ML19350C866
| ML19350C866 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 02/05/1979 |
| From: | Basdekas D NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REGULATORY RESEARCH (RES) |
| To: | Harold Denton Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19350C865 | List: |
| References | |
| ZECH, NUDOCS 8104060913 | |
| Download: ML19350C866 (2) | |
Text
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UNITE D STATES o
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMM!ssioN f
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WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555
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FEB 5 1979 MEMORANDUM FOR:
Harold R. Denton, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation FROM:
Demetrios L. Basdekas Experimental Fast Reactor Safety Research Branch
SUBJECT:
REVIEW 0F REGULATORY ACTIONS AND STAFF FOSITIONS WHICH RELIED ON WASH-1400 RESULTS I appreciated'the opportunity to have met with you last Thursday to discuss your activities regarding the further consideration of items
' identified and categorized in SECY-78-637 as a result of the subject review.
.Your invitation to have me attend as an-observer another meeting later that afternoon to hear scheduled presentations on the subject matter was very useful.
You were kind enough to ask me to comment to you and your'DivisiLn Directors on the presentations after they were concluded.
In respanse to your request I made the following points:
There is more common ground than not between what I perceived o
,to have been the consensus at the meeting and what I believe is-a correct interpretation of the Lewis Committee's discussion of WASH-1400 deficiencies and its. use in the regulatory process.
I reiterated the major points-I had raised in recent communications I prepared responsive to the Commission's desire to receive comments on the matter.
e.I was not familiar with the details of all the issues presented at the meeting.
However, based on my overall impression derived from the twelve or so presentations, there seemed to have been an attempt on the part of.those who made the presentations to convey to you their honest perception of the extent to which they had relied on WASH-1400 results in the decision making process:in each case. However, I expressed the opinion that this might not have been as successful because "they knew
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Harold R. Denton FEB 5 1979 what you [all] wanted to hear."* Therefore, I pointed out that you would have to be mindful in your decision making of the associated uncertainty in your receiving a reasonably realistic assessment of the use of WASH-1400 results in specific regulatory matters.**
In response to a comment on the Clinch River application e
I pointed out that heavy reliance was placed on WASH-1400 in drawing up the May 6, 1976 letter to the applicant and NUREG-0139, CRBRP Final Environmental Statement, Section 7.1, involving, among other things, the Reactor Shutdown Systems and the Decay Heat Removal Systems.
e The fact that certain safety issues might have been treated only partially or not at all on the basis of WASH-1400 results, does not necessarily mean that their treatment by the staff was technically sound.
(This question and its relation to the safety issues of NUREG-0138, NUREG 0153, and NUREG-0410 was not discussed at the meeting).
After the meeting, and according with your preference, ? offered to give you privately my comments on the specific issues presented.
You indicated you might want them at some later time.
I will be glad to do-so at your convenience.
-Thank you again for the opportunity to participate in this exchange of views.
& S L A en & *.- -
Demetrios L. Basdekas Experimental Fast Reactor Safety Research Branch cc:
-S. Chilk, SECY
~S. Levine, RES R. Budnitz, RES
- If there was-any doubt in anybody's mind about that it was certainly
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removed by the frequent and almost explicit reminders offered during -
the presentations by some senior members of your. management team.
This.is closely.related to the problem of conflict of interest
- considerations, when the individual that made a potentially' improper
- use.of WASH-1400 results is called to give an assessment of-it.
-Although I strongly:believe that this should be done, I also believe that it should be supplemented by some form of independent assessment as I have: advocated in my December 26,1978 memorandum to R. Budnitz.
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