ML20126B172
| ML20126B172 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Monticello  |
| Issue date: | 04/26/1968 |
| From: | Price H US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC) |
| To: | Mondale W SENATE |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9212210433 | |
| Download: ML20126B172 (2) | |
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C. L. Henderson R. L. Doan D26 1968 F. Western H. Shapar P. A. Morris F. Schroeder R. S. Boyd D. R.' Muller Honorable Walter F. Mondale D. C. Fischer United States Senate G. Ertter, REG Washington, D. C.
20002 N. Blunt REG Reading Dear Senator Mondale DRL Reading RPB-1 Reading Your memorandum of March 25, 1968, to office of Congressional Suppl.y.__.
Liaison, Atomic Energy Commission, concerning a letter you AEC Pub. Doc.Rd received from Mrs. John Wegler, dated March 2,1968, has been Formal Docket!
referred to me.
To aid you in preparing a reply to this letter, I am enclosing a brief report which describes our regulatory review procedure and the radiological effects to the environs expected as a result of operation of the Monti-cello Nuclear Generating Plant.
In addition to the booklet, " Licensing of Power Reactors" which is referenced in the attached report, I am also enclos-ing a copy of " Atomic Power Safety" which describes the opera-tion of the typical water cooled and moderated nuclear power plants.
If you believe these booklets would be useful to your constituents,.1 would be glad to furnish copies in quantity.
f You may wish to note that an identical 1etter from Mrs. Wegler
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has been referred to me for reply by Honorable Joseph E. Karth's
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'( signed ) Harold L Price l
Harold L. Price Director of Regulation
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- 2. " Licensing of Power Reactors"'
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RADIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF OPERATING 3
THE MONTICELLO NUCLEAR GENERATING ptANT The application by Northern States Power Company for a permit to construct the Monticello plant was reviewed from the standpoint of radiological safety by four bodies in the AEC's process of licensing and regulation, as outlined in i
the enclosed booklet, " Licensing of Power Reactors." These review groups included the AIC regulatory staff, the Commission's statutory Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), and an atomic safety and licensing board which conducted a public hearing in the matter on May 28, 1967, at Buffalo, Minnesota.
The initial decision nf the board, granting a provisional construction permit, j
was then reviewed by the Commission itself.
The construction permit was issued on June 19, 1967.
Each of these review bodies concluded that the proposed plant t
could be constructed and operated without undue risk to the health and safety of the public.
l When the applicant completes the plant and applies for an operating license, further safety reviews will be conducted by the AEC regulatory staf f and the ACRS.
Thereaf ter, if an operating license is granted, the plant will be under AEC surveillance and undergo periodic safety inspections throughout its lifetime.
During routine operation, very small amounts of radioactive materials generated in the nuclear processes may be released into the environment at controlled rates and in controlled amounts from a nuclear power plant.
This requires a con-tinuous program of monitoring and control to insure that permissible limits are not exceeded. The allowable limits in AEC regulations are based on guides developed by the Federal Radiation Council, a statutory body, and issued by the President for the guidance of. Federal agencies. These permissible limits are such that continuous use at the point of release from the site would not result in exposures exceeding national and international standards for radiation protec-tion of the public. Permissible exposure limits reflected in these standards are vell below the level where biological damage has beea observed in humans.
It is aelieved that any biological effects that might be produced at such low exposures i
would be too infrequent, in comparison with the occurrence of similar effects from natural causes, to be observed by epidemiological or other techniques presently available.
Thus, the risk to individuals-exposed at such levels is so low as to be negligible in comparison with observable risks from natural and other causes.
The concentrations of liquid radioactive effluents released from the plant are further reduced by dilution in the body of water to which they are discharged.
A recent survey of all fourteen operating nuclear power plants has shown that the t
concentrations of radioactivity in liquid releases during 1967 were only a small fraction of the permissible limits applicable to the radionuclides in the offluent.
In the case of the Monticello plant, the AEC's evaluations concluded that the design and operation of the radiological waste disposal system would preclude harmful ef fects on the water supplies of Minneapolis 'and St. Paul, the nearest communities using the Mississippi River for potable water.
