ML20087H031

Advises Commission to Hold Necessary Hearings to Resolve Outstanding Issues Discussed at 831216 Hearing

ML20087H031
Person / Time
Site:	Crane
Issue date:	12/18/1983
From:	Specter A SENATE
To:	Palladino N NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
Shared Package
ML20087G976	List: ML20087G998 ML20087H031
References
NUDOCS 8403200211
Download: ML20087H031 (2)

Text

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1 DeE1.er18,1983 i

r 5:c. U.:n:',io Palladine Ch.an, }kiclear Re@latcry Ccredssion 1717 E 6": eet, !W Washirgton, D.C.

20555 Dear Chai2=an Palladino Based on the tastir:ory fzun E hearirg which I corduebei last Friday, Deostrber 16, 1963, I am writirq to urgs the NIC to hold Md.ly the necessazy hatrirgs to xesolve the outstariirg issues regardirs S!I. At that hearire, acts twent;r-five witnessoa testiflad representire citirens' groupe, the NRC, M, state eenators, the state Chr6ar of 0:nzne:ce, ceunty ccm:daaionazs ard mayors.

' that hee. ring disclosed:

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1) anoo:cus p.blic worry a% cut the zoocmnardation of the NRC staff to restart DlI

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Unit 1 hefore pentiry inquiries on safet;y ard otmpany wm a:d integrity are concleadr M substantial ocmourn by GPU ard mclear industry g@nts aheut the future of rel*+ energy in light df the long delays in resolving the DIE mattmer

3) serious questions abaut the -

Mandata as erMM in the a;pM[le Fadaral Statutes.Mcy of the NIC to peribsm its Q:mgressio t

As the room:d unfolded, there have been a nultiplicity of Wdirgs involving 4

the Nic itself, the NRC Office of Investigation, the NRC Sp='M Irmitry Group, the Atonic Safety ard Liamsing mM, the Attrnic Safety ard Licensing Appeal Board a:d the spoeial Master.

A significant part of the hearing focusei on *y the DE investigation has rep been concluded since almost five years have alspeed since the incident of March 28i 1979. Mr. Canton of the NIC staff testi.fied:

"It is ineplicable why it had taken five years to, get here.k It is totally unamaptable, as mildly as I can put it, to haya no rational Wict:

tion for the intalerable delay.

-s A major outstarding question has been the continuation of Mr Kuhn8 and K g

s Diedurep in Ws %--d..

When I spoke to them last 'Meeday, Decenbar 13', 1983, I was astaninhat to fird that no one from the Nic had ever questinnpi efther of than a

8 abcut their knesledge of or involvement in falsification of rea:rds, ey d.;., cheating L or other allegations.cf wrongdoirg. In the intervenire two days until the hear $ry of i,o December 16, 1983, there was finally scme limited questiani'ry of Mr. Kuhns ard Nr.

i mc Dieckacy by NRC representatives. It certainly is a curious coincidence that no one i **!

questioned those GPU officials for note than four years ard eight sonths, b tin 5

EIrg,g in any way that either Mr. Kuhns or Mr. Dieckany were involved in any wrong-gn.o haV5 that matter resolved at an early daho.

h2t z de b.11.va they, as wan as 3.11 inter st d partime, were antitled ec

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page 2 2 the basis of this reca:d, it is el jMgnent that h IW is gdty of mn-

,easanos b failing to act a. vW1y to dischege its atahtcry 61 ties an the m M e".. his is the ncet i-W.E Lesus in the history of the ruelear intun::-y E is W v.th rwula'.inir, a:d it is and has been entitle to phP.y me peopis of cer6ral Pennsylvania, the pAblic generally, the ocupery, t.'s

% sid the 6,..ss are antitled to anwers en the DE imidst. which h.r.-

been perdi.g for ahmart five years. The hT s.%dd c:nplete the heari.3 pooes.

and let the chips feli dura they ray so that those at fault will be ous'ad ct' tha l

ira-.t ex::xnerstad.

At Fridsy's hearire, your counsel a:nfimed that the N;C itself omld head the necessary hearirgs en:t rerde the releva:th judg:nents. I urge that the IT itself N14 sus hearirgs a:4 :aka tNse judgments under an appropriately tight ti:ne-table, 8

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January 24, 1984 BR fC s

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i Dr. Nunzio J. Palladino i

Chairman-l U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission i

Washington, D. C.

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Dear Mr. Chairman':

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The Commonwealth is in receipt of NRC staff's re-l sponse to GPU's. management proposal and I want to *.?.ke i

this opportunity to reiterate my views concerning the t

question of restart of Three Mile Island Unit 1.

l As you know, I have repeatedly stated that I will

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remain opposed to,the restart of TMI. Unit 1.until and j

unless I receive adequate assurances that Unit I can be operated safely, and until and unless there is a funding mechanism in place for completing'the radiation cleanup 1

l at TMI Unit 2.

