I

11 heard, which was up to ten hours.

Il l

00557*0:4 Nhat is the present radiation jvel-12 within the contai.sment, tne deme ' readings that had by(< n-is 1

h early on they had been 30,000 ren.

Oc you ; ave any

' des 14 f

what that reading is currently?

15 That =cn den't believ is d

M2. STII.LO:

16 I

functioning.

• t has sesyed at the same value thrcugiout l

,7 l

the accident.

18 1 ;

}

CUESTICH:

Ycu mean it 3s still a: 3 0, O C l ren?

ig i

It has essentially stayed cd4stant.

MR. STEL!0:

g And that violates the '.aws c: p:U/ s rcs.

l l

og 1

The radicactive manecial in there, = cat h

it-7 I

l l is xenen, and it nas a half life of ateut five days.:

' And i

.3 have new been thrcugh six half 1 vcs, so it Shculd

. lave i.

t we 4

( :

I ceme desn 2bou: a fac:c c f ' 1 0 0..

If it wer e functiet,, ing i

4 f ?

O l.

QC*C

• IUCC W80t!C3, f:C o,, o 3

i w *CseTw CA rtT74 sTwst?

\\d I

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• A sseinsTo w, g.g zooos g

,,,,i.,,-.

l li l

i 20 1

1 RAW TRANSCRIPT - Ut:CCR22C'"7.D i

2 it wculd have decreased at least that much.

And the <e has 3

been a lo t o f skepticism.

I don't happen to know e x tha il i

4 exact value is incido the contair.cnt at the mcment' 5

That =cnitor is not--

l l

l l 6

CUESTICN:

And there's no other way to t

i 7

meniter?

1 1

I 8

MR. STEI.I.0 :

Yes.

Ycu can ske a sa=ple 'M i

9 the centainment.

And there prohably has been one tak,,:1.

1 :

.i to aut I don' t knew the number.

l i

11 CCESTIC?l:

ticuld it 2,e fair to character

• ce l

l' 12 the situation now as the best that ithas been since !h:ch 13 23th?

And, secondly, if everything goes as you assu:t it '

N

),,

l t.:

will, er you're optimistic that ilt will, is this as gpx1 k

as the conditica is going to get 1;r the foreseeable l, is is future?

1,

17

.M 3. S C LC:

Well :.ts is.*at we 've heerg i t, trying to achieve, is a state of'Cocling with natural l

I 19 cir culation.

So in that sense we have schieved the cN Iec-l 1

tive we have, which is what we believed, and de belie) 3 new Ic k

j to be the best Ocde to ecol the ecce.

t I vculd character::.::e this as an i=preveme d ever!

2 i

i what ue have been. ',le are getting; cic3er Oc cur cb ecj ive.

n I

The neX: thing ue want to do is place Oneh eacter:

4 i

[!

cco ung :xrcue. :ac stes= unera: Ors mi h :he c:xea psm,

s l

l I

t 1

I q

c~tc:. P :.7c na[ CSc:Titc!, 61:c t

0

.a wentu cu.vei sr==sy

. r}

i l I i

s

\\1 unsunnann. 3.c { acon.

i

s

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l t

i.

i n

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1 RA'1 "RAliSCRIPT - 0::CCRR20TED l

l

, 'l 1

2 which will be the no:ct thing.

l l

Is there ali Yay,

'f..'

3 CUCSTIC:l:

Fir s t,

a. request:

l 4

that we could find cut when the temperature has stabi' iced I ', -f 5

right away?

+,

i 6

Ma. STE.I.0:

Surely.

s';

7 CUESTIC:l:

Mcw can we do that?

\\

.p 8

MR. A3RAHAM:

I think what we =ay be ablel to l

l i

i

- - j do is to have the inftr=ation f ed to us, and then we

$1.11 '

9 j

to prcgrs= cne of cur tape-answering devices and we'll gi re l

l si ycu that number when the news briefing is ever.

And r::u l

i:

can interrogate that.

And maybe that would bo the het:t waf g'

0 13 to get that nu=her cu t, and that inf er-.a tion.

i

^

14 CCESTICIi:

Okay.

