ML20062K308

Requests Response to Encl Constituent E Parmett Re Health & Safety Concerns of Families Near Plant

ML20062K308
Person / Time
Site:	Yankee Rowe
Issue date:	11/20/1980
From:	Conte S HOUSE OF REP.
To:	Kammerer C NRC OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS (OCA)
References
NUDOCS 8012100072
Download: ML20062K308 (5)

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g Mr. Carl Kammerer, Director Congressional Affairs y

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Dear Carl:

Please find enclosed copies of correspondence from a group of my constituents 'regarding the Yankee Atomic Plant As residents of the immediate area, in Rowe, Massachusetts.

they are obviously concerned about the health and safety of their families.

I would appreciate it if you and your staff would re-spond to this organization as soon as possible regarding this important matter.

With warm regards, I am Cordially yours,

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Member of Congress o3 30C/gd 5

Enclosure cc:

Elaine Parmett l

Rowe Nuclear Conversion Campaign cc:

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Dear Mr. Conte,

Since the beginning of October some concerned community members of Franklin County have been unable to receive in-formation requested from both the Directors of Yankee Electric Company and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

We are writing to you as we are frustrated by the lack of response by the above.

On Octc,ber 2nd a public meeting was held with 2.40 people present representing a broad segment of the people from surrouading towns by age and occupation.

No represe nta-tive from the main office of Yankee chose to appear.

We would, therefore, like vou to contact the main office in Mt borough and requey,'.t_ hat ~Ihey answer t h' "'i'57u'e~s'tT6ns e

sent to them by registered mail.

We [ould also appreciate your help in contactirg the N.li,C. and requesting that they set up a public hearing in Franklin County regarding Yankee with all sides present.

Please send us copies of all correspondence concerning this matter.

If possible, it would be helpful if you could come to this area and meet with us.

In my opinion whether one agrees or disagrees on the safety of nuclear power, I strongly feel that the people of the United States are entitled to inf ormation from a public utility.

Sincerely,,

Elaine parmett Enc 1s.

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igows NUCLEAR CONVERSION CAMPAIGN BOX 3-2-1 Howe, Ma., 01367

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Yankee Atomic Electric Company Executive Offices 20 Turnpike Drive Westborough, Ma.,01581 From: Concerned citizens in Franklin and Berkshire Counties Ro:

Unanswered Questions

Dear Friencs,

We are neighbors of the Yankee Atomic plant in Rowe. We live in the Berkshires and in the Valley, sharing this beautiful place. We love this land and our lives here We work hard and hope f or a long, healthy and peacef ul life for ourselves and our f ami!!es.

Since Tnree Mile Island, we have become increasingly concerned about the nuclear plan: in our back yard. It is now time for us to raise our deep concarns in a public way.

YANKEE ATOMIC in~Rowe, Massachusetts has been shut down since January. Before it re opens this November, we'd like answers to these unanswered questions.

1.

Yankee Atomic in Rowe is 20 years old this November.ls this plant' wearing out?

What is the life expectancy of a nuclear power plant?

e Has any commercial plant ever functioned longer than 20 years?

Was it not announced at the beginning of the plant's life, that its life ex-

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pectancy was 20 years?

• Yankee Rowe has been closed since January. The last two times Yankee attempted to start up, there were accidents. Are these accidents related to the old age of the plant?

• Can we be assured that there will not be more accidents when the p' ant attempts to re open?

2.

What plans exist for the decommissioning of Yankee Atomic? How much will it cost? Anc who pays forit?

Will the Yankee Atomic Electric Company guarantee that the high cost of decommissioning this plant be paid by the owning utilities and stockholders-not the consumer?

. Will all plans for decommissioning the plant be made public immediately?

Will citizens be given a voice in the important decisions surroundirig e

decommissioning?

3.

In the event of a permanent shutdown at Yankee Rowe, will the Yankee Atomic Electric Company guarantee job security for allits employees?

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• If the plant is closed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commissien?

• If the plant is closed by a major, Three Mile Island type of accident?

• If the plant must close because of its old age?

