ML19242B804

Notifies That Local Newspapers Frequently Discuss Operational Problems & Radiation Releases at Plant.Requests Stricter Supervision & Control & Suspension of Cp.Forwards Newspaper Articles

ML19242B804
Person / Time
Site:	Pilgrim, 05000471
Issue date:	07/14/1979
From:	Bartlett R AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED
To:	NRC OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY (SECY)
References
NUDOCS 7908090424
Download: ML19242B804 (4)

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Dear friends:

' deck after week the Boston and Plymuuth newspapers gove deiatls about operational problems at Nuclean Plant Pilgrim here in Plymcuth.and on radiation releases. We hope that you can mandate stri eter superisionand contol of Pilgrim I -

And that you willsay NO to Pilgrig ,II Sin erely your,,

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EvenEdfoF8"th~e'Three#1 VIil5 ~ duu '

ko rnishap,jrnfclear power plants were .4 g

experiencing the sales problerns. l i

@b . By Jerry Ackerman

' I Globe Staff For the natien's four reactcr makers - Westin'g-

'; 3;,3g* 4, house,. General Electric, Combustion Engmeering and To be sure, the Three Mile Island nuclear power the Babcock & Wilcox division of J. Ray McDermott &

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plant accident could hardly help promote sales of more reactors.

Co., Inc. - a full appreciation of this was slow in com-

, , ing.

ig h But in fact, times already were tough, and thmgs in "Everyone thought that the downturn was tempo-the American nuclear business could not have gotten rary," adds Theodore lieuchling, an Arthur D. Little, p much worse than they already were. Inc. vice president specializing in energy issues. "Now 6 Even before the Pennsylvania acezdent, theworst in *here is no widespread agreement on what the electne k nuclear power's history, the nation's four reactor manu.

'ndastry's growth will be."

7 facturers were rolling up nearly order cancellations at a' , One nuclear-company executive, who in 1974 was a M rate nearly three times than of new orders. s government energy specialist, recalls:

$ The nuclear industry in 1973 received 41 new reactor - "When thOmbargo hit was expected that, well, this

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y orders and in 1974 another 26; but ordert since Jan.1,,

1975 have totaled only 13 - and there have been 37 can.

is really going to propel nuclear, because it would be a.

substitute for oil. Instead, the opposite happened. The b eellations. .

.. A f g ' g : high pnce ofoil caused so much conservation that peo-

{p Beyond this, there have been more than three dozen ple not only shut off thei-lights and turned down their p.[ " deferrals," or postponements, including in the past six heat, they kept it down."

M ' rnonths Boston Edison Co/s Pilgnm 2 reactor and two ,

y ; Rhode other units p;anned by New England Power Co. in The Three Mile Isllnd accident, of course, is taking a momentary toll in th nuclear industry. It now ap-j h

h, Island.

• pears that months. even years, will be required to g y

Even the industry's entics agree nu~'*ar safety hu thrash out the doubts raised at Three Mile Island about W had little to do with these w*oes, although times might i,

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be a little better had Three Mile Island not happened.

reactor safety, operatmg procedures and the govern-ment's ability to regulate.

A deeper reason, industry sources and outside ana-g lysts say, lies in America's reaction to the 1973-74 Arab "Until) cme of these problems (posed by the acci.

dent) are resolved, I can't see anyone ordenng another [

p oil embargo. -

reactor for at least two more years," says Norman C.

