ML20094B494

Forwards Constituent Wc Smith Urging Expeditious Licensing of Facility.Response & Comments Requested by 840626

ML20094B494
Person / Time
Site:	Grand Gulf
Issue date:	05/31/1984
From:	Jeanne Johnston SENATE
To:	Kammerer C NRC OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS (OCA)
Shared Package
ML20094B483	List: ML20094B494
References
NUDOCS 8408070048
Download: ML20094B494 (7)

Text

,

l 3Cnifeb Sfales Senate May 31, 1984 Respectfully referred to:

Mr. Carlton Kammerer Director, Office of Congressional Affairs Nuclear. Regulatory. Commission

'1717 H Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C.

20555

Dear Mr. Kammerer:

Because of the desire of this office to be r

responsive to all inquiries and communications, your consideration of the attached is requested. Your findings and views, in l

duplicate form, along with return of the enclosure,'will be appreciated by June 26, 1984.

A Form #2 8408070048 840726 PDR ADOCK 05000416 H

PDR

.~_

• J. SENNETT JOHNSTON

?JCnifeb States Senate WASHINGTON, D.C.

90510 May 31, 1984 l

.Mr. Wm.:Clifford Smith I..

P.O. Box 2266 1 -

Houma, Iouir e.s na 70361

.ma

Dear Clifford:

Thank you.for your recent letter in which you express concern over the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's licensing procedures for nuclear generating facilities and in particular the problems which.have developed involving the Grand Gulf, Unit No. 1 facility.

<m, -

-In response to your request, I have contacted officials of the Nuclear Regulatory Com;aission here in Washington to ask that they do everytliing possible to expedite action on the operating license for this plant.

As soon as a reply is-received, I will be back in touch with you.

Clifford, it is good to hear from you, and please stay in-touch whenever you feel I can be helpful.

With best regards, I am Sincerely, J. Bennett Johnston United States Senator JBJ:vc 4

'k

3./ k: :

g cygg,n;g,ag i

' P. O. Box 2266 Hemna,Imisiana 70361

~'

9 53 Q

May 18, 1984 g

[

The Honorable' J. Bennett Johnston Congress of the United States

- Senate-Office Building I

Washington, DC - 20510 I

Dear Senator Johnston:

_1

-1.:

As you may know, I am.a member.,of the Board ;of Directors.of Middle J

South Utilities,; Inc,. and ; Louisiana-Power. & : Light. Company,.. Middle.

M South Utilities, Inc.~is a holding.-company.which_ owns New Orleans.,. _,.

_ Public Service, Ince, Louisiana Power &, Light, Companyr. Mississippi Power & Light Company, and Arkansas Power & Light Company. 'As you also may know, Middle -South Utilities, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is hop 1fdT1y~on the verg'e~of~ obtaining ~an 'ophra' ting 'licen's'e' foi'both the Grand dulf71]EiFCl~nu'cliif~geneFC. f facility and W5tir' ford 3

~

- nuclea'rlen' erat'iig ~f acility.

~

~

I believe, as should.any reasonable persen who lives in the United States of America -in the 1980's, that.in order to

• e competitive with f]

industry and jobs we must.haveta dependable, uninterruptable, reasonab.'.e,.

t cost competitive electrical utility. Our society is now geared to the

continuing use of electrical energy. Therefore, I think it_is imperative

that Louisiana nave this dependable and economically reasonable electrical utility-.in order to be competitive with industries from other states.

Again, everyone who is knowledgeable in this field believes that one way to obtain'this much-needed source of' energy is-to diversify the fuel needed for generation and to obtain. the. most economical methods of generating

= electricity. It is my understanding tha.t the nuclear facilities, even with their extreme additional initial costs of construction are still the most i economical way to-generate electricity in this are.a.

Iamenclosingto'youacopyof[astatusreportdatedApril30

.c concerning Grand Gulf, Unit No.1 and_ the probl, ems that_have. arisen regardin their obtaining authorization to operate at full power.- As g

~

you Eutt~telli from tIIs. report,. it saisiis~thit 'th'e 'b'ureaucritic' require-ments andygulations_thati,hav_e recently been u,evel5 ped;bf.~th'eNcHai-

- Regulatory.Commi.ss_ ion will cause extremelLeostly_ delays for,the Middle South System,.most.. of.which.1;am sure ife general public does not under-s tan d '." '

4 is e

.t

,;. 4;; s+

u o

The Honorable J. Bennett Johnston May 18, 1984 Page Two I think the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is costing, and will

-continue to cost, the citizens of Louisiana many millions of dollars because of--their ridiculous bureaucratic procedures in licensing nuclear energy facili~tfes'.~ ThE.pioblems,,that are developing regarding licensing of nuclear"ginerating facilities, and particularly the problems that have~Tevelopedc'oncerning the Grand Gulf, Unit No. 1 fac'ility', and the

~

_ consequences ' thaEt6e peop"l{of!Lotiisianafwill suffer because of the

~

E l bureaucrat'iE'pVEcidtires are -of great concern. to me.

I feel it is imperative h

_-:for us-in ~ Louisiana"E6 usi ~the~ res'o'urces we have at our disposal: to see[-- --

pf

. that these f acilities are put into ccamercial operation in the quickest

'possible time while, -at the same time,' adhering to all reasonable safety'- --

g requirements.

