ML19262C520
| ML19262C520 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Limerick  |
| Issue date: | 01/28/1980 |
| From: | Harold Denton Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Romano F AIR AND WATER POLLUTION PATROL |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19262C521 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8002140264 | |
| Download: ML19262C520 (3) | |
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[A UNITED STATES y) g NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
$ 'b(g(/ 5 C
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555
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January 28, 1980 Mr. Frank R. Romano Air and Water Pollution Patrol 61 Forest Avenue Ambler, Pennsylvania 19002
Dear Mr. Romano:
I am responding to your letter of December 17, 1979 to me, and your letters of December 11 and December 12, 1979 to Mr. Dean Tibbitts regarding the NRC's meeting with Philadelphia Electric Company (PECO) held on December 18, 1979 and the conduct of the Nuclear Regulatory Comission's (NRC) investigation of your allegation that the Limerick Generating Station, Units 1 and 2 will be adversely affected by blasting in the Pottstown Trap Rock Quarry.
In your letters, you raise many items related to these two subjects; in discussing these two subjects I will attempt to address each of these items.
With regard to the meeting held on December 18, 1979 with PECO, you stated:
(1) that you should have been a participant in the meeting and not just an observer, (2) that you did not receive a " formal notice" of the meeting, and (3) that relocating the meeting from the Limerick construction site to the Limerick Visitor's Center was improper. In response to the first item, enclosed is a copy of the NRC policy wit, regard to open meetings.
The policy statement emphasizes the desire of the NRC to involve concerned citizens in any NRC activity in which the citizens have expressed an interest. The policy statement goes on to say that in meetings between the NRC staff and applicants, others (concerned citizens, intervenors, etc.) may attend as observers. With regard to the meeting notice you received, this notice is the formal notice that is routinely used to announce meetings-between the NRC staff and applicants. Unless there are exten-uating circumstances, these meeting notices are mailed two weeks prior to the meet-ing not only to the meeting participant (s) but also to the local public document room and to other groups or individuals who are or were parties to the proceeding.
Although you are not a party to the Limerick proceeding under Part 2 of our regulations, we know of your interest in this matter and sent a copy of the meeting notice directly to you. Your letter of December 11, 1979 shows that you had received the meeting notice at least a week in advance of the meeting.
For meetings that are held at the applicants' plant or offices, the meeting notice requests that members of the public who plan to attend contact the project manager (by phone or letter) so that accommodations can be made for the number of people wishing to attend. The location of the December 18, 1979 meeting with PECO was changed five days before the meeting because of uncertainty over how many members of the public would come to the meeting. PECO recommended on December 14,1979 (the same day you were notified) to the licensing project 8 0 0214026f
Mr. Frank R. Romano January 28, 1980 manager, Mr. Dean L. Tibbitts, that the meeting be moved from the construction site to the auditorium in the visitor's center. Because the visitor's center is only about a half a mile from the main construction entrance and because being in the construction site was not essential to the meeting, PEC0's recommendation was accepted by the project manager.
Now I will expand on the purpose of the meeting and the meeting's role in our investigation.
In order to respond to your allegations we needed to obtain (1) definitive data on the blasting techniques used in the quarry (i.e., charge weight, delay time per charge, blasting pattern), and (2) recordings of the shock waves from blasting in the quarry. The purpose of the meeting was to gather this information. With this information we will be able to determine the frequency content and amplitude of the shock waves from the blasting. This information will be used to determine the effects of the blasting on the seismic Category I foundations and structures.
For the NRC staff and our consultant from the U. S. Geological Survey the next step is to analyze the data that we obtained from the operators of the quarry and the information that PEC0 presented to us in the meeting. Further informa-tion and copies of the material presented by PECO in the meeting was sub-mitted to the ifRC by letter dated January 15, 1980. At the conclusion of our review our conclusions, analysis, and the information we used will be publically available.
