ML19220C906

Telcon W/S Lawroski Re Reactor Operators,Radiation Levels & Media Coverage of TMI

ML19220C906
Person / Time
Site:	Crane
Issue date:	04/07/1979
From:	Fraley R Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards
To:
References
NUDOCS 7905160048
Download: ML19220C906 (4)

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'. l TELECON BENEEN R. FRS. LEY AND S. UOiROSKI CCNCERNI!G

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THREE tHLE ISLAND - HARRISBURG, PA APRIL 7,1979

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Fraley:

The letter says that the incident has demonstrated that the operator had a lack of intelligence available to him to ade-quately diagnose the course of the accident. It is/ in facc, my understanding that he had more ir. formation than he J,

ccold possibly digest, and therefore, he elected to watch rne pressurizer leiel which he could comprehend and understand and he ignored everything else. So it wasn't really a lack c

of intelligence, it was a lack of his capability or training to evaluate it and put it all in context.

Is that more accurate.

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Lawreski: Yes, " lack of intelligence" can be construed in tvc different ways, I hope they realize that.

Fraley:

I an using that in terms of information available to him from an instrument.

Lawreski: He had plenty of information, provided it had been evaluated better.

Fraley:

Do you think that there is any additional information that would have been useful.

I know that Carl said it would have been nice if he had known the level in the reactor pressure vessel and I am sure that would have been useful.

Lawroski:

If he had that, I think he would have known there was a problem in a more timely manner.

rraley:

So that is one bit of information that would have been useful to him that wasn't there.

Lawreski: The dependence on the situation in the pressure vessel using the pressurizer level to the exclusion of so much other possible information should be brought to bear on the analysis.

Fraley:

Does anybody know when they might be able to reenter the containment.

Lawreski:

No, that is not known.

Fraley:

Xhat are the radiation levels inside containment now, do you know?

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No, I don't know, there are several reasons that I'm sure they won't be able to enter. They still have more stuff to transfer from the decay gas tank.

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Fraley:

Have they been able to transfer that successfully without increasing the offsite doses?

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Lawroski:

No, some stuff has continued to be released and it's small but it is adding; however, the environmental condi-tions around here have been favorable. There has been a fairly strong wind acound here. We haven't been to the e

place where we would see the monitoring of plumes from the plant. That's the place where Bob and I will be later today.

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Fraley:

Other than that, things are about the same?

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Lawroski: Yes, the pressure is still about the same in the primary system. They prefer to stay that way rather than go to the natural circulation made. They are now beginning to have more time and things are being very carefully evaluated before taking new steps. It is encoureging that there is a high level of assistance to die Metropolitan Edison complement of people.

Frale':

Is there any impression that the contingency planning f

is adequate and in-hand, versus, trying to evaluate what originally happended and what was wrong with the system design?

Lawroski:

They are concentrating on this now.

Fraley:

So you think that is in-hand?

Lawreski:

We talked to Decamp, that is what they are concentrating on now.

Fraley:

CK, that's good.

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t Lawreski: Bey are not doing anything except keeping No.1 in cold condition. B is was assured from both Deca.mp ard Duke Power, both of which are extremely capable.

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sure that they got just about as good a talent as exists in this country. Either they are here or they are on their way here. Rey are soon going to have more capabil-

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ity here to deal w'.th the filtration of the gases before release. W ey are shipping in charcoal filters.

Fraley:

For iodine removal?

Lawreski: Yes, there is some question about how much lorger they can count on the charcoal filter that they have here.

Fraley:

Oh, you think they might be getting saturated?

Lawreski: Bey are not getting saturated with iodine but they have been exposed to considerable moisture which may have

-f impaired their capacity. You see moisMre is a lot more regularly taken up by charcoal than the iodine. New filters are being shipped and may be arriving any minute.

W e filter that had been shipped to WPPSS plant in the state of Washington which is a E&W plant, will arrive in a'few days.

So they will have a backup.

If it wasn't for the moisture, the charcoal filter for removing iodine would have had a lot of residual capacity.

I am told that they blame it on moisture.

Fraley:

Well, they are getting very low decontamination, is that because the concentration is so low?

Lawroski:

No, it's just that the performance of the filte is poor.

R ey believe that the stuff that has been brought in was not demoisturized, it's not dry.

Fraley:

Oh, it's not?

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Lawroski:

It hasn't been.

It got considerable particles of moisture in the filter. W ey are planning to use a mixture of sodium hydroxide and thiosulfate as soon as they can get enough. Bey have been a little short of help to perform some of the operations that the task force people have evaluated as things to do.

Fraley:

hhat are they going to try to do, mix it into the water

• hat is in the containment?

Lawroski: t ey will do it with as little volumetric generation of water as possible because they are short of places to put effluent.

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t-Fraley:

hhat did you say they are gcing to use?

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Lawreski: A mixture of sodium hydroxide and thiosulfate. If you just use pure sodiu:n hydroxide you can have a dispropart!onation

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reaction so that not all of the iodine gets absorbed and the thiosulfate picks that up.

So you have both? Things p-are finally well organized? One of the things too that is

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new happaning favorably is that they are, I believe, much less new impaded by the media pressure, influence.

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Fraley:

The press coverage seems to be falling off considerably.

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Lauroski: I understand the media people were even calling the

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families of people involvea in operations.

Fraley:

W?qting to know if they started to notice hair falling or loss of their sense of taste or whatever.

Lawroski: 'Ihis is a very bad effect on operating people.

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