ML20127H627
| ML20127H627 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Monticello  |
| Issue date: | 06/07/1968 |
| From: | Price H US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC) |
| To: | Karth J SENATE |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20127H631 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9211180567 | |
| Download: ML20127H627 (3) | |
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bO' i Lfl&ij fitE COPY Dietributions Suppl.M
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[ AEC Pub. Doc. Rm.
Formal Docket REG Reading 1
DRL Reading H. L. Price M7 rn C. K. Beck i
M. M. Mann C. L. Henderson h'
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ar P. A. Morris R. S. Boyd Hooerable Joseph R. Karth
,"" r House of Representatives N. Blunt har Mr. hrth:
G. Ertter (1691/84049)
RPS Your memorandue of April 11, 1968, to Office of Congreastonal Liaisee, Atomic Energy Cosmaission, concerning a letter you received from Mrs. Henry H.. Cowie, dated April 9,1968, haa been referred to me.
To aid you in preparing a reply to. this letter, I an enclosing a brief report which describes our regulatory review procedure and the radiolesteal ef fects to the environs expected as a result of operation of the Heati-cello Nuclear ceaerating Plant.
In addition to the booklet, " Licensing of Power Reacters" which is referenced in the attached report, I as alae enclosing a copy of " Atomic Power Safety" which describes the operaties of the typical water cooled and moderated nuclear power planta.
i A similar letter from Mrs. Henry H. Cowie has bees referred to me from Senator Walter F. Mondale's office.
sincerely yours,
'( signed ) HereW L Prhe Harold L. Prito Director of Regulaties Enc.losures :
- 1. Report
- 2. " Licensing of Power Reactors"
- 3. " Atomic Power Safety"'
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R\\DIC.01TC3L EFFECTS 07 OPERATING j
THE MONTICELLO MUCLEAR CEN2NATINC ?LANT
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1 The application by Northern States Power Company for a permit to construct I
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the Monticello plant was reviosed from the standpoint of radiological safety by four bodies in the AEC's process _ of licensing and regulation, as out11..ed in the enclosed booklet, " Licensing of Power Reactors."
l These review groups included the AEC regulatory staff, the Commission's i
statutory Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), and an atomic safety and ik ensing board which conducted a public hearing in the matter on May 28, 1967, at Buffalo, Minnesota. The initial decision of j
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 those revicu bodies concluded that the proposed plant could be constructed and operated without undue risk to the health and 4
safety of the public.
When the applicant completos the plant and app 4ies for an operating license, further safety reviews will be conducted by the AEC regulatory I
s ta f f and the ACRS. Thereafter, if an operating license is granted, the plant will be under AEC surycillance and undergo periodic safety inspections throughout its lifetina.
Small amounts of radioactive natorial are permitted by AEC regulations to be released into the environment at controlled rates and in controlled amounts from a nuclear poser plant. This requires a continuous program i
of monitoring and control to assure that pernissible limits are not exceeded. The permissible limits in AEC regulations are based on guides f
developed by the Federal Radiation Council, a statutory. body, and issued by the President for the guidance of Federal agencies. These perndssible limits are such that continuous use of air or water at the point of release from the site would not result in exposures exceeding national and international standards for radiation protection of the public. Permissible exposure limits reflected in these standards are vall below the level where biolo;ical damage has been observed in-humans. It is believed that any biological offects that might be produced at such low exporures would be too infrequent, in comparison j
with the occurrence of similar ' effects from natural causes, to be observed by epidemiological or other techniques presently available, i
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.
i 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 reconc survey of all fourteen operating nucicar power plants has shown that the concentrations of radioactivity in liquid releases during 1967 were only a small fraction of the permissible limits applicable j
to the radionuclides in the effluent.
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-2 In the case of tho Monticello plant, the A;C's evalua tions concluded that the design and operation of the radiological waste disposal
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system would preclude harmful effccts on the water supplies of Minn:apolis and St. Paul, the nearest communities using the Mississippi River for potable water. Nevertheless, during our review of the proposed Monticello plant, we considered consequences to the Minneapolis and St. Paul water supplies of accidental releases of radioactive material to the Mississippi River even though we found no evident way that such a release could occur.
It is extremely unlikely that an accidental release of large quantities of radioactive material from che Monticello plant into the river would occur. However, if such a release were to occur, the radioactive material would travel dowmstream with the river current and sufficient time would be available to ('.?ie
'n a '... >kes for :he Minneapolis and St. Paul water systems before ti; r (
.s v erial reached chem.
If such action
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were necessary, ti, re,viey ;g';. s of water available in the. reservoirs of the two cities 2 ad t, t3iliaient to maincain full sater supplies to the cities until suct.
a as che radiation contamination has passed the intakes. When the app 61 cant 3.pplies for an operating license, the procedures to be follownl. and the instruments required to monitor any radioactive release, sdll be reviewed in detail to further assure that the citizens of Minneapolia &nd St. Paul as well as other communities which use the Mississippi for potable sater will not be adversely affected.
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