ML19294B995
| ML19294B995 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | North Anna  |
| Issue date: | 02/13/1980 |
| From: | Dircks W NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | Whitehurst G HOUSE OF REP. |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8003060511 | |
| Download: ML19294B995 (1) | |
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The Honorable G. William Whitehurst United States House of Representatives Washington, D. C.
20515
Dear Congressman Whitehurst:
In your letter of January 23, 1980 to Harold Denton, Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, you attached a copy of Mr. Stanley Ragone's letter of January 17, 1980 to the NRC relative to the NRC licensing of the North Anna Power Station, Unit 2.
In your letter you indicate that while Mr. Ragone is pleased that the NRC is now currently preparing a Safety Evaluation Repo-t for Sequoyah Unit 1, he is concerned tirat NRC officials are not actively pursuing a review of the North Anna Unit 2 license on the same schedule.
I am enclosing a copy of a letter which we recently transmitted to the Attorney General of the State of Virginia which discusses the status of the operating license for North Anna Power Station, Unit 2.
We would also like to point out that we are actively pursuing the preparation c' a Safety Evaluation Report and we anticipate publication of that document in the near future.
The decision, however, to issue an operating license as indicated in the Policy Statement on the TMI-2 accident issued by the Conmission on October 4, 1979, will require a further order of the Commission itself.
I trust that the letter to the Attorney General explains the NRC position regarding the licensing of Unit 2.
Sincerely, (ser e, z. meS cornen I William J. Dircks Acting Executive Director for Operations
Enclosure:
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Leti.er to the Attorney General,
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State of Virginia, dated January 9, 1980 8003000
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% **. 8 J. Ali e isla The Honorable !!arshall Colemon Attorney General i
State of Vi,ginia Supreme Court Building 1101 East Broad Street Richmond, Virginia 23219 Ocar Mr. Attorney General:
Your letter of Decenher 14, 1070 to Chairman Ahearnt has been referred to ac for reply. The General Counsel has conclude:' that it is an c_x parte conmunication.
(This view is not shared by a rainority of the Cc.w as:;1uners).
Therefore, I am comenting on your letter requesting assurance that the North Anna Unit flo. 2 operating license application is under active review and expressing concern as to when an operating license may be issued for the florth Anna Unit !!o. 2 station.
I would like to briefly review for you our activities since ne accident
' at Three Mile Island Unit flo. 2 (Tt:I-2) and their relationshir to the f orth Anna Unit llo. 2 plant. At the tine of the T!I-2 accidera a nort,cr of issues rerr.ained to be resolved in corapleting our review of tiIe f orth Anna Unit flo. 2 application. As a consequence of the T!:1-2 accident, the effort of the staff was concentrated on evaluating the accident and assessing the remedial measures to be required as our evaluation pro-grcssed -- both imediate, near-term, and long-term -- at first, on operating reactors, and later, on applications under review. However, the review of the North Anna Unit No. 2 application was not halted during this time. We have continued to work with the Virginia Electric Poier Company (VEPCO) within the limitations of our available resources to resolve the issues outstanding at the time of the accident at T'il-2.
This effort has proceeded and most of these "non-T!;!" related issues have now been resolved.
Since the THI-2 accident, the NRC staff has been conducting an intensive review of the design and operational aspects of nuclear power plants and the emergency procedures for coping with potential accidents. The purpcsc of these efforts was to identify acasures that should be taken in the short-term to reduce the likelihood of such accidentt and to inprove the emergency preparedness in responding to such events.
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The Honorable Marshall Coleman On September 27, 1979, letters were sent to all pending operating license applicants, including the Virginia Electric & Power C9mpany setting forth further requirements established to date as a result of these efforts. We indicated that additional requirements would likely be developed.
