ML19322E012
| ML19322E012 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 02/28/1980 |
| From: | Harold Denton Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Dufour L AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8003140054 | |
| Download: ML19322E012 (2) | |
Text
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UNITED STATES g
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g NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 5
-E WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555 9
E February 28, 1980 MS;$1seDurur THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS go Kimberton, Pennsylvania 19442 P00R QUAUTY PAGES
Dear fis. Dufour:
Thank you for your postcard requesting information about the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear station and about hearings for the facility's re-sta rt.
I regret that this answer has been delayed. The accident and its consequences have created a substantial increase in the agency's workload, which has prevented us from responding to you as promptly as we would have liked.
The release of radioactive gases from the reactor building of TMI Unit 2 is not currently pennitted.
Before the gases are disposed of by any method, NRC will evaluate the impact and the evaluation will be made available to the public. The Commission has also decided that concerned citizens should be given the opportunity to present their views orally at a public meeting prior to any approval of proposals to dispose of radioactive gases in the TMI Unit 2 reactor building.
By this course of action, we will assure that a thorough assessment is completed prior to release of the contaminated gases and that the health and safety of the offsite population will be protected.
Your postcard apparently refers to the release to the Susquehanna River of 4,000 gallons of water containing strontium-90, a radioactive element that emits beta radiation. The entire event started as a normal routine release of waste water from the Unit I waste evaporator condensate test tank. Prior to initiating a release, the licensee is required by plant technical specifi-cations to sample the contents of the tank and analyze the sample for the principal gama emitters.
In addition, the licensee is required by the tech-nical specifications to take a portion of that sample and add it to the com-posite sample of all previous batches of liquid releases made during the month.
At the end of the month, the composite sample is analyzed for strontium-89 and -90.
The licensee completed both of these actions.
It should be noted that the NRC does not require that the analysis for strontium be performed on every batch prior to release because the concentration of strontium is normally well below the detection limits of the analytical methods and orders of magnitude lower than the principal gama emitters, such as iodine and cesium.
8008140 g
Ms. Louise Dufour February 28, 1980 On July 26, 1979, the release from Unit I was initiated; during the release an NRC inspector questioned the licensee as to whether or not a gross beta analysis had been performed. At that point, Metropolitan Edison management suspended the release and performed a number of analyses. The analysis for concentrations of strontium-89 and -90 indicated that prior to discharge to the river, the effluent concentrations for these isotopes were within both federal and state government standards for radioactivity.
In the future, nevertheless, Metropolitan Edison will monitor all water discharges for beta radiation.
With regard to your request for infomation about when the hearings on the restart of Unit 1 are scheduled, no date has yet been set.
When the date is detemined, notice will be published in local newspapers and in the Federal Register.
Copies of the Federal Register should be available in local public and school libraries.
I am pleased to provide you with this information.
Sincerely, A
Harold R. Denton, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
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