ML19332C621
| ML19332C621 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Comanche Peak  |
| Issue date: | 10/20/1989 |
| From: | Riccio J NUCLEAR INFORMATION & RESOURCE SERVICE |
| To: | Grimsley D NRC |
| References | |
| FOIA-89-461 NUDOCS 8911280354 | |
| Download: ML19332C621 (3) | |
Text
.
t
- p. -
.j f[
i n
I Nuclear Information and Resource Service 1
142416th Street, N.W., Suite 601, Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 328-0002
.i Board of Directors Kay Drey 5L Louis. Mo October 20, 1989 Anne Hess.
New York, NY Mr. Donnie H. Grimsley
- oan goi, Division of Rules and Records New York, NY Office of Administration and Resources Management David H. Horowit2
"'" Y "Y U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ER.E.EDOM OF INFORMATI0li En'iY'"c' A Washington, D.C.
20555 ACT REQUESI siiuordan FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REOUEST g
^'"
Dear Mr. Grimsley:
h /ggg Chevy Chase, MD M gan B'"Y T *vlo' Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C.
- 522, as amended and -10 C.F.R.
9.8 of the h*y'n\\"$ "', DC-Commission's regulations, the Nuclear Information and Washington Kathleen welch Resource Service requests the following documents regarding the down grading of a severity level III Budal. NY
' 'Y 8 d violation at Commanche Peak in NRC Inspection ~ Report
[','[3 Comm ttee to Bridge the cap
- No. 50-445/88-47; 50-445/88-42.
H..Shannon Phillips lune Allen originally filed the violation regarding the L
t Non^m"e' tai Coahtion, sandblasting of the protective coating on the service Water piping.
The NRC later downgraded the violation Backus. Shea & Meyer' to level IV.
In a June 1989 memo to the NRC Phillips Robert Backus 1
Dr. Rosabe Bertell requested that the level III violation be reinstated.
Institute of Concern for NIRS requests that the NRC provide the June 1989 Pubhc Health
- h Actress memo from Phillips to the NRC. While the NRC has not
[
eardara sosson l'
Lu7c,Co'u'u'"
yet released this document tu the public, t copy has been obtained by the Fort Worth Star Telegram and was
, n l
E'Eoc[cy in"iitute.
the subject of the attached article.
l.
Harlan Elbson pursuant to and in compliance with 10 C.F.R. 9.41 l
Author of the Commission's regulations governing requests for
' Er'of$f Cod'r'n'MeSine, waiver of fees, the Nuclear Information and Resource l
CUNY Medical School' Service, herein after referred to as NIRS, puts forth l
Marla Gibbs
^Ni coidberg
%e RW&g Moma&n.
h NIRS seeks the requested information solely to l.
Actress lanet Hoyle
$vir [m'e'ntal Defense teague, contribute to and help shape the public debate on nuclear issues.
Dr. H.w. tbse, California State Universitv.
NIRS intends to use the information in order to Dr. Judith Johnsrud E"j,a","'p'o",',Coahuon on determine whether any further action is necessary.
u Charles Komanoff l
Komanoff Energy Associates
- NIRS is qualified to make use of the requested Dr. Marvin Resnikoff Radioactive Waste Campaign
- Mary Sinclair dedicated to a sound non nuclear energy policy.
creat Lakes Energy ^\\ hance *
b r
J
..in rmation.- The staff has, demonstrated the ability to interpret information and communicate that information in a
form-comprehensible to the general public.
Members of the NIRS staff have published articles in-such national journals as Tha Progressive, Nuclear Times, Newsday and The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.-
NIRS has a working relationship with physicists, engineers, medical doctors and other respected professionals who contribute to the full understanding of technical records.
The information sought by NIRS, is not, to'the best of our.
knowledge, in the public domain.
The general public has displayed-great interest in nuclear issues and the requested information will certainly: increase the public's understanding of this matter.
NIRS has demonstrated its ability and commitment to inform the public on all important nuclear issues.
NIRS regularly publishes two journals for which this information will be of use, the Nuclear Monitor and Groundswell.
Since 1978, NIRS has been providing information on nuclear issues to the public,.the press, members of Congress, state and local government officials as well hundreds of citizens groups across the country.
NIRS provides as this information free of-charge and has neither a-commercial nor a private interest in the agency records sought.
Under the amended fee waiver standard, NIRS.is. clearly entitled to a full waiver of all search, review and duplication fees.
