ML19220C904
| ML19220C904 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 04/16/1979 |
| From: | Fay E NRC OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS (OCA) |
| To: | Kammerer C NRC OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS (OCA) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19220C903 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7905160046 | |
| Download: ML19220C904 (4) | |
Text
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMisstCN
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4 i W ASHING TON. D. C. 20555
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,g April' 16, 1979 MEMORANDUM FOR: Carlton Kammerer, Director Office of Congressional Affairs FROM:
Edward S. Fay Congressional Affai
" ficer SUBJECT-RELEASE OF TRANSCRIPTS TO HILL In reply to your request for information concerning the release of the transcripts of the closed meetincs of tne Commission during the TMI emergency, the following is a chronology of events.
1.
Late on Wednesday af ternoon, Acril 11 (aoproxinately 5:C0 o.m. )
the General Counsel informed me that we would be releasing the transcripts to Congressman Toby offett (D-CONN), Chairman, Subcommittee on Environment, Energy and Natural Resources, Ccomittee on Government Operations, that evening.
I informed him that, in that event, I would also be recuired to notify and provide (if requested) copies to our cognizant ccmittees (Hart, Udall and Dingell Subcommittees) and directly concerned members of the Pennsylvania delegation (Schweiker, Heinz, Walker, Ertel and Goodling ~ offices).
Arrangements were made with the Office of the Secretary to provide a limited run of the transcripts to meet the irrediate needs of the evening.
Congressional offices were contacted and made aware of the potential release of the transcripts.
Initially with the exception of Pau' L,enthal of Senator Hart's Subcommittee and Dr. Henry Myers of Congressman Udall's Subcommittee, all stated that delivery of the transcripts to them could be delayed until Thursday.
Dr. Myers subsequently contacted our office and stated that 8:30 a.m.
on Thursday morning, April 12, would be acceptable to him.
2.
At approximately 6:45 p.m. I contacted Mr. Robert Brown, Mr. Moffett's Counsel, to determine his availability to receive the transcripts that evening.
Mr. Brown informed ne that delivery that evening was no longer required and Thursday would be acceptable.
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3.
When I informed Senator Hart's staff that the transcripts would not be released that evening, we provided as requested a set to Mr. Leventhal at his hcme in order to afford him the ooportunity to review them that evening prior to his departure from the Washington area on Thursday.
4 I informed the General Counsel and the Secretary of the change in requirements of Congressman Moffett and the continued request of Mr. Leventhal.
5.
The General Counsel's office completed its review of the trar.-
scr.ipts as directed by the Commissioners and as.cortsined that no deleticns from the raw transcripts werc necessary.
Each individual transcript contained the, appropriate disclaimer.
I attached.a note to one set of the transcripts directing attention to the disclaimer and the fact that the transcripts would not be released until some time tomorrow.
That set was delivered to Mr. Leventhal's home where it arrived sometime after 9:00 p.m.
6.
On Wednesday evening, a draf t letter forwarding the transcripts to Congressman Moffett was circulated.
The letter was prepared for signature of Chairman Hendrie.
The General Counsel stated that a new letter would be prepared for signature of the Acting Chcirman, Commissioner Gilinsky, and would be available in the morning.
7.
Shortly af ter 9:00 a.m. on Thursday morning I inquired about the status of the Moffett letter and was informed that I would have a letter in about an hour.
In the meantime, our office had had a few calls fron Dr. Myers requesting his copy of the transcripts.
Copies of the transcripts were subsequently delivered to the Minority Counsel of Senator Hart's Subcommittee, the Minority Counsel of Congressman Udall's Subcommittee and Dr. Myers.
Dr. Myers received his transcript shortly af ter 10:00 a.m. Thursday morning.
d.
At approxinately 11:30 a.m. Dr. Myers contacted our office and requested additional sets of the transcripts and was informed that they were in limited supply and would not be available for public distribution until all Congressional commitments were met.
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9.
Shortly af ter 11:30 a.m. Dr. Myers contacted ne and requested additional copies (10 sets).
I informed him that only a limited run had been made and we would not release them to the public until we had delivered a set to Congressman Moffett.
He then asked if I could provide at least one ccpy immediately.
I agreed to check and get back to him.
A review of the number of copies available revealed that we did not have sufficient to meet our inmediate Congressional needs.
Fifty additional copies were being reproduced but were not available at that time.
During the elapsed time on Thursday morning between my initial discussion with the General Counsel and next call I received from Dr. Myers (approximately 11:55), I made several visits to the General Counsel's office and the Acting Chairman's office to detemine the status of the letter and the availability of the Acting Chairman.
Cr. Myers called me at approximately 11:55 and I informed him that I could not spare even one set of the transcripts.
In addition I stated that I was experiencing difficulty in getting the letter to Congressman Moffett and its attached transcripts through its fornal release process and tha transcripts would not be made public until such tine as Mr. 'toffett received his copy.
Dr. Myers then asked in effect:
(a) Who made the decision to deliberately withhold the transcripts from the oublic?
(b) Who was withholding the letter frca signature by the Acting Chairman?
(c) Who was responsible for withholding the transcripts from the Public Document Room so that the Press could not meet their deadline in the newspapers?
The conversation continued with critical coments on the general practices of the Commission and its attitude toward public disclosure of its functions.
As to the specific question of did I have an " explicit agreement" with Dr. Myers concerning release of the transcripts, the direct answer is "no."
I did not ask him not to release the transcripts and conversely, he did not ask me if there was any objection to his releasing them.
However, explicit statements were made by me to Dr. Myers that the NRC would not publicly release the transcripts until Congressman Moffett received his copy.
I might add that I did not have " explicit agreements"
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_4-with the other Congressional staffers who received sets of the tran-scripts.
On many occasions documents have been provided to the various Committees in both explicit and implicit modes without any complications.
There are many insty.ces in wnich I rely on the personal discretion of the indivic :1 with whom I am dealing.
Shortly af ter noon, as a result of a convers? tion with the Acting Chairman's legal assistant, I returned the draf t Moffett lettar to the General Ccunsel's office and conveyed her comments that the letter was too long and should be condensed to one page.
Congressman Moffett subsequently received a set of transcripts without a forwarding letter at approximately 3:00 p.m. Thursday.
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