ML20058E565
| ML20058E565 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Pilgrim |
| Issue date: | 10/26/1990 |
| From: | Carr K NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Udall M HOUSE OF REP., INTERIOR & INSULAR AFFAIRS |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20058E567 | List: |
| References | |
| PT-024, PT-24, NUDOCS 9011070217 | |
| Download: ML20058E565 (2) | |
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October 26, 1990 CHAIRMAN The Honorable Morris K. Udall, Chairman Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs United States House of Representatives Washington, D. C. 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
I am responding to your letter of October 11, 1990, requesting that the Commission reconsider its response to Chairman Kostmayer's September 14, 1990 letter concerning the Pilgrim nuclear power facility.
The Commission continues to believe that the hearing, now scheduled for October 30, 1990, in Plymouth, Massachusetts would set a troubling precedent that would lead to other field hearings across the entire spectrum of our regulatory t
activities at which Commission attendance would be required.
Our concern is that such participation would be disruptive to the Commission's operations.
Initiation of Commission partici-t pation in field hearings would constitute an unusual situation itself since we are not aware that other agency heads or regulatory Commissions have been reevived to appear at field hearings.
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Therefore, the Commission believes that the Nuclear Regulatory l
t Commission (NRC) must respectfully decline Chairman Kostmayer's
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invitation to testify in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on October 30, 1990.
I informed Chairman Kostmayer in our letter of October 2, 1990, that we would be pleased to appear at c hearing in Washington, D.C.,
at a mutetlly agreeable date.
The Commission remains ready to do so.
I want to emphasize that, although some misstatements by the idt staff concerning emergency preparedness have been made, the Commission does not believe that its Pilgrim restart decision was undermined by the ineccurate information.
The Commission recognizes, however, that e,uestions have been raised on.the current status of emergency planning.
For this reason, the Commission believes that it is extremely important to ensure i
that Federal, State, and local decision-makers share a common understanding of.the current status of off-site emergency planning for the Pilgrim site.
To facilitate this under-standing, the Executive Director for Operations has established an NRC task force with FEMA participation to review the comments presented at the September 6, 1990 public l
meeting in Plymouth, to review the forthcoming FEMA status 9011076fi/901026 PDR COMMS NRCC i
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report, to conduct field verification of issues in dispute, 6nd to issue an updated emergency preparedness ttatus report.
I expect the task force, in conducting its review, to work closely with the State and local officials having responsibility for off. site emergency planning.
The direction to the task force emphasizes the importance of local and State involvement.
Additionally, we have askea the task force to recommend, based on any new information, whether the NRC should reconsider its i
finding that the Pilgrim emergency plan provides reasonable assurance of acequate protection in the event of a radiological emergency.
A review of this nature is an extraordinary ef fort that we believe is appropriate in this situation.
Until this review is complete, we believe that our participation in a hearing on this $bbject is premature.
I went to assure you and Chairman Kostuayer that this Commission is cetermined to thoroughly address the issues concerning emergency planning for Pilgrim with the partici-pation of those directly responsible for such planning in the Pilgrim area.
he will keep you, Chairman Kostmayor, and the other affected Nembers of Consress informed of our findings and actions to address the issues before us.
Sincerely, U Mt%.k Kenneth M. Carr cc:
The Honorable Don Young 1
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