ML19263E478
| ML19263E478 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07001729 |
| Issue date: | 04/19/1979 |
| From: | Engelhardt T NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE LEGAL DIRECTOR (OELD) |
| To: | Thomas R ENVIRONMENTALISTS, INC. |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7906180697 | |
| Download: ML19263E478 (1) | |
Text
.
SC pimLIC DOCWM p*
l Docket No. 70-1729 7,
NN3
.}2 Ms. Ruth S. Thomas 2
Environmentalists, Inc.
9-h O
/
1339 Sinkler Road 8/ %s I
Columbia, SC 29206 g
Dear Ms. Thomas:
A g
Your letter dated March 26, 1979, to the members of the Nuclear Regula-tory Cocnission, has been referred to me for reply.
In your letter you describe your unsuccessful efforts to have Environmentalists, Inc.
included in a March 17, 1979, tour of the Barnwell Nuclear Fuci Plant conducted by Allied-General Nuclear Services for cembers of the House Co=mittee on Science and Technology. You also request that your letter be made part of the Barnwell dockets.
I am informed that the meeting you reference was not part of the Com-mission's review in this proceeding and did not involve NRC Staff members.
The Cc= mission cannot require an applicant or a licensee to include parties to Co=cission proceedings in meetings or other contacts that the applicant or licensee cay wish to have which are extraneous to the proceeding.
Further, the Co ission cannot prevent exchanges of infor-mation between applicants and non-parties outside the Co= mission's hearing process. However, as stated in my letter to you of February 21, 1979, if an NRC-sponsored cecting concerning the review of the Barnwell facility is scheduled, in addition to forwarding the su==ary of that meeting to you, we vill make every effort to notify you in advance of the meeting so that you may attend as an observer.
We are providing a copy of your March 26, 1979 letter with our response to the other parties to the proceeding.
Copies of the correspondence vill be filed in the correspondence record of this proceeding maintained in the Coccission's Public Document Room and Local Public Docu=ent Room.
Sincerely, Driginal Signed by Thomas F. Engelhard!
Thomas F. Engelhardt Deputy Executive Legal Director cc w/cy. of incoming:
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2} )}} Barnwell Service List 7906180[ {
T .NVfRONMEMTALISTS WNDEO Pi'2 ot e
- g March 26, 1979 q
en 5 c* h k,g/g[8g k // Dr. Joseph M. Hendrie, Chairman 7 Dr. Victor Gilinsky, Commissioner at Mr. Peter A. Bradford, Commissioner a ((' Mr. Richard T. Kennedy, Commissioner g dS Mr. John F. Ahearne, Commissioner f 8 fd U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D. C. 20555 Re: Barnwell Nuclear Fuel Plant Docket No. 50-332 and Docket No. 70-1729 Gentlemen: The purpose of this letter is to provide a record of Environmentalists Inc.'s efforts to be included in the March 17th tour of the BNFP and to c.onfirm the information brought out in a number of telephone calls. I request that this letter be made a part of the above dockets. Over the past week and a half, I spent much time on behalf cf Environmentalists, Inc. (E.I.) in an effort to gain approval for representatives of the organization to be present on the March 17th tour of the Barnwell Nuclear Fuel Plant (BNFP) given by Allied-General Nuclear Services for members of the House Committee on Science and Technology. Congressman Don Fuqua, Chairman of the Science and Technology Committee and the Committee's staff director, Col. Harold Gould, were suggested to me as the people to contact regarding this matter. On March 12th, I sent a mailgram to Col. Gould in which I objected to the tour being held unless representatives of E.I. were included. Copies of the mailgram were also sent to Congressmen Don Fuqua, Mike McCormack, Butler Derrick and Floyd Spence. In addition, I placed person-to-peron telephone calls to each of these Congressman. Although I was unable to talk directly with Congressman Fuqua, I received a telephone call on his behalf f rom Rob Ketcham. Mr. Ketchan and I discussed at some length the problem of E.I.'s not being represented when subjects related to the use of the BNFP were probably going to be discussed however he said that it was not possible for E.I.'s representatives to be included at the Barnwell plant tour on March 17th. 2355 332 COLUMBI A, S. C. 29206 803J82-3000 ]UM 1339 SINKLER ROAD l [9 0 Y 2 '7 6 6k?
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission March 26, 1979 Page two On March 14th, I contacted Dr. James Buckham, president of Allied-General Nuclear Services (AGNS) to explain my concern that matters not yet established through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission proceeding would be discussed during the tour. He admitted that reprocessing was certain to be discussed at the AGNS guided tour of the BNFP and recognized that information brought out at the tour of the BNFP would not be limited to the energy research and development projects currently going on at the Barnwell plant under the jurisdiction of the Department of Energy (DOE). I asked him to correct the oversight of not including representatives of E.I. on the March 17th tour since E.I is a party to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) proceedings on the BNFP. He agreed to make a number of telephone calls to see what could be done. He later telephoned and said to me that he had talked with. members of the House Science and Technology Committee and that they preferred that no representative of E.I. be present at the scheduled March 17th tour of the BNFP. Therefore the answer to E.I.'s being represented on the tour was no. I expected Dr. Buckham to either arrange for representatives of E.I. to be at the Barnwell plant tour or to cancel the tour. Since Dr. Buckham did not arrange for E.I. to be represented, nor did he cancel the March 17th tour, I telephoned Robert Lazo on March 15th to ask for his assistance and the assistance of the NRC on this matter. Mr. Lazo is chairman c2 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel which has administered the hearing sessions of proceedings related to the BNFP (Docket No. 50-322 and Docket No. 70-1729) and he would hold this same position at any continuation of either or both proceedings. Mr. Lazo knew nothing of the March 17th tour of the BNFP and I told him of Dr. Buckham's statement that reprocessing was certain to be discussed on this tour. Public statements have already been made concerning information brought out on the March 17th tour. A report on national television on Monday morning March 19th did not relate to the energy research and development projects at BNFP, instead, it was about the use of the plant for the storage of spent nuclear fuel. An Associated Press article of March 18th indicates that Away frcm Reactor storage of spent nuclear fuel and possible reprocessing at BNFP were discussed during the March 17th tour of BNFP. Both of these subjects are under consideration in licensing proceedings being conducted by the NRC (Docket No. 50-332 and Barnwell Fuel Receiving and Storage Station, Dccket No. 70-1729). Although the proceedings have been suspended, final resolution of the controversial issues involved in reprocessing and the proposal to store spent nuclear fuel at the BNFP has not occurred. While AGNS's applications for licenses are still under consideration, exchanges of information between AGNS and government personnel in the absence of E.I.'s representatives is undesirable. Enlightened 2355 533
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission March 26, 1979 Page three and effeccive decision-making related to the Barnwell plant proceedings (Docket No. 50-332 and Docket No. 70-1729) will be impossible if representatives of E.I., a party to the proceedings, are denied access to information which the license applicant, AGNS, desires to convey to federal administrative and Congressional personnel. Sincerely, Y / YOl1WV 0 Ruth S. Thomas Authorized Representative Environmentalists, Inc. cc: Congressman Don Fuqua Congressman Mike McCormack Congressman Butler Derrick Congressman Floyd Spence Robert M. Lazo, Esquire, Chairman Atomic Safety & Licensing Board Dr. Richard F. Cole Atomic Safety & Licensing Board Dr. A. Dixon Callihan Union Carbide Corporation 2355 ;34 .}}