• If the plarit is closed by public coinion?

In cace of a nuclear accident whst is the evacuation plan?

• Our schools, hospitals, nursing homes and businesses are all especially vulnerable in such an emergency. How will we saf ely evacuate these places?

• How ef fective are current plans, which in some cases move citicens closer to tne plant?

. Will the Yankee Atomic Eicctric Company accept fuit firancial responsibility, i

Cver anc above the limited government insurance. for any lusses of our croperty l

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s lution to the prob! ems of safe,long term storage for radioactive waste?

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wdl waste disposal plans for this area be made public?

. How much waste is stored in Rowe? Hcw safe is it? For how long?

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. Who is responsible for the costs of nuclear waste disposal at Rowe? The

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consumers? The stockholders? Taxpayers?

. Will the Yankee Atomic Electric Company guarantee that Rowe, Massachu-

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setts will not be used for a New England wide nuclear waste dump?

+ What are the ef fects of nuclear radiation on our health?

AS NElGHBORS of New Englan6s oldest nuclear power plant, we want a say in deciding the answers to these important questions. We also have co1cerns.

WE ARE CONCERNED for the quality of our lives here. We're concerned that in 1977 and 1978, cows' milk in Franklin County was contaminated with Strontium 90 and Cesium 137. While the company insicts this was due to Chinese bomb f allout, researcit shows there was not a bomb test within 3 moriths of the readings.

Rat *1er, the contamination came exactly at the times when faulty fuel pr0blems plagued the plant, causing releases of radiation. The fuel problems scon af ter required shutdown of the plant. This information became public knowledge only after it was subpoenaed by the Greenfield Coart during an anti-nuclear protest trial.

WE TRUST that the company still stands behind this statement:

"NO PART OF QUR OPERATION HAS EVER BEEN KEPT SECRET. OUR PLANT HAS

<LWAYS EEEN OPEN TO EVERYONE AND WE'VE ALWAYS BEEN GLAD TO SEND CUR REPORTS TO WHOMEVER MIGHT REQUEST THEM."

-Plant Superintendent, Wendell Johnson,1964 In the spirit of this statement, we've arranged for a PUBLIC MEETING to address these anc cther important questions. Please send at least one member of the Board of Directors of Yankee Atomic E:ectric Company to provide answers to these cuestions.

S.n=e many of these questions involve company policy, it is absolutely necessary that we talk with a member of the board which makes these policies. We promise that this forurn wal not be a cebate, but an open and honest question and answer session.

PUBLIC MEETING THURSDAY. OCTOBER 2nd,1500 Mohawk Trail Regional High School Auditorium R.e.112 Buckland. Ma, 7:00 p.m.

Of course, we will be happy to speak with you anytime, cut for the benefit of everyone, we expect to see you on October 2nd.

Sincerely.

The Rowe Nut; lear Conversion Campaign Box 3-21 Rowe, Ma. 0136T R.S.V.P. (4*3) 339 5362 or (413) 625 6196

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res. cent of the tow n of Rowe u.at. shomd an accioent ever happ r, our emtney.n are k

.#*Mear nas t cars. Each day mer ist at your inends and " P*bI mou;d 14 ;:ro4c;ct In ou.y us e.... wd our

1. '2brs urne frem their hcmes i9 How e and surroua.d-rtvised.mergency plan to the Nucecar Regule;&r) Com.

mise fv metr ramm he and local aunc es hase I e[re c.d uerm at i annev ap; rruare the monderful quahty f f ommunit.es to work at tne Yan.cv p4 ant We who hw am cnotted W.r emevney plans u W Federal

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c I;:e in trw Daerfield Rive r \\ a. e> Many of us have beep 1;mers t cy \\f.n.aement Aenry oncec5r7rmentsarere-

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.nce IOs e nen cuu:ructior. Drst s;arted on tse a e M.

.! p.ans w ! he hne..a%m) tesicG g

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dehoo s. hosp.tals anc nur ang homes ret eive spec:al at.

