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u OV eu OCT gri 1983 MEMORANDUM FOR:
T. A. Rehm, Assistant for Operations, Office of the Executive Director for Operations FROM:
James G. Keppler, Regional Administrator
SUBJECT:
RESPONSE TO LETTER FROM GAP, EDO NO. 13676 Region III's proposed response to Billie Garde's letter of October 14, 1983, to me is enclosed. It was electroni,qally transmitted to your office on October 31, 1983.
Although the control ticket indicates that the response should be prepared for your signature, I would like the opportunity to respond over my signature because the comments appear to be directed largely at RIII actions.
If you have any questions please let us know.
$7144-28.
James G. Keppler Regional Administrator
Enclosure:
As stated 4
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Wa Is is Davis Keppler 10/26/83 fj,y/ 73 3406020175 840517 poR FOIA i RICEg4 PDR.
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Docket No. 50-329 DRAFT Docket No. 50-330 Government Accountability Project Institute for Policy Studies ATTN:
Ms. Billie Pirner Garde Director, Citizens for Accountable Government 1901 Que Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20009
Dear Ms. Garde:
This is in response to your letter to me of October 14, 1983 regarding NRC Region III's September 29, 1983 approval of Stone and Webster ("S&W") to conduct the third-party Construction Implementation Overview ("CIO") of Consumer Power Company's ("CPCo") Construction Completion Program. The views expressed in your letter have been previously expressed to the NRC staff and while we understand your position, we do not agree with it.
The bases for our findings that S&W and the particular individuals assigned to the CIO are competent to conduct the third party overview and have sufficient independence of CPCo so that there is no actual or apparent conflict of interest are set forth in our approval letter and enclosed analysis.
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B. P. Garde 2
DRAFT We respectfully disagree with your view that we "did not include a scintilla of public participation" (letter, page 1) in the process of approval of S&W to conduct the CIO. We believe that we provided ample opportunity for public comment on S&W's qualifications to conduct the CIO. A listing of meetings held on this subject at which public comments were invited and of discussions
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held between the NRC staff and intervenors in the Midland proceeding is provided in the Director's Decision (DD-83-16) on your 10 CFR 2.206 request (page 17). Additionally, we note that Mr. Thomas Devine of your organization commented in a letter dated October 31, 1983 to me regarding the Zimmer facility that "[a]t Midland, Region III took a major step toward restoring the i
NRC's credibility with a public that had been misled for years" (page 11).
We believe that the provisions we made for public comment on the proposal to use S&W to conduct the CIO are consistent with Commission practice.
We left it to CPCo to nominate a firm to conduct the CIO and confined our review to a determination of whether that nominee had the requisite competence and independence. This review process and its provisions for public comment are similar to the staff's Plan of Action on Zimmer, which met with Commission approval.
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B. P. Garde 3
DRAFT Your interest in the CIO is appreciated. The monthly meetings between S&W, CPCO and the staff to discuss the progress of the CIO will be open to public observation and should permit you to assess the adequacy of S&W's performance. Any comments you provide to us will be fully considered.
Sincerely, James G. Keppler Regional Administrator cc w/ltr of 10/14/83 from Ms. Garde to Mr. Keppler:
See attached distribution list RIII RIII RIII RIII Warnick/Is Lewis Davis Keppler 10/31/83 m.
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y-B. P. Garde 4
DRAFT l
cc w/Itr of 10/14/83 from Ms. Garde to Mr. Keppler:
DMB/ Document Control Desk (RIDS)
Resident Inspector, RIII Ine Honorable Charles Bechhoefer, ASLB The Honorable Jerry Harbour, ASLB The Honorable Frederick P. Cowan, ASLB The Honorable Ralph S. Decker, ASLB William Paton, ELD Michael Miller Ronald Callen, Michigan Public Service Commission Myron M. Cherry Barbara Stamiris Mary Sinclair Wer. dell Marshall Colonel Steve J. Gadler (P.E.)
Howard Levin (TERA)
Billie P. Garde, Government Accountability Project Lynne Bernabei, Government Accountability Project Stone and Webster Michigan, Inc.
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T. A. Behm, EDO J. Stone, IE D. Eisenhut, DOL D. Hood, DOL J. Lieberman, ELD t
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