ML20086H124

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Georgians Against Nuclear Energy Response to NRC Interrogatories & Request for Production of Documents.* W/Certificate of Svc.Related Correspondence
ML20086H124
Person / Time
Site: Neely Research Reactor
Issue date: 07/07/1995
From: Carroll G
GEORGIANS AGAINST NUCLEAR ENERGY
To:
NRC OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL (OGC)
References
CON-#395-16889 95-704-01-REN, 95-704-1-REN, REN, NUDOCS 9507180037
Download: ML20086H124 (7)
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DOCKETED UNITED STATES OF AMERICA USNRC NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION '

95 JUL 13 P4 :49 ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD I

OFFICE OF SECRETARY-Before Administrative Judges: 00CXET!HG & SERV!CE BRAT lCli Charles Bechhoefer, Chairman Dr- Jerry R. Kline Dr. Peter S. Lam Docket No. 50-160-Ren In the Matter of ASLBP No. 95-704-01-Ren l GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH REACTOR

$ Atlanta, Georgia j Facility License No. R-97 l

4 GEORGIANS AGAINST NUCLEAR ENERGY RESPONSE TO NRC INTERROGATORIES AND REOUEST FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS i

Georgians Against Nuclear Energy (GANE) respectfully submits the

following responses to NRC discovery requests on GANE's management contention.
We urge the Commission to release the proceeding from NRC counsel

] and Georgia Tech's stay of discovery on GANE's security contention. ,

Security of the Georgia Tech facility during the 1996 Olympic Games is  ;

a a pressing question which needs to be addressed soon. GANE believes it will take a minimum of six months to remove all nuclear materials from l the facility which is the only way to ensure safety from radiological

! sabotage for residents and visitors to Atlanta during the July 1996

. Olympics.

GANE cites recent news reports concerning a terrorist who has eluded capture for 18 years. A news report on the front page of the Atlanta Journal / Constitution (6/29/95) states: "The bomber - code-named Unabom by the FBI because his initial" targets were universities and airlines

- has mailed 16 bombs since 1978, killing three people and injuring 22-others." (emphasis added) 9507190037 950707 PDR ADOCK 05000160

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.. b The facility at Georgia. Tech is located on Georgia Tech campus in  ;

the middle of downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The Olympic Village which itill house more than 10,000 athletes'next summer surrounds the Georgia Tech reactor, the closest apartment building being only 1/4-mile away.

By serendipitous coincidence, the facility is scheduled to convert from high-enriched uranium to low-enriched in the immediate future.

The appropriate cask for transporting the fuel away from the downtown Atlanta facility is already scheduled to be available to Georgia Tech in the necessary time frame it would take to remove all fuel (spent, fresh and otherwise) from the site. We encourage Georgia Tech to amend l its current plans for refueling so that it leaves the downtown site free of nuclear material for the 1996 Olympic Games.

GANE RESPONSES TO NRC CONTENTION 9 DISCOVERY REQUESTS

21. GANE presently supports its contention that management problems at the Georgia Tech Research Reactor are so great that safety for the  !

public cannot be assured by the following: ,

  • In March 1995 there was a release of water from the cobalt-60  !

l shielding pool due to a valve that was improperly left open. Not only was the technical error committed, but the accident was improperly

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au r ty or h o 1 .

  • GANE expects to learn more about Billy Downs' resignation and the incident prior upon receipt of our discovery requests.
  • GANE expects personnel records from the Georgia Tech Research Reactor to shed light on the reason for high turnover among personnel ,

over the last seven years.

22. Presently persons with knowledge of the facts underlying GANE's contention are Glenn Carroll, Carol Stangler, Mr. Bob Boyd.
23. Witnesses to testify regarding GANE's contention remain to be

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determined.

24. To be determined.

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25. GANE does not understand this question.