, in uvernra r. Yankee ceienrates its 20th birihday. We tent um m all emergancy plain Pratective actions. m ne h-

.mno operate tne p. ant are ser. proud of our I:0 years of er caused by floccs nurricanes. tornadJes or 9uclear

n te service. In those 20 } ears our plant has produced over emergenue+. are speed ed for these sp* cia! faciaties if L tW1 on Mom att hoars and sas ec aver.

5 mdhon t a reis the es e nt is terioas enougn. es.suaten of 'fiese spec:al Ia-

)! o.1 and m21. sons cf docar> ror

ne peop.e of New Ecg-cia::ca mill ne performtd by local and s:me civil defense

, land agencies.

Recantly me recened a copv of a letter contauung a I;s:

yanne,3:,,uc carned:ws msthtn vi h.cnutv insurance

, f quesuons about Yanace Tnese questiona and our an-p us an.uldoona b;49 null:on e.i.ndurtry -cb m>ur.aae,.

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'5v.ers may be of interest to many peopie in the valley. For combmed to peld a total pritc:e msaranee prctect.on of

this rtason we are sendmg our answers to local newspa*

SW mdhon On tcp of that, me a4so pay the gesernmem

.pe rs We hope they will prmt these answers m their en-for an adcational 1 D million wortti ef insural.ce for a total ltzrcty so that everyone who as amerested can read them.

of $Md milhon As more nue ear p! ants become operanon-Now forthequestions:

at th:s sma:1 amcrant of gotarnment insurance will be eh-l Quesuon 1: Yankee Atomac in Rome ss 20 years old Uus r unated and tne to'ai priva e nr.surance cwerage edi ce

.Nos ernber. Is this piant wearmg out?

increased beynnd!W mdbon.

Arswer I: The hfe expactancy of any power plant ts Question 5: Is there a so;utacn to the protilems of safe ateut ;0 to 4d years Yanice Atom?c has an operaung 11

. cense which estends through IM. %e smcerely hope the long term storage for radioactive u aste?

'ptant operates untd then and perhaps beyond. Yankee ts Ansm e,r 5: The answer to inis question is an unequivocal

"}cs \\ 4rtua!!y ever) belectific stud) smcc IC rtas con.

'.the third cidest commercial nuclear plant an the Uruled

' States. The oicest is m Shippingport. P1. which started thhd inat safe radioactsve waste storage is practical As

operaaon in 15 57 and is still coerateg.

mmly as A N Ammcan Physics! %crety p.;ths7ed Yarue Rom e has been snut doan smce Februarv of this a res"rt staimg that there are no technnlogical f.arners to k ear t s repair the steam turo;ne. a tion-nuclear part of the sa c storap Itad oact've u aste deposa! thus beenmes a

• llant There :urnines are common to all electne plants D'J 3Cai pn'ble'n ra:her th2n a technu.a! proniem Con-

,tnat b.rn od. coal or gas. We expett that Yankee Atomac gress has delegated u.e re-wnstinh:. of Ngh level m aste wiu tw cperat:ng & gam m Nos ember.

storage to the Depar* ment of Energy Congress seems W ch the mamtenance, impro ear,ents and attenten **

ah'.ur rc edy to enact leg:stanon g vmg the Dy;.r ment of

. f Er. ergs necessarv funcmg. auf terity arid cuidance to

,are gning the plant. Yankee sitou.d be able to operate for wme years to come. In the past > } ears of operation.

t,u:Ic a demonstration piiot facibly to nall> accomphsn Yanc-= Rome has outperformed many cf the neuer thet.a L pants. ;eadmg credarce to the ahge tr.at with ruclear There are tra u at te dispowl plans for our site m Rome.

pants. as 4tti propie "the older }ou get the better you M*e 03') a ante storage at home is low le.el u aste tempo-gety rarily stored prior to shipnient to a maste reposacry m South Caru.ma or Washmgton state We aN store used Question 2:What plans enst for the decomcussiontng of f uel at the Yanket plar:t in water storage pools % e do not e

NacKee Atorruc? How m ach u G) 11 cost? And utio pays for cons? der these used fuel elements as maste smw inese

st' tuti clememt st:11 contain large amounta of usetu! fuel Answer 2: There are no dc6mte pians for decommts.

u hrer can be recycled mte new tuel CatG ;he federal gov.

sior&g the Rcme plam at this 1arne its previously stated, ernment accades to resu ne such recycime me wdl have to t*e operaterig beerse for inc p. ant extends untd twf7 and stori the used suel on site or ship the used tuel elements to a

me nope to ope rate the sant at leaat that long.

a gosernment repository.

