ML20077G025

Supports Reopening of Record on Mgt Competence & Integrity. All Questions About Illegal & Irresponsible Gpu Actions Must Be Answered

ML20077G025
Person / Time
Site:	Three Mile Island
Issue date:	07/29/1983
From:	Specter A SENATE
To:	Palladino N NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
References
NUDOCS 8308030310
Download: ML20077G025 (2)

Text

ARLEN ,C PECTt*a PCNNMVANIA , e

.s SERVED AUG 21983 JUDICIARY

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Chairman Nunzio J. Palladino [

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission emcee %.

Washington, D.C. 20535 ,

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Dear Gairnnn Palladino:

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It is my understanding that the Appeal Board of the Nuclear Regulatory Comission heard oral arguments on Thursday, July 28, 1983 concerning three melons to reopen the record to review issues bearing upon the manage-ment ccnpetence,and integrity of General Public Utilities (GPU) It is

, my firm belief and conviction that the record nust be reopened, that eviden-tiary hearings on GPU management competence and integrity be held, and that all questions about illegal and irresponsible GPU actions, as well as all doubts about management integrity and ccrnpetence must be fully resolved before restart of the No.1 reactor at Three Mile Island is consid-ered.

Questions raised by several recent developments necessitate such action. NRC Executive Director Dircks' May 19, 1983 menorandum to you reported that several "open iscucs" prevented the NRC staff from affirming

. its 1980 conclusion as to the integrity and competence of the nanagement of General Public Utilities Corporation. Dircks, in a July 15, 1983 memoran-dum to you, which I have received, states for the first time the feeling of the NRC staff that "the Comission should give serious consideration to whether an evidentiary hearing on management competence and integrity

, ' should be held prior to the restart of TMI-1." The memorandum states that, in order to reach a staff position on management integrity, a number n't of issues must be evaluated further. These include the Hartman allegations that leak rate data was falsified prior to the accident, the Parks and

, King allegations that procedural requirements were not being adhered to during the clean-up of the No. 2 reactor, ard the failure of GPU to turn

. e over to.the NRC in a timely manner the reports on GPU management integrity

' Tofitwo'GPU coamissioned independent consultants, BETA and RHR. The contents

-of these reports, Dircks points out, must be reviewed in order to determine whether they contain any new information material to the resolution of

. the.Conmission's decision on restart. In addition, the memo articulates 2 :the need to-fully evaluate -the- trial records of the GFU v. Babcock and Wilcox suit, which bears heavily upon the inadequate state or training and maintenance prior to the accident, and specifies the need to incorporate the findings into an overall position on staff management.

I am deeply troubled by Conmissioner Gilinsky's memorandum of June 22, which I received from the NRC, containing his tentative conclusions.

His detailed and emphatic complaints about the integrity and competence of GPU management echo and amplify.the'NRC staff's reservations as expressed

._by_ Dire %or Dircks. The comissioser Betails the withholding o' f information

.7 by GPU on. Mar'EE 28;'1979, the- day o_f ' tee accident, the extent of operator cheating on e:Eminations and GPU's response, and measures taken by GPU

._in response to the NRC's post-accident requirements. He points to these 8308030310 830729 f

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Chali,'aan Nunzio J. Pallcdino Page h .

as examples of GPU's dishonesty, slowness, and incompetence. For Conmis-planning the top managem atnt ofNo.

GPU.1, the only way to resolve the myriad pro Comissioner Gilinsky's references to cheating are supported by

.the findings of the NRC Special Master and Licensing Board, who agreed that cheating had repeatedly occurred on the company-administered weekly quizzes Island which were part of the special training course for ihree Mile operators.

Engineer, two Shift Supervisors, a Shift Foreman and two Control Roo Operators had cheated.

In addition, the Report of the Special Master reveals that the GPU attorney in charge of the cmpany's internal investiga- .

tion into cheating " failed to develop or pursue evidence of cheating which was clearly relevant." On July 22, 1983, just last Friday, the NRC levied a $100,000 fine upon GPU for material false statements associated with an August 3, 1979 letter to the NRC certifying a particular individual's satisfactory compeletion of an accelerated requalification program and with a November 15, 1979 application by the individual for renewal of his Senior Operator's License. Such acts of cheating are a clear and

. potentially catastrophic threat to public safety.

In light of the critical information which has recently become avail-able,'it is imperative that'the NRC Appeal Board reopen the record on l the favorable 1981 decision of the NRC licensing Board with regard to  :

managem nt issues. t

y In addition, I call upon the Conmissioners to allow the appellate and evidentiary hearing process to run its course before a deci.sion is made on restart of IMI 1. The NRC must reopen the record  ;

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.with regard to GPU management integrity and competency. The issue demands

_ clear resolution. [

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..its ownCertainly, GPU feels it would be of public benefit - as well as

.to restart No. 1. The management also has explained to me  !

1 .that inccme from a restarted No. l.can be applied to the cleanup of No. [

L

~$2; ~Buti~these two natters must be kept separate. ' An increase in in-W

% funds a should not be the rationale foriestarting No' 1. I reiterate,

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~ ll questions about illegal and irresponsible actions and doubts about L integrity and competence nust be fully resolved before restart of the

-6..No;4 reactor can be considered. The public around Ihree Mile Island I(

must be protected; exhaustive and vigilant examination of the aforementioned E issues is necessary to ensure this protection.

Si rely, p

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Arlen S r #

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cc: Conmissioner Victor Gilinsky  ! s

~ Comrissioner Thomas M. Roberts Commissioner James K. AsselstinE Chairman B. Paul Cotter Atomic Safety and A LicensingBoardPanei Chairman Alan S. Rosenthal, Atomic Safety and g'- E=

i. licensing Appeals Board a4,.fj' .

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