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4 Faced with higher energy costs across the board, the Rasmussen, the MIT nuclear engmeenng professce and g nation made 1974 into The Year Amenca Turned Off, N

. Northeast Utilities Inc., director whose name has been p slic:ng in half an almost constant 20-year electricity associated with nuclear safety.

j Q sales growth trend of 7 percent a year. But ironically,in the face of this adversity, the reae-i 4 ,___ __ tor industry remains quite ahvecin a position to wait p

$ for better days. Indeed, until Three Mile Island, many j

G inside and out thought this might be "the turnaround q g year," as ope secunties analyst put it, particularly with g

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the indications last wmter that oil pnces were about to i

skyrocket. 'a

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, @/ Despite the cancellations and deferrals, the four re-h si actor manufacturers' domestic order backlog is es timat- p f .

ed, to be worth as much as $20 billion, with enough work c-, d{;' t last through 1983, (eM ayg Z $F ~

NUCLEAR, Page 68 -4w [&@

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n . K ,+ h NWW4i O 8 w!LLIAli O TAYtDa. Pressess i THOMAS WtMsMP. E v A A JOHN P G.TGGl] Ennow V P k Genere basse '

j KiCilAa3 C WKIRsLXM v P Wrteang We i.MID WGEa d P & Busines M. anger of the atom - -

a , s . , c . as m.m s~a . e

% Whud, OWSed settpSMlaefy Gf MNAn D47!s TAYLOR. Chumas ed the soard d

" o issue since the Vietnam War has divid- [

l cd America more than nuclear energy It i has provoked. huge demonstranons. It ~

l has led to civil disobedience It has M, .t - @W, spawned lawsuits. It has roused pas.

M[} y'%M f sions all across the country.  % uf .j h , @ %y*p( '

There are those who see nuclear power as crucial g  ?.".g , h - bgqfe?

to solving the energy ens s and would push ahead with new and bigger plantc. There are those who see p,**

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nuclear power as the road to doomsday and would not only forbid the construenon of new plants but s 7 ,_

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- shut down a.ll exisung ones. And th.ere are vast . . ,

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I energy in the atom but who are concerned about ra- . ^q diauon, especial.y since the accident at Three Mile - R

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,s l Island. W.P : 3

• l The facts are simpIr There are 72 exisung nucle-ar power plants in the United States unhues have * '

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r construction permits to build 94 others. and 34 more *

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l are in the engmeenng stage. If all the plans were ap- -

proved we would nearly tnple tne number of plants j l M

, in the country.

We beheve that nuclear power has failed to meet ,.

l sts promae. so widely trumpeted in the 1960s, of g,, y-j cheap, rehable and safe electncity. But a sound en- e , %ss, e *,

y ergy pohey steers a course,between extremet We h J, ' ' "'~W ' . r . k-I should neither push ahead with all the new plants ,~ , -.'

i nor shut down au the entsung ones. Sound poLey re- '

l quires the following- p jq , .

[/[ 1. The safety of all exisung plants should be up. A W - .

\ graded in accordance with recommendauons of the

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s presidental commission studying Three Mile 3

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j land. Plants that cannot meet suca standarcis should Q A; - .s .

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\ k be sht.t down. W '*T j

2. The operaung permits of the 94 plants with %6, \ * ' l j

construction permits should be he!d hostage by the federal government unuT1he stnetMafety stan- V}h%;N,/f.N e  ;

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dards resulung from the Three Mile Island study y are debated and tory Commission. And approved they should bebybuilt e Nuclear then Regula- gggtg ggg7b[t Crisis demaI

{ onlyfthev are c!early y supenor to au sther feasible an eight-part series, The Globe comoinations of energy sources an,d egnserva' ion.

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3. No new construction ' permits shod:Ste issued l unless it can be demonstrated that there is a c! ear ble or inple the national production of nuclear pow-I need for the additional energy and that nuclear er on the ihmsy excuse that money has already been l power is a last resort. If othergds of plants are invested and that it is too late to stop. It is never too ~

feasible thev should be built insteaP late to change pohey; what is required is that the

-T trrakt au moWEecnitaffsources, such as so- tougd!6ITons be faced andYs~wered, and that we

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lar, are developad our rehar+e on nuclear powe: deal forthnght!y with the consequent.es.

should be reduced. Nuclear power in its present here are safety measures that can be

, / form is on!v a temporarv sourea cf ene  ; gy. taken now. The Kemeny Commission

