ML19323B514

Responds to Encl to President Carter Re Licensing Nuclear Plants.Delays Caused by post-TMI Efforts to Upgrade Safety Requirements.Certain Plants Under Consideration for License to Load Fuel & to Operate at Low Power for Testing

ML19323B514
Person / Time
Site:	Crane
Issue date:	04/11/1980
From:	Harold Denton Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
To:	William Jones AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED
References
NUDOCS 8005120508
Download: ML19323B514 (3)

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APR 11 1980 Mr. and Mrs. William B. Jones P. O. Box 233 Lake City, Michigan 49651

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Jones:

This is in reply to your letter of January 30, 1980, to President Carter about licensing nuclear power plants.

A statement by President Carter on December 7,1979, about the Report of the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island (the Kemeny Commission) included the following:

" Finally, I would like to discuss how we manage the transition period during which the Kemeny recommendations are being imple-ment ed. There are a number of new nuclear plants now awaiting operating licenses or construction pemits.

" Licensing decisions rest with the NRC and, as the Kemeny Commission noted, it has the authority to proceed with licensing these plants on a case-by-case basis, which may be used as circumstances surrounding a plant dictate. The NRC has in-dicated, however, that it will pause in issuing new licenses and construction pemits in order to devote its full attention to putting its hoisse in order.

I endorse the approach the NRC has adopted, but I urge the NRC to complete its work as quickly as possible, and in any event no later than six months from today.

"Once we have instituted the necessary refoms to assure safety, we must resume the licensing process promptly so that the new plants which we need to reduce our dependence on fore 1gn oil can be built and operated."

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is cocrnitted to protect the public health and safety. The Three Mile Island accident resulted in a need for changes in the approach to safety. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has found that actions recommended by its own staff and by the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island in the areas of human f actors, operational safety, emergency planning, nuclear power plant l

design and siting, health effects, and public infomation are necessary and feasible.

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Mr. and Mrs. William B. Jones APR 11 ELc At this time we are preparing for review and approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission an Action Plan that will specify the precise actions to be taken.

It will include new or improved safety ob-jectives, detailed criteria for their implementation, and various implementation deadlines. As soon as the Action Plan is completed and approved, the resulting regulatory requirements will be trans-mitted to all utilities concerned.

It is recognized that there will be a significant effect on the availability of power generating capacity if those plants now in the final stages of construction do not receive operating licenses by the dates previously anticipated, and every effort is being made to avoid unnecessary delays. With this objective, the Commissioners approved on February 28, 1980, the issuance of an NRC license to the Tennessee Valley Authority for the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant Unit 1 to load fuel and, under specified conditions, to operate at low power levels for testing. Several other similar cases are under consid-eration.

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Harold R. Denton, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

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