ML20029E530
| ML20029E530 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 05/11/1994 |
| From: | Taylor J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | Goodling B HOUSE OF REP. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20029E531 | List: |
| References | |
| CCS, NUDOCS 9405190040 | |
| Download: ML20029E530 (3) | |
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 2055'@ 001 my 11,1994 The Honorable Bill Goodling United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515-3819
Dear Congressman Goodling:
I am responding to your inquiry of April 8,1994, on behalf of Ms. Clarice Parsons of York, Pennsylvania. The form enclosed with your letter stated that Ms. Parsons would like the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to stop disposing of nuclear waste at the Three Mile Island (TMI) facility and that she believes it is unsafe and poses a threat to the health of the surrounding community.
The NRC interprets the word " dispose" as meaning to place material in a final state or place, such as by burying, not to be retrieved in the future.
Neither the NRC nor GPU Nuclear Corporation, the licensee for TMI, dispose of nuclear waste at TMI. The NRC does not own any nuclear waste at TMI which would require disposal. GPU Nuclear Corporation would need a special license from the NRC to dispose of nuclear waste at the site and they do not possess such a license.
The NRC has issued licenses that permit GPU Nuclear Corporation only to operate the TMI facility and to possess nuclear material, including fuel and radioactive waste, associated with operation of the facility. Thus, GPU Nuclear Corporation is only authorized to store nuclear material onsite or to ship material offsite to a licensed waste disposal facility or repository.
The NRC monitors, through its onsite resident inspectors and region-based ir.spectors, compliance by GPU Nuclear Corporation with the NRC's regulations to ensure public health and safety associated with operation of the facility.
As part of the monitoring process, the NRC also requires annual reports from GPU Nuclear Corporation that itemize shipment of radioactive waste to licensed waste repositories.
Radioactive waste generated in the course of operation of TM! Unit 1 (THI-1) falls into two categories, (1) spent (used) fuel, which is classified as high-level waste, and (2) low-level waste consisting primarily of such things as contaminated tools, rags, and protective clothing. All spent fuel generated since initial operation of THI-1 in 1974 is, and will continue to be, stored in large water pools at the site. Storage of spent fuel in this manner (under about 40 feet of water) presents negligible risk to workers and virtually no risk to the general public.
Storage of spent fuel onsite is common to all nuclear power plants in the United States and will continue until the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) completes and licenses a Federal high-level waste repository.
Low-level radioactive waste generated by operation of TMI-l is currently shipped to a licensed low-level radioactive waste repository at Barnwell, South Carolina.
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The Hono'rable Bill Goodling Operation of TMI, Unit 2 (TMI-2) ceased following the accident on March 28, 1979. Approximately 133,000 kilograms (kg) of core debris remained in the TMI-2 reactor vessel following the accident, including approximately 94,000 kg of uranium dioxide fuel.
Of that amount, all but approximately 925 kg (the estimate of record), or about 99 percent, of the residual ruel was shipped to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho and is under the control of the DOE.
Copies of the material helance reports and physical inventory listings documenting these shipments are on file at the Government Publications Section of the Local Public Document Room (LPDR) for TMI located at the State Library of Pennsylvania, Walnut Street and Commonwealth Avenue, Box 1601, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105. As of late 1993, TMI-2 had been decontaminated and defueled to the extent reasonable and was placed in the Post-Defueled Monitored Storage (PDMS) condition on December 31, 1993.
I have enclosed the NRC's license amendment and supporting safety evaluation issued on September 14, 1993, prior to TMI-2 entering PDMS for Ms. Parsons' information. At such time as the operating license for TMI-1 expires (presently April 19, 2014), both TMI-l and TMI-2 will be decommissioned and all radioactive waste material will be shipped offsite to waste repositories for disposal.
Insofar as Ms. Parsons' concern regarding TMI posing a threat to the health of the surrounding community, please be advised that a very thorough study was conducted and a report was published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in July 1990.
The report is entitled " Cancer in Populations Living Near Nuclear Facilities" and has been assigned NIH Publication No.90-874.
This research was conducted totally independent of the NRC and GPU Nuclear Corporation.
The report can be purchased through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. My staff has also verified that a copy of this report is on file at the LPDR in Harrisburg.
In conclusion, no nuclear waste has been or will be disposed of at the TMI site, only stored.
I hope this is response to Ms. Parson's concerns.
Sincerely, d by 0;
agm James M. TaylW James M. Taylor Executive Director for Operations 1
Enclosure:
As stated 0FFICE LA:PDI-4 PM:PDI-4 D:PDI-4 D:DRSS:NRR TECH ED i
NAME SNorris*
RHernan*
JStolz*
FCongel*
MMejac*
DATE 05/04/94 05[04/94 05/04/94 05/05/94 05/04/94 0FFICE ADR1 D:DRPE ADRP 0:NRR EDO /
OCA j/
NAME JCalvo*
SVarga*
LReyes*
Russell *
[
i8k DATE 05/05/94 05/05/94 05/05/94 05/06/94 05//6/94 05/ M /94 0FFICIAL RECORD COPY DOCUMENT NAME:
G:\\G00DL.CEJ
- See previous concurrence
DISTRIBUTION:
PDI-4 Centrolled Correspondence File Docket Files NRC/ Local PDRs EDO #0009990 EDO Reading J. Taylor, EDO J. Milhoan, EDO
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H. Thompson, EDO J. B1aha, EDO W. Russell /FMiraglia, NRR 3
A, Thadant, NRR
^
L. Reyes, NRR(Acting)
D. Crutchfield. NRR F. Gillespie, NRR S. Varga, NRR F. Congel, NRR R. Bernero, NMSS J. Calvo, NRR E. Butcher, NRR J. Stolz, NRR R. Hernan, NRR S. Norris, NRR T. Martin, R1 W. Lanning, RI A. Blough, RI R. Keimig, RI J. Rogge, RI 0PA OCA SECY-CRC-94-0355 NRR Mail Room (EDO #0009990)
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01 son C. Nagel K. Cyr, 0GC S. Burns, OCAA t
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