ML20090E108
| ML20090E108 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Nine Mile Point  |
| Issue date: | 03/27/1975 |
| From: | Resnikoff M ECOLOGY ACTION OF OSWEGO |
| To: | NRC |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20090E051 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8303110507 | |
| Download: ML20090E108 (3) | |
Text
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brch 27, 1975 j
Diructht"5f'fMgdlatory Operations.
Nuclear Regulatory Co'.c.ission Washington, D.C.
20$55 Docket No. 50-220 Gentlepersons:
It has come to my attention, through Dan Greene of Niagara Mahawk -
and Sue Reinert of Ecology Action of Oswego, that Nine Mile Point 1 may be operating in an unsafe condition.
I am a friend of several morters of Ecology Action, and have often worked with them, so this letter my be considered a friendly letter on their behalf.
As I understand the sJtuation, h"JP 1 went on-line December,1969, and has never shipped any of its discharged spent fuel elements off-site.
I know that Nuclear Fuel Services has not received discharged fuel elements from NMP 1, and the Barnwell fuel receiving area can-not be licensed to receive hel elements until there is a safety-hearing. Thus, the discharged hel cust be stored in the FCIP 1 storage pool. It is my understanding that the storage pool is so full that the entire core cannot be placed there, without removing control rods from the pool.
Rese additional manipulations with the control rods would definitely apoear to be undesirable, if not'un-safe, if it were necessary to re= ave the fuel from the reactor rap -
idly.
j he present hel rods have been in the reactor a year and a half, the latest batch, and should be highly radioactive.
I assuma that other of the lhel elements in the present core have been there much longer. What seems likely is.that the company is delaying a shut-down until the Barnwell facility can accomodate the fuel elem-ents, but that this delay may be leading to an unsafe situation in that the likeliehood for fuel cladding failure will increase with greater reactor exposure.
It appears that a balance is being mde between economics and safety.
O Based on the above, I am requesting an inspection of the NMP 1 facility to determine whether the plant is operating in a safe con-dition. I request an answer to this letter which can also address the following questions:
- 1) What is' the capacity of the NUP 1 storage pool?
- 2) What is the storage date, burn-up, and quantity of each batch of irradiated fuel discharged to the storage pool?
- 3) What is the cooling capacity of the storage pool?
h) What is the burn-up and quantity of the irradiated fuel elen-ents presently in the reactor core? -
$$ What is the total heat output of all, storags pool plus reac-U
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oi tor, fuel ele:aents and control rods, in a non-critical array?
- 6) What percentage of the Ibel ele:::ents are da aged?
- 7) VThat is the radioactivity level of the coolant water presently in the reactor?
- 8) fthen was the last check for cracks in the cooling pipes, in-cluding the ECCS pipes?
I have taken the liberty of cailing a copy of this letter to thd two llow York Senators, and the New York State Office of the Attorney General. Thank you for a timely response.
Sincerely yours, cc:
D. Orcene
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S. Reinert
/J. Buckley J. Javits L. Icfkowitz Dr. Harvin Resnikoff 17h West Ave.
Buffalo, N.Y.1h201 e
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NIAGARA MOHAWK POWER CORPORATION NBAGARA' MOHAWK 300 ERIE SOULEVARD WEST
- SYRACUSE. N. Y. 8 3202 April 2,1975 Dr. Marvin Resnikoff 174 West Avenue Buffalo, New York 14201
Dear Dr. Resnikoff:
I have received a copy of your March 27 letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which begins with a statement "it has come to my attention, through Dan Greene (sic) of Niagara Mohawk and Sue Reinert of Ecology Action of Oswego, that Nine Mile Point 1 may be j
operating in an unsafe condition. " The clear implication of this state-J ment is that I have made allegations to you with respect to the safety of our Nine Mile Point facility. Nothing could be further from the truth, as you well know. You have never contacted me directly on this matter, and frankly, I resent the use of my name in this context.
The interpretation of the spent fuel situation at.Nine Mile Point with respect to safety is strictly your own. We firmly believe that the ability of the reactor vessel to keep the existing inventory of fuel cool under r
virtually all operating conditions maintains required levels of safety. A situation which might warrant removal of the core for inspection purposes or corrective maintenance, would allow time to consider various storage options. As you should know, various redundant systems are installed to maintain the core in a safe shutdown condition indefinitely.
In short, your interpretation of the spent fuel situation with ' respect to safety is in error.
Si cer ly,
.d W-Daniel D. Green DDG/ch Manager - Corporate Information ec: S. Reinert "
J. Buckley gd J. Javits O
L. Lefkowitz M[
M. DeMichele Nuclear Regulatory Commission /
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