ML19323C126
| ML19323C126 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 04/03/1980 |
| From: | Harold Denton Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Fry B AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8005150054 | |
| Download: ML19323C126 (4) | |
Text
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/,.,s%o, UNITED STATES
[sy )",,' ',g NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
- . C WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555 3 J; '
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%, ' un...f R3 1999 Ms. Betty L. Fry 1242 McCormick Road Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
Dear Ms. Fry:
Your mailgram to President Carter regarding the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant was referred to me for response. I regret that this answer to your letter has beer. delayed. The accident and its consequences have.:reated 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 respect to your concern about the. health effects of the accident, a team of investigators from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare calcu-lated the doses to the people living within 50 miles of the Three Mile Island site and estimated the number of new cancers that would result from the exposure to the radioactivity that leaked out of the plant. The team pub-lished their work in a report entitled, " Population Dose and Health Impact of the Accident at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station" (NUREG-0558). They concluded that the offsite collective dose associated with radioactive mate-rial released from March 28, 1979, to April 7, 1979, represents minimal risks (that is, a very sm&ll number of additional health effects to the offsite population).
Enclosed for your information is a summary of NUREG-0558.
In your statement that "the radioactive water is flowing into the rapidly filling storage tanks at the rate of 1500 gallons a day," you were apparently referring to the leakage rate of water from the auxiliary bufiding. The Commission authorized use of the EPICOR-II water treatment system for processing the waste water stored in tanks in the auxiliary building. We do not currently permit the discharge of water processed by the EPICOR-Il system. The disposal of the water processed by EICOR-II will be addressed in a separate Environmental Assessment, as required by the Commission's Statement of May 25, 1979. Copies of the Environmental Assessment will be made available for public comment.
Since Metropolitan Edison has not yet submitted a proposal on the disposal method of the decontaminated water, we have yet to prepare the Environmental Assessment. We anticipate that several months will pass before any decisions are made on disposal of the water.
Except for releases of liquids containing only low or nondetectable levels of radioactivity to the Susquehanna River, such releases are not currently per-mitted. Before such releases take place, the impa.ct 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 completed prior to release of the contaminated liquids and that the health and safety of the offsite population will be protected.
As a result of releases containing only low or nondetectable levels of radio-activity, the levels of radioactivity in the Susquehanna are indistinguish-able from existing background levels at public water supply intakes from the river. These levels have been confirmed by independent measurements made by the NRC, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
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, A
Harold R. Denton, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Encl: Summary of 1'UREG-0558
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.x Mrs. Betty L. Fry 1242 McCormick Road Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
Dear Mrs. Fry:
Your mailgram to President Carter, expressing concerns about the safety of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, has been referred to this office for consideration.
Inasmuch as matters pertaining to the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant are under the cognizance of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, we are forwarding your mailgram to them for appropriate action by copy of this letter.
Sincerely.
Original Sined By J. P. Tb rea"
John P. Thereault, Deputy Director Plans and Analysis Division Office of Nuclear Energy Prograus cc:
l L. Gossick, NRC
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,aio WEST CHURCH RD (Anu--,' o,E 4
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MECHANICSBUG PA 17055 f.g M
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PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER "q
WHITE HOUSE
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7 nASHINGTON DC 20500
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DEAR MR PRESIDENT, IT IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE TO ME THAT YOU PERSONALLY RECEIVE THIS 4
MAILGRAM AND RESPOND TO ME. I LIVE WITHIN A 10= MILE RADIUS OF THI NUCLEAR SITE.
6 HAROLD DENTON NOW SAID HAD HE KNOWN AT THE TIME OF THE ACCICENT WHAT HE KNOWS N0pe, HE WOULD HAVE EVACUATED THE AREA. I AM VERY CONCERNED AND FEARFUL THIS SAME HINDSIGHT WILL OCCUR AFTER THE PRESENT CRISIS AT THE SITE. MR. PRESIDENT, HAS ANYONE BROUGHT IT TO YOUR ATTENTION THAT THE RADI0 ACTIVE WATER I S FL OWJ NG_J NT O THE R A P I DL Yy((J NG.
STODAG.E_TPe d..'I..TME. RATE OF.1500 GALt.ONS A. DAY 7 IN APPROXIMATELY 30 DAYS OR LESS, TME TANKS WILL OVERFLOW AND THE OFERATORS HAVE NO SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM, PLEASE GRAS HOLD OF THIS PROBLEM, MR PRESIDENT, AND SEE THAT CUR HEALTH AND SAFETY ARE SECURE, i
THE OPERATORS HAVE ALLOWED MANY MISTAKES TO OCCUR $!NCE THE ORIGINAL
- ACCIDENT, A*
I BELIEVE YOU ARE NOT FULLY AWARE OF THE DANGER kEs IN i
THIS AREA, cACE.
PLEASE DO NOT HAVE SOMEONE SEND ME A " FORM LETTER", THIS IS FAR 700
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IMPORTANT TO ME FOR THAT. I WISH TO KNO.W YOU RECEIVED, TO YOUR
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ATTENTION, THIS COMMUNICATION FROM ME. MOST RESPECTFULLY, BETTY L FRY 12u2 MC CORMICK R0 MECHANICSSURG PA 170554 PHONE 717-766 0380 21:11 EST l
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