15 The second part:

It.was 3 :11 when you tg ? ped:

l v

\\

.l is '

the pump and went up to 343-- was that it? --the maxia:.m ?

i n

l l

27 MR. S T E L !.,0 :

I dcn' t believe it was the :n b 8

+

.s 18 ther=ccouplc.

s s-s..;

ig CUESTIO:!:

I unders tan, d.

q l

MR. STELLO:

All the ther=ccouples -- thcq 3

l i k

.?

tempera t.:r es do act respond the same way in each andl,avery

,3 1

e a

C i

ther=cccuple.

The ther=ccouple that is new reading ! l ":,

j n

i, I

i as I recall, is nct -he ther=ccccole that was readince 311 i

23 1

8 6

at the start of the transient.

D. '

,A J

i d'

j

.,',,J..,.3 1j 1'

<wJ*L.ae

~'ta s.4.

w

...----s,.

t..

1 r

.c.

l 6

4

'\\

f O

t

~

4 A

r i f c.Sc:;o9tm..g:c 't :

i

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cnce ? ::e~at r

],

i w.ecem unites.s m at

1 I

22 i

I RAlf TRAMSOR!?T

'UNCORRIC'"ZD l

I 2 i 1R.

s..e.v.

n.

i

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i i

3 CUESTICN:

241.

And Ithen it went back deja l;

4 a certain ar. cunt?

I' I,

t 5

MR. STII.I,0 :

I t is ncw - -

When : left, d' <:

1 l '

i i lo,l temperaturc had started te decrease in that ther=oce a 5

)

7 c.nd was 340*, althcugh i_t's possible there could bc sue 1

8 variatien.

They coule even start to rise, s:me cf thu :

I need 9

Although I don't expect it, they may.

This is what S i

i 10 to see.

This i:,i why I've characterized that we need

0 See l l 11 the transient respense where the ther=cccuple s esseMially i

12 90 en a straight line.

13 QUESTICN:

Ara there any implicatiens as to the I

i 14 locaticn of these therneceuples, the ene that was hifest; l

I 15 at the beginnir.g was later on not the highest?

Are here 5p.

is any implication to be drawn em that?

tha*

fl 17 M3+ STEI M UO' NOfCUG thiUN3 tha t 3

l 18 significant.

In fact there has Meen considerable di.tduccion I

l i

r I

I 19 dat that cCuld easily ha*?e happGned.

As the ficW t?tcugh

(

the cere is reduced, ii chere were particles up near he 3

1 therncccuple they may have settled back dcwn.

l b

MR. A3RAi!AM :

?.,c ~100 0 questienS.

ii I

..I.

btellca w UhcUI 3s in$ [N 5 IO (C5b7 NI ge D'ek and explain Way

',"CC Nentrahead thiS nCrning,

'd 4

ke to ask you ;*.i c Q. e s t i e n S.

j i

)

C:= $! t*Cf C$4 CT!E*!, $f!C *l e l

o 3

m onm :weci.;sm m wa g MeM4 7'3 M.

3,C a20001

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1 I

23 i i RAW TRANSCRIPT - UNCCRRICTED t

\\

2 :

Neuld ycu have preferred to wait until Ma, 2nd ii 3

to go into this mode?

ll g

{

MR. STELLO:

Yes.

5 t

t 5

OUEST!OCI: The se.cond question is:

Wasthjhea i

6 sense of t7ergency cr absciuto necessity in going int the i

I i

r 7

m,.e today?

I, 8

ag, S;I;Lo:

No, what ; tried to tell vc 1

4 9

before is that if these instrume=ts gave us an indica dLen 1

10 cf crratic behavier, at ahcut tvec.ve hcurs a"-a- "ey) gave indication we weald initial te natural circulat li 11 us that on

}

l l 12 in the plant.

It /as cur plan all along that that wa; te '

i i

e 13 he cur ccurse of action.

I i

l l

14 There was nc sense of, emergency c: urgenc1, about i

i i

i ts '

dcing it.