In a letter dated October 25, 1979, the Virginia Electric & Power Company responded to our request of September 27, 1979. A special task force established to review responses by operating license applicants connenced a review of the submittal shortly thereafter, and a letter was issued November 9,1979 requesting additional information and clarifying certain positions related to our requirements to expedite both VEPC0's response and our subsequent reviews. By letter dated NovemF r 26, 1979 YEPC0 responded to our letter of e
Nover6cr 9,1979 and the NRC Task Force is well along with its review of the infornation. On December 19th and 20th the NDC Task Force net with VEPCO representatives at the North Anna Unit No. 2 site and discussed matters related to the VEPCO submittal and our review. As a result of our review, V[PCO is responding to our remaining concerns end we will revico their respense pro ptly upon subnission.
In ad 11 tion to the above requirenents, Corrission review of the results of other investigations, including the Presidential Connission and the NRC's Special Inquiry Group, can be expected to lead to additional require ents for use in licensing reviews of new plants. We are in the final stages of development of an Action Plan for Commission review and approval implement-ing recommendations of the President's Commission and other studies resulting from the TMI-2 accident. This Action Plan will include new or improved safety objectives, the detailed criteria for their implementation and the various implenentation deadlines. Our proposed schedule and process is as follows:
January 7,1930 Meet with Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) Subconnittee to review draft Action Plan.
January 9,1980 Meet with Commissioners to continue discussion of Action Plan.
January 10, 1980 Meet with full ACRS on Action Plan.
January 21, 1980 Issue revised draft Action Plan incorporating comments as appropriate.
February 15, 1980 Submit final draft of Action Plan (includes nodifications as necessary to address the report of the NRC Special Inquiry Group and refined NRC and industry resource estimates) to the Commission for review and approval.
As indicated in the Policy Statenent on the TMI-2 accident issued by Fe Cornission on October 4,1979, no new licenses for nuclear power reactors will be authorized by Atomic Safety and Licensing Boards or issued by the NRC staff, except after further order of the Commission itself.
The Honorable Marshall Coleman By letter of Dece.76er 5,1979, VEPCO proposed a special test program to be conducted at power levels no greater than 51 similar to an earlier proposal to +.he Comnission by TVA to be conducted at their Sequoyah facility. We are in the process of reviewing these special test programs and I hope to make a recorrrendation to the Commission concerning these proposals in February. However, as stated by Chairman Ahearne in the enclosed letter to TVA, until the Commission has completed the reviews necessary to ensure that operating reactors are adequately responding to the lessons learned from the THI accident, enly Itmited resources will be available for reviews associated with issuing new operating licenses.
Sincerely,
- g... etud y ti. h. C:r.!?1 Harold R. Denton, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Enclosure:
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December 26, 1979 cxamuru Mr. S. David Freeman Chairman of the Board Tennessee Valley Authority Knoxville, Tennessee 37902
Dear Chaiman Freeman:
Your December 3,1979 letter to Dr. Hendrie requested that the Nuclear Regulatory Comission consider pemitting TVA to cor. duct certain activities including fuel loading, zero power physics testing, special testing and operator training at the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant Unit I at no greater than five percent poter.
Your proposal is ar interesting one.
While a distinction can be made between the risk to public health and safety from a special testing program at low power and operation at full power, further discussions between our respective staffs will be required to explore the details of your proposed program.
However, until the Comission has completed the reviews necessary to ensure that operating reactors are adequately responding to the lessons learned from the TMI accident, only limited resources will be available for reviews associated with issuing new operating licenses.
Subject to this resource constraint, I have asked the staff to review your proposal and to make a recomendation to the Com.?,ission in this regard.
The final decision on this matter will, of course, reside with the Comission.
I would also like to note that Comissioners Kennedy and Hendrie prefer that the NRC staff proceed promptly in this matter, particularly in light of the ACR5's strong endorsement of your proposal.
They believe that the necessary resources can and should be made available under these circumstances,
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(" *) *** 2" U S. DELEG ATE TO BLANCHE M. BOYLES NORTH ATLANTIC ASSEMBLY carica MAmeAcan tumummum Mr. Harold R. Denton Director Of fice of Nuclear Reactor Regulation U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D. C.
