ML19329D383
| ML19329D383 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Davis Besse  |
| Issue date: | 11/18/1970 |
| From: | Price H US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC) |
| To: | Latta D HOUSE OF REP. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19329D384 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8003050975 | |
| Download: ML19329D383 (6) | |
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Docket No. 50-346 NOV 1 8IST{
Honorable Delbert L. Latta House of Representatives
Dear Mr. Latta:
I am pleased.to reply to your letter of October 7,1970, transmitting a letter from Mrs. Bruce Card expressing opposition to the Toledo Edison Company's proposed Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station.
I an enclosing staff comments in response to !!rs. Card's concerns.
If I can provide any further information, please let me know.
Sincerely, Origina; Sped by w.s L. Hencerson
[ mrold L. Price Director of Regulation
Enclosures:
1.
Staff' Comments w/encls.
2.
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Staff Coments in Eesponse to Letter fron Mrs. Bruce Card, Toledo, Ohio The regulatory staff of the Atonic Energy Co= mission (AEC) is presently in the process of reviewing and evaluating the application of the Toledo
. Edison Company to construct and operate the Davis-Ecsse Nuclear Power Stat' ion.
I will forward Mrs. Card a copy of the staff's safety evalua-tion.rhen it is issued. Before issuing any permit or license, the Comisnion must find that there is reasonable assurance that the facility can be constructed and operated without endangering public health and safety.
The enclosed booklet, " Licensing of Power Reactors," describes in nore detail the AEC's safety review of applications for the construction and operation of nuclear power plants and the AEC's continuing surveillance of operating plants. Also enclosed is a copy of " Atomic Power Safety,"
and the recently published booklet entitled " Nuclear Power and the Environment."
The principal bases for the Comission's regulations and special license requirements governing the release of radioactivity in effluents from AEC-licensed activities are the radiation protection guides developed by the Federal Radiation Council (FRC) and approved by the President for the guidance of all Federal agencies. The FRC uses the best expertise in the field, and takes into account the reco:xmendations of the National Council for Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) and the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP).
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.The AEC limits on concentrations of radioactivity permitted in nuclear power reactor water effluents leaving a plant site, prior to dilution in a stream or other body of water, are such that a member of the public could use the effluent as a source of drinking water throughout his lifetine without exceeding the PRC radiation protection guides for an individual in the population.
Concentrations in the effluents are, of course, further reduced by dilution in the body of water into which they are discharged.
Limits on rates of release of radioactive gases are based on a conservative calculation which - at the point of highest radiation level averaged over a ysar, on or near the site boundary - would result in an exposure to an
.'.ndividual equal to the FRC radiation protection guide, if he remains on j
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( r!near the site boundary for the entire year.
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. The Commission now has had about 10 years experience in the operation of licensed nuclear power reactors. - This experience has shown that low-level wastes released during operation have bten generally less than a few per-cent of authorized ifmits.
I OFFICE >
SURNAME >
DATE >
Form Al'C 31va (Rev. 9-&31 u.s sevrpututnuntwcomct ms-o asa-saa y
, Additional. background inforration on the AEC's regulatory program as related to the control of. releases of radioactivity in effluents from nuclear facilitics is included in the enclosed print of hearings before the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy on the Environmental Effects of Producing Electric Power. Mrs. Card's attention is called especially to Commissioner Theos J. Thompson's testimony on pages 175 through 194, Commissioner Clarence E. 1.srson's testimony on pages 238 through 276, and the testimony of Dr. Paul Tompkins, Executive Director of the Federal Radiation Council, on pages 391 through 415 of the print. Thfa testimony i
discusses in detail sources of radioactive effluents from a nuclear power
' plant and how these effluents are processed, the bases for radiation pro-tection standards, how these standards are applied as limits on normal releases of small quantities of radioactive material, the results of environmental monitoring programs around nucicar power plants, and environ = ental research prograns on the effects of radiation that are carried out by the AEC.
Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, each Federal agency is required to consult with appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies concerning major Federal actions significantly af fecting the quality of the human environment and to prepare a detailed statement concerning, among other things, the environmental impact of the proposed action.
Enclosed is a copy of the statc=ent of general policy which indicates the manner in which the Atomic Energy Commission proposes to exercise its regulatory responsibilities under the Act.
This policy statement is based upon the Council on Environmental Quality's Interin Guidelines, and was published for public comment in the Federal Perister_on June 3, 1970. As the policy statement indicates, the Co= mission has identified the licen-sing of nuclear power reactors as one of the actions which would require-the preparation of an environmental statement.
t The Toledo Edison Company has prepared an environmental report for the Davis-Besse plant. A copy of this report has been sent to the Governor of Ohio and the Council on Environmental Quality, and it has been made available for coment by appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies.
.After the conclusion of the comment period, the regulatory staff vill prepare a detailed environmental statement which will include a discussion of any problems or objections raised and the disposition thereof. Copies of the detailed environmental statement will be forwarded to the Council
-on Environmental Quality and the agencies concerned, and will accompany the application through - the Commission's review process, including the public hearing.
-'Mrs. Card commented that the northwestern Ohio area vould not be in dan-ger of power failures for some three years.
It should be noted that the omcE >
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tbtras A EC.a sin (Rev. 9-53) u.s sonanistar rwtatiis ctria.tsse-o ase-ses
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, Davis-Besse plant is not scheduled to go into commercial operation until about December 1974.
Regarding insurance, the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, requires the owner of each large nuclear power plant to purchase $82 million in
.public liability' insurance to cover damage claims from nuclear accidents, the~ maximum amount that is currently available from the private sector.
That includes damage both to people and to property.
In addition, the Federal Government, by law, provides indennity for public liability claims for an additional $478 nillion. Thus, a total of $560 million is avail-able to pay claims for damages in the extremely unlikely event of a nuclear accident.
Mrs. Card also expressed concern about the transportation t,f ustes. On page 337 of the enclosed Joint Committee on Atomic Energy print " Selected Materials on Environmental Effects of Producing Electric Power,"
Dr. Joseph A. Lieberman, former Assistant Director of Nuclear Safety, Division of Reactor Development and Technology discusses the management of radioactive wastes.
In addition, enclosed is a copy of a speech by Dr. Clifford K. Beck, Deputy Director of Regulation, on the " Requirements for Transportation of Nuclear Fuels and Wastes."
Enclosures:
1.
Three Booklets 2.
JCAE Print, Part 1 3.
AEC Policy Statement 4.
JCAE Print, " Selected Materials on Environmental Effects of Producing Electric Power" 5.
Dr. Beck's Speech-f
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SURNAME >
DATED
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fjaM 10/23/70 DATE OF DOCUMENT i
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TO ACTION PROCE55tNG DATEf INFORM ATIONAL COPY DISTRIBUTION
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ECT hriginal C Copy dply for signacure of Dir. of Trans Itr in Mrs. Bruce Card, Toledo, Ohio, espressing Ee2 oppositica to the construction of a cucicar plant in Ottawa County.
30763 REFERRED TO DATE Henderson
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DIRECTOR OF REGULATION Form HQ.32 (744)
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