ML19289G078

Announces NRC Ruling Against Dumping Radioactive Waste Water Into Susquehanna River

ML19289G078
Person / Time
Site:	Crane
Issue date:	05/17/1979
From:	Roberts R ECIPAT
To:
References
PR-790517, NUDOCS 7906260125
Download: ML19289G078 (3)

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O Enit 2 Water l DumpingHeldUp By RICHARD ROBERTS Public Utilities Corp. at the Hershey Motor Lodge, conceded that they Staff Writer i

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Com-don't have the means to remove one mission officials Wednesday of the long-lived radioactive iso-3 promised state and local govern-topes from the water and that the ment representatives that highly ra-processed waste therefore will have dioactive water inside the crippled to be diluted before being dis-l' nit 2 reactor at Three Mile Island charged.

Nuc: ear Generat.ng Statten w111 not And the federal of ficials baiked be camped into the Susquehanna at a request by a member of Eliza-River unless and until it is cleaned bethtown Borough Council that lo-up and meets federal standards.

cal gosernments ne?r the plant be But NRC officials, who held a notified before the treated waste bnefing with officials of General water is discharged, saying that the responsibility rests with Metropoli-tan Edison Co. of Reading, the plant's operator.

In a surprise development. Her-man Dieckamp president of GPU.

disclosed that Met Ed will request permission within about six months to reactivate the undamaged Unit I reactor, saying that the unit can be operated despite the waste water problem and clean-up operations at Unit 2.

Richard H. Vollmer, NRC assist-ant director for systems and proj-ects and head of federal operations at the plant, said none of the highly contaminated water i pro-1 cessed so far and nont..b '.n dis-charged into the river a.a for processing the high-lewu *aste has yet to be installed he said.

"None will be processed or dis-charged until the Nuclear Regulato-ry Commission has performed a de-tailed review and assessment of Metropolitan Edison's processing See DUMPING - Page 11 hbl l,lN u

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From Page One "We have not lasued a written order to that ' should be made to Met.Ed, not the NRC. Asked if ef foct," he said. "We have given verIml orders to the NRC could require Met.f'd to notify local plang, methods, equipment and procedures and the effect that our review and approval of the communitics of Impending dischargen Vollmer

' until we have full assurance that these operations clean.up process and the discharge of thme wa-said: "Well, I suppo<,e it could be. But it's not to will not have an lmpact on downstream commun-ters will be required."

my knowledge something we've encountered Itim," he said.

Darrell Van Orraer, vice president of Eliza-beforA.

"The resulta of our review and analysis of the bethtown Borough Council, presented the NRC "I'm not sure that we would want to be f ut cleanup praess will be made available to the of ficials a resolution pwed by the council Tuoa-Into the middle of something like this as long as public. Although the plant has suffered a signifl.

day night opposing discharge of radioactive we were sure that we had adequate control on cant accident, we will require that conditions for waste water into the river "which has radioac-the operation."

release to the rlwr will remain essentially tho tive levels above minimun, standards authorized Vollmer said local communities should call same as that for a plant in a normal operating by the NRC."

the NRC to Inquire e. bout future discharges.

mode."

The resolution calls upon the NRC to notify Interviewed af ter the briefing, Van Ormer But Vollmer said the NRC has not luued writ.

municipalitim downriver " prior to any action said he was not satisfied with Vollmer's respon9e ten orders to Met-l'd to prohlbtt them from dis-taken by the NRC regarding the disposal of l to the request.

charging proccesed radioactive waste waters wastes into the Susquehanna River,"

"Ilow dif ficult would it be to fulfill if Inderd without federal approval.

Vollmer said the request for notification the NRC is aware of and in control of the situa.

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