ML19224C091
| ML19224C091 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 06/14/1979 |
| From: | NRC OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS (OPA) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19224C097 | List: |
| References | |
| PR-79-104, NUDOCS 7906290002 | |
| Download: ML19224C091 (4) | |
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l FOR II. MEDIATE RELEliSE No.79-104 (Thursday, June 14, 1979)
Tel. 301/492-7715 ATTORNEY MITCllEL', ROGOVIN NAMED TO DIRECT NRC'S SPECIAL INQUIRY INTO TilREE MILE ISLAND ACCIDENT senior partner in the Washington law firm Mitchell Rogovin, has been appointed by the Nuclear of Rogovin, Stern and Hugo, Regulatory Co:rmission to direct a special independent inquiry into the March 28 accident at the Three Mile island Nuclear Power Plant in Pennsylvania.
Rogovin and his law firm will direct the inquiry to Mr.
Three Mile Island and determine actual evenP.s which occurred at and the actions of the licensee, Metropolitan their causes, and NRC personnel before and af ter the accident.
Edison Company, inquiry will also identify areas of deficiency revealed by the The in which further investigation is warranted.
cccident and areas It is expected that the special inquiry will take about six months.
During the period that the Corrmission ht s been seeking a director for the special inquiry, a staff of NRC personnel and consultants headed by Dr Kevin Cornell, Deputy Executive Direc-initial phases of the inquiry.
tor for Gperations, has begun the the NRC Of f 'e of Inspection and Enforcement nas been In addition, and its staff-level investigation of the accident, carrying out task force the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulgtion has formed a which is studying the lessons learned from the accident.
In announcing the appointment, NRC Chairman Joseph M.
adrie raid:
"The Special Inquiry represents a major phase of the Commis-sion's evaluation of the Three Mile Island accident and its impli-cations.
It is not intended to duplicate the efforts of the Three Mile Island.
President's Commi.ssion on the Accident at Rather, it is designad so that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, will in order to fulfill its own regulatory responsibilities, have the fullest possible underst nding of the events at Three technical standpoint and f rom the Mile Island, both from the functioned.
The pur-standpoint of how our regulatory processes pose of that evaluation is to permit the Commission to take
.,ha t e v e r further steps may be necessary to prevent any similar accident in the future, and to improve the NRC's ability to respond to accidents."
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. sta f f of his Rogovin will have authority to designate a Mr.
including NRC personnel and consultants currently own choosing, engaged in the interim inquiry, and staff and consultants from outside the Commission.
Mr. Rogovin will have full independence in directing the inquiry.
Mr. Rogovin, both as Chief Counsel to the Internal Revenue Service and then as Assistant U.S. Attorney General, has had extensive experience in supervising large-scale investigations.
he served as Special Subsequently, while in private practice, Intelligence Agency during investigations Counsel to the Central into activities of the i.itelligence community.
Mr. Rogovin's partner, George T.
Frampton, Jr.,
served for two years on the five-Watergate Special Prosecution Force, where he was one of a member team that conducted the grand jury investigation and the trial of the Watergate case.
In 1977-78, the Rogovin, Stern and Huge firm was retained by Civil Service Commission to conduct an outside, inde-the U.S. investigation of allegations concerning the equal employ-
- Pendent, The law firm also served as ment opportunity and merit systems.
large bank holding company in conduct-special outside counsel to a ing an extensive investigation of prior activities by the company's officers and employees.
The specific areas which the special inquiry will examine include the following:
--the sequence of events during the accident, what was happening to the reactor and the plant, including, where feasible, an assessment of important alternative sequences; the response of the operating personnel; radicactive releases and exposures; events at the plant before the accident that might be related to the accident.
--the history of the NRC review of the utility's application for a license to operate Three Mile Island No. 2; NRC licei.se conditions on TM1-2 operations, including technical specifica-tions; the operating and inspection history at TMI-2; the operat-ing and inspection histories of other Babcock & Wilcox plants, focused on any indications of the types of problems that arose in summary of NRC past consideration of such the TMI-2 accident; a problems; the extent to which financial or tax considerations influenced conditions in the plant in any way that might have contributed to the accident; any other precursor events or analyses relevant to the accident.
258 113
. -the susceptibility of Babcock & Wilcox plants to accidents; unique features of TMI-2 that may have increased or decreased the severity of the accident; other design ef fects related to the TMI-2 accident.
including training and qualifications of TMI-2 operations, tech-operating procedures and management overview; personnel, nical support to operati ng personnel and management.
-emergency response to TMI-2 accident by the utility, other and industrial organizations, in-ctilities and utility groups, and cluding coordination with NRC and other Federal, State, and assessment and dissemination of information.
local officials,
-emergency planning by, and emergency response plans approved by, the NGC; actual emergency response to the accident on site and at by NRC, including staff, ACRS and Commissioners, headquarters; NRC coordination with Federal, State, and local the utility, industry sources, and the national labora-officials,NRC assessment and dissemination of information; commun-tories; ications and ch in of command within NRC.
The special inquiry will also assess the possible implica-tions of the ac :ident at TMI-2 (including design of the facility, latory actions, emergency preparedness) for operations, reg c ther nuclear p nunc plants and identify areas where further study is recommended.
Based on these assescments and recommendations, the Commission vill undertake such additional investigations, and actions as it considers appropriate in the discharge analyses of its responsibilities.
Rogovin will keep the Commission informed on a periodic Mr.
basis of the progress of the inquiry.
Any information of imme d diate public health or safety significance will be reported promptly to the Commission.
The Commission emphasized that it will take whatever regulatory action it deems necessary at any time, based on information available to it at that time.
By instituting the special inquiry, the Commission said it intends r.o suggestion that it will withhold regulatory action with re-to identified deficiencies until the inquiry is completed.
spect E
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V ATTACHMENT 2 The Commission's Special Inquiry into the Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant accident will utilize staff personnel and consultants from the National A total of 47 pro-Laboratories and universities and from other sources.
fessional staff personnel are currently detailed to the Group; these personnel are from the Offices indicated below:
Number of Professional Persons O f fice 2
ED0 11 NRR 6
SD 7
RES 5*
ADM 3
ELD 1
OGC 6
OIA 2
MPA 3
IE 1
NMSS V
- 3 individuals not yet assigned 258 115