Hum ever, the \\ucle.r f tegu ahir) Commission iNRCi

.stcrmg the tue! uncer water is common practice all can revoxe the I;ce*tse at any time If that w ere to happen.

user the world. The longer a fuci elemer.t is stored, the tne plant woLid have to be decc r.missioned. We would lower the raden activity that is contamed mside It is our expect to c.sraant.e the p ant completely and restore the hope that the government u di soon decide tc resume recy-site to a natural site, suitah!c for any use cimit of this used fuel so that me can utill:e this i aluable Pnor to disrcantimg. ar enuronmental irnpact resource. The cost of uistc %posa: s pant h) the users of stater.1ent u ou6d ;wrmail) he prepared by the NRC. Thair encetr: city. Just lAe all the etner costs of produema efee-usual practice is to publ sh suct. Atremems for pubhc triaty 't hese dspasal costs are relatively small, amount-c on.n.et leh re decora.n.saiuian,; rauld proceed.

mg in aemut t ;wrcent of the t**!al (mt of electricity He sase esumated the cost of decommissionmg the includmg an allou ance f or u!! mate dispopal by the feder.

p.ar.t at ahott g30 tmlhon m toda)'s dollars We mou:d al government of high level maste from noclear fuel pro-e xpWt this decommis aoning cost tc tw paid by the users cessing of eie:tricity from the pl ant. }ust as they pay the cost of

!! ss nighly unhkel) that our Rome site wdl ever be used Dudding the plant and the other tosts uf producmg the for maste d:sposal purposes. It :s our uriders*andmg that e ectricity, such as fuel. mamtenance and taxes. This is any such waste repository would have to be on govern-true of any product - the user pays the cost of produemg ment land. There is. however. a real need for a low. level the product.

waste cepository somewhere m New England The south-The ceccmmissiontng cost. when averaged c4 er all the ern and Western states are not gomg to accept our New electricity prnduced by the plant. is only about 5 percent England mastes forever, whether they come from hespr of the cost of electric:ty from Rome..The cost of power tals, f actories, or power plants.

from the Rome plant has been so low that over the past ilse years alone it has saved the users approximately 56s Quesuon 6: What are the effects of nuclear radiation on our health?

mt; hon Today. sf we had to shut couTi Yankee and budd g Answer 6: There are no measurable effects e 4 our nem pant to colace the power, us would have to spend a9out f*40 million. So you can see uc a!! have an econornic nealth from the rachat'on that me are emp6 sed to Nau;ral enumnmenta. background levels are about 129 mdhrems incent:ye to keep Yankee operatmg est-h ) car A <.ngle chest 'ersy msches shou! So mdli-Q.estion 3: In the event of a permanent shutdown at radaa,,Mn. H yw noud hs the *.'ankee gate 24 Mm>

J das s a year, you could get as much as t han a day Yarm r.ov e, s e: Yankee guarantee job security for a;l md:arem auJibor.a!. uluch as whviously ms;gmhcant.

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( peuple har suggested t at eacesme radioactivs Ar.s a er ;: Yankee Rose 4 staffed with luGhly skd'ed

" "* ""'d ! ** ' h' I PIJ"' 3' hO d' I?'3 AEC Frsonnel shu are m great riemand. The competence of Out it cuntawnabd mimin me aka his is n'"wutous t! ese people is contmually mamtamed throuph ret ammg un

)a M to ne me marce of thiw umte-and requalification m their areas of expertise. The ray WH Ms in mA sim.lw gmundless cnarges 1.r.u p; ant has teen it e source ce trained professtenals swe made ns the same pe>ple at the %!!sicae Nuclear fcr cthe r nucacar piants particu;arly m New England an: sne in t meticut he Ennmnm*nts: Prowerion

!!ur:tecs e.f Yanneatramed profemonais are assu=nm in acer *.:p rrwes a the nuclear mcustry all oser the ene.

