ML19322C195
| ML19322C195 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 12/31/1979 |
| From: | Harold Denton Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Dortch M AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8001150154 | |
| Download: ML19322C195 (3) | |
Text
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o4 DEC 311979 Mrs. Morris Dortch 4104 "A" Beechwood Lane Harrisburg, PA 17112 Dear Mrs. Dortch I am writing in response to your letter of June 10, 1979, regarding concern over the reopaning of the Three Mile Island nuclear facility. I regret that this answer to your letter has been delayed. The accident and its consequences have created a substantial increase in the agency's workload, which has prevented me from responding to you as promptly as I would have liked to.
With regard to your consments concerning the possible future operation of Three Mile Island Unit 1, the Commaission has ordered that a public hearing be conducted to determine whether the facility should be operated and, if so, under what conditions restart of Unit 1 would take place. Prior to start of the hearings, the NRC staff will conduct a review of technical information concerning the restart of Unit 1.
As part of this review, the NRC staff will conduct meetings with the licensee in the presence of the public, and the public will be given the opportunity to raise questions and to make stata-ments. During the hearing, the technical issues which are appropriate to assure the public health and safety will also be addressed. In addition, the j
Hearing Board may consider the psychological impact of future operation on the nearby communities. A ccpy of the Comunission Order which outlines the issues to be considered is enclosed for your information.
With regard to Three Mile Island Unit 2, the licensee has not yet sent to the NRC a proposal for plant recovery, although the licensee is conducting feasi-bility studies. We anticipate that a considerable length of time will pass before any proposals or decisions are made regarding Unit 2's recovery.
We have taken a number of actions with respect to all r.uclear power plants as a result of the Three Mile Island incident. Specifically, full-time inspectors have been assigned to each operating plant utilizing Babcock and Wilcox (BIN) pressurized water reactors like those at Three Mile Island. In addition, all such plants were shut down and the licensees of each plant were instructed to provide us with additional information about their facilities in light of the Three Mile Island incident. Af ter review of the information provided, orders were issued to the licensees that required them to make immediate plant modifications, to provide additional operator training, and to revise certain operating procedures. Additional long-term actions were ordered to further upgrade certain plant systems, and operator training, and procedures. All of l
these plants, except of course the Ihree Mile Island plant, have couplied with the orders and have been permitted to resume operation.
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DEC 311979 In addition, licensees of all operating plants utilizing pressurized water reactors have been instructed to take specific actions with regard to the status of certain equipment, plant procedures, operator actions, and facility designs. Licensees of all operating plants, including those utilizing boiling water reactors, have been instructed to provide us with additional information with regard to their facilities in light of the Three Mile Island incident.
We are currently reviewing the information provided. As soon as our review is complete, orders for modifications, as appropriate, will be issued to provide additional protection to the health and safety of the public.
In addition to the actions outlined above, as a result of TMI-2, studies were initiated in the areas of emergency preparedness, operator licensing reassess-ment, loss of feedwater event, man 11-break loss of coolant accidents, and lessons learned from the incident.
In a number of areas work has progressed to the point where additional license requirements have been recoussended. A number of these recommendations have been approved and efforts have begun to implement them.
With respect to alternative methods of energy production, such as solar, wind, and geothermal, the Department of Energy is the Federal Agency respon-sible for their research and. development. The NRC considers these alterna-tive methods of energy production in its assessment of the environmental impact of each nuclear power plant as part of our overall review of each utility's application for a construction permit or an operating license. To date, we have determined that alternative methods of energy production are neither technically nor economically feasible to provide the required amount of power at the time it is needed.
I appreciate your concerns and assure you that every effort is being made to ensure the continued protection of the health and safety of the public, not only at the Three Mile Island Station, but also at all nuclear power plants.
Sincerely, l~6 I
Harold R. Denton, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Enc 1: Commission Order omcc)... ANL/.IML....
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Distribution Docket (Attach original of inccming corresponiits) - Docket Nos. 50-289 4 50-320
- NRC/PDR (Xerox copy of incoming and place behind outgoing PDR copy)
'Oliu PChee DEisenhut RTedesco RReid DDiIanni CNelson HSilver RIngram/LA
- TERA
- Place these three copies in one envelope and forward to DSB-016.
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HEGULAtuRY INFORMATION DISTRI-vTION SYSTEM (RIOS)
ACC.ESSiO4 Naa 7906150321 00C.DATE: 79/06/10 NOTARIZED: h0 DOCKET #
F'ACIL:50-289 Three -iile Islano Nuclear Station, Unit 1, vetropolit 05000289 50-320 Tncee faite Islano Nuclear Station, Unit 2, vetrooolit 05000320 AUTH.NAME ALTHJR ArFILIATION 00RTCM,:4 Affiliation uncnown AECIP.NAME RECIPIENT AFFILIATION OENTON,M.d.
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
SUBJECT:
Requests facility not o, c,op,n,a, 015T91P0T104 CODE: xE015 COPIES RECEIVED:LT9.( ENCL j)
SIZE _...(_
TITLE: Exec. Correspondence (No specific Dkt. Trans. to Centon/
NOTES:_____......_____________________ ________________..._____.__...._____.
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