ML19308B892

Transcript of Telcon W/G Troffer Re Conversation W/Pa Lieutenant Governor Scranton on TMI Accident

ML19308B892
Person / Time
Site:	Crane
Issue date:	03/28/1979
From:	Geoffrey Miller METROPOLITAN EDISON CO.
To:
References
TASK-TF, TASK-TMR NUDOCS 8001170535
Download: ML19308B892 (5)

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Transcript of phone call from Gary Miller at TMI about 9:30 A.M., March 28, 1979, s

to George Troffer, Reading, to assist in providing info for Met-Ed Communications Servicas staff by reporting on what he said to Lt. Governor Scranton.

MILLER:

.Lt. Covernor - - I had no choice but to talk to him.

What I said and its probably not in very good verbage is that this morning very early we experienced a turbine trip. Two problems were in the secondary plant not the nuclear plant. Phen the unit trips from 100 percent, the reactor sometimes trips from 100 percent and it did. There was very high power. That's not a problem and not unexpected. When the reactor trips due to high pressure, its one of the parameters that normally trips the reactor. At the same time it was in the reactor building and due to the high pressure we had some relief valve lift which released from the reactor coolant to the building floor. This was not a break or a leak or anything that was designed to

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release at a high pressure. Obviously on all reactor pressure that foesn't occur.

But it didn't on this one. That gave us indication of reactor building radioactivity because of the reactor coolant being released to the floor of the building.

It's got radioactivity in it.

In addition to this the plant obviously experienced a pressure and temperature change fairly fast.

I didn't say this to them -- I'm just saying it to the group.

I was on the phone with a nuclear engineer over there so he knows about fuel pins.

I said yes we may have had some fuel pin leakage.

I don't know that right now. That's part of small term assessment on this thing and that's economic.

He asked if I had any melting on fuel.

I said I don' t have any indication of melted fuci, but I may have had some fuci pin Icakage which is not abnormal in the industry. I didn't say any at the present but I did say that we had reactor coolant released in the building which was giving radioactivity on the monitor.

When we get that, I said our emergency plan mandates that when I see it in the reactor. building I assume it's getting out.

Therefore, I go into the general emergency.

I fully gear-up like I aircady got an h 0 ll

emergency in the public. That means that I put people on stations, I closed the gates, I get the State Police, I make all the phone calls and I say subsequent to doing everything in the plant we have had confirmation very rapidly the number 1.

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From the time the incident started we have had no release to the environment especially above background. We have had no indication of a millirem an hour that I know of.

We know where the wind is moving -- it is moving slowly to the west. We have people at the west site boundary. We had a helicopter fly over to Goldsboro. We had the meters taken out at York Haven -- if I have to go back I will. Never had any indication. We have been in communications with Molloy in the State for most of the day. We had no action level by the plan for the public.

l We do not expect any additional or any release. We are in the process of taking the plant to a cold shutdown to evaluate the situation and that evaluation is probably more economically damaging than any-thing else -- from the public standpoint.

Is Troffer there?

TROFFER: Yes.

MILLER:

I don't expect any effect on the public. That's what I had said to peopic.

I didn't have any time to think about it.

TROFFER: That sounds goed.

Did anybody have an overdose?

MILLER:

Nobody had one. Nobody had an overdose or an overexposure. We have j

surveyed all the areas internally and roped the appropriate areas off.

We had nobody, as a result of the incident, that got any overexposure.

We have taken reactor coolant samples afterwards. We may have used up a lot of quarterly doses of some people.

I had nothing at the time of i

f the incident.

I may have had some exposures of people during the action

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ve needed t6 take in the correction of this thing in the plant.

I have some people that I'm not totally sure of but I don't believe that ve have anybody overexposed. And we didn't overexpose anybody at the

i=e of the incident do to anything.

For example, I have a chemist foreman that went into a room to get a sample for me.

He may have totten a fairly good dose.

I wouldn't expect that he exceeded his "imit.

OK, George. When I come back and re-assess this thing I may find some doses higher than I expect right now because I've had people doing

hings that must be done.

I've got full dosimetry on anybody out there --

full body count and everything else. That's too much detail but that's

.'ust so you know. I will say I've had nobody overexposed. And I will say that we will have to fully evaluate that as a result of the incident when we can collect all the people from this thing.

It will effect nobody inadvertently, George.

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TROFFER: :o you know when we will be able to decide when people should come to vork -- I think we are thinking about the Observation Center over-crowding.

MILLER:

The best thing is that I am keeping them here now.

I guess I wanted

a be damn sure I had total control of the cooldown before I worried a'aout that. I have had some people come to work.

I've got one guy in charge of the Observation Center.

I believe that it's Gary Hahn.

I have had Shov11n bring in whoever he needed.

I've sent the contractors that didn't get there home.

TROFFER: Fa we did not do that. We did not call of the contractors and send tic : home.

MILLER:

I didn't call them off. There were some on-site but the ones that went

a the center I probably sent home. We did send them home. We made that

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decision.

It's just been too hard to worry about them. They probably vent home anyway.

I've been here since 7:00 in the morning and I've

een up since 4:00 and I don't think I'll worry about the economic

onsequences of the contractors. To F,et them out of our way to be

'onest with you.

If anybody was on-site I kept them to use them.

c KLING.W_N:Ve did not send our people home though, right Gary.

HELLER:

I've got them on hold at the Observation Center.

I put Gary Hahn in

harge to be sure that they didn't go home or vander around like'what i

'appened to me in August. I have brought on those peopic that Shovlin needs. Through him.

I've got to go back and assess the people right zow.

Quite frankly, up to now its been Jack, Lee Rodgers and the plant --

ve haven' t had a shot et that.

Jim Seelinger's in charge of that and he's pretty aware of what we're doing.

I just talked to the State and I gave them the scencric that I

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,'ust gave you, but not with that kind of detail.

So they're going to l

release something whether I like it or not probably.

1 I did talk to Maggie (DER) and Dornsife which I had known' personally.

I'm pretty sure I know them well enough that they will release something that will help.

I told Maggie that if she has any 7:oblems getting us she should call Jack's office and he'll talk to l

tar.

I think you should tell Norene that she shouldn't treat Maggie as some6ne she doesn't know -- if she doesn't know her -- in case I need smething.

She's probably going to get a lot of questions from canagement over at the Governor's office.

TROFFIR:

think we ough*

to go ahead cancel this Friday tour now.

MILLE 3:

Yeah, I lova that idea. George, I'll tell you what.

I'm not sure that I'll be working here Friday! Just kidding. If there's anything else that you need I'll be in the Unit #2 Control Room.

You can get me through

hat.

I think you ought to release something.

I think we should.

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. e-KLINGAMAN: think I better verify one thing. There are rumors going back and forth as to what we have. My understanding is that what we have is a general emergency declared s,ometime this morning. And it's still an official general emergency.

MILLER:

he emergency was declared sometime around 7:00.

I guess I could be off a little bit.

KLINGMAN:Yes, I got a call around 7:15, MILLER:

Ve did declare a general emergency here -- that's true.

TROFFER: The sooner we back preperly from a general to a site, the better.

~ 1ELLER:

The reason we have not, and you're right George, is because to be honest vith you we've been testing the plant. We don't know where the hell the plant was going.

See the situation we're in is a delicate one because

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su act'ually have plant integrity.

If we had a leak we'd be all right --

as far as we'd have a lot more economic consequences. We've been

rying to figure out how to cool down in the most expeditous fashion without releasing and without damaging too much. That's taking a pretty hard assessment.

I'll work on getting out of the emergency right r3V.

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