I In my letter to you of June 2, 1983, I expressed my. view that a variety of questions, including those related to management competence and integrity, should be resolved prior to restart, not the other way around.-

In your written response dated July 14,.1983, you i

provided assurances that the NRC would makc no decisions 3

i regarding the restart of Unit 1 until such.i.rsues had, indeed, been addressed.

I believe that the NRC staff's recommendation, which would permit the conditional restart of TMI-l in the face of unresolved -issues related to competence and integrity, would be inappropriate and inconsistent with the spirit of your statement of July 14.

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Dr. Nunzio Palladino Page two Public safety must be the primary concern and

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principal objective of the operators and regulators of nuclear power facilities.

In the interest of public safety, the NRC should reject any proposal to separate comp,etence and integrity issues from TMI-l restart, but rather resolve these issues prior to any decision on the future of Unit 1.

S.cere y yours, r

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4 December 16, 1983 Dr. Nunzio J. Palladino Chairman U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C.

20555

Dear Mr. Chairman:

In view of recent events, Gov. Thornburgh asked me to share with you this reiteration' of his administration's position regarding proposals for.the restart of the Unit 1 nuclear generating facility on Three Mile Island.

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Sincerely, Dr. Frank Wright Secretary for Policy and Planning S

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Q HAnntsauna December 15, 1983 Honorable Arlen Specter United States Senate Room 331, Russel'1 Office Building Washington, D.C.

20500 Dea.r Sen. Specter:

I want to thank you for this opportunity to reiterate Gov.

Thornburgh's views concerning the question of restart of Three Mile Island Unit 1.

4 I particularly want to note that your interest and concern for the safety of those who live in the shadow of Three Mile Island is well-known here in central Pennsylvania, and I commend you for your continuing efforts on their behalf..

l As.you know,oGov. Thornburgh repeatedly has stated that he will remain opposed to the restart of TM1 Unit 1 until and unless he receives adequate assuranc'et that it can>be operated

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safely, and until and unless there is a funding mechanism in place for completing.the~ radiation cleanup'at TMI Unit 2.

The governor told the chairman of the Nucl' ear Regulatory Commission (NRC) last June that these conditions had not been met and that he was particularly concerned at that time about a variety of outstanding questions which,could directly relate to the safety. issue.

He felt then, and he continues to feel, that all such.

questions, including those related to competence and integrity, should be resolved prior to restart, not the other.way around..

4 In a written response dated July 14, 1983, Commission Chairman Nunzio J. Palladino assured Gov. Thornburgh that the NRC would make no decisions regarding the restart of. Unit 1 until such issues had, indeed, been addressed.

While the Governor's Office has yet to receive.any official communication from the NRC regarding a staff pla~n to reverse this order, we are aware of pub.lished reports in which the staff seemed to propose,.in effect, restarting Unit 1 first and answering the outstanding questions later.

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Ve were somewhat reassured by subsequent reports quoting Chair =an Palladino as-saying that no restart decision is ic=inent, although the staff procedural recommendation appeared in the same news accounts to be on the commission's agenda. The governor continues to feel that such a procedure

, not only would be totally inappropriate, but inconsistent with the spirit of Chairman Palladino's statement of July 14.

Some progress in resolving restart issues has indeed been made since the governor expressed his reservations of last June.

GPU Nuclear signed an agreement with the commonwealth, for example, stipulating that it would not allow TMI-l to be operated by any individuals found to have cheated on their qualifying examinations.

Yet, several other important issues remain to be resolved, particularly those relating to competence and integrity.

The governor believes that public safety must be the primary concern and principal objective of the operators and regulators of nuclear power facilities.

He believes the NRC should reject any proposal to separate competence and integrity issues from TMI-l restart, but rather resolve these issues

.l prio'r to any. decision on the future of Unit 1.

CopiesoftheGovebnor'sletterofJune2andChairman f.

Palladino's response of July 14 are attached for your record.

Sincerely',

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Dr. Frank Wright Secretary for Policy and Planning I

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July 14,1983 CHAIRMAN

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The Honorable Richard Thornburgh Governor of Dennsylvania Harrisburg, PA 17120

Dear Governor Thornburgh:

This responds to your letter of June 2,1983 regarding Three Mile Unit 1.

