ML19206A138

Responds to Correspondence Re radon-222 Emissions from Mill Tailings.Public Health & Safety Are Seriously Endangered by Radon Emissions

ML19206A138
Person / Time
Site:	Crane
Issue date:	12/19/1977
From:	Kepford C CITIZENS FOR SAFE ENVIRONMENT
To:	Linenberger G, Luton E, Salo E Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, WASHINGTON, UNIV. OF, SEATTLE, WA
References
NUDOCS 7904180319
Download: ML19206A138 (3)

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Zdward Luton, Ec:,, Chair nn Mr. Gustave A.

linenberger Atonic Cafety and Licenni::: Eoard i.tomic Sa fe ty and Licencine 2 card U.S. 1*uclear Regulatcry Cct.icsion U.S. Iuclear Regulater' Cc=cission Wachirc; ten, D.C. 20555 Washincton, D.C. 20555 Dr. E nect O. Salo Pr o.,.escor, r,sneries n,esearch

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Three Mile Icland : uclear Sta tion, Unit 2 A

Dethat :To. 50 # 20 Dear Sirar

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I This letter is in response to a letter dated Ncv. 30, 1977, from the IT.O.C Staff, concerning a me=o by Dr. Walter Jordan, dated Sept. 21, 1977, and a response by counsel for the Applicant, dated Dec. 2, 1977.

The Tntervenorc in this proceeding rejoice that finally the Staff of the IGC reccgnizes the possibility (a) cf enormous errors in Table 5-3, and (b ) that raden-222 emissions fres abandoned uraniu=

mill tailings piles can tresent a long-tern haecrd to humanc.

The Intervenors wonder why it has taken the Staff so many years to reccgnize and begin to respond to its responsioility under liEFA in thece creas.

The Intervencrs clso wonder why the IGC has refuced for so long to listen to other intervenors and representatives of the public interest who have sought repeatedly to raise these and other health and safety iscues before the Cc =iccion.

The Intervonors believe that. under IIIPA, it is the resroncibility of the Cc-.icsion to concicer "to the fullest extent possible" t'le environ =eni.al impect of

.propoced major federal actions.

This view of the Co==icsicr 'c s ta tutor.-

s obli,;ations under :iEPA was upheld in Calvert Cliffs Coordinating Cc=:ittee

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v. U.S.A.E.C. (D.C. Cir. 1971),

with which the Co==icsion has barely begun to ec= ply.a decision by the U.S.

The Intervencra take issue with the points raised by the councel for the Applicant in its Dec. 2,1977, letter.

In this regard, the Intervenors wich to cephacine that the grcnting cf licences for nuclear facilities, cuch as Three Mile Island, Unit 2 (TMI 2), is not the priccry function of the !GC, nor is it renuired that the Concission licence reactors to oterate.

Ruite the contrarr, 'licencin; is to be pertitted only to the extent that it is ccasistent with "the health and anfety of the public." (!GCC v.

U.S.N.R.C., D.C. Cir. July 21, 1976 i

at n. 15.)

700418 0 N7 G-

In view of e f hteni:..~ and enor.or

ait- 'u o f U..e arwru the record in the Three Icl...d 2 oreceedi;.;

in Table S-3, wh-a and Dr, Jordan's =c=o vividly de=onstrate, any further cor=it=ent tc Tabic 3-3 end it built-in defec ts would be arbitrary, capriciouc, en abuse or diceretion, and otherwise illegal and would probably cluo be unconctitutional.

Along si=ilar lincc, Jud.;c Taum was coved to cernent in the final elocing lines of hic ceneurring opinion in UROC v. US:QC (D.C. Cir., July 21,1c76 )(e=phacis added ) :

The Cot =iccion chould be abic to cupply the court with a state =ent of the =cthods by which its staff arrived at'the figures embodied in Tabic S-3 and cy which Dr. Fittman ccncluded that the weste stors;c proble= is already technologically and econo ically soluble.

If it c,rr.ot, then ve will h ve no chcic:

but to insalida:- m a._c.u_on's r

.e inder :... =

"arbi cnrv. carrie ma'

.e.,r u r d ;

:. t can, we should cefar to :ne an=innstrc:1ve ueighing of risks and' benefit's of additional reactors.

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In ITRDC v. U5URC, the Court stated "we therefore hold that absent effective generic preceedings to conci<or these iccues, they must be dealt with in individuel licensin.g proceedings." (e= phasic added).

