ML19253C846
| ML19253C846 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 10/04/1979 |
| From: | Gossick L NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | Shuster B HOUSE OF REP. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19253C847 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7912120243 | |
| Download: ML19253C846 (2) | |
Text
C/2c PDC a '*p a asc o
/
o UNITED STATES E\\ 3,( [,h NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION E
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555 h
df,$
%, %#*..../
OCT 4 1979 Docket No. 50-289 The Honorable Bud Shuster United States House of Representatives Washington, D. C.
20515
Dear Congressman Shuster:
This letter is in response to your request dated August 13, 1979, for information necessary to provide a response to Mr. D. Smith of the Valley Rural Electric Cooperative and his concern for a proposed NRC two-year delay for the restart of Three Mile Island, Unit 1 (TMI-1).
On July 2,1979, the Conmission ordered that TMI-1 remain in a cold shutdown condition until further order by the Commission itself and stated that a public hearing would be held prior to restart of TMI-1.
The Conmission believes that public participation is a vital ingredient dealing with those matters related to the TMI-l restart.
On August 9,1979, the Commission issued an additional Order on TMI-l specifying the basis for the Shutdown Order and the procedures to govern the hearing regarding any TMI-l restart. On the basis of this hearing, the Comnission will determine whether any further operation of TMI-l will be permitted, and if so, under what conditions.
I have enclosed a copy of the August 9,1979, Order for your infomation.
The Commission's Order also identifies a number of items that must be resolved prior to restart. These items, which are listed on pages 5-7 of the Order, include but 90 beyond that required for restart of other Bab :ock & Wilcox (B&W) design pressurized water reactors similar to TMI 1/2.
Ir.cluded in these additional itens are items recommended by the Lessons Learned Task Force which studied the TMI accident.
The Commission carefully considered the time required for completing all tasks related to the Order on TMI-l and which must be completed prior to any restart of TMI-1. A Commission schedule calling for expeditious handling of the necessary NRC staff actions and procedural actions required for the hearing process is provided on the last page of the Ccrnission's Order. Based on that schedule, I do not believe that the restart of TMI-l could occur before September 1980, approxi-mately one year from the date of issuance of the August 9,1979, Order.
1539 343 7912120 1 4 O
1 The Honorable Bud Shuster While the NRC is, of course, concerned about financial impacts on consumers, the primary objective of NRC regulation is in the assurance of public health 4
and safety. The NRC's responsibility under financial qualification regula-tions is to determine whether an applicant for a nuclear power plant has reasonable assurance of obtaining the necessary funds to pursue the activities for which a permit or license is sought. State public utility commissions and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission have primary responsibility regarding questions of reasonable cost.
I suggest you contact these agencies and inform them of your concerns regarding purchase power costs.
I trust this response is adequate for responding to your constituent, Mr.
D. Smith.
In the meantime, if you have further comments, please feel free I
to direct them to R. Vollmer (telephone 301/492-7347) with the Commission's Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. As per your request, we are returning Mr. D. Smith's letter dated July 31, 1979.
Sincerely, ORIGINAL SIG!iED BY R.G. SMITH t
p vlee V. Gossick p
Executive Director for Operations
Enclosures:
1.
Commission's Order, dated 8/9/79 2.
Incoming letter dated 7/31/79 1539 344