ML19254E632
| ML19254E632 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 05000574 |
| Issue date: | 09/18/1979 |
| From: | Mattison L CENTER FOR DEVELOPMENT POLICY |
| To: | Vance C STATE, DEPT. OF |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7911010596 | |
| Download: ML19254E632 (7) | |
Text
'
+
~
Center for Deve opment ?o icy dift$
September 18, 1979 P%LIC D 'U p
' h h0y-Honorable Cyrus Vance kkr A00y '
Secretary of St, ate {. S p ,,,
U.S. Department of State Washington, D.C. 20520 % )p ..
Re: Proposed Export -Philippine Nuclear Power Plan I t&
Dear Secretary Vance:
The Department of State (" DOS") shortly vill be deciding whether to permit the export of a nuclear reactor to the Philippines. Because it would create grave hazards both to public health and American defense interests, we urge that you withhold approval.
The Philippine government, until recently, proposed building and operating an American-made nuclear power plant on Napot Point, Bataan. This site lies beside a volcano, Mt. Natib, and is regularly rattled by earthquakes. There is mounting evidence that Westinghouse Electric Corp.--the reactor's manufacturer and plant's general contractor--and its engineering copsultant, EBASCO, have regularly and sub-stantially understated the seismic and volcanic risks, to both the U.S. and Philippine governments. Thus, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos on June 16th stopped the plant's construction and appointed a special commission to study the plant's safety ("tne Philippine Commission").
00S recently agreed with Westinghouse to rule by Septemtar 28th on the wisdom of exporting the reactor to the Philippine site, which is near two major U.S. defense instal-
,lations housing some 30,000 Americans and only 50 miles from metropolitan Manila's six million people. This ruling, based on this nation's common defense and security interests, must be made on behalf of the Executive Branch before any nuclear export can,be licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission -
("NRC"), 42 U.S.C. 2155(a)(1).
The Center for Development Policy (" CDP") is gravely concerned that your staff on this matter is exercising a curious unwillingness to gather, let alone seek out, evidence critical of the positions taken and material submitted by Westinghouse and EBASCO. Before detailing some of CDP's reasons for making this contention, let me summarize the _
disturbing history of Westinghouse's efforts to secure the export license in question.
7 1284 J50 79110105 76
. 225 4th Street. N.E. Washington. D.C. 20002 (202) 547-1656
Honorable Cyrus Vanc-Se9tember 18, 1979 Page Two -
On 3ecember 12, 1977, 00S approved of the export, only to learn from the International Atomic Energy Agency ("IAEA") and other dis?nterested sources that Westinghouse and EBASCO has ..
systematically understated the seismic and volcanic risks.
Accordingly, DOS withdrew its approval.
A special IAEA study group further evaluated the s. ice problems. Its July 1978 Report ("IEAE Report") to the Philippine government found that Westinghouse and Ebasco had grossly underestimated potential earthquakes, their proximity and strength, as well as the possibility that Mt. Natib could erupt. It found such an eruption to be "a credible event" which could engulf the plant in "an avalanche of glowing lava, or a massive fall of glowing ash, or volcanic gas, or an emulsion of gas and ash, or a massive flow of laharic mud."
The IAEA Report was withheld from the U.S. government until May of this year. When it arrived, your Department apparently enlisted + a Interior Department's U.S. Geological Survey
("USGS") . conduct expert evaluation of the geological, volcanic and seismic hazards. According to four distinguished Philippine lawyers representing the Bataan Bac Association and other opponents to the nuclear plant, Westinghouse and EBASCO representatives, but none of their opponents or critics, were involved in 00S's consultations with USGS. (See attached letter from Messrs. Tanada, Dizon, Guerrero and Arroyo dated September 7, 1979).
I have learned that the USGS staff disagrees with Westinghouse and es witn IAEA's assessment of the site hazards. Distress 1ngly, however, John Reinemund, chief of USGS's Office of International Geology, informed me last week that he has been instructed not to make a formal report to your Department. Equally distressing is the position taken by DOS s taf f ers that , without such a report, USGS's views will not be -
considered and that DOS will not request a USGS report. This sounds as i7 U05 already has made up its mind to support Westinghouse and is acting to keep contrary evidence out of the record.