In that letter you expressed your concerns with regard to three inues that you believed should be resolved before the Com action with regard to restart:

(1) the possibility that TMI-1 would be operated by persons found to have cheated on their qualifying examination; (2) as safely as it should; andthe possibility that the cleanup (3) the-possibility that the levels of operator competence and is entitled to expect. integrity at TMI may not be as high as th With regard to your first concern, you further explained that it wou inappropriate for the Comission to.act on restart prior to' hearing e

Comonwealth's appeal ~on the operator cheating issue.

and the appended Motion to Withdraw Appealstipulation b We note the

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11,1983 to withdraw its a in which the Comonwealth agre,ed concerning THI-1.ppeal and the licensee agr,eed to specified conditions The Comission plans to consider the integrity of the individuals responsible for operating TMI-1 priqr, to authorizing r.

With regard to your second concern involving the cleanup operations Comission is investigating the allegations of unsafe practice

,the The Comission has decided that the' allegations of unsafe pracs at THI together with other allegations that the NRC is investigating; raisetices a questions which preclude a final restart decision for TMI-1 at this time The Comission does not plan to act on restart of Unit 1 until it is satisfied from the relevant parts of those investigations that Unit 1 c safely operated.

Finally, the NRC staff itself has raised additional questions about management competence and integrity.

The parties to the TMI-1 rsstart proceeding will beT of these matters.

provided an opportunity to coment on the resulting staff reports to the

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Comission before the Comission reaches a final decision Comission will not make a final decision on restart until those questi The are,ajdressed.

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Comissioner Gilinsky adds: "lbthing is more importarit to a decision on whether to. permit TMI-1 to restart than a favorable assessment of the integrity of GPU's top management. My own conclusion at this point, which is set forth at greater length in the enclosed draft separate opinion, is that there is sufficient infor-mation.in the record to conclude that the top management of the Company -- and by that I mean the Chairinan of the Board of GPU, the Pre:ident of GPU, and the Pres-ident of GPU Nuclear -- should be changed."

Comissioners Roberts and I.believe Comiss'ioner Gilinsky's decision to be pre-mature. My responding views are also enclosed.

Sincerely Nunzio J. Palladino

Enclosures:

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June 2, 1983 Dr. Nunzio J. Palladino

'i Chairman U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C.

20555

Dear Mr. Chairman:

I am writing because of suggestions that the time has come for your commission to authorize restart of the Unit 1 nuclear generation station at Three Mile Island.

Nearly four years ago, I asked this commission to postpone any decision regarding Unit I restart because a number of serious health, safety, environmental, operational, management and other issues had yet to be resolved.

I believe the commission acted in the public interest at that time by post-poning its restart decision.

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Nearly two and one-half years later, on Nov. 24, 1981, I repeated to this commission my. concern that any action by the NRC to allow restart of TMI Unit I be preceded by adequate 4

assurances that this facility can be operated safely.

Today, more than four years after the March 28, 1979 accident at the nearby TMI Unit 2 facility, I must advise -you that while progress has been made, adequite safety assurances have not been fully provided with regard to Unit 1, either to me or to the people of this area.

My reservations are now principally focused on the poss-

ibility, to which this Commonwealth has objected, that TMI-1 would be operated by persons found to have cheated on their qualifying examinations, the possibility, r.aised by engineering technicians and others, that the radiation cleanup. of the damaged TMI-Unit 2 may not be proceeding as safely as it should, and the possibility, raised last month by the NRC staff itself, that the levels of operator competence and integrity at TMI may not be as high as those which the public is entitled to expect.

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'Left unrese cd, these kinds of questis 4 also could

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seriously jeoparci:e the substantial progress we have made in ensuring that the Unit' 2 cleanup will be adequately funded under the cost-sharing plan I advanced in 1981.

I believe, in fact, that all of these concerns bear on the safety assurances I have directed this Commonwealth:to seek since 1979.

A prompt, thorough and effective investigation and public resolution of those issues raised in the Commonwealth's appeal of August 20, 1982, and those raised by your staff and by i

workers at the plant itself, is absolutely essential before this commission seriously entertains any. action sich regard to -

restart.

Before these issues are resolved, I would find it dis-turbing, indeed, for the commission to take action on restart.

I would find it particularly inappropriate for the commiss. ion to take such action prior to hearing this Commonwealth's appeal on the operator cheating issue.

On behalf of all who live within tha shadow of Three Mile Island, all who believe that public health and safety must be the first concern of those who see a future for commercial nuclear power, and on behalf of the integrity of the commission and the regulatory process it represents, I once again urge you and your colleagues to postpone any decision on restart until these issues have been satisfactorily addressed and resolved.,

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Dick The i

Governor I

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Commissioner Gilinsky Commissioner Ahearne Commissioner Roberts Commissioner Asselstine p'

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