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26. GANE expects to rely on many of our discovery requests. Until the documents have been inspected of course, their relevancy cannot be asserte'd. The pertinent' documents are expected to be among these-DOCUMENT REOUESTS TO GEORGIA TECH l i
  1. 9. Minutes from Nuclear Safeguard Committee and Radiation Protection '

Committee  ;

  1. 16. Documents relating to cobalt-60 water accident
  1. 23. Records relating to division of authority between State of Georgia and NRC l
  1. 27. Dr. Karam's resume
  1. 28. Documents relating to criteria for Nuclear Safeguards Committee

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  1. 29. Resumes of Nuclear Safeguards Committee members
  1. 30. Authorizations for Nuclear Safeguards Committee members
  1. 31. Personnel files of radiation safety officers
#32. Personnel file for Dr. Karam ,
#37. Audit reports. relating to safety matters and management matters  ;
  1. 39. Georgia Tech's responses to NRC concerning violations  :
  1. 41'. Records relating to AGN-201 reactor and fuel elements  !
  1. 42. Georgia Tech's response to NRC request for sewer line information '
  1. 43. Documents relating to firing of Steve Millspaugh and Paul Sharpe
  1. 44. Communication with fire authorities
  1. 45. Reactor logs, cobalt-60 logs, cesium logs DOCUMENT REOUESTS TO NRC
  1. 5. Deficiency report dated 10/31/94 f
  1. 7. Inspection Report #50-160-94-02 (8/94)
  1. 8. Notice of Violation dated 9/20/94
  1. 12. Correspondence from Georgia Tech concerning Bill Downs  ;
  1. 13. Inspection Report #50-160-94-01
  1. 15. Correspondence concerning Bill Downs
  1. 18. Inspection Report #50-160-93-03
  1. 19. Inspection Report #50-160-93-02
  1. 20. Notice'of Violation dated 11/01/93 i
  1. 24. Inspection Report #50-160-92-04
  1. 25. Notice of Violation dated 12/10/92  ;
  1. 27. Correspondence concerning JC O'Hara resignation
  1. 28. Inspection Report.#50-160-91-04
  1. 37. Correspondence dated 9/18/90 re continued monitoring of operations at Georgia Tech
  1. 39. Inspection Report #50-160-90-02
  1. 40. Notice of Violation dated 7/11/90 l
  1. 46. Inspection Report #50-160-89-02

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l' I #47. Notice of Violation dated 11/16/89  ;

  1. 48. Inspection Report #50-160-89-05  !
  1. 49. Notice of Violation dated 10/25/89 l L #53. Notice of Violation dated 12/29/88 i l #54'. Inspection Report #50-160-88-02 j #55. Inspection Report #50-160-87-08  !

! #56. Notice of Violation dated 11/15/88~

  1. 57. Inspection Report #50-160-88-03 458. Notice of Violation dated 10/19/88
  1. 60. Correspondence regarding managerial changes
  1. 61. Investigation Report #2-88-003
  1. 62. Correspondence regarding problems in management controls l
  1. 65. Summary of management meeting
  1. 66. Inspection Report #505-160-88-01
  1. 67. Report of W. Kerr, 3/2/88 .
  1. 69. Report of cadmium spill
  1. 72. Inspection Report #50-160-87-08
  1. 75. Inspection Report #50-160-87-07
  1. 76. Unaccounted for fission plate for AGN-201 j
  1. 77. Organizational change
  1. 78. Inspection Report #50-160-87-04  ;
  1. 79. Inspection Report #50-160-87-05
  1. 80. Inspection Report #50-160-87-03
  1. 81. Correspondenca NRC to Georgia Tech re management control  ;
  1. 82. Other Notices of Violation  ;
  1. 83. Documents related to Rebecca Long
  1. 84. All Inspection Reports since 12/15/94
  1. 85. Notices of Violation since 12/15/94
  1. 86. Order regarding high-enriched uranium
  1. 87. PNO-II-83-009 on 1/31/83 re cobalt-60 shielding pool leak 3
  1. 88. Correspondence concerning Bill Downs
27. GANE has not yet been provided copies of these documents by Georgia Tech and the NRC except Investigation Report #2-88-003 which GANE believes all the parties already possess.
28. GANE will move to enter relevant documents into the record as soon as we establish such relevancy.
29. GANE does not know the answer to this question yet.