'D"C7 ma* d" M CoTesm an IVd to n.ses'igate De

\\ NN ed that Iah' tNm uc% m test;n try !!. a Jo, twl.et u ncn crmand fo* the type of ;wron

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Octoser 6, 1 COO Chairman end Oc=:issioners nucienr Regulatory Cocmission 1"th Tloor Washington, D.C., 20555 Deer Co::iscioners, f

Cn October 2nd,1030, 250 citizens who live near the Yankee Ato=1c plant in Rowe case.to the Mohayk Trail Regional Hic School, in the hopes that Yankee Atomic Elecpric Co:pany officials would

' - - " answer their questions about the plant.

One conth before-this meeting, on September 2nd, cur r,rcup sent the enclosed questions to the co=pany headquarters in Westborough Ha We also sent a copy to the plant super:ntendent, Herb Autio, We requested thenpresence of a = ember of the Board of Directors, to answer questions at the meeting.

On September 27th, we ree:eved the enclosed respcnse. Included was a statecent that the power cocpany would not send a representativ to the meeting.

On Septe:ber 20th, a delegation fron our group went to the cc:pany headquarters in Westborough, urging them to reconsider their de:ision, and to please send someone to the teeting.

We felt that Ier our own, and the public's, full understanding of the answers we needed to discuss and clarify the responses with the company., The nnswers given us, as you can see, raise additional questions. We wer.

tcld on this day that "it would not be productive" to have a Yankee Atomic representative at the teeting.

Any additional questions, we were told, would only be answered it writing.

Numerous phone calls by area residents and local elected officials were responded to si=ilarly.

, We are some of the 250 people who attended the public ceeting last thursday.

Most of uCT' as with those at the =ceting, live in the 10 =ile evaruation zone surrcunding the plant.

At tne teeting, the people registered strong dissatisfacticn with the written answers.

5 cf the66 questions were ruled " inadequate", by voice vote.

The exception was question #3, ruled " inadequate" by a 3 to 2 margin.

?cople are angry and hurt by the fact that the company would not attend an open ceeting with the plant's neighters. We feel that the Yankee Ato:ic Electric Co:pany does not have the ccncerns of the pecple in mind.

We have two requests of the H.E.C. :

Hels in cettine the cocoeration of the Yankee A tomic Electric 1.

Comoanv; Please inform us as to what rights we have to ask qu estions of the c =pany, and recieve adequate answers about the operatio of Yankee Atomic in Rowe.

We would like to know what voice we are guaranteed, through your agency and others, in enking the important decisions that affect our life here in i'rankilin and 3erkshire Counties.

Specifically, we want a say in the issues outlined in our letter to Yankee Atomic.

a rub 1'ie hearine, with te Nuclear Deculotorv Commi 2.

We reonest here in 'trank1:n Countv. Massaenusetts, oefero ne nien: re-one Onzs fall; As ycu are well aware, Yankee Fewe has been shut down since yebruary, due to a turbine accident.

A number of issues have been raised about the continued operation of this 20 year old nuclear plant.

This is a fer=cl request for a hearing, to cecide wnether Yankee Ecwe shoald be all:wed to re-cpen or not.

215ase get back to us in tne next week or :o.

Yankee Rowe, neccrding to the co pany, is scheduled to re-open by Novc:ber ist.

We lock forward to hearing from ycu and meeting you, and Thank you for ycur concern.

s acerely, d cLP 0 }?

l7 the Eowe Nu: lear Ccnversicn icepc:C I

e1D 33c-m 2 0L

.etter to rankee

c, N:m:n=e f :- Ycnkee en: crure:

Sicn,tures er t:e tutrer :: th:: et:er.

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