ML20127M607
| ML20127M607 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Monticello  |
| Issue date: | 05/07/1969 |
| From: | Seaborg G US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC) |
| To: | Mondale W SENATE |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9211300318 | |
| Download: ML20127M607 (3) | |
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W 7 1969
[62 0 Honorable Walter F. Mondale United States Senate
Dear Senator Mondale:
I am pleased to furnish the information you requested in your April 4,# 1969 letter concerning possible radioactive pollution from the proposed Monticello Nuclear Generating l' nit to be built at Monticello, Minnesota.
I I sa enclosing a brief report which describes our regulatory review procedure and discusses releases of lov level radio-2 activity in effluents from the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plan t.
This report is an updated version of a sisitar report sent to you on June 7,1968, by Mr. Barold L. Price, Director of Regulation.
Cordially, (Ipd) Cku 1. Sub g Chairman
Enclosure:
Report en Radiological Effaeta Distribution:
Chairman (2)
P. A. Morris Commissioner Ramey R. S. Boyd Commissioner Tape D. R. Muller Commissioner Johnson N. Blunt Commissioner Costagliola G. Ertter (DR-2102, GM-33141)
Congressional Liaison (2)
Pub. Doc. Room H. L. Price Docket Fil C. K. Beck-g DR Reading ep M. M. Mann RL-Reading C. L. Henderson h RPB-1 Reading u
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j RADIOLOGIC /. :TTEC _TE_OP OPER.' TING f
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f THE MONTICELL_0 ::rCL:/A CE::rRATINC PL/':T t
l The application by Northern States Power Company for a permit to i
J construct the Monticello plant was reviewed from the standpoint of l
radiological safety by four bcGics in the Atomic Energy Commission's process of licensing and regulation, as outlined in the enclosed
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bocklet, " Licensing of Power Rcactors." Incse revicu groups included 3
the AEC regulatory staff, the Commission's statutory Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), and an atonic safety and licensing board which conducted a public hearing in the matter on 2:ay 25-26,1967, at Buffalo, Minnesoca. The initial decision of 1
the board, granting a provisional construction permit, was then,
j reviewed by the Commission its.cif. The construction permit was i
issucd on June 19, 1967.
Each cf these review bodies concluded l
that the proposed plant could be constructed and operated without undue risk to the health and safety of the public.
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Cn November 8, 1968, the applicant applied for an operating license, i
Turther safety reviews' arc now being conducted by the AIC regulatory i
staff. The ACRS will also review-this application and advise the Commission thercon.
Further, if an operating license is granted, j
the plant will be under AEC surveillance and undergo periodic j
safety inspections throughout its lifetime..
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Small amounts of radioactive material are permitted by AEC regulations to be released into the environment at controlled rates and in controlled amounts from a nuclear power plant.
This requires a. continuous l
program of monitoring and control to assure that release limits are l
not exceeded. The release linits in ACC regulations are based on i
guides developed by the Federal Radiation Council, a statutory body, i
and approved by the President for the guidance of Federal agencies.
l These release limits are such that continuous use of air or water l
at the point of-release from the site would not result in exposures i
exceeding national and international standards for radiation pro-l tection of the public. Permissibic-cxposure limits reflected in j
these standards are wcil below the level where biological damage 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 or.currence of similar effects
- from natural causes, to be observed by epidemiological or other technioues presently availabic. Thus, the risk to individuals-exposed at such levels is so low as to be negligible in comparison j
with-observable risks from natura.. and other causes, n,
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2-j The concentrations of liquid radioactive effluents released from the plant are further reduced by dilution in the body *of water to which j
they are discharged. A survey of all operating nuclear power plants-i has shown that the concentrations of radioactivity in liquid releases during 1967 were only a small fraction of the release limits applicable to the radionuclides in the effluent.
i In the case of the Monticello plant, the AEC's evaluation concluded that the design and operation of the radiological waste disposal l
system would preclude harmful effects on the water supplies of Minneapolis and St. Paul, tne nearest communities using the Mississippi
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River for potable water.
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