ML20040G592
| ML20040G592 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 02/04/1982 |
| From: | Udall M HOUSE OF REP., INTERIOR & INSULAR AFFAIRS |
| To: | Palladino N NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8202160281 | |
| Download: ML20040G592 (2) | |
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i February 4, ~19 8,2, i. 74 m,
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The Honorable Nunzio Palladino fU M
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Dear Mr. Chairman:
N I want to express deep. dissatisfaction with the manner in which the Commission has handled one important aspect of the Three Mile Island accident. This concerns reporting failures that occurred on March 28, 1979.
The initial inquiry conducted by the Office of Inspection and Enforcement (I&E) did not address the issue; the inquiry conducted by the NRC Special Inquiry Group was incomplete.; and the most recent I&E investigation undertaken after my repeated urging was wholly inadequate.
You did not respond to my November 4, 1981 request for an explanation of I&E's failure to conduct a comprehensive inquiry with regard to reporting of information to State officials.
Recently we have observed the sorry spectacle of high level Commission staff seeking to make a distinction between " knowingly" and " willfully" withholding information...
required to be reported by NRC regglations.,.-a--distinc'ti6n that appears acceptable to a Commipiogg@ority.
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commission's ability to confront si{ confidence in the This history dres little to inspire tuations involving an i
apparent willful violation of its regulations.
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For my part, I do not accept your staff's tortured distinctions between " knowingly" and " willfully. "
Notwithstanding the fundamentally flawed character of the NRC investigations, the record is such that a fair reading of' it leads to the conclusion that significant information was willfully withheld from State and Federal officials on the first day of the accident at Thr$e Mile Island.
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Hon.
unzio Palladino February 4, 1982 If I believed that continuation of our dialogue on this j
matter would lead to a satisfactory resolution, I would continue to press for a response particularly to the e
question as to whether the Commission believes that persons, i
who acted as stated in the conclusions of the House Interior Committee staff report, did willfully violate the Commission's regulations. But given the Commission's apparent determination to avoid confronting the issue directly, I have concluded that further requests for a clear resolution are' destined to result only in more obfuscation.
Finally, your inaction on this matter has done more than to raise questions about the. Commission's credibility.
Your response to this serious violation of NRC regulations conveys to your staff the notion that circumstances exist where the interest of the greater good dictates avoidance of findings that would force administrative actions that imply commission of a criminal act.
Moreover, in permitting staff to conceal a problem with obfuscatory language and with words having meanings different from those in common usage, you set a poor example for your licensees.
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