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Honorable Walter F. Mondale F.Schroeder DOS United States Senate R.S.Boyd Washington, D. C.
D.R. Muller D.C.Fischer
Dear Senator Mondale:
G.Ertter, REG N. Blunt Your memorandum of March 26, 1968, to Office of Congressional Liaison, PIG Reading Atomic Energy Commission, concerning a letter you received from Mrs.
DRL Reading Martin Bruhl, dated February 16, 1968, has been referred to me.
To aid RPB-1 Read
you in preparing a reply.to this letter, I am enclosing a brief report S uppl. M- -
which describes our regulatory review procedure and the radiological AEC Pub.Do effects to the environs expected as a result of operation of the Monti-Formal Doc cello Nuclear Generating Plant.
With reference to Mrs. Bruhl's statement concerning the additive effects of a number of nuclear power plants along the Mississippi River, each discharging small amounts of radioactive waste, the Atomic Energy Com-mission, in its-review of the radiological impact of nuclear power plants on the environs, does consider such additive effects to assure that radio-active effluent release limits enumerated in the Commission's regulations, 10 CFR Part 20, are not exceeded.
In addition to the booklet, " Licensing of Power Reactors" which is refer-enced in the attached report, I am also enclosing a copy'of " Atomic Power Safety" which describes the operation of the typical water cooled and moderated nuclear power plants.
If you believe these booklets would be useful to your constituents, I would be glad to furnish copies in quantity.
Sincerely yours.
( 5%ned ) WW L. Pdes Harold L. Price Director of Regulation
Enclosures:
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- 1. Report
- 2. " Licensing of Power Reactors"
- 3. " Atomic-Power Safety" LL
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, RADIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF OPERATING THE MONTICELLO RUCLEAR GENERATING PLANT The application by Northern States Power Company for a permit to construct the i
Monticello plant was reviewed from the standpoir.t of radiological safety by l
four bodies in the AEC's process of licensing and regulation, as outlined in the enclosed booklet, " Licensing of Power Reactors." These review groups included the AEC regulatory staff, the Commission's statutory Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), and an atomic safety and licensing board which conducted a public hearing in the matter on May 28, 1967, at Buffalo, Minnesota.
The initial decision of the board, granting a provisional construction permit, was then reviewed by the Commission itself. The construction permit was issued on June 19, 1967.
Each of these review bodies concluded that the proposed plant could be constructed and operated without undue risk to the health and safety of the public.
t When the applicant completes the plant and applies for an operating license, further safety reviews will be conducted by the AEC regulatory staff and the ACRS.
Thereaf ter, if an operating license is granted, the plant will be under AEC surveillance and undergo periodic safety inspections throughout its lifetime-.
.During routine operation, very small amounts of radioactive materials generated in the nuclear processes may be released into the environment at controlled rates and in controlled amounts from a nuclear power plant. This requires a con-tinuous program of monitoring and control to insure that permissible limits are not exceeded.
The allowable limits in AEC regulations are based on guides developed by the Federal Radiation Council, a statutory body, and issued by the President for the guidance of Federal agencies.
These permissible limits are such that continuous use at the point of release from the site would not result in exposures exceeding national and international standards for radiation protec-tion of the public. Permissible exposure limits reflected in these standards are well below the level where biological danage has been observed in humans.
It is believed that any biological effects that might be produced at such low exposures would be too infrequent, in comparison with the occurrence of similar effects from natural causes, to be observed by epidemiological or other techniques presently available.
Thus, the risk to individuals exposed at such levels is so low as to be negligible in comparison with observable risks f rom natural and other causes.
l The concentrations of liquid radioactive effluents released from the plant are further reduced by dilution in the body of water to which they are discharged.-
l A recent survey of all fourteen operating nuclear power plants has shown that the l
concentrations of radioactivity in liquid releases during 1967 vere only a small l
fraction of the permissible limits applicable to the radionuclides in the ef fluent.
In the case of the Monticello plant, the AEC's evaluations concluded that the design and operation of the radiological waste. disposal system would preclude harmful ef fects on the water supplies of Minneapolis and St. Paul, the nearest communities using the Mississippi River for potable water.
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