ML19338D448
| ML19338D448 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 08/15/1980 |
| From: | Snyder B Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Draz Z TRIBUNE CHRONICLE, WARREN, OH |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19338D449 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8009230233 | |
| Download: ML19338D448 (3) | |
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.AUGUSTi i s 1988 j,
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Mrs.1Zell Draz, Vice President
1The Tribune Chronicle -
240 Franklin Street S.E.
hj 1e Warren, Ohio 44482
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Dear Mrs. Draz:
I am writing in response to your mailgram to Commissi'oner Hendrie and your letters to Commissioners Hendrie, Gilinsky, and Kennedy and to Mr. Denton an
- regarding the release of radioactive gases and water from the.Three Mile !sland1J :
aa nuclear power plant.. I regret that_ this answer has been delayed for so long.' (..
4a The accident-and its' consequences have created a substantial increase in the' ' 6
'y agency's workload, which has prevented me from responding 'to you as promptly as I would have liked.
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With' regard.to your concern about the purging of the~' radioactive krypton, gas from the reactor building of:TMI Unit 2, Metropolitan Edison' Company submitted to NRC a " Safety Analysis and Environmental Report" (Novenber 13, 1979) in which it evaluated alternative methods for the disposal of.the krypton gases, such as purging,- cryogenic processing, and selective. absorption. NRC also evaluated.
- alternative methods for disposal of the krypton gas to determine what effect decontamination 'would 'have on workers, on public heilth and ' safety, and en the b.
environment. Based on its evaluation, NRC issued.an environmental-assessment-T (NUREG-0662 and two addenda) for public comments on March 26','1980, and received approximately 800 comments. These' comments were considered in the staff's preparation of the." Final' Environmental Assessment-for Decontamination of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 Reactor Building Atmosphere" (NUREG-0662), vols.1 and 2, copies of which are. enclosed for 'your information.
From this process)have emerged the.following NRC staff conclusions:
- The potential physical health impact on the public of using any of the proposed strategies for removing the krypton-85 is negligible.
- The' potential. psychological impact is likely to grow the longer it takes to reach a decision, get. started, and complete the process.
JThe purging ~ method is'the' quickest and the safest for the workers
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on Three Mile Island to accomplish.
- 0verall, no significant environmental impact 'would result from use
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. ofLanz of, the alternatives; discussed in the' assessment.
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Mrs. Zell Draz tUGusi 1 5 1980
' On June 12, 1980, the Commission issued an Order for Temporary Modification of License, authorizing controlled purging of the krypton-85 from the reactor butiding atmosphere.
In a separate Memorandum and Order, also issued on June 12, 1980, the Commission discussed rationale for its decision. Actual venting operations began on June 28, 1980, and were completed on July 11, 1980. The doses resulting from the purge were well within those predicted in section 7.1 of volume 1 of NRC's final environmental assessment. Copies of both Commission issuances are also enclosed.
With regard to your concern about the release of contaminated water, except for releases to the Susquehanna River of liquids containing only low or nondetectable levels of radioactivity, such releases are not currently permitted. The Com-mission has authorized use of the EPICOR-II water treatment systen for processing the waste water stored in tanks in the auxiliary building. We do not currently pennit the discharge of water processed by.the EPICOR-II system. The disposal of.the water processed by EPICOR-II and the disposition of other accident-generated water are addressed in the programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) on the decontamination and disposal of radioactive wastes at Three Mile Island. Copies of the PEIS are being made available for public comment.
As a result of releases containing only low or nondetectable levels of radio-activity, the levels of radioactivity in the Susquehanna are indistinguishable from existing background levels at public water supply intakes from the river.
These levels have been confirmed by ir. dependent measurements made by the NRC,
.the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
For more than four decades, the effect of radiation on men and animals has been thoroughly studied. Numerous major biological research programs (including studies of genetic effects) have been completed and others are in progress, all of which have been well documented. While the relationship between ionizing radiation dose and adverse biological effects among humans is not precisely known for all levels of radiation, the principal uncertainty exists at very low dose levels where natural sources of radiation and the variations in these sources are comparabie to other doses. The most important biologicai effects that radiation can cause are cancer, hereditary diseases, miscarriages, and abnormalities that may occur to a fetus. These effects are identical to those that occur among humans from other causes.
It is this last point in combination factors--such as magnitude and variations (1) in normal with other complicating (2) in doses from natural radiation sources, (3) in radia-incidence of diseases, tion doses from man-made sources other than the nuclear _ industry, and (4) in exposures to nonnuclear cancer-producing agents--that is responsible for much of the uncertainty in the dose-risk relationship at low dose levels.
In lieu of precise knowledge of the-relationship between low-level radiation and biological effects, radiation experts assume that ionizing radiation has an effect_on the human body that remains directly proportional to the dose, even at very low levels,. and that there is therefore no threshold below which radiation can be ignored. They therefore assume that any dose of radiation, no matter how low, may be hannful.
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1 JMrs.Zel1$Draz:
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1 everal federal agencies, principally' the Environmental Protection Agency.
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- the' OccupationalESafety;and--Health Administration, and thel Nuclear Regulatory-
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Commission,' are. responsibis for; regulating : exposures fiom radiatics or radio-I
- active material. - LIn.allicases, -the staffs of these agencies pset regulations'. J ' U Lto limit radiation exposures: tio those well below national?yl' add internationallyd"f 7
b accepted levels of. radiat' ion ! protection. -
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I A team'of investigators /from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the.Environmentali.
(Protection Agency,Eand:the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.. calculated 1'
the. doses to.the 'peopleLliving.within 50 miles _of the Three Mile Island _ site,and estimated the numberfof new cancer,s that would result from the exposure to the-radioactivity that leaked out of the plant. _ The team reported their work in a m
- report entitled, " Population Doseland Health. Impact of the Accident at the. Three
' Mile Island NuclearLStation"- (NOREG-0558). They concluc'edjtha't the off site collective dose associated with radioactive material released from March 28
.1979,L to April 7.-1979,L represents minimal ~ risks (that is, a ved sia11/ number
.:c of additional health: effects to the offsite population). Enclosed for you in-formation is the summary of NUREG 0558.
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~ I appreciate your concerns' and is being made tb
. ensure the continued. protection; assure you that every effort
.of,the health.and safety of the public,'not only.at :Three Mile Island,}b0t'also at all nuclear. power plants.
4 Sincerely. -
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Bernard J. Snyder,' Program Director Three Mile Island Program Office' 1
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Enclosures.: _ 1.
NUREG-0662, vols.o1 & 2 2 ~. Order foryTemporary Modification of License of'Ju.ne 12,;1980
- 3. > Memorandum ani Order of; June'12,-1980 4.- ' Summary:of NUREG-0558 -
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