ML20094C761

Forwards Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Station Exercise, of Offsite Radiological Emergency Conducted on 840411.Meeting Held on 840531 W/Util & State of Ms to Discuss Deficiency Re Coordination of Issuance of Public Info

ML20094C761
Person / Time
Site:	Grand Gulf
Issue date:	07/30/1984
From:	Krimm R Federal Emergency Management Agency
To:	Jordan E NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE)
Shared Package
ML20094C764	List: ML20094C761
References
NUDOCS 8408080138
Download: ML20094C761 (3)

Text

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j $ Federal Emergency Management Agency Washington, D.C. 20472 JL 30 HB4 MEMORANDUM FOR: Edward L. Jordan Director, Division of Emergency Preparednese and Engineering Response Office of Inspection and Enforcement U.S. Nuclear Regul tory Commission FROM: a liF%

Assistant Associate Director Office of Natural ar.d Technological Hazards Programs

SUBJECT:

Exercise Report for the April 11, 1984, Exercise of the Offsite Radiological Emergency Preparedness Plans for the Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Station Attached are two copies of the Exercise Report for the April 11, 1984, full participation joint exercise of the offsite radiological emergency preparedness plans for the Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Station. The State of Mississippi and Claiborne County, and the State of Louisiana and Tensas Parish, which have jurisdictional authority in the 10-mile plume emergency planning zone, participated in the exercise. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region IV exercise report, dated April 24, 1984, was submitted on Ma'y 15, 1984, and includes the comments resulting from the the FEMA Regional staff and Regional Assistance Committee review. The FEMA Region VI exercise report covering the State of Louisiana and Tensas Parish is currently in preparation. The completed report will be forwarded to you in approximately thirty days. Preliminary staff reviews do not indicate deficiencies significant to the protection of public health and safety.

The attached report identifies certain problems in the State of Mississippi which required immediate remedial action and were of significant concern in regard to the protection of the health and safety of the public in the event of an accident at the Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Station. The primary deficiency was the uncoordinated approach to the issuance of information to the public.

The use of separate media facilities by the State and the utility permitted neither the coordination nor the timely issuance of publi: information. l This deficiency has been noted in both previous exercises at the Grand Gulf l Nuclear Power Station. It can only be resolved through improved cooperation i and coordination between representatives of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and the Mississippi Power and Light Company (MP&L). Plan amendments in the area of public information, as well as a remedial exercise to demonstrate that this deficiency has been adequately addressed will be required by FEMA.

The State of Mississippi, MP&L, and FEMA Region IV, in an effort to expedite resolution of this deficiency, have taken a number of actions. FEMA Region IV hosted a meeting on May 31, 1984, which included representatives from MEMA, Port Gibson/Claiborne County Civil Defense (PG/CCCD), and the MP&L. MEMA agreed to accept a leadership role in resolving the public information problem.

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ThApartiesagreedtoparticipate-inregularlyscheduledmeetings~between-government ' officials and MP&L until a , solution, agreeable to all parties, .

has been developed. .TheseLmeetings are being held monthly and are attended by representatives of.MEMA,:PG/CCCD, MP&L,-the State.of Louisiana,.and Tensas Parish.yAdditionallad hoc meetings.are being held to discuss issues in-greater.. detail . In an interim agreement, MEMA and MP&L have agreed to participate jointly:in the Emergency News Center;(ENC) at the Chamberlain-Hunt Academy, and.have set an October 31, 1984, milestone for documented progress towards an acceptable: solution to the ENC's permanent Tocation.

-State officials and MP&L have satisfactorily addressed issuesisuch as access, j.

i communications equipment, work-room areas, press conference procedures and

. a .back-up facility in the interim agreement and subsequent actions. Plans for rectifying the . remaining outstanding . concern, the provision of .teleconferencing I . capabilities,Lare underway. Further discussions have been held on the flow of public information and review of press. statements. All of these developments

, - lay the groundwork 'for the formal revision of public-information plans and _

! l procedures, and testing through . subsequent exercises. . Region IV staff will '

- continue to assist the State as necessary.to assure that-~the problems are

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corrected. The State has assured all parties that during the interim period. ,

it will respond to any actual event at Grand Gulf using the existing facilities and resources.

f An area of concern to offsite safety was the fact that the State Emergency i Operations Center did not receive information that a radioactive release had i occurred on a timely-basis. Such a situation makes accident assessment difficult and-limits the States ability to provide timely notification to the public of.

]- significant events.- This problem area was also noted in the joint exercise

{ conducted for this facility on November 4-5, 1981.

We understand that the NRC identified this problem in their assessment of the on-site portion of this exercise and appropriate corrective actions are being taken.

Based upon recent conversations between our staffs, it- is my understanding

- that a drill will be conducted during mid-August that will test the ability of j the Technical Support Center / Emergency Operations Facility to make timely

decisions and to transmit this information to offsite officials at the State

- E0C. .As noted above, MEMA and MPSL officials have volunteered to conduct a

[ remedial exercise in February 1985.

All deficiencies noted in the exercise report can be corrected through increased coordination and cooperation,- training, and procurement of resources and equipment.

Progress in correcting the public information deficiency.has been made. A formal j schedule of corrective actions will be requested from the State by September 15,

1984. -The current status and the course of action established at the May 31, a

.1984, meeting is satisfactory to FEMA for continued approval under 44 CFR 350 provided the involved parties follow through on scheduled corrective actions and j exercises.

.As soon.as we receive and analyze the formal schedule of corrective actions, we will provide you with the results. Subsequent to the planned February exercise, 4 we will provide you a report on its results and a status of offsite preparedness.

If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Robert S. Wilkerson, Chief, j Technological Hazards Division, at 287-0200.

t: Attachments l, .As Stated =

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, Federal Emergency Management Agency

1. Region IV 1375 Peachtree Street, NE Atlanta, Georgia 30309 May 15, 1984 MEMORANDUM FOR: ASSISTANT ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OFFICE OF NATURAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL HAZARDS SL-NT ATTENTION: Mar ,a er - oject Officer FROM: Maj ,

Regional Director

SUBJECT:

Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Station, Mississippi Exercise Report Enclosed are two copies of the Exercise Report for the Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Station Exercise conducted on April 11, 1984.

The report was distributed to the Regional Assistance Committee and the exercise evaluators for their review and comment.

Please notify us when the report is transmitted to the Nuclear Regu-latory Commission so that a copy can be formally transmitted to the State of Mississippi.

The demonstration at this exercise has left evaluators with serious concerns regarding off-site preparedness for the Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Station. Two areas require substantial improvement. One of these involves the delay in the report of necessary technical infor- ,

mation from the utility to the State, making accident assessment difficult and the timely notification of the public of significant events impossible. Of particular concern is that information that a radioactive release had occurred did not reach the State Emer-gency Operations Center for an hour and fifty-one minutes.

The other area of concern is the uncoordinated approach to public information, which hampered the accurate and timely flow of infor-mation to the public. This problem has been noted in both previous exercises. The separation of facilities operated by the State and utility has neither permitted coordinated nor timely public infor-mation.

Both of these problems seem to reflect a general lack of coordina-tion and cooperation between the State of Mississippi and the Mississippi Power and Light Company. Despite a reduction in spe-cific NUREG 0654 deficiencies that surfaced in this exericse, the problems that did emerge were sufficiently significant as to re-quire immediate remedial action. We recommend plan amendments in the area of public information, as well as a remedial exercise to demonstrate that these deficiencies have been adequately addressed.

Regional staff will assist the State in assuring that the problems are corrected.

Enclosures