ML19308A678
| ML19308A678 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 04/16/1979 |
| From: | Mello S AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| To: | NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19308A677 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7911280174 | |
| Download: ML19308A678 (3) | |
Text
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12 Liberty St.
E, Taunton, Mass.
02716 Nuclear Regulatory Commission Jashington, D.C.
20015 To whom it may concern; I'm not really that sure which way to go either Pro or con on the Nuclear Power Plant.
I have cut out the newspaper clippings from the local paper, pertaining to the Three Mile Isinnd Nuclear power Finnt.
The Nuclear nightmare began on March 29, 1979 at that time it was declared that an accident had occured at the facility.
This is a gdirect quote from the Boston Herald, "It began at 3 53 a.m. yesterday when a pump in the steam generating system of the plant failed" Then the article goes on and says that what happened next was unclear.
What I can not understand is why was it unclear.
There in the control room there must be numerous amount of gauges, motitoring the actions of the reactor and the system in general.
Prom an other article I read said the blame for the severity of the crisis centered on the disco-very by NRC investigators that two manually operated valves in an auxiliar3 cooling system were mistalenly left closed after maintenance, disabling the system, two weeks before pump failure triggered the emergency March 2o<
On any facility there is a check 'ist or chart of procedures, or doesn't this plant or for that matter any nuclear plant have one?
The article go ts ahead and says that the NRC in 7/ashington investigators u-id t'ca c thore were basic flaws in the Pabcock and ?iilxcox plant design and also eq11pment failure., Some of the problems that the article said were.
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.. -At 4d.m., the feed-water and condensate pumps failed, so heat was noi carried from the reactor.
Wouldn' t this type of incident trigger off an alarm of some kind?
-Af ter 12 to 15 seconds, a relief valve stuck open and released radia-tion.
Does a nuclear power plant have monitors to register the amount of radiation within the buildings? Again, I ask the same question there was no alarm triggered from this incident or isn' t this type of incident con-
,sidered important?
-Af ter 2 minutes, the energency cooling system came on, but its two pumps were turned iff.~-QL: sVl'Jn ~-
Tno' opera 1,or Iaus u ut m m.a wwr reactor was mulfunctioning, what system or did any system inform him to turn off the pumps? Were the cooling system turned on manually or by the system itself, and if the system came on by itself wouldn' t an alarm be triggered saying or informing that the emergency cooling system had been activated?
Question What had caused the reactor core to lenk?
Was it caused from intense heat within the reactor itself?
Qaestion - How do you know what is going on within the cere?
There is a valve that if someone could manually lift it the pressure on the gas bubble could be released.
Was this valve designed for this purpose, or was it designed just to relieve pressure not a hydrogen bubble? Also /// why wasn' t it designed to operated automatically Question - Is it true that by 19o0 3Q$ % of our Total Electric Usage will be supplied by nuclear power?
Could you please send me any free information about how nuclear reactors are built and run.
I have seen very simply drawings on how a reactor operates, but nothing showing me how everything is interlinked within the reactor.
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41estidn - What is a Core Meltdown? Are there nny procedureu to prove 5 something of this nature from happening?
In your explantion of these questione I would also appreciate if you used specific diagrams to explain it. Any Free information sent to me would be greatly appreciated on deciding my mind on the issue of nucleer power plants.
I am very conce ned of my future, and many others.
Sincerely yours,
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,/'{L>rt' lllz..N A' Steven Mello e
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