Such a conclusion is reinforced by my efforts to have your staff take the testimony of Walter Newcombe. Dr. Newcombe claims to be a former EBASCO geologist on the Philippine _
project who resigned in 1976 because the volcanic and seismic dangers were being persistently ignored or minimized in the EBASCO stuoies presently before your Department. CDP could not 1284 351
Honorable Cyrus Vance September 18, 1979 Page Three -
secure Dr. Newcombe's voluntary testimony and I have been urging your stait to seek him out for almost two weeks.
However, despite the great pertinence of Dr. Newcombe's , _
knowledge and experience, and the short time left until the 28th, DOS is making no efforts to do so. Again, a curious disinterest in adverse evidence.
The Philippine Commission is receiving a steadj stream of scientific criticism of the Napot Point site and of the suspect EBASCO and Westinghouse studies. This is especially signifi-cant because dissent in the Philippines is not widely tolerated. -
For example, the National Society for Seismology and Earthquake Engineering of the Philippines found that earthquake risks at the site are enormous and "that the EBASCO approach is inaccurate, unreliable and biased." The Bataan Chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippine has come out strongly against the nuclear plant, as has Bataan Province's elected legis-lature, the Sanguniang Bayan Panlalawigan, and the town council of Morong, where the plant is located.
Documents on these and other developments in the Philip-pines will be given to your staff today by Mr. Jaime L.
Guerrero, a lawyer who represented the Bataan Bar Association before the Philippine Commission and is providing valuable input to CDP regarding the Philippine reactor, your staff's agreement to meet with Mr. Guerrero, a mere 10 days before you have agreed to render the Executive Branch's determination, is in marked contrast to its ongoing consul-tations with Westingnouse and EBASCO. Despite mounting evidence that they have presented NRC and DOS with distorted, if not fraudulent, evidence, your staff indicates that materials prepared by those firms are its primary evidence -
regarding the hazards. And, as if to add insult to injury, the aspparently critical USGS geologists, upon whom DOS was relying to analyze the highly technical geological, seismological and volcanological data, have been mysteriously called off the case at the eleventh hour.
In sum, the export's proponents seem to be your Department's closest counselors, while its opponents' _
suggestions are not pursued and frequently are systematically denied input. In addition, DOS obligated itself to Westing-house to hurry its determination even though critical I284 352
Honorable Cyrus Vance September 18, 1979 Page Four and pertinent evidence is mourting daily, here and in the Philippines. Finally, 00S's decision to exclude critical USGS geologist apparently is depriving your staff of the expertise needed to make an informed decision. _
In addition to DOS's apparent reluctance to pursue evidence which would directly discredit the scientific information supplied it by Westinghouse, your Department appare,ntly has not fulfilled its statutory requirement to coordinate the Executive Branch's determination by consulting with other departments of government. Most notably, we have been told by the Department of Defense that it has not been consulted about the effects of the reactor and the hazards that it may pose to American military bases in the Philippines and American defense interests in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
We are aware of the enormous political pressures being exerted by Westinghouse, including its contacts with the White House. This is all the more reason why DOS must avoid any appearance of bias in Vestinghouse's favor.
This can only be done, we submit, by first either abandoning the' September 28th deadline or, if you stick with it, denying permission for the Philippine exports; the risks are too high to permit any other result at this time. If 005 does not issue a negative decision on the 28th, you should hold public hearings both to restore 00S's credibility and get at the truth.
CDP will be happy to consult with you on these matters and I look forward to your prompt response which, hopefully, will a,ll'y a many of the concerns set out in this letter.
S' c rely, indsay .at ison, Directo cc: Pr3sident Carter g'.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (all Commissioners)
Honorable Clarence Long Honorable Toby Moffitt Honorable Jonathan Bingham -
Honorable Edward Kennedy Honorable Howard Metzenbaum ,
i284 353
. *es 1
MarJ1a, September 7,1979 Hon. Cyrus R. Vance 4 A
Secretary of State #
D Department of State so Washington, D. C. 20520 & de U. S. A. ; g\Mg7 d g
l
- g. #
Dear Secretary Vance:
9 This has reference to the review of the safety of the y.- p.[
posed site chosen for the first nuclear reactor plant in the Philippines at Napot Point in the province of Bataan, Philipphies being undertaken by the U.S. Geologic Survey at the instance of the State Department.