,' In NewYaEs5ch'a pohcy would mean the

• has already commented utfavorably on j followmg the twun reactors at Seabrook. N H and some aspects of the personnel perfor-a the third Minstene unit m Connecucut. which have mance at Three Mile Island. And public h constructon permits, could have to be jusuhed confidence requires some real changes in the federal

[ anew; and Boston Edison should not get a construc- ro!e in operaung such plants. Even before the Ke-non permit for a second Pi:gnm facibty untd new meny report is out, the Nuc' ear Regu;atory Comma- ,

y f safety standards are cedered. sion could estabInh a special emergency team to fly We bebeve such a pohey would be good for New immediately to n the event of an aces-p England in the long run. and that the region could dent. ~- -

y adjust to it in the short run. There are alternatives: In the longer vt. NRC personnel should be sta.

p natural gas nght now, and hydro-e'ectne power lat- tioned on a full-t:me basis at each of the 48 nuUar l

g er on. if n invest heavily in them now. And above coripteres around tne country

• hat iouId repre-g all, there is conservat.on. sent no heavier an obhganon than the placing of De-Obviously, such a pokey would njure uuht.es partment of inergy offtetals in Se effices of many that have spent large sums on planned new piants od companies to supervise 2e operations of the oil -Q -

0 under the old ground rules. It would be entirely ap- allocauen system.

propriate for the federal government to compensate Nagging doubts about nuclear safety dictate that C3)m

) them for any losses they incur. the regulatory and permit piecesses funcuon or 'he {gi]%

p What would not be apprepnate would be to dou- basis of President Car'ers oft. ga./

uw repeated seb -- but neveryM.p -*-

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New England vs the United States.. CF3

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• storage facdity sae by tu eno ut ;;;e -

"per*nanent Ne or early LW0s, procably ta New Mesico,Even ent4cs are reasonao t.ou can be found. Indeed, tnat is f.nal cruc;al to the ac-j ceptabibty of nuefear power. Whtever ine I l p plan. it is unportant fto retain becomes the desir.opuon of rwover-

}0 tag wastes for reprocesstag i tant 8 Meanwhde. President Carter tu acted waeiy in y hmmw purmng a poucy des.gned to mtnamaze the danger (

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of nuclear probierauon by eiecung to forgo the re.

ase t. stas;u.i s.,,, l ww%

processtag of spent fuel l from power plants in orderto ruuver f:

naum that mag *t be f ashioned into nuclear esp o.

. i== u w saaa>am gygg By Win

""*dN' ",emme Breecer reactors. us.ag platomum, represent the Wanaan J04UI LtaYthL Fees 4 -

most uncertata pobey quesnoa Pres rt and he finauy woes his Asia f 4dgnt Carterhas alrndy c D5" l _iMEEMWENWEREM River demonstracoa pt e chine aM l ~h, W .dr%.M **/ h. . 4[ _ hrst congreseional battle ta that efwiuu ttmg eum fort just af.er thehm Mile

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the Presidents leadership in the matter by se ht parucular propet asse.

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- At the same ume, both Cong*ess and the Aden-istrausa must continue the bu4e sewnuf:e and_

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"M e d r devel-l I*

techalaalwork awessary (or possible bree I

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. opment. Given the extensae use o p u ***

' su prqwte (unwsa, as is theoreucally

%1e ne omt. pedi. rem ts s na ' ****

possabie.we huan i,t J.

.f ,,'~ -t hashb w tuuare u . secur.e.saan must be idanufted and set as .

