ML19207B643
| ML19207B643 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 07/30/1979 |
| From: | Hendrie J NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Thornburgh R PENNSYLVANIA, COMMONWEALTH OF |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19207B644 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7909050027 | |
| Download: ML19207B643 (2) | |
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UNITED STATES 4UCLEAR REGUI.ATORY COMMISSION CcQ y
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July 30, 1979 CHAIRMAN-The Honorable Richard Thornburgh Governor of Pennsylvania Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
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Dear Governor Tho$nb.urg E O ~,
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I can certainly understand and appreciate the views and concerns you expressed in your letter of June 22, 1979 regarding potential plans for the restart of Three Mile Island Unit 1.
I would like to sumarize the current situation and our planned course of action with regard to the restar-t of Three Mile Island Unit 1, in the context of your concerns.
On July 2,1979, the Comission issued an Order requiring that TMI-l remain shut dow'1 until after a public hearing. This Order, a copy of which is enclosed, also made clear that the final decision on TMI-I restart would be made by the Comission itself. Additionally, the Comission plians to issue a further Order soon which will specify the hearing procedures to be used and identify the specific technical and operational concerns that led to the July 2 Order. We will provide you a copy of that forthcocring Order when it has been issued. These concerns are expected to be fully addressed during the hearing.
A meeting was held at the request of Metropolitan Edison / General Public Utilities Corporation on June 11, 1979 to enable thens to d-iscuss with the staff, in preliminary terms, the possibility of reactivating THI-1. During the course of this meeting, GPU indicated a number of actions they were prepared to implement in order to provide a better basis for confidence that the TMI-l reactor coulj be operated safely. Needless to say, ithese discussions resulted in no agreements or comitments by the staff regarding any aspect of the TMI-l restart. The basis upon Coch TMI-l would be allowed to restart, and the associated schedule, have not yet been established In this regard, I should note that we f'lly recognize the need f;r an open and direct communi-cation link between the public, the utility, and the staff and thus, it is our intent that discussions on matters relating to TMI-l restart be held near the site in public meetings.
It is important, I believe, to distinguish delaying restart of TMI-l until the Presidential Comission Report is issued (presumably late October 1979),
as contrasted with delaying the consideration of matters involved with restart. We believe that it is appropriate at this time to consider the conditions which will be necessary and sufficient for restart of TMI-1, even though the actual startup would not come until much later, i.e., af ter the public hearing has been concluded and the Comission (NRC) has reviewed the ecord.
Thus, while I agree that much work remains to be accon1plished before TMI-l could be allowed to restart, I also believe that discussions on those known plant improvements or administrative changes necessary for restart can be initiated now, and that those actions not direc-tly related to the TMI-2 accident, such as those associated with fire protect ;on, should continue to be implemented.
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The Honorable Richard Thornburgh '
However, at the same time, I bel.ve that authorization to restart TMI-1 must not be allowed until.the issues and concerns relevant to restart have
-been fully addressed, discussed in a public hearing, and that hearing record reviewed by the Comission. Also, I can assure you that the Conmission agrees that full public part'cipation is an integral and vital ingredienc to all aspects dealing with those matters relating to THI-1 restart.
We are continuing our Jr. tensive and urge..t efforts to urderstand the lessons to.be learned from the TMI-2 accident. These efforts not only include -
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involve close communication with othar studies, including the Presidential l ~
Commission, Congressional inquiries, and a number of industry investigations.
It is anticipated mt this time that information from a number o# these investigations will be available before all of the conditions for TMI-l restart will have been satisfied.
I trust this response adequately addresses the points raised in your letter.
As noted earlier, we are plar.ning to hold public meetings on TMI-l restart matters near the site and will keep you infomed in this regard to allow for your participation.
In the meantime, if you have further comraents or ques-tions, please feel free to direct them to me or D. F. Ross (telephone 301/492-7373), within the Co: mission _s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
\\ Sincerely, s
,jh M. Hendrie
Enclosure:
July 2 Order ci -
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