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30. GANE finds Title 10 Parts 1-199 silent on nanagement issues.10 CFR Subpart B. S1.11 (b) states: "These responsibilities include protecting the public health and safety, protecting the environment, protecting and safeguarding nuclear materials and nuclear power plants in the interest of national security, and assuring conformity with antitrust laws." GANE sources indicate that Georgia Tech is the only non-power reactor in the country where a one-committee safety oversight structure is used. Georgia Tech abandoned the two-committee safety oversight used by other licensees following the serious incident of 1987. GANE has not yet learned what Reg. Guides licensees may be required to use in establishing adequate management structures. I Be that as it may, GANE cites the passage iterated above from Title 10 to cover any unsafe practices not otherwise detailed in the Code.
31. GANE looks forward to receiving the documents requested from the NRC and Georgia Tech. Please refer to the listing given in response to question 26. Most particularly GANE expects the documents relating to the cobalt-60 shielding pool leaks and the incidents involving Bill Downs to have significance.
32. GANE believes the management changes such as the abandonment of a two committee safety oversight structure for a one-committee structure and the documents listed previously will show that chronic management problems currently exist at the Georgia Tech Research Reactor.
33. GANE expects to establish the NRC's role in Georgia Tech's management problems following receipt of the aforementioned documents as well as answers to interrogatories posed to the NRC and Georgia Tech.
34. GANE cannot answer this question until its discovery requests have been fulfilled.
35. Personnel records and investigation reports should provide the necessary information to qualify an answer to this question.
36. Personnel records and investigation reports should provide the necessary information to qualify an answer to this question.
37. GANE looks forward to reviewing the documents requested from the NRC and Georgia Tech. We currently believe that the two-committee oversight and Dr. Karam's reach of authority at the facility are 5-

weaknesses in Georgia Tech's ability to protect the environment and public health from activities at the Georgia Tech Research Reactor.

38. Please see the answer to your interrogatory #30.
39. The change to a one-committee safety program and consolidation of responsibility under Dr. Karam are incongruous with the gravity of the situation as the NRC responded in its citations and reports to Georgia Tech following the 1987 incidents and violations. Documents requested from Georgia Tech and NRC as to the management changes may shed light on the seemingly inappropriate response of the NRC and Georgia Tech to prior safety problems.
40. The cobalt-60 incidents concernin'g which GANE has requested several documents, and apparent voids in regulatory oversight of the facility contribute to the unsafe condition of the downtown Atlanta facility. In the March 23, 1995, incident in which an operator left a valve open causing the cobalt-60 shielding water to leak (according to Dr. Karam) into a wastewater holding tank where it was analyzed for its radioactive content prior to release to the Atlanta public sewer, the NRC was notified of the accident. The cobalt-60 is regulated by the State of Georgia under Agreement State Authority. When GANE called the State to find out the details of the incident, the State did not know about it. The State concluded that Georgia Tech was in error to contact the NRC in an emergency, but since the error had been committed, thereby leaving the State outside of the official information loop, the State was powerless to cite any violations or otherwise sanction Georgia Tech for threatening the public health and safety.

The 2,000,000 residents of Atlanta, proud to be the host city of the 1996 Olympic Games which will be held all around the dangerous reactor facility, deserve better safety oversight than this.

Respectfully submitted,

.nn Carroll Representative for GANE Dated and signed July 7, 1995 in Decatur, Georgia y:

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( CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE - Docket.No.(s) 50-160-REN Secretary U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Docketing and Service Branch Washington, DC 20555 l Office of Commission Appellate Adjudication U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555

, Administrative Judge  !!$$

l Charles Bechhoefer, Chairman sj23 gg l Atomic Safety and Licensing Board rn$j i U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission gj[c3 , hj l Washington, DC 20555 2> c> ' -

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Administrative Judge

$5 j C $rn 3:fq c3gj par]l Peter S. Lam 13 c3 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board  :$3d U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission f@f( hh Washington, DC 20555 Administrative Judge Jerry R. Kline Atomic Safety and Licensing Board U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 Sherwin E. Turk, Esq.

Susan S. Chikadel, Esq.

Office of the General Counsel U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 Mr. Randi A. Nordin Manager - Legal Division Office of Contract Administration Georgia Tech Atlanta, GA 30332-0420 E. Gail Gunnells Deputy Chief Legal Advisor Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 30332-0495 Ms. Pamela Blockey O'Brien D23 Golden Valley Douglasville, GA 30134 Ms. Patricia Guilday, Esq.

Assistant Attorney General 40 Capitol Square NW Atlanta, GA 30334-1300

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