Even though you did not submit a petition in accordance with paragraph 2.206 of our regulations, we instituted a full investigation under the provisions of that regulation.
In addition to the current investigation on the Limerick facility under the provision of Paragraph 2.206 of our regulations, the entire Limerick facility will be thoroughly reviewd prior to making a decision on whether or not to issue an operating license. During that forthcoming review, which will begin when Philadelphia Electric Company applies for an operating license, we will be implementing requirements that have resulted from the accident at Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station.
Sincerely,
&Yf Harold R. Denton, Director Office of fluclear Reactor Regulation Enclosure :
As stated
38 NOTLC15 i
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divlsh. For example. some persons i
may not be permitted to attend meet.
Ings whrre classified or proprietary in.
formation (including sensitive safe.
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guarcs informat.ons is to be cascussed.
The' NRC staff will prepare a written summary of the uncia.%: lied and non.
propractary portions of such meetings and forward the summary to interest.
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NUCLEA2 REGUI.ATORY spired at the meeting. However. st.
i COMMISSION tendance will not bc limited solely be.
cause prettminary o pinions. recom.
pCMElf!C UCENSI MPUCATIONS mendations, or advice wd1 bc offered
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on the merits of the applications Open Meetines eM 5eseemene of NEC $self during the mecting.
- '84
%' hen a Drrty er petitioner for leave The Nuclear Regulatory Commis. to intervene requests. reasonable et.
sion's (NRC's) regulations in 10 CFR forts stil be made by the NRC staff to 2.102 permit applicants to confer In.
inform the party or petitioner of formally wtth the NRC technical staff icrthcoming meetings conducted by 7'.T during rettews of domestic license or the NRC technica1 staff so that appro.
l V8-perrriit applications. These meetings priate arrangements for attendance have served as an essential means for can be made. It is recognized that in the exchange of technicalinformation some cases the need for a prompt and vtews necessary for the technico meeting may make it impossible or im.
I review of app!! cations. For several practicable to notify all parties and pe.
I years other parties or potential parties titioners. The policy described above to domestic licensing proceedings, as also cannot practicably be applied to well as members of the general public, chance encounters between NRC teen.
have. upon request. been permitted to nical staff personnel and other parties attend applicant-NRC technical staff or petjtioners but such chance encoun.
meetings as observers. However. the ters will not be permitted to serve as a Commission's regulations do not, re.
source of information for the conduct L %y permitted to of licensing reviews.
etit-quare that others be' meetings be.
attend such informal Dated at Bethesia. Md. th!.s 20th PIUPr tween applicant and staff. and the day of June.19 78.
A general practice being foUcTed in this regard has never been formally articu.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Com.
F.
lated. This statement is intended to mission.
provide such articulation. It is also I.a V. Oosstex.
noted that this matter is related to the Irecuff re Directorfor Operattarts.
provision for increased public partici.
tTR Doc.~8-17916 FUed 6-U.78; L43 am) pation which was approved by the Commission during its consideration of NURIG 0292 (Denton Report).
As a general matter. the Commission D.T*
and staff try to involve concerned catl.
zens in any Commission actmty in F
which they have expressed an interest.
All meetings conducted by the NRC
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technical staff as part of its rer.ew of a particular domestic license or permit application (including an application
- r for an amendment to a license or i
permit) will be open to attendance by all parties or petitioners for leave to iM intervene in the case. These meetings T?
are intended by the NRC technical N *'
staff to facilitate an exchange of infor.
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mation between the applicant and the W
staff. It is expected that the NRC
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technical staff and the appilcant will
~ ;1 actively participate in the meeting.
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Others may attend as observers. Like-
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wise, when meetings are scheduled be.
tween the staff and other parties or i
. petitioners, applicants would be per.
mitted to attend only as coservers.
u The general policy of open meetings
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h.g, desenbed above will admit of only a few exceptions, which must be ap.
proved by the Director of the relevant f
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