ML20054E119
| ML20054E119 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 04/19/1982 |
| From: | Dircks W NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | Walker R HOUSE OF REP. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20054E120 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8204260159 | |
| Download: ML20054E119 (2) | |
Text
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93 APR 211982> 92 The Honorable Robert S. Walker
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Dear Congressman Walker:
I am pleased to respond to your request for information necessary to reply to the enclosed letter from Mrs. Ruth S. Gilbert, concerning the discharge of radioactive water from Three Mile Island Unit No. 2.
Ever since the accident on flarch 28, 1979, there have been no releases of radioactive liquids from the THI Unit 2 liquid radioactive waste treatment system. Any such releases are prevented by administrative procedural controls, as well as by the placement of a blank flange (solid metal barrier) in the discharge pipe. Additionally, accident generated waste water, as defined by the settlement agreement between the City of Lancaster, Met-Ed (now General Public Utilities-Nuclear), and the NRC (see enclosure 1) has not been discharged, but has been stored on site since the accident.
Disposal of accident generated water is also prohibited by a Commission Order.
Even after processing, such as through the Submerged Demineralizer System, the processed water is still considered to be accident generated water, fio proposal for disposal of processed accident water has been received from the licensee, General Public Utilities-Nuclear, and none is expected before early 1983, if then.
There have, however, been releases of water from the Till site which contain minute amounts of radioactivity, originating from Unit 2.
These concentrations are so low that they are not detectable, even with very sensitive measurement techniques, at the point of discharge. Industrial waste water, incidding water collected from rain runoff, plant process water (for cooling and other such systems) and other sources, primarily from TMI Unit 1, are mixed with the cooling tower blowdown of approximately 30,000 gallons per minute, and released to the river, continuously, each day. These releases are made in accordance with the station's National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (fiPDES) permit, issued by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania currently has NPDES permitting authority, and TMI releases of such effluents into the Susquehanna River are made under the Commonwealth's jurisdiction. All liquid effluents from the Till site released to the Susquehanna River after processing are made within regulatory limits and in accordance with NRC requirements and the City of Lancaster Agreement.
In addition, the NRC continually reviews the licensee's actions in this regard 2
I to verify compliance.
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The City of Lancaster agreement was specifically referred to by Mrs. Gilbert.
This February 27, 1980 Agreement has received wide public attention.
In particular, it was specifically addressed in the NRC's Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on the cleanup of TMI-2 (PEIS), and was discussed, openly, at many of the scoping and comment meetings held with the public in Pennsylvania and Maryland during the development of the draft and final PEIS.
In addition, compliance with the City of Lancaster Agreement has been, and will continue to be, specifically acknowledged in every NRC Three Mile Island Program Office Weekly Status Report issued since December 22, 1980.
Mrs. Gilbert also asked about sanitary wastes. All sanitary wastes, whether from temporary, portable or fixed, permanent facilities on the island, are collected and transported, off-site, to an approved sanitary waste processing facility. With an average population of 1200-1500 workers and visitors on the THI site, about 7000 gallons of sanitary wastes are produced each week.
For the nature of the TMI activity..this quantity is considered to be rather small, due to the use of portable sanitary facilities, and an effort to minimize such wastes.
Sincerely, Med)T. A. Rehm William J. Dircks Executive Director for Operations
Enclosures:
1.
Settlement Agreement 2.
Ltr fm Mrs. Ruth S. Gilbert Distribution:
Docket 50-320 LUnderwood PDR SECY LPDR Case /Denton EDO PPAS TMIP0 R/F Eisenhut TMIS R/F Hanauer LBarrett fia ttson BJSnyder Thompson ELD Vollmer OCA (3)
Check SCavanaugh PBrandenburg (ED0-ll691)
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