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Dear Mr. Denton:
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Mr. Stanley Ragone, President of the Virginia Electric and ru -
Power Company, has shared with me a copy of his recent letter to p
you relative to the NRC licensing of the North Anna II nuclear power plant. While Mr. Ragone is pleased that the NRC is now I'
currently preparing a Safety Evaluation Report for the issuance of b'
l a lower power license for Sequoyah Unit I, he is concerned that NRC officials are not actively pursing a review of the North Aana l
II license on the same schedule.
I believe Mr. Ragone has made an GD excellent point relative to the issuance of licenses for these two ple.ats simultaneously, and I hope that every consideration can be 9-given to his views.
Thanking you, I remain
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JInuary 17, 1920 Mr. Harold R.
Denton, Director Office Of Nuclear Reactor Regulation U.
S. Nucle Regulatory Commission Washington, C.
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Dear Mr. Denton:
It is my understanding based on discussions our licensing representatives have had with NRC project personnel recently that a
concerted effort is under way to prepare the Safety Evaluation Report for issuance of a low power license for Sequoyah Unit 1.
We are encouraged to learn that work is proceeding for issuance of that license, but I am disappointed that the staff is not actively pursuing a review of North Anna Unit 2 license on the same schedule.
We believe they should be pursued simultaneously, especially since our unit has been essentially completed and ready for fuel loading since July 1979.
Vepco has diligently pursued the implementation of the short-term lessons learned recommendations following TMI.
Also, the Company has committed to a special training test program similar to TVA to enable our operators to actually observe the effects of natural circulation in the primary coolant system.
One overriding situation that should encourage the NRC to concentrate on getting North Anna Unit 2 in service as soon as possible by taking the steps necessary to attain fuel loading and power ascension is the major reduction in oil consumption that the placing of this unit has on our system and the nation as a whole.
TVA is primarily a coal-burning utility and the Sequoyah unit will displace coal, not oil.
North Anna Unit 2 will primarily displace oil, most of it imported.
At a 60% capacity factor, each month's improvement in placing our unit in full service reduces the Company's and nation's dependence on this cil by approximately three-quarters to one million barrels per month.
The President has taken a strong position with regard to reducing oil imports, and he has endorsed the need for nuclear power to meet this nation's basic energy needs.
The Company is striving, through our nuclear program and coal conversion rogram (1224 MW already conver:ed from oil back to coal, with 239 MW additional capacity scheduled for 1980 and 394 FM for 1982 conversions back to coal), to comply with his plea to reduce oil consumption.
The NRC therefore should be making every possible effort to get those nuclear units in service that dis-place oil as quickly as possible.
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viacim ruernic no re ra comw to Mr. Harold R. Denton Page 2 1/17/80 In past correspondence, I have conveyed to you the grave consequences of the nuclear licensing pause.
In the latter half of 1979, major power purchases from neighboring utilities were necessary to maintain reliability and to try te reduce the consumption of high quantities of oil required to replace North Anna Unit 2 This detri-mentally impacted on Vepco's ratepayers through higher electric bills and capital requirements.
Carrying the unused investment in North Anna Unit 2 continues to mount, and this will further impact on Vepco's customers and the economic well-being of the area we serve.
We understand the Spe.al Inquiry Study (Rogovin Report) vill be submitted to the NRC by Janu ary 25.
Following that it would appear that the Commission could proceed promptly with the issuance of opera-ting licenses well before mid-February for North Anna Unit 2, Sequoyah Unit 1 and possibly others.
I sincerely hope that you will pursue the North Anna Unit 2 license as fast and diligently as is humanly possible to get this unit in service promptly.
I respectively request that licensing of North Anna Unit 2 proceed in parallel with the Sequoyah unit for the reasons stated above.
If you have any questions or would like to meet to dis-cuss this, please let me know.
Since ely, e
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The Honorable Charles W. Duncan, Jr.,
Department of Energy Virginia Congressional Delegation