I 16 CUISTIO:I:

Ycu we.lda t ha re had te changi your l

1

7 apprcach if the instrumentatien had gene cut.

Could

cu I

(

ta have centinued := progrc= f ar this =cde that yeu 're 12 1 0 f

\\

19 new, in fact?

l !

I I

I

g

.4R. STILLO:

You cculd have--

i

(

.i j

i 3

CUESTIC:7:

Cr would yeu have had to deve19 scae r

new apprcach?

t u

i i

23 MR. STCLLO:

Ic; you Oculd have still takt tha l

4 plan in:0 natural circulation, althcugh it wculd havs ' been *9 i

i

=

.cre difficul Oc fc as you le s t ner e a nd.cr e instru.jtn:201cn.

5 1,

t

{

c:*?ce. Jedera{ r.?c,resteu, Sc=

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i 4 *_

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444 MC artH C A mTUt. m ETT u.

l

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I 24 i

i 1.

RAU TRANSCRI?T - UNCORRECTED i

2

.CUESTOM:

Ycu would have to de it =cre by t

3, intuition, =cre by guesswcrk?

4 !

MR. STCLLO:

It wculdi have required-- Ye.i it

]

f i

5 wculd have required =cre analyses and =cnitorinn with '

i I

t instru: tents that are nct ner=al instruments at the plJ' at.

a' i

a 7

It Wuld have made th'O task =cre difficult.

1 l'

t a

MR. ABRAnAM:

The lasp. questien.

s I

I 6

9 CUESTION:

Can you teu.1 us when ycu infer :d r 1

i I

to '

the Governcr of this?

I 11

.tR. STILLO:

I called the OcVcrncr this

,1 4'

a ;

I 12 1

=crning and spoke to hi:t personally at about eight o r dcck, and indicated, as I had previcusly, that if the instrm nenta-13 i

14 tien started to raise questions n cur minds that we l-ould I

13 take the plant into natural circu'lation.

I idforacd gin a ;

1s at thac ti=e that we wer e =cving in that direction.

1 had a ccrriersation with Lt. GGverncr Scranton, and thote 17 h

i4ith was a representative of the Stato in he rcntrol roc =

is I

i me who ccH,ued to give status $eports of what was gjing 19 I

l l cn.

.q.

I CUCST!ON:

'ihen vas the last ti.mo the Oc'Jjrnc 's I

g 1

l office was nado aware?

2:07, I guess ycu said, was d t

ee MR. STELLO:

Ycu meas when was the last p i

I.

g

spoka with the OcVernor'c office?

Just crice to n-j wailing 3

intC Chis hail.

g

• q or -

a l.

d i

I

/

esce. %e=l c% eras. Sn=

l l

-.,.u n n w

-.. --. o.a -,

.v.

s

~

25 P

1 RAN TRANSCRIPT -.UNCCRRECTED 2

CCESTION:

One questibn that's sort of na l ring.

3, At a citi: ens' =ccting last night. thcro were pecple w I f

4 predicted that the :CIC wculd initiato activity earlio:' than f

Si the May 2nd date that had been announced.

And their ig-i s

gestion was dat that was a public relations nova.

hi

{

7 Now is there any substance to that?

Gl I indicated th f we!

a XR.. STEI,LO:

It's fad.se.

had planned te take the reacter to a natural circulat' Sg

\\

A,\\

t i

10 cccling ecde en May 2nd unless the instrumentation bec ma 5

13 erratic.

And, i' I rc= ember righh, when we were here l

1 12 earlier this week that's wha. I said.

And the errati

, 2 h

I 13 behavier of the instrumentation began about one c'cic<

thia r

l the reason [we did it.

14

=cening.

And tha t was i

Had that instr 1.= lent not beccme erratic I 1 puldh ' t.

15 f

16 have been willing to go along with advancing the sch hie for natural circulation.

17 jg MR. ABRAF.Nt :

Thank you very nuch.

c 1 5 : 2 0 q.=., de press brief l

.g

(*,7her eu pe n, at

7 l

j, I

was conclueee.)

i

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