ML20076J200
| ML20076J200 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Zimmer |
| Issue date: | 05/31/1983 |
| From: | Sierra Club |
| To: | Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20076J122 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8306200372 | |
| Download: ML20076J200 (3) | |
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR.BEGULATORY COMMISSION ATOMIC SAFET_Y AND LICENSING BOARD Mr. John H. Frye III Judge Stanley M. Livingston Dr. Frank F. Hooper In the Matter of a
CINCINNATI GAS AND ELECTRIC 8
COMPANY, ET AL, DOCKET NO. 50-538 (William H. Zimmer Nuclear S@
Power Station)
Bequest from the Cumberland Chapter ~of the Sierra Club to File an Amicus Curiae Brief Pursuant to 10 C.F.R. 2 715 the Cumberland Chapter of the Sierra hub requests permission to file an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the Miami Valley Power Project's e
renewed attempt to seek Atomic Safety and Licensing Board hearings on eight quality assurance contentions oh the Zimmer Nuclear Power Plant. Alhough the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations only discuss briefs in the context of appeals, a staff attorney at the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board informed the Government Accountability Project, which represents the Miami Valley Power Project, that similar briefs could be submitted in support of a motion to reopen hearings, if all the relevant requirements are met. In the Inst the NRC has accepted amicus briefs on the appellate icvel as a matter of discretion,even before there were regulations allowing them for administrative appeals (43 Federal Register, p.17800 April 26,1978).
- 1) he Cumberland Chapter of the Sierra Club is the Kentucky division of the Sierra Club, a national environmental organization formed in 1892. The mailing addressofthechapter,whichhasapproximately1900membersise/oOscar Geralds, 259 West Short Street, Lexington, KY 40507 2)TheSierraClubasanationalorganization works to restore the quality of i
the natural environment and to maintain the integrity of ecosystems. The Cumberlani i
Chapter participates fully in this goal, with emphasis for chapter projects on the preservation of the environment within the state of Kentucky.
The chapter is convinced that the Zimmer Nuclear Power Plant poses a grave threat to the integrity of ecosystems in the state. A major radiation release, which seems a virtual certainty, if the plant operates without first undergoing substantial repairs, would contaminate the land, air, and water of Kentucky, which the chapter has striven hard to preserve.
'The three groups, which, along with members-at-large, comprise the chapter would each te directly affected by a major accident at Zimmer in a different way.
Because of a peculiarity in the terrain arouni Moscow, Ghio, the radiation plume would probably be blown towards Cincinnati ani Covington, where the northern Ken-tucky group is located. Heavy direct contamination would be likely to cause residents of Covington to leave the city. Se most obvious impact on Louisville, where a second group is located, would be contamination.of the drinking water, since Louisville draws its water from the Ohio River, downstream from Moscow.
Residents of the Lexington area, where the Bluegrass Group is located, would be likely to fini themselves having to cope with contaminated people and vehicles, as ohh PDR
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many residents of northern Kentucky and Cincinnati would flee south on I-75 21s is an eventuality or which inhabitants of central Kentucky are in no way prepared.
Bluegrass members have studied CPR and First Aid but not what to do to help throngs of radiation victims. Food supplies for all three groups would be likely to be affected, as radiation enters the food chain.
- 3) he views of the Cumberlani Chapter on Zimmer should be taken into account by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board because the Cumberland Chapter has a history of leadership in protecting the environment in Kentucky and because its mem-bers, scattered through the state, represent a concerned segment of the general public.
The chapter has a record of preserving wilderness and agricultural lands as well as working to prevent air and water pollution. When the chapter was established in the mid seventies, it led a successful fight to oppose the construction of a dan in Red River Gorge, an eastern Kentucky wilderness area filled with special geologi-cal features and natural beauty.
More recently it organized the successful effort to forestall mining by the University of Kentucky in its Robinson Forest, a fragile area donated to the university for research purposes; and it has been involved in negotiations to preserve the Beaver Creek Wilderness, the only section of the state in the natiom 1 wilderness system. In 1982 it was instrumental in the passage by the Kentucky legislature of a law to promote the preservation of agricultural land in Kentucky. It has fought for auto emission controls in Jefferson County, and is now concerned with the pollution of Lexington's water supply by brine from oil wells.
The chapter also has a record of concern with energy issues, specifically the
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preven tion of abuse of the environment by the coal, synthetic fuel ani nuclear power industries. It worked with the Kentucky Department of Natural Resources to help shape the package that gave Kentucky " primacy" in rega:d to regulations for surface coal mines, and is now trying to hake; federal regulations embody the intent of Congress in its 1977 Surface Mining and Reclamation Act. The chapter submitted comments on proposed synthetic fuel plants ani on proposed oil shale regulations for Kentucky.
In the nuclear area, it has not only monitored developments at Zimmer but has submitted detailed comments to the Kentucky Department of Natural Resources on a proposed inter { state low-level waste compact and has taken a leadership role in trying to make the projected transportation of spent nuclear fuel through Ken-tucky safe.
l The importance of the Sierra Club as a voice for the environment in Kentucky is illustrated by positions held by its leaders.
Members of.the Sierra Club were instrumental in forming the Kentucky Conservation Committee, the only environmental organization which has a lobbyist in Frankfort throughout sessions of the state legislature, and officers of the Sierra Club have also been officers in the Kentucky Conservation Committee. A member of the executive board of the Bluegrass Group of the chapter was twice elected chairman of the state's Environmental Quality Commission. Furthermore, a former chapter chairman was the anvironmental representative on the state's Special Advisory Conmmittee on Nuclear Issues, as long l
as that committee was in existence.
Licensing hearings do not normally have amicus briefs, but they do routinely include'" limited appearance" statements by interested members of the general public.
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"Ihis form of participation by members of the public... has been a welcome and valuable part of the Cocaission's licensing proceedings" (43 Federal Register p.17800, April 26,1978). Amicus briefs in this instdnce play the same role as as ' no license hearings have existed for limited appearances limited appearances, since the public became aware of the gravity of the construction problems at Zimmer.
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