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'**d**d"*'*"*'"*d""*. __the i _

-ds action. In the fourth =<= of of wh>ch ,deprnd so*ar and f==oa onpower

. most promising. Bus it as puf lfdl the reeds of industry. It thearess.b.e ,,,

deves'pment l 1

tSy wd1 not be of che large 5 discusses cruelear power. . developed in tune to u the rehance l nts only

• would be foobrdy, eyes whde hop ngon breeders willbe .

vahzed principie of accepung " nuclear p~a." abahty.

wt, the nLclear bumnas is dhke the od By Jah as a last resort. la one re 7eTicefxth, new nuclear approvals must depend Lke on regarous study of other domesuc t business (uel l scurees its av matenal uran 60 4um, I is gte weshar hmite%meatw in th how many plants there are but probably m 40 to co(natursi gas, hydroelectnc power or even wooUnlessIEerTTsTeUCTsupene fr

• over those other sources d. of energy, yeeruhe permismon wech o ehranenAt k w .tthat potst either

' Baas b Mares reprocessing or the thWear eint should_bg.,wytthbe us a s,

~ !a the futare, regu.ators must also evaluate the will take over, t,r ue nuclear indus ander impact of conservatoa sa assesard a wid graduauy potenual mehe de- nauon za unavoidably Leiear dependent om iware '

mand for new power It eas nactiy sach a revwo , piants it has now.

the nuciear then tot power provides 13 percent Neeof our eice- "

M3 by the Massachusecs 's Pr.grtm b

?.,nergy tncy naNnady Office, for in-stance,

.J percent taEngland Cnues havethas s f"U#

not putproduced forward que l

tmmg far compieuon of'30ston hed- <w. Edrsonnelear.

conym

• evidence w. warrant plans shutttrg them to P!yniosta '(' Those

• • f'd quescons mu

' answelre i~n~ h chnstructwo permat down. hunngs sc 3 N For the Icag-term future, however, such oep.m. g (c uled tn beginlater thisf hmonth.The her nu.- dence review must also 3 avoidan;a. Ustag tame the into concept .laccount,but of lastwmrescrt. not

, nuessanly be governed by.the essae o w etThe choice be- ,l l clear plants actuaHy d:splace ott rwee2 nuclear energy and excessive u ' it is hard to hebeve . hat the nauon is mcap l But sources water, sunLght, oil imports wi ~xsteam and, u a

!t mately. .. l t

P' i

l b a% not be easy. Netther is intnnucady d each day to fusacar deurso e.

F the 14 mdbon barrels of od new burne It is abo har "~d to beliese that sensible conserva-  ! '

generste electncity is almost non cannot a dan- exactly the sign amount 4ficantly ths. greatly redwe "I the need 4t-f- nanoa should eummate kom imports setf- ld to meet l f[

si ly cathng of 6 milbon barress. Nciear One powerof thecou gres -trengthsof that it has the opup of a hieraJy br gnh r increased od i energy thefu-United States is ,

sz.N ,~ make up that difference.The uons about rev ew does have other quesuona cicar is consad.

g,- ,)(D er. Whde Three Mde l stand raised ques ture weigh the us the nut century with neit eimports y , 'nor greatly mcrea v

nucjear safety, regulators must a;soheaath and uf ety hazarcs anaociated with ot

nauve power.

Let's eteresse at a7 erty soJrtRDe !ncst Naypromment rous scien- (NEXT.The 4 terinhtmts of muchcoal) of the coun:ry. must pass its own eum J med.'$ eram on health and safety gmtons.d put too much Q*ss ad t als fear massare coal burntng wi ung a WR GmG&* 1 careo. dios.de the lme recaps [, crea Limit OPEC imports.

%.- 'T e nhouse effect"into ist mignt atmosanere.

t po ar 2. Ration gasoline. ,i eq* 1 er.d b d low 4ytng ncoastal rmonsw ny 3. Subsidize interests conserva, of safety a 4tion. efficiency -

ther' ._-

in saa' atm be major ettons to standarda, u 4. maTax windf all profits.

gasm features of plant des 6gn as possible. 5. Limit expansion of nuclear.

Finaay, h promem of selocung6.aGo s4s slow repu.issmusQe on ccat soived Protaems of torsbr aucitaar L Expedite s.ynthetic fuels.  %

groundwater. sui dapersten it d * aad secunty have cut S. Develop biomass and solar. 4th doec s on :he pot.m.41 for storne m u But the Department of Energv is sud pursusng itseMy and now says ..