ML20100B686

Objects to NRC Issuance of License to Begin Low Power Testing.Emergency Response Plan Assuring Safety of Long Island Residents Impossible to Implement.Legality of Evacuation Plan Status Questionable

ML20100B686
Person / Time
Site:	Shoreham File:Long Island Lighting Company icon.png
Issue date:	11/01/1984
From:	Behan J NEW YORK, STATE OF
To:	Palladino N NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
References
CON-#484-428 OL, NUDOCS 8412050101
Download: ML20100B686 (2)

Text

, . . . . . - - . = . . - - . - ~ - -~ - - . - -.e .

L .-

3 o. .

gy e

THE ASSEMBLY

,. STATE OF NEW YORK (

W ALBANY $'E

.J O H N L. B E H AN COMMeTTgts -

29D AsstusLY casTalCT vtTtmANs ArrA ms TMC PLAZA r, ..

• m A88 KING MINonsTV er EMstm P.O DmAwtm m R R.

~

C4 ..

"U j) hrI ed ONTAU K, N. Y.18934 GOvenNM ENTAL OPCsLATIONs fste) ese-sese m ANNING MINOmity M EMsta ROO M Flo  ;, **. . ENV1mONMENTAL CONS CRVATION LcoisLAtlVE OFFICE BUILDING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

$ ALBANY,N.Y 42248 (sipp ess soe7 CONTACT

ALBANY OFFIOC

DISTmlCT OF*lCC -

November 1, 1984 Nunzio J. Palladino, Chairman l'

U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission F"~ "'

. Washington, DC 20555 , ,

.c . . 5. . C.;. . . 3. . 9.. %s. GL-

[

Dear Mr. Palladino:

L I have written to you before concerning the licensing of the Shoreham Nuclear Power Station. Given yesterday's NRC licensing Board recommendation that the Long Island

, Lighting Company be given approval to begin low-power

testing I must again voice my strongest objections

-to such NRC approval.

Major questions still remain unresolved with respect to full-power licensing of the Shoreham facility.

The most important of the unresolved questions concern

[ . evacuation planning and the emergency diesel generators.

hs you are well aware, Suffolk County and . the State of New York have determined, based upon the best j, available evidence, that the development of an

(

-emergency response plan to assure the safety of Long CSAIREAN-fEl%nd in the event of a nuclear accident at Shoreham is an impossibility. This was not an arbitrary and

, capricious finding, as NRC actions would suggest, l 6 iU/ 54 AAt00 a sincere effort on the part of the governments l of. Suffolk County and the State to serve the public

' interest by protecting the public safety.

You woulql be ill-advised to dismiss the intent or I

the commitment of the county and state wich regard

,E to this issue. As Three. Mile Island has proven,

qC. accidents do and can happen. It is a real and instant E "

threat, one which we. do not take lightly and neither should the NRC.

-k.O,* There is, to put it quite simply, a serious legal

h. question as to the status of an evacuation plan which l :g4 is neither sanctioned nor participated in by the county-

- or state. Both the President and the Secretary of o Energy have stated, and I quote from a letter from

.. s President Reagan that ...." this Adcinistration does not favor the imposition of Federal Governnent Authority over the objections of state and local governments in matters regarding the adequacy of an emergency evacuation plan...."

However, as if the evacuation problem were not enough by itself, LILCO has also been unable to show that its emergency diesel generators can meet NRC safety requirements. In good conscience how can the' NRC license'a plant when the facility does not meet safety requirements imposed by the NRC itself.

I find it absolutely mind-boggling that the NRC would compromise the physical safety of the people of Long Island for the economic safety of a utility. Public safety cannot and must not be compromised.

The ramifications involved with licensing Shoreham before these questions are resolved could have a profound negative impact upon Suffolk County. The granting of a low-power license will allow LILCO to load nuclear fuel and to begin the nuclear chain reaction, with absolutely no assurance that full-power licensing will be permitted. Or, has that decision been made already?

In my estimation, the pivotal question is whether Shoreham will be granted a low-power license. If so, I'm afraid that we on Long Island will be presented with a fait accompli, and a nuclear reactor which is neither wanted nor needed will be imposed upon us.

It has always been my belief that the NRC (formally the Atomic Energy Commission) was created on behalf of the public's safety and welfare. Instead, the NRC has become a captive of the nuclear industry.

You have the power and authority to-change that.

I urge you to act in the public interest and reject i the ASLB recommendations of approval ~ for a low-power license for Shoreham. These vital issues must be l addressed before any license is granted, - on nse and reason dictates no less.

S* ,,

J tlN L. 1 AN ember f Assembly JLB:msm i