This standard calls for such a waiver, "if disclosure of-the information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to the public understanding-of-the operation or activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. " 5 U. S. C. 552 (a)
(4)
(A).(iii).
In light.of the foregoing, NIRS' request meets this standard on its face.
NIRS has no commercial interest in-this matter, but rather seeks this information to help the general public - better understand the role of government in ' regulating the ' nuclear industry.
.For all the reasons cited above, NIRS' request falls squarely within the Congressional intent in enacting the Freedom of Information Act and the fee waiver provision.
We, therefore, ask that the Commission grant a full waiver for this FOIA request.
Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.
If you have any questions in regards to this request, please feel free to contact me.
Sincercly,,
Mmes P.
Riccio
At issue in Philhps' memo is TU But Phillips. in his J:ne rnemo md
[.
"3 Dectric's overught of repairs made in se utihh Ad a de & M.
.m T~4 CCUSe
{ $
1988 t> the enice *sier piping that M h iu @ m m g prosides cooling aster from atacent gram to the agency p, I Sauaw Creek Reservoir to man) of the De instedor produced 'an internal a
4
- c a
3 plant s reanor systems-TV memo written by W.G. Guide-
.I M
Utility engineers discovered in 1985 mond.,the utili,ty's special assistant to i
O CeIVlHg L
that a coating applied inside the metal the nce president for engineerits pipes to prevent erosion had begun to which Philhps said showed a pattern of y
bhster and flake The problem wss re-shoddy impection techniques by Tl/
"I ported to the nuclear comission in
- Dectnc, HUCIeRrP3HeI
(
1986, and beginning in April 1988,the He also said that the utiht) substhut.
,5 o
utihty hired an outside contranor to ed "surveillances" for " inspections %n remote the coating with sandbluting sorne construnion,in w hich quaht) as-4 equiprnent.
surarwt personnel simply resiewed do-cumentation of completed work rather By Stas JoNrs Midwi> throu the repairs,involv.
man ik actual equipment.
Rarmey also said Philhps is no ing W fut o piping, Philhps said Onmes said this week that Philhps, TU Dectric misled the Nuclear Reg-stranger tocontroversy.Tbc formerin.
that he wsrned the utihty that the work vlatory Comminion atout construe.
spector, who retired in July, grabbed wu not teirg donc proper!) and that it argument may pro 7 e enough justin-id ing tk uotaim,
tion problems at Comanche Peak nu-headhnes t*o yea s ago when he said wu po sible h sedb' asters could eat eaa,on u
apinat t e utiity.
clear power plant in an efiort to a void a that omeials of the regulatory panel's teyond the coating and darnage the harsh reprimand for safet) violations Reg >on IV omce in Art.ngton had ha.
Pipes.
"Right now I'm tending to be in-uncovered last > ear, a former NRC in-rassed and intimidated Comanche Accordmg to Philhps, the utihty ig-clitied towstd a,d.sescrity lesel 1 spin," Gntnet sau spector has said.
Peak insgetors into doutpuding in-nored his u aming and wtnt on with the
, Using "inaccurav and, incomplete, spen;on reports.
. work Soon afterusrd,TU's quahty in-NRC omeials in Washington. citing information, the utihty successfully Phi!!im was 6ted duringthc height of l speetors.which are responsible for en-the con 6dentiahty of the ongoms in.
persuaded top comminion omeials in the controversy but was reinstated after.
sunrig that all construction or repairs vestiption, dechned to comment yes-Washir gion to os errule the recommen-an intema! insestiption ba:ked up rnect sina NRC guidehnes, cerufied terday.
sesuaW1Mmpem(ssmem As
& M as saWam Juanita Olis, former direcor of bli-I nd ow g a e5 t ee a result of the compaints by Philhps On Aug 2, after the pipes had been sens Asweiation for Sound Energ),
a 1988 inspoion report, according to and other insgoors, oversight for Ce placed ba:L in use, TU Deetne ciscow, which has headquaners in Dallas and the formerins;rctor H Shannon Phil-manche Pcal wm transferred from Re*
ered a half inch hole in or.e of the pipes-has opposed hcensing of the plant, de.
hg son D to a special projects disision of Further insestiption rescaled damage scnted Philhps' alleptions as "sery Chris Grirnes,who heads the nuclear Ih*
C to more than 650 feet ofpiping. some of disturbmg "
ager.c)'s special projecu omee moni.
