ML19329G246
| ML19329G246 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Dresden  |
| Issue date: | 03/24/1980 |
| From: | Laxalt P SENATE |
| To: | NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19329G245 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8007140231 | |
| Download: ML19329G246 (3) | |
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Kelly Masterson 3/24/80 Respectfu1Ly referred to:
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..1 Nuclear Regulatory Conunission 1717 H. Street, N.W.
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Washington, D.C. 20555
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E.S B;c:23e of the desire of this office to be resp::nsive to all inquiries and cc::munications, your consideration of the attached is u...
rcqu:sted. Your findings and views, in duplicate form, along with return of the Cn31csure, will be appreciated by E
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March 18, 1980 Senator Paul Laxalt j
i Room 329 Russell Senate Office Building 5
Washington, D.C.
20510
Dear Senator Laxalt,
I am writing to you to call your attention to and request your action on the burial of flushed radioactive materials from the Dresden #1 nuclear plant in Illinois, at the disposal site in Beatty, Nevada.
On Ap,ril 1s,t a week of flushing 85,000 gallons of chemical solvent through Commonwealth Edison's Dresden #1 reactor will The flushed radioactive "crued" mixed with the flushing begin.
solvent will then be mixed with other chemicals to make it a
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solid, plasticlike material filling an estimated l?200 fifty-five gallon ~ drums.
It is our understanding that these drums will be transported to and buried at the NECo waste disposal site in Beatty, Nevada.
Because this project could have a potential' impact on citizens you represent, I thought it wise to inform you of some fo the special problems involved with the' flushing project that make it a matter of concern.
the flushihg process.to be employod will involve the use of chelating chemical agents'which many scientists and studies have found to hasten the migration of wastes from the disposal site.
Jerry Brubaker, a nuclear specialist on the Presid nt's Counci) on Environmental Quality has expressed concern over the chemical behaviour of the material when it has been placed in the environment.
- Further, a geochemist from Princeton, David Crerar has demonstrated in research between 1974 - 1978 at the Oak C ~
Ridge Labs in Tennessee that these chelating agents do "x in fact hasten the migration of radioactive materials V from the trenches in which they were originally buried.
I these chelating solvents ha've been used in waste buried in trenches at Oak Ridge where numerous problems have resulted including the radioactive contamination of water, vegetation
.and fish.
(see enclosure) 704 W. McWilliams Las Vegas, Nevada 89106 (702) 647 3610 n
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t franciscan CGDtSR chemicals used to solidfy the chelating agent / radioactive waste solution do not guarantee there will be no leakage from the drums into the earth and the water table.
A recent Science (June, 1979) article revealed that the resulting polymer matrix could still be pourous enough to permit liquids escape into the burial grounds.
This new project constitutes a massive expansion of the of the NECo site's role - indeed 1,200 barrells flushed out of one aging reactor is minor compared to 86,400 barrells flushed out of the nations seventy-two reactors over the next ten to twenty years that could well come Nevada's way if the precedent of Dresden #1 is set.
Compunding this expansion is the serious questions of migration of radioactive wastes away from the burial site and into the Amargosa farm valley.,
There are several other related problems but.I' am sure that the point is clear - there are many problems with the i
burial of the flushed waste that must be examined, explored and dealt with.
The real problem, however, lies in the reluctance on the part of the DOE, NRC, President's Commission'on Enviromental Quality to study these problems.
They have ignored petitions and letters calling for an Environmental Impact Statement.
It seems incredible to me that the DOE would foot $8.2 million of the flushing project but would be unwilling to assume an examination of the project's consequences.
I am sure that your interest and involvement in this issue could make,a difference.
It is imperative that you as a representative of ci-tizens most likely to be impacted, call for an Enviromental Impact Statement f r.om the DOE, NRC, and President's Commission on Environmental Quality or seek to encourage and establish a state strategy to block the burial of these wastes before we have answers to the many questions arising from the undertaking of this unknown, experimental project replete with dangers.
tbankyouforyourtime'andconcerninthissatterof I
tremendous importance to me and the Sagebrush Alliance.
Sincerely Yours,
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Kelly Masterson, ofm KM/kn.
Sagebrush Alliance 704 U/. McWilliams Las Vegas, Nevada 89106 (702) 647-3610
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