ML20081A544
| ML20081A544 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 10/24/1983 |
| From: | Weiss E UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS |
| To: | NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20081A547 | List: |
| References | |
| ALAB-738, NUDOCS 8310260306 | |
| Download: ML20081A544 (5) | |
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00CKETED USHRC l
'83 OCT 25 A10N4 0FFICE OF SECRiTW UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 00ChETING & EERU.'
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COttiISSION BRANCH BEFORE THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
~In the Matter of
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METROPOLITAN EDISON COMPANY
.)
Docket No. 50-289
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(Restart)
('Ihree Mile Island Nuclear
)
Station, Unit No. 1)
)
)
UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS' MOTION FOR LEAVE 'IO FILE RESPONSE 'IO COPHISSION ORDER OF OC'IOBER 7,1983 On October 7,1983, the. Cbmnission filed an Order in the above captioned proceeding
'Ihe Order tenporarily stayed the Atmic Safety and Licensing Board renanded hearing on the so-called "Hartman allegations" and their relationship to General 1-ublic Utilities' management cmpetence and integrity and sought certain parties' views on continuing the stay pending completion of the investigation of this and other matters by hTC's Office of Investigations.
'Ihe Comnission sought the views.of the Aamodts, 'Ihree Mile Island Alert, General Public Utilities, the NRC Staff and the Ccmnonwealth because "no other party participated in the litigation of managenent issues before the Licensing Board."
While it is true that UCS did not participate in the original litigation on managenent cmpetence before the Atmic Safety and Licensing Board, we have 8310260306 831024 PDR ADOCK 05000289 O
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. consistently raised and pursued the inter-connection between issues arising out of the managenent phase of the hearings and the issues being treated in the design and operational safety phase of the hearings. We first explained this interrelationship in a pleading with the conmission prior to the hearings before the Special Master on Operator Geating. See Union of Concerned Scientists' Conments on Relarionship Between Reopened Proceeding on @ eating and Innediare Effectiveness, January 13, 1982.
After the Special Master found that many instances of cheating and misconduct had occurred in connection with operator examinations adninistered at 'IMI, that General Public Utilities' response had been inadequate and that the training and t.esting program was poorly related to the skills needed to operate a-nuclear plant, UCS pointed out to the Atcmic Safety and Licensing Board a ntaber of specific instances where the original conclusions of the Partial Initial Decision on design and operational safety, Decenber 14, 1981 were thereby undermined and required reconsideration. Union of Concerned Scientists' Comments on Report of the Special Master, May 18, 1982.
(A copy of that pleading is attached for the Ccumissioners.)
In brief, this pleading
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denonstrates that the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board's resolution of many l
design and operational safety issues raised by UCS was based explicitly or implicitly upon findings of an extraordinarily high degree of operator competence and managenent competence anxi integrity on the part of GPU. We believe that these findings were called profoundly into questf an by the diselosure of cheating and of a managenent attitude that allowed it to occur.
'Ihe Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, in its decision, accepted many of the factual findings of the Special Master while rejecting others and rejecting the overall thrust of the Special Master's Report, which found a pervasive lack of integrity as well as-widespread deficiencies in the content i
f
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- of both the Licensee's training and testing program and NRC's' testing program -
(Report of he Special Master, Paragraphs 251, 285-287, 15 NRC 918, 1020, 1934). %e Atmic Safety a'nd Licensing Board. rejected UCS's call for it to
- m assess the relationship between the findings of the Special Master on empetence and integrity and the design and operational safety issues.
Partial Initial Decision-(Reopened Proceeding), LBP-82-56, 16 NRC 281,
' Paragraphs 2419, p.381-382. UCS therefore appealed. Wat appeal is now pending before the Appeal Board _along with all of the other management issues.
See Ohion of' Concerned Scientists' Brief on Exception to Partial Initial Decision (Reopened Frot.eedi6g), September-30, 1982. A copy is attached for the Comnissioners. Wat:brief generally argues that the Atmic Safety and Licensing Board overlooked or gave insufficient weight to three points:
- 1.. Ethics cannot be separated fra cepetence.
2..- Many of the persons directly involved in misconduct were at the level-of GPU management; new procedures implemented by this management will not ensure against future deception.
3.
Both the content of the training as well as the integrity
- of persons was fotmd deficient.
mus, UCS has a' direct, docunented and continuing -interest in the L
remanded proceeding, which raises competence and integrity issues which cannot be artifically. separated from the NRC's consideration of design and operational questions.
In addition, since our discovery on May 24, 1983 of the fact that tha
-NRC Staff had found the Hartman allegations to be substantiated as early as
'the' winter of 1980, (a discovery which we made at the same time that the
, disclosure was made to the Comnission), UCS has reviewed the relationship of these charges to the Restart proceeding and has fully participated in every y
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opportunity to connent before the Connission and the Appeal Board. See e.g.
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' UCS Coments on Appeal Board Order of June 16,1983, July 1,1983; trS -
Coments on Comission Briefing of May 24,1983 (Emak Rate Falsification) and objection to Ex Parte Comunication, June 3,1983; UCS Support of Aamodts'
- Motion for-Provision of Information, June 27, 1983; UCS Coments on Dircks' Menorandun " Completion of MI-l Restart Review", June 7,1983, June 14,1983.
Indeed, in some cases, UCS has been the only Intervenor with the resources to -
provide alternative analysis of the Staff and GPU positions.
In AIAB - 738, the Appeal Board decision which reopened this proceeding to take evidence on the charges of systanatic leak rate falsification, the Appeal Board found as follows: "We believe the most fruitful way to achieve this [ move forward on the Hartman allegations and discharge its independent responsibility to protect public health and safety] is within the adjudicatory
- setting and with the active participation of all parties."
(ALAB - 738, Sl.op..at 25, Aug. 31,1983) We believe that these words were used advisedly.
It is UCS's intention to participate in the Reopened Proceeding in cooperation with the other parties, particularly tree Mile Island Alert.
- (bunsel for UCS and MI Alert have had extensive discussions to coordinate our participation and were, before the proceeding was stayed, in the process of
. preparing a join't filing to the Atanic Safety and Licensing Board in-response to its Memorandun and Order of September 14, 1983. Wis filing sets out, inter alia, the two parties' joint understarding of the scope of the issues and preliminary discovery requests.
Wus, in sunnary,1) UCS is already a participant in the managenent phase of these proceedings at the appellate level and has raised in that context the relationship between managenent competence and integrity and public health and safety, 2) has participated fully before the Comnission and Appeal Board on these matters at each opportunity since the disclosure that
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!. the Staff believed in 1980 that the Hartman allegations were true, and 3) intxnds to participate in the Reopened Proceeding ordered by the ALAB - 738 in cooperation with other parties, notably 21 Alert. % erefore, UCS has a direct interect in this proceeding, has denonstrated its capability to contribute substantially to the record, and is entitled to file a response to the Conmission's Order of Ck:tober 7,1983. We exclusion of UCS would not only be an abuse of discretion,-it would indicate that the Comnission wishes to exclude fran participa' tion the only Intervenor with even a modest anount of financial' resources.
Respectfully submitted,
\\./
Af Ellyd Weiss '
General
- unsel, Union of Ccncerned Scientists D1 closures Dated: October 24, 1983 I
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