Footnota 17 of that deensics, which is attached to this sentence frc=

the Ccurt's opinnen, indicates that the possibility that a porticular iscue =ay eventt9117 becc=e the subject of an effective rule =aking proceeding does not entitle the 2 card to refuse to concider that 13 cue in individual licencing proceedingc.

Thuc in the absence of effective generie hearings cencerning redbn-222 emissions, individual facility licensing hearings, such as TMI 2 are the appropriate and necessary ferum for ventilation of this and other basic and ac yet unrecolved. issues in the propoced licencing action.

Counsel for the Applicant observed that raden-222 releases fre=

the mill tailingc piles are insignificant ec= pared with natural raden-222 releaces.

However, the conclusions which counsel for the Applicant ur es the Board to draw frc= this observation are entirely without = erit er justification.

It should be noted that neither NETA nor cny related judicial decisions contain any language permitting the co=paricon of the environmental impact of a proposed ac tion with enviren= ental i=nac t resulting from natural or background conditions.

Ins tead, Sec tion 102 of NEPA recuires that the procosed project be excmined on its cerits and in ce=parison with its alternatives, without reference to other existing environ =cntal incultc.

It is alco i=tortant to realine that even if the relcases of radon-222 due to the operation of TMI 2 are very c=cll ec= pared to netu nl raden-222 releaces, this does not imply that the health ef fec ts of 1 : leases that are solely attributable to the operation of TMI 2 are in-cignificant or inconsecuential.

Tuite tne contrar:, Dr. Kepford'n tec ti.reny in this proceeding and Dr. Jordnn 's cer.crandu= both indi:nte that thic single source of radiction enrocure dwarfs all other health effects censidered to date by the Ccu=jsnion.

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For exanC the

ure of 10 million r on-re, er.pocure ver

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revetor year ran ed to ev Dr. Jordan trancle a in an environmental coct of 310 billion per reactor year at 31000 rer percon-rem.

To e ual thic ccat, a 900 C.l(e) renctor with a 0.65 capacity fac tor would h ve to produce a bene fit of electricity priced at about 32 per kilowat acur.

Thuc the lon.; tcrn health costc due to operation of T!1I 2 ore neither ir e t.

wouential ner insignificant.

Thece costa clearly outwei.;h any cc:,;eivable benefit of TMI 2.

Furthermore, the evidentiary record in thic p oceeding chows clearly that neither the numbers nor the conclusions in thu tacticony of "r.

Kopford were chown to be inaccurate.

Under UEFA, the comparicon of the propoced action with itc alter-natives is still woefully inadeousto, cince the health coctc, or, more likely, health benefitc, of both solar energy and energy cenacrvation have ye t to be made.

Without both of thece co=raricons, the con".lunion drcun by the Appaal Soard in ALA3-367 that this kind of comparicon goes to the heart of the Cc =iscion'= duty under NEPA, where, as here, coal and nuclear pcuer are chown to be the only feasible citernatives.

is premature.

It is entirely possible that a study of the health eccts (or benefits) of soIsr energy use and energy conservation =ay =ake these intter cypreaches the only fencible endc.

It should be noted here that when the Cc =ission circulated the testimer.y of Dr. Gotchy for public and official ec==ent, the Cc= mission cicquoted ALA3-367 by leaving out the phrase "ac nere".

In view of this glaring cisrepresentation of the Appeal Board 'ecision and reason for the testineny of Dr. Gotchy, the Intervenors request that the Board exercice its power in conducting its full NEPA review of TMI 2 and conduct, or enuce to be conducted, an investigatics into the health costs (or benefita) of the varicus forr.3 of colar energv production and of a program of energy concervation as alternatives to the nuclear plant.

For the reacons cited herein and in the Intervenors ' Protoced Findings of Fact and Conclusicac of Icu, dated Aug. 15, 1977, the Intervencrs believe that, if NEPA and the reinted judicial decisions are to have any validity, the Soard cannot issue an operating licenso for id! 2.

Raspectfully,

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Henry J. McGurren, Esq.

Chauncey Kopferd '

Ernact L. Slake, Jr.

Reprecentative of the Intervenorc Karin W. Carter, Ecq.

433 Orlando Avenue f.lan S. Recenthal, Ecq.

State College, Perm.sylvania 16E01 Dcchetir and Servico Section Atcuic Safcty and Licensing Board griG8

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