ML19322D715
| ML19322D715 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 01/08/1980 |
| From: | Gossick L NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | Heinz J SENATE |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19322D716 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8002220166 | |
| Download: ML19322D715 (3) | |
Text
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TERA
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Jim as The Honorable John Heinz United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Heinz:
I am writing in reply to your letter of November 2,1979, regaroing questions submitten by Mr. James F. Ulrich, a constituent, in his letter to you of October 27, 1979.
I regret that this answer to your letter has been delayed.
The responses to the questions in Mr. Ulrich's letter are as stated below:
1.
What is being done about the Nuclear Power Plant at Three Mile Island?
The Comission has ordered that a pubuc hearing be conducted to deter-mine whether Three Mile Island, Unit 1, should be operated and, if so, under what condi:, ions restart of Unit I would take place. Prior to the hearings, the NRC staff is conducting a review of technical information l
concerning the restart of Unit 1.
As part of this review, the NRC staff 1
is conducting meetings with the licensee in the presence of the public, and the public is being given the opportunity to raise questions and to make statements. During the hearings, the technical issues which are appropriate to assure the public health and safety will also be addressed.
As for THI-2, the licensee has not yet sent to the NRC a proposal for plant recovery, although the licensee is conducting feasibility studies.
It is not possible at this time to determine when such proposals for recovery may be submitted or how much time will be needed for the required reviews and approvals in e nnection with Unit 2's recovery.
I would note, however, that the l' :.nsee's authority to operate Unit 2, except for those actions nec.essary to keep the reactor shut down, was suspended by Order of July 20, 1979.
2.
Is there any way that they can stop the accumulation of the waste material ?
Radioactive waste is expected to be generated as a result of cleanup operations at TMI-2. Tht very act of decontaminating and cleaning up the contaminated water in the reactor building, the reactor building itself, and other equipment pruouces radioactive waste. We will require that the production, storage and shipment of the waste is handled in such omee pl..
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.a The Honorable John Heinz a manner that the health and safety of the public will be protected.
The Consoission has ordered the preparation of a Prograusnatic Environmental Igact Statement (EIS) to assess the impact of the cleanup operation on the environment.
3.
Will the process of cleaning up the waste work?
I assume that this question refers to the process of cleaning up decontaminated water. There are a number of proven and tested methods for decontaminating water that are currently in use in industry. One method in use at Three Mile Island is based on de-ionization. The de-ionizer removes the radicactive ions from the water in much the same way hardness is removed from water in household water softeners.
The Comission has recently authorized the use of EPICOR-II, which is based on de-tonizing, to process the contaminated water stored in tanks in the auxiliary building.
To date, the decontamination of water processed through the system has been better than predicted.
4.
How safe is the water that is to be dumped into the Susquehanna River?
With regard to your concern about the release of contaminated water, except for releases of liquids containing only low or nondetectable levels of radioactivity to the Susquehanna River, such releases are not currently pemitted. This discharge of water processed tnrough the EPICOR-II system has not been authorized. Before such releases take place, the impact will be evaluated by the NRC and the evaluation will be made available to the public.
By this course of action, we will assure that a thorough assessment is completeo prior to release of the contaminateo 11guias and that the health ano safety of the off-site population will be protected.
As a result of releases containing only low or nondetectable levels of radioactivity, the levels of radioactivity in tt.e Susquehanna are indis-tinguishable from existing background levels at public water supply intakes from the river. These levels have teen confirmed by independent measurements made by the WRC, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. An example of the type of evalua-tion that will be performed is the environmental assessment preparea by the NRC staf f concernirig the use of EPICOR-II to process contaminated water from the auxilia'y building. This assessment addresses only the processing of the water and not its disposal. Prior to disposal, another assessment will be prepared to evaluate the alternative disposal means.
A copy of the environmental assessment is enclosed for your information.
5.
Is a meltdown still a possibility?
The THI-2 reactor has been shut down for about ten months, so that the l
heat generated from decay heat is very small and will continue to omcc)........
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The Honorable John Heinz dicinish as time passes. Under these conditions, fuel meltdown is not possible.
I trust these responses nave addressed the questions raised in your consti-tuent's letter.
Sincerely, s
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Lee V. Gossick Executive Director for Operations
Enclosure:
" Environmental Assessment -
Use of EPICOR-II," 6/14/79 DISTRIBUTI0fl COPIES:
Docket No's 50-289/50-320 NRC PDR W/ w Local PDR 9/ d EDO r/f SEP/Tril r/f TMI Site r/f RVollmer JCollins SMiner Jttullin JBlanton HDenton j
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HBerkow/WRussell DVassallo Attorney / ELD OCA (3)
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