ggg gg which had to be replaced tonng construnion at Comanche Peak, closel monitored construction at the
,,g sand the alleptions are beingtakernery plant as counsel for an intersenor Philhps, in a September inspection whether or not TU has improsed their on the incident, found that the attitude as much as we had ho;xd.";.he s ko group, said the had conduced aninde-repon,s quahty control process had b a T E gndent review of Phillips statements unht) said.
n at month to obtain a liceme from the and had con 6rmed their accuracy. She broken dow and recommended that
,igency to load nuclear fuelin the nucle-said her findings further suutest that four "wsent) level 111" violations be Dhs and her orpnuanon dropped opposinonio Comanche Peak last year at plant s Unit I reactor and kgin oper.
TU eacned pressure on top NRC man-lesc!cd spinst the company.
in a $4 5 milhon settlement agreerneni
- ".".He's essentially telhng us that theagernent to doopade Philhps'inspec-Lese! !!! violanons are among the with the utihty. As pan of the aree-tion findings, and she said that the toughest lesied spinst a utihtb rded-ment, homeser, Dh5 has been aDowed utihty misled us about what the) had agene) was guilty of" regulatory com-ing the agency 5 position that the prob-to panicipate in meetings with plant done,in response to previous viola-
,, g,,,;pg ;
"I think there was some hean poli-lemsrepresent"signincantconcern:" A manage ment and tnonitor its progress
' e are co ecrned a ut he h ticlung done by TU of the NRC and it Gne is also impmed TU4 Ramse) said yesterda3 that the there's reas.on to question the candor of s2s successful," said Garde, who said Gnmes of the NRC said he agrud utiht) was completely fonhcorung the utihty.
She and a former plant opponent, Jua-w ith Phillips' recomme ndauons. as did with the regulatory agency on the pipe Philhps made the chargesin an agen.
nna Dhs, are drafung a letter to the H H Usermore, lead senior insMctor, repair problems He also said Philhps' c) memorandum in June, which has ndear agem te protest a ns-a nd RoNn % arnick, assistant dire $tcn stverwnuvah M Ww kim s nce beu tumed over to the NRC's Sh' "'50 80'l i5 d' "
for insgetion prognms at Comanch" rather than acid safety problems in.
d'#'sion to refer Philhps,th the NRC's omee ofinsestiption for review.
memo to the Peak.
volving plant equipment.
The intemat memo, a copy of which OMce ofInvesiiptions rather than to Howeser, TU Deoric obj.ected to was obtamed by the Star Teleram.
act on it as pan of the Uce nsing process.
the findings, a guing that the quaht)
"The bottom kne in all of this is do
.'hile under investiganon, Garde assurance problems were an isolate #
you have a product that will do the job 8
ni a reinstate 1 of h when you get tLrough.and I think what who had cited the utility last year with' said, Philhps' state rnents become conn-case in the piping incident.
a we cenain!y do is satisfy ourselv es that dendal, presenting the agency from In Januar), citing the utility *a argu-Ic.xits in the nandling of water pipe taking the issue into account in decid-ments, the oMces of nuclear reacoi that's the case,",Ramsey said, noting that the afected piping hasbeen naed repairs at the 59.1 bilhon plant, ingifTU Dectrie deserves an operst ng regulation and enforcernent in Wash-TU
Dearie omeials,
who said they were unawarc of Phillips' memo until ington downgraded the violations to TU Dectric hopes to app!> next UC'"58-contacted by a reponer,said yesterday
- 1 think that that was a decision that sesenty level IV.
month for a heense to beginlow power Gnmes, who said he took pan in the operation at the nuclear plant's Unit I that the company had not misled the had as in intent to take the manage.
commission.
ment attitude issues off orthe plate and Gnal decision, described the uulity) reactor. Comanche Peak is near Glen argument as persuasive.
Rose, 45 m!:es southwest of Fort j
"The utihty presented its case.{'
"It's dimeult to respond to a lot of to try to rnale it a criminal issue,"
i
- Worth, details that we don't have," said TU Garde asserted. "It is important when Grimes said. "Two of6ce directors de-spokesman Dick Ramsey in Dallas.
you're setting ready to put a plant on cided, and the rest of us concurred ob
But we think there's no basis for say-the line that the utility deal truthfully Itl IV "
ing we tried to nuslead anybody on with the agency,regardless of the conse-this.
quences."