ML19322D603
| ML19322D603 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 06/13/1979 |
| From: | Ingram F METROPOLITAN EDISON CO. |
| To: | Cornell K NRC - NRC THREE MILE ISLAND TASK FORCE |
| References | |
| TASK-TF, TASK-TMR 61-79C, NUDOCS 8002180030 | |
| Download: ML19322D603 (3) | |
Text
2 NewsRelease Metropom.m Erie.on Company wg p "4"
' y-y 7.g r.
l T Q
L
}ggj O
- +.-. c 1h10 t
C0?fdVNICATIONS SERVICES i. u a,....... -.. -
IMMEDIATE
- n.,n. June 13,1979 News Release #61-79C Middletown, Pennsylvania, June l'1 -- The number. and frequency of radio-logical monitoring samples of air, ground, water, animal and plant life around the Three Mile Island Station has been significantly intensified since the March 28, accident, according to TMI official Robert C. Arnold.
"The purpose of these changes," said Arnold, "is to assure that we can quickly and accurately identify any potential environmental impact. We have greatly increased the number of sampling stations and the frequency of sample taking, of ten by a factor of at least 30."
Arnold, currently acting as head of THI recovery operations, is Vice President of Generation for GPU Service Corpor-ation, a GPU member company along with THI's operator, Metropolitan Edison Company.
As part of the upgraded radiation monitoring program, drinking and surface water samples, which prior to the accident were collected every one to three months at seven locations, are now collected daily at nine locations. Milk samples, which were collected every one or two month, are now being collected more frequently.
Radiation dose readings from twenty different locations arc now being checked every month, rather than every three months under the prior schedule.
Aquatic, air particulate and other samples are also beina taken with l
greater frequency.
-more-8 0 02180 0M g
Met Ed News Release e
- 61-79C Page 2 "This environmental monitoring program of ten detects conditions which may not be related to plant activity," explained Arnold.
"One example of this was in the positive results following the Chinese bomb test a couple of years ago ar, more recently, some of the measurements showing trace amounts of iodine in several river water samples."
Some of these readings were associated with samples taken upstream from TMI and some others did not correspond to radioactivity levels measured at TMI.
It is thought that in some cases the detected iodine has come from other sources.
-Nevertheless, all of the readings were reported to the appropriate state and federal authorities overseeing the radiation monitoring program.
Since the March 28 TMI-2 accident, on eight separate dabs small amounts of radiciodine have been detected in downriver water samples.
In all cases, the levels detected have been within government drinking water standards.
The first grouping of positive readings took place soon after the accident, on March 31 and April 1 and
- 2. and rug i 6 tu, od readi nne from about O a to o.7 unite.
In.this emme. the unite are picocuries per liter.
(A picocurie is a quadrillionth of a curie.) A reading of about 0.5 units was registered on April 27.
A more recent series of positive readings were taken on May 23, 74, 75, and 27, and ranged from 0.3 to 2.5 units.
No other iodine levels have been detected in downriver samples taken since the accident.
CURRENT PLANT STATUS three Mile Island Unit 2 is in a cold shutdown, natural circulation cooling mode. The hottest in-core temperature reading is about 280 F and the average is approximately 180"F.
The residual heat output of the Unit 2 reactor is approx-
-more-
=-
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555 June 15,1979 To:
Kevin Cornell From:
Frank Ingram OFFICE OF PUBLic AFFAIRS