If you deem it appropriate. I would appreciate your contacting the Nuclear Regulat'ory Commission atithorfEies, 5E ~55iy[o'd$eI[ap'propriate

~~

autliori't'ies,"in an attemit~t5 facil'itiEs' 'the ojerating. license. for the

., - planCI~w6sla also app?dci'sf5'5Ey asiiistiidEE and/or suggestions that fotr"could give to me, as a citizen and rate payer, or to the companies that.I represent regarding the expediting of the licensing for this plant.

. I look forward to hearing from you soon concerning'this matter.

Sincerely,

^

A}~6Mt Wm_.

mith WCS/cl

' Encl.

O D

4 6

Y

't J

'j_ -

• • [

.,..y.-

.[....-

j i

GRAND GULF NUCLEAR STATION, UNIT NO. 1 LICENSING STATUS REPORT APRIL 30, 1984 Grand Gulf, Unit No.

1, received an operating license in June of 1982, which autnorized operations at up to 5% of full power.

Since that time, MP&L has completed low power testing of the Unit and has satisfactorily addressed ~various issues raised by the NRC concerning such matters as qualification of reactor operators,.the accuracy of the Grand Gulf Technical Specifications,, the reliability of the~ Unit's two'Transamerica Delaval',' Inc. (TDI) diesel generators,.and the. training of,Shif t Ad3. risers.

MP&L is now

~

operating Unit No. 1 at approximat'e'ly 5%' poVer, awaiting the

~

r issuance by the NRC of an amendment to its license, which would authorize. operations to full power.---

~bnit No. 'l is'Ye~ady now in all respects to receiv'e authorization to operate at full power.

However, the NRC Staff has recently taken steps which could require MP&L to completely' disassemble and inspect one or both of the two TDI diesel generators at Grand Gulf and to m'ake approxi-mately 200 additional changes to the Unit's Technical Specifications.

These additional requirements, if in. posed, b..

would be arbitrary and unnecessary and could'not be-E reasonably supported by technical or safety considerations.

Furthermore, these requirements could unjustifiably delay the issuance of the full power authorization and ultimately commercial. operation of the Unit for up to three additional months at a cost to the Middle South System of approximately

$1.2 million per day.

As part of a detailed program to establish the reliability of the Grand Gulf TDI diesel generators, MP&L completely disassembled, inspected, refurbished and tested the diesel generators, and confirmed that they will perform satisfactorily.

Furthermore, to compensate for the fact that problems have been discovered at other nuclear facilities, which question the reliability of TDI diesels generally, MP&L has enhanced the reliability of off-site power to the Grand Gulf site'by, among other things, installing three portable combustion turbine generators, which,would supply power to the site in an emergency.

The Grand Gulf TDI diesels are reliable, and the off-site electrical power system at Grand Gulf not only exceeds NRC requirements, but also is one of the best in the Country.

y w,

.,,--m-wc~

v

-m<<

-r

-~ ~ * - * - ' "

11301.53

, g.g.aml3 In March of this year, MP&L undertook a comprehen-sive review of the Grand Gulf Technical Specifications.

As a result of that review, MP&L identified all changes, which were necessary to safely support full power operation of the Unit.

All of these changes have now been made to the Technical. Specifications.

While the NRC Staff apparently agrees that all necessary changes have been made to the Technical. Specifications for full power operations, last week it informed MP&L that it will want approximately 200 additional changes made to the Technical Specifications before it will support operations above 5% power.

None of these 200 changes are safety-significant or ar'e required for operations up to full power.

They are also the type changes that in other nuclear facilities would be made routinel,y We

~ 2-5f[ ^

12 while such facilities were operating.

If the NRC requires 6:i all of these changes to be made at this time, the result e

could be a delay of up to six weeks in issuance of the full power authorization.

It is essential (1) that the NRC schedule a Commission meeting for consideration of a full power operating license for Grand Gulf, Unit No.

1, during the month of May, (2) that the NRC reconsider its position on disassembly of the TDI diesels and accept MP&L's position on their demonstrated reliability, but if the NRC Staff L

requires the disassembly and_. inspection.of.one or..both of the TDI diesel generators, it do so only after issuance of the full power authorization, and (3) that the NRC Staff not

~

require MP&L to make the approximately 200 additional and unnecessary Technical Specification changes at this time.

Grand Gulf, Unit No. 1, is ready now to receive its full power authorization and begin its power ascension program to support commercial operation of the Unit in the fourth quarter of this year.

This is still a reasonable expectation; however, the schedule could be delayed by the imposition of unreasonable requirements which seem to result-from bureaucratic politics and indecision within the NRC Staff.

9 4 N$'

.J d fe:0 -

&issy. ' ';.

g.

L F 7v.#

L

' '. '. f U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D. C.

20555 (This address applies to all of the x'

below listed NRC Officers) 14-

Chairman Nuzio Palladino (202) 634-1481 U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C.

20555 Commissioner Victor Gilinsky (202) 634-1461 Commissioner James K. Asselstine (202) 634-3308 Commissioner Thomas M. Roberts (202) 634-1459

= Commissioner Fredrick Bernthal (202) 634-3323

^-

N.,

Mr. Harcld R. Denton, Director (301) 492-7511

,41%),

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Mr. William J. Dircks Executive Director of Operations (3017 492-7691 Wh' m

D k

. _ -,... _.. - -., _, - =. -

-,,__m,_

..... -