ML20076J136

Ohio Sierra Club Amicus Curiae Brief Supporting Miami Valley Power Project Motion to Reopen Record to Admit Eight Contentions.Contentions Provide Evidence That QA Problems Exist.Certificate of Svc Encl

ML20076J136
Person / Time
Site:	Zimmer
Issue date:	06/16/1983
From:	Good R AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED, Sierra Club
To:	Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
Shared Package
ML20076J122	List: ML20076J120 ML20076J136 ML20076J152 ML20076J164 ML20076J169 ML20076J183 ML20076J200 ML20076J209
References
NUDOCS 8306200341
Download: ML20076J136 (6)

Text

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m, r p' UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Before the Atomic Safety and Licensino Board In the Matter of: )

)

CINCINNATI GAS AND ELECTRIC )

COMPANY, et al. ) Docket No. 50-358

)

(William H. Zimmer Nuclear )

Power Station) )

AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF OF THE OHIO SIERRA CLUB IN SUPPORT OF MVPP'S MOTION TO REOPEN THE RECORD On June 2, 1983 the Miami Valley Power Project (MVPP) petitioned the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to reopen the record for litigation of eight contentions on two issues which have not been considered by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB). The two fundamental issues MVPP seeks to litigate are the breakdown of the quality assurance program (QA) and its repercussions at the William H. Zimmer nuclear power station (Zimmer); and the lack of corporate character and competence of the Applicant, Cincinnati Gas and Electric l

Company (CG&E), to operate a nuclear power plant. MVPP has eight contentions it seeks to litigate with respect to the two abovementioned issues.

Sierra Club asserts that the eight contentions are serious l

enough to warrant reopening of the record. When weighing the l

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4 magnitude of potential harm that could result from the operation of an unsafe plant against the inconvenience of reopening a hearing, the former concern must certainly prevail. The Sierra Club further asserts that the NRC has a duty to the public to guarantee that a nuclear power plant is safe before it is allowed to operate. Any doubts should be resolved against the Applicant. The contentions raised by the MVPP are well documented and indeed produce more than a modicum of doubt. The thoroughness of MVPP's actions and participation in this proceeding lends credence to the seriousness of the problems it is asserting exist at Zimmer. Its Motion must therefore be granted.

The eight well-documented contentions raised by MVPP are as follows:

1. CG&E and its contractors have failed to maintain sufficient quality assurance controls to ensure that the as-built condition of the plant reflects the final version of a design that complies with all applicable regulations and requirements for public health and safety as required by 10 C.F.R. 50, Appendices A and B. .

2. CG&E and its contractors have failed to maintain an adequate traceability j system to identify and document the i

history of all material, parts.

l components and welds, as required by 10 l C.F.R. Part 50, Appendix B. Criterion VIII.

3. CG&E and Kaiser have failed to maintain an adequate quality assurance program for vendor purchases, as required by 10 C.F.R. Part 50, Appendix B, Criterion VII.

\ .

4. CG&E and Kaiser have failed to maintain an adequate quality program to identify and correct construction deficiencies, as required by 10, C.F.R. Part 50, Appendix B.

4 5. CG&E and Kaiser failed to maintain adequate controls to initiate, process and respond to internal Non-conformance Reports identifying violations of internal or government requirements.

6. CG&E and Kaiser have engaged in illegal retaliation against QA/QC personnel who attempt diligently to perform their duties or who disclose QA deficiencies outside the chain of command, in violation of 10 C.F.R. Part 19 and Part 50, Appendix B. Criterion I.

7. Reforms imposed by the April 8, 1981 Immediate Action Letter, such as the Quality Confirmation Program have been inherently and empirically inadequate to adequately mitigate or solve the serious consequences of the QA breakdown at Zimmer.

8. CG&E lacks the necessary character and competence to operate a nuclear power plant.

Any one of these contentions alone is serious enough to warrant reopening the record. At the very least it is evident that grave problems continue to exist at Zimmer that have not been satisfactorily resolved. This opinion is not only held by the intervenors in this proceeding and members of the local population. The NRC has taken such strong action as to order the shut down of all safety related construction at Zimmer.

Indeed, even the co-owners Dayton Power and Light Company (DP&L) and Columbus and Southern Ohio Electric Company (C&SOE)

l are attempting to abdicate responsibility and have demanded arbitration. (See Exhibit 1 to MVPP's Motion to Reopen the Record).

With so much uncertainty surrounding the safety of the Zimmer plant and the ability to verify the same it is imperative that the record be reopened to litigate the eight abovementioned contentions. The health, safety and welfare of the public should be a paramount concern which the NRC has a duty to protect to the extent possible. Failure to reopen the hearing to seek the answers to the problems raised could have grave consequences of untold magnitude.

Laatly, the information sought to be introduced by MVPP fall within the parameters of newly discovered evidence which could not have been produced during the hearing. The rules of evidence and procedure should allow the MVPP to present this new evidence which deals with highly relevant events which occurred subsequent to the hearing. Without this evidence, the record is incomplete. A fully developed record mandates its inclusion. Therefore, the Sierra Club beseeches the NRC to reopen the hearings.

Respectfully submitted, t

l THE SIERRA CLUB By dton Good '

/

l6lP3 Attorney at Law I

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing pleading was served by ordinary U.S. Mail, postage prepaid, upon the following persons this !do day of June, 1983:

Chairman Nunzio J. Palladino William J. Moran, Esq.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory General Counsel Commission Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co.

Washington, D.C. 20555 P.O. Box 960 Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Commissioner John F. Ahearne U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Chase R. Stephens Commission Docketing and Service Branch Washington, D.C. 20555 Office of the Secretary U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner James K. Asselstine Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Washington, D.C. 20555 Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel Commissioner Thomas M. Roberts U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission l Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 Washington, D.C. 20555 Commissioner Victor Cilinsky Atomic Safety and Licensing U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comm. Appeal Board Washington, D.C. 20555 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission John H. Frye, III. Chairman Washington, D.C. 20555 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Lynne Bernabei, Esq.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Government Accountability Commisssion Project Washington, D.C. 20555 1901 Q Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20009

Dr. Frank F. Hooper Administrative Judge Charles A. Barth, Esq.

School of Natural Resources Counsel for the NRC Staff University of Michigan Office of the Executive Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 Legal Director U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Dr M. Stanley Livingston, Commission Member Washington, D.C. 20555 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Brian P. Cassidy, Esq.

1005 Calle Largo Office of the General Counsel Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 Federal Emergency Management Agency David K. Martin, Esq. 500 C Street, S.W.

Assistant Attorney General Washington, D.C. 20472 Acting Director Division of Environmental Law John D. Woliver, Esq.

Office of the Attorney General Legal Aid Society 209 St. Clair Street P.O. Box 47 Frankfort, Kentucky 40601 550 Kilgore Street Batavia. Ohio 45103 Deborah Webb, Esq.

7055 Alexandria Pike George Pattison, Esq.

Alexandria, Kentucky 21001 Prosecuting Attorney Clermont County Thomas Devine 462 Main Street Miami Valley Power Project Batavia, Ohio 45103 1901 Que St. N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20009

}6 Ron Good'

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