This review, we have Ic .ned, was initiated because of the concerns-expressed by the International Atomic Energy Agency mission as to the safety of the proposed site.
Apropos to this review, a meeting was set up on May 24th, 1979 at the State Department in Washington, D.C. between represent-atives of the State Department and the U.S.G.S. on the one hand, and representatives of the Philippine Government-owned National Pcwcr Corporation (NPC) which would operate the Dataan nuclear plant, Westinghouse International Projects Company which is constructing the plant and would supply its principal nuclear components, and the EBASCO Services, Inc. which is the consultant of the NPC on the other, precisely to discuss the safety review.
On September 2nd,1979, an Associated Press dispatch datelined in Washington, D.C., reporting on the court petition filc<1 by Westinghouse to compel the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to issue an export license for the nuclear components intended for the Bataan nuclear plant in the Philippines, likewise reported that "as '
part of the court proceedings, the State Department promised to make up its mind by September 28th." -
In the light of this development, we would like to convey to your goodself that there is strong opposition in the Philippines to the establishment of the first nuclear reactor plant on the site chosen at Bataan anchored on scientific and technical grounds. These seismo- -
logical, geological, geophysical, and engineering objections have 1284 354
been formally expressed, documented, and submitted at the hearings before the Philippine Commission on Nuclear Reactor Plants. These are available to the U.S.G.S. which can utilize them and we would like to urge the State Department to make full use of these records.
The Philippine Government-owned National Power Corpo-ration, Westinghouse, and EBASCO Services, Inc. , at the request of the State Department, have supplied the U.S.G.S. with document- -
ary evidence designed to show the safety of the site chosen. It would not be consistent with the sporting idea of fair play if in the evaluation of the sa.fety of the proposed site, only the side of the proponents of the site would be considered while the evidence of the oppositors, which are available, will not be considered.
Various groups have formally entered their oppositions to the establishment of the Bataan nuclear plant with the aforesaid Philippine commission. Among them are the Bataan Chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines represented by tne undersigned, Wilfrido E. Dizon and Jaime L. Guerrero, president and member of the chapter, respectively; and the panel represented by the undersigned Lorenzo M. Tasada and Joker P. Arroyo.
The Sanguniang Bayan Panlalawican (Provincial Council) ci the Province of Bataan, headed by the Provincial Governor, ano the Sanguniang Bayan (Municipal Council) of the Municipality of Morong, headed by the Municipal Mayor, as well as the civic and communi;y sectors of the people thereof where the plant would be located have submitted resolutions expressing opposition to the establishment of the nuclear plant. The National Society for Seismology and Earth-quake Engineering of the Philippines (NNEEP) have submitted position papers expressing serious doubts about the safety of the site as well as 01e design of the plant.
Mr. Guerrer.o would be in Washington,'D. C. sometime b1 the middle ,of this month and he would not only be available for inter- .
view but also to give some assistance to the U.S.G.S., if desired.
Considering the proximity of the September 28th deadline, we are coursing a copy of this letter for delivery to the State Depart-ment thru the U.S. Embassy, Manila, and we would appreciate a reply to this request as early as possible with the request that a copy thereof be likewise coursed thru your embassy in Manila and that the ,
1284 355
same be addressed to -
Senator Lorenzo M. Ta5ada Consolidated Mines Building Ayala Avenue, Makati __
Metro-Manila Philippines.
Thank you.
Very sincerely,
, ~ ..
- b. A c
-- 6.'Le H s ,Y2f. b.73 a.< q LORENZO,M. TANADA
. 'O
'4DrjR WILFRIDO E. DIZON
,( ['p g Ja .. .g, /~ . . ~ .
/ . AIME[ .' GU ERRERO i,
bb'f.s
/ OKER